Page 64 of Finding Elodie
“Deal,” Elodie said quickly and without any reservation in her tone.
“Just like that?” Mustang asked suspiciously.
“Yeah, just like that,” she agreed. “Scott, you basically just said that you’ll take me where I want to go, when I want to go. You’ll spend all your free time with me. Why would I argue against that?”
“Because you might feel stifled? Because you like your independence? Because I’m taking over?”
She chuckled wryly. “I’ve been alone for so long, I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like to have someone in my corner. I’m not saying I’m going to let you make all the decisions in my life for me, but I like being with you. I want to get to know everything about you. I’m more afraid of you getting tired of hauling my ass around than me getting tired of you. Oh! I hadn’t thought about this…what about your job? You can’t exactly be leaving in the middle of the day to pick me up all the time from the dock.”
“If I can’t, I’ll have one of my teammates do it. If we’re busy, or on a mission, there are a few other men on other SEAL teams here who I trust to do it. We’ll figure it out. As long as I know you aren’t opposed to a few restrictions and being cautious, I can relax a bit.”
“You know what I want to do today?” she asked.
“What?”
“I want to go to the Dole Pineapple Plantation.”
Mustang grimaced. “Really?”
“Yeah. I’ve heard their Dole Whips are amazing.”
“I’m not doing that damn maze. Especially when someone might be after you. It seems as if it’d be the perfect place to take us both down,” Mustang grumbled. He thought he might’ve gone too far, making light of the fact that the mob was after her, but she actually laughed.
“Right, I’m not a fan of mazes either. Thank you for believing me. And not locking me in your bathroom like a caveman.”
“Don’t think that didn’t occur to me,” Mustang warned. “Until we find out what the threat level is, I’m willing to be flexible, but if we find out that Columbus knows where you are, or that someone is here, I’ll lock your ass down so fast your head will spin.”
She continued to smile. “Okay.”
“I mean it, Elodie. I’m not going to let you be TSTL.”
She cocked her head. “What’s that?”
“Too stupid to live. You know in the movies when the main character does something incredibly stupid to put him or her in the line of fire, to move the story along? That’s not happening.”
“Oh, like that insurance commercial where the teenagers are running from a serial killer and they’re talking about where to hide and they’re discussing their options. Like, hiding in the basement or something, and one of the girls says, ‘Why don’t we just get in the running car and leave?’ and the guy asks if she’s crazy and they decide to hide behind a wall of chainsaws instead.”
Mustang just looked at her with a blank expression.
“Ha. Right, okay, you haven’t seen that one, but believe me, it’s making fun of those TSTL people you’re talking about.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Now, were you serious about going to the pineapple plantation?”
“Yes.”
“Then we need to get out of bed and get moving. Traffic’s gonna be a bitch.”
“You really don’t mind taking me?” Elodie asked him.
“Nope. I’ll do my best to show you whatever you want to see, and I’ve got some other out-of-the-way places I think you’ll like as well. But I remember what you said earlier this morning, so I’ll try to keep the hikes to the prettier waterfalls and views under ten miles.”
Her eyes got huge, and Mustang struggled to keep a straight face.
“You’re kidding, right?”
He lost it then, and burst out laughing.
She joined him and smacked his arm. “You’re mean.”
