Page 32 of Dragon Charmed

Heat rushed to her face and other parts of her. Calm down, hoo-ha. Now was not the time for this. Not at all.

Tessa was impressed. Ben had not been a pushover when it came to the games, and since he was driving, she had to give respect where respect was due. And they had gone through quite a bit of the snacks. She was in sugar, carb, and processed-meat heaven.

They had stopped at a rest stop, and after running in to use the restroom, they were now walking around a bit stretching their legs.

He walked beside her quietly as they both headed back to the truck and climbed in. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something and then appeared to change his mind.

“What’s on your mind, Mr. PI?”

“I was wondering about something. When we were in the market earlier and you showed me your basket, was that some sort of test too?”

“No…okay, yes. You caught me. I wanted to see if you were going to make a comment about how much junk food I was buying.”

“No way. I love that you aren’t afraid to eat what you want. Did you get a lot of pressure not to eat as a model?”

“Yeah, that goes without saying. I didn’t starve myself while I was modeling, but I didn’t get to eat the foods I really loved. It’s more about the food shaming that women have to put up with.”

“Like what, for example?”

“I’ve got plenty of stories. We might as well get back on the road while I pick which one to tell you.”

She sorted through the various passive-aggressive stories from her dates and settled on one. “Okay, so I went on a date with a guy, and I ordered a steak salad. Not because I thought I needed to eat a salad while I’m on a date, but I had heard that the salad at this restaurant was amazing. Think steak, veggies, homemade garlic croutons, and blue cheese.”

“That does sound amazing, and since I’m full of processed food, that’s saying something.”

She smiled at him, and he returned his eyes to the road. “Exactly. We had talked about what we were going to order while we sat at the bar waiting for a table to open. They finally seated us, and I excused myself to use the restroom. When I came back, he let me know that he ordered the steak salad for me, but he told them to leave off the croutons and blue cheese since it would be better for me.”

“He didn’t,” Ben groaned. “Do I even want to know what happened?”

“I told him I would eat what I want, when I want, and he could stuff his salad with no croutons and blue cheese up his, well, you know what. Guy left in a huff before our food came. I motioned for the server, Ruby. I’ll never forget her name. Told her that I wanted the croutons and the blue cheese on my salad and to cancel his order. She high-fived me and headed back to the kitchen. Even if the date was a bust, that didn’t mean I had to miss out on a good meal, right? The salad came out with a mountain of blue cheese and croutons on the top, and after I finished every bite, Ruby brought out a free dessert for me. That is still one of the best salads I’ve ever eaten.”

He nodded. “What a dumbass. I’m glad you spoke up for yourself.”

“That is one thing I have a handle on. Speaking out, speaking up, speaking in general.”

He chuckled. “That’s what I like about you.”

Heat blossomed in her chest. “I’ll remind you of that when you want me to stop talking.”

Ben shrugged. “Hasn’t happened yet and you’re hopped up on sugar.”

She laughed. “True, I haven’t stopped talking since we left Nashville.”

“Doesn’t bother me. It makes the time go faster. So tell me about what it was like being a model.”

“My Wikipedia page didn’t fill you in enough?”

“Ha ha. You started modeling young. Was it hard not to have a regular childhood? I bet you missed out on a lot of things.”

Once again he surprised her. Most people would talk about how lucky she was, wearing designer clothes and having her pictures in magazines and online, and of course meeting famous people. They never thought about it being a job that she started as a child. “It was hard. I didn’t get to do any extracurriculars at school since I was working. And I had a shortened school day to fit around my shoots.” She had been lonely and not really in charge of her life back then, which meant she did everything in her power to be in charge now.

He glanced over at her. “Did you like it?”

“Sometimes. I like what I do now more.”

“Tell me about your job.”

And she did. She told him funny stories about her being a herder of very pretty cats. Before she knew it, they were on the outskirts of the town Evelyn lived in. Although calling it a town was a bit of a stretch. The main road had houses lined up with people sitting on their porches or working in their tiny yards. A few small kids ran down the sidewalk laughing. There was a gas station, a small market, and a church along with a VFW building. Instead of small-town America, this was tiny-town America.