Boy Meets Nerd (9 page)

“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”

At

least

she

was

considering it. That was almost a yes. If he pushed, she’d probably cave. He just had to turn on the charm, find the right angle.

“Come on,” he coaxed. “I’ll

let you control the radio. I’ll stock up on candy and caffeine. I’ll even buy you dinner.”

“That makes twice and a

coffee. I owe
you
.”

He shrugged. “If we take your car, I owe you for the mileage you put on it. We could take mine but it’s not very reliable.”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “Going through Toledo isn’t exactly a straight shot to Chicago.”

“Is it so far out of the way that it’s not worth it to have a driving buddy?”

She arched a brow. “I don’t

do buddies.”

He tried a different angle.

“Think of the work you could get done if I drive. I promise to leave you alone. You can spend the whole way to Cleveland working on your laptop. That’s like…eight hours or something, isn’t it?”

“Ten.” She sighed. “Maybe it’s not such a bad idea. You sure you’re okay with being stuck at a stranger’s place for four days?”

“Hope isn’t a stranger.”

She stared at him blankly, making him rethink what he’d just said.

“I mean, Heidi isn’t a

stranger.” The irony of the slip up caught him off guard.

Emerson’s lips quirked up in a challenging smirk.

He scowled at her, but it was himself he was mad at. How did he let this lie go on for so long?

He hadn’t meant their relationship to go this far. It was fun in the beginning – someone to flirt with, talk music with. It kept him from getting bored with his life. They encouraged each other’s dreams and imagined happily ever afters.

When they talked online, it was as if nothing could reach them. They were

in

their

own

world,

untouchable by life’s stress. It wasn’t easy to break out as a composer, especially in the niche he wanted to get into. With Hope, he could do anything, be anything, even if it was just pretend. There was

something

disturbing

yet

comforting about that.

Hope was different than

other girls his age. While they seemed shallow, Hope was a mystery – a fountain of depth that intrigued him. Now he understood just how much of a mystery. Did he even know her at all? He’d spent the last few nights pouring over past conversations, trying to figure out how much was real. To his disappointment, it was no clearer than when he’d started. No wonder he needed coffee.

He gulped down most of the

espresso Em had picked out for him. It was a little bitter for his taste, but it did the trick. He was feeling

energized

already.

Or

maybe it was adrenaline from the prospect of finally meeting Hope…

Emerson

shifted

her

attention to her computer screen.

“She doesn’t have anything on her calendar for that weekend. You should probably ask to be safe though. It’d be a waste of time if she was away.”

Nodding, he made a mental note to fit it into their conversation.

For now, it seemed Emerson was interested enough to at least consider his carpooling idea. His reasons were mostly selfish. Who wanted to drive ten hours alone? He looked at Em. Other than anti-social math geeks. But part of him was worried for her as well. His brother-in-law worked as a police officer and he’d seen plenty of accidents from overtired drivers.

“Have you done this trip before by yourself?” he asked her.

“No, but I’ve driven to my parents’ house by myself. It’s five hours less. I figured I’d drive two days with a hotel stop overnight.”

“If we ride together it might be a good idea to stop too, so you can rest up for the second part of your journey.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“Hmm. Next you’re going to say we should share a room to save money.

And conveniently there’ll only be rooms with one bed available. I see your game.”

Was Emerson flirting? Miss

Quantifiable Love? He’d bet she had an equation for flirting too.

“Not a bad plan, but no. We probably shouldn’t share a room.

I’m committed to Hope.”

“Heidi.”

“Right.”

Silence stretched on for a moment. Finally, Em sighed and said, “I’ll think about it and let you know.”

He knew he’d won her over

already, but he nodded solemnly as he rose from the table. “I gotta run. I have a crazy stalker mom to deal with.” He sucked down the last two sips of his drink then looked at Emerson. “I’ll convince you yet.

Even if I have to email you over and over until you agree.”

“Don’t do that.”

“It’s much easier to just do what I want, Emerson. I’m used to getting my way.” He winked then walked away with a chuckle.

As he left Starbucks, a cold sense of dread that had nothing to do with the chilly April morning hit him. He’d rather sit with Emerson and drink that poison all day than deal with the man-eater, Mrs.

Miller.

His phone buzzed in his

jeans pocket. The chat alert. He pulled it out, already knowing who it was. Hope’s message didn’t surprise him. He’d been distant lately, still unsure of how to act natural.

Hope: Are you up yet,

sleepy head? You usually say good morning and it’s 10am already.

He typed back a response as

he turned the corner toward his studio.

Levi: Sorry. I had an early appointment today. Mrs. Miller is up next. I’ll be back in an hour.

Instead of waiting for a reply then giving a mushy goodbye, he turned off his phone and stuffed it back in his pocket. The distance was killing him, but as soon as they met in person, and she assured him she was still his Hope, things would go back to normal. Then he could give himself fully. And maybe even start a life together.

One week. He had to hold on just one more week.

Emerson stared at the open suitcase sitting on her bed.

I can’t believe I’m doing
this.

She thought through items she might be forgetting. Of course she’d already packed most of her research,

text

books,

and

electronics. For things like this, it was clothing she packed last. Last year at this same convention, she’d forgotten to pack a single pair of pants. She’d had to wear the same ones she’d arrived in all weekend.

Toothpaste! That was it!

She opened the door and

stepped out of her bedroom. Jess and Dani were in the living room, play-wrestling on the couch. Em ignored the giggling and shouts for help coming from Jess, who was pinned under Dani’s body. She grabbed a travel-size toothpaste from the drawer in the bathroom then walked by the two creepy love birds again.

Jess squealed as Dani bit her neck. “Wait! Stop,” she begged as she panted and laughed. “I wanna talk to Em for a sec.”

Emerson sighed but stopped

in the living room and gave Jess an expectant look. Reluctantly, Dani let her up then glared at Em as if it was her fault their playtime got interrupted. In the beginning of their relationship, Emerson had assumed Dani hated her. The bored looks and sometimes rude comments caught her off guard. But she’d learned quickly they weren’t just reserved for her. Dani was pretty much like that with everyone.

Except for Jess. Her roommate had opened something inside of Dani that no one else did.

“So?” Jess asked, grinning.

“Is Levi coming for the ride or not?”

God she wished she could disappear right now. The man had somehow convinced her to carpool.

The fucker. This was why she hated people. They were always trying to…socialize. And if she told Jess the truth, well, that was squee material.

With a sigh, she got ready to cover her ears. “Yes, he’s coming.” Her eyes grew wide, along with her grin. Just as she looked about ready to squee, Dani pinched her thigh. “Stop that.”

Still grinning, she managed to hold back. “But they’re road tripping together! Don’t you know what that means?”

“Yeah,” Dani answered.

“They’ll probably argue about music, where to stop to eat, and inevitably one of them will fart in the car and the illusion of whatever chemistry you think they have will be gone.”

Emerson grimaced.

“You’re such a spoilsport,” Jess complained, scowling at her girlfriend.

“They

do

have

chemistry. You haven’t seen them as much as I have.”

“Oh yeah?” Dani turned and

gave Jess a challenging look. “What do you know about chemistry?”

“I knew you and I had it from the moment I saw you.” She pecked Dani on the nose. “You were wearing a blue button down shirt and a pair of boyish suspenders, looking all cute.”

“Cute?” She scrunched her nose.

“Yeah, I know you like

being badass. But you were cute to me.”

They gazed at each other adoringly, making Em almost throw up in her mouth.

“Didn’t

you

flunk

chemistry?” Dani whispered against her lips.

Jess chuckled then moved in

for a kiss. Dani wrapped her arms around her girlfriend’s neck and kissed her earnestly. Eyes closed, they moaned as they moved against each other’s mouths.

Why was she standing here watching this? She turned to leave.

“Wait!” Jess yelled.

With a deep breath, she

turned back around. “I have to pack.”

“Just one more thing,” she said. “Keep an open mind, okay?

And an open heart.”

Dani chuckled. “An open

heart? You sound like a really lame Hallmark card.” She looked at Emerson. “What she means to say is…car sex can be fun, but remember, safety first. Pull over on the side of the road, ‘kay?” She rolled her eyes. This was ridiculous. Without a word, she turned and walked to her bedroom.

Behind her, she heard Dani murmur, “What? That bit of wisdom was from experience.”

Closing the door, she shut out the bickering couple. Car sex?

No way. She tossed the toothpaste into her bag, self-conscious of the sloppiness of her packing. Road tripping with Levi was already throwing her off balance. Not that she cared about making a good impression, between the apartment mess and her disorganized suitcase, he was probably disgusted. The fact that he seemed to be a neat freak made it worse.

She shoved a few more

necessities into her bag then zipped it closed. She checked the clock.

Three in the afternoon. Levi’s friend was dropping him off at the apartment after his last student.

He’d be here any minute. Just in time to get out of the city before traffic hit.

“Loverboy is here!” Jess

called from the living room.

Shit. She jetted out of the room before her roommate could get to Levi and embarrass her.

When she saw Jess still on the couch with Dani, she exhaled in relief.

“Shush,” she scolded. “You better hope he didn’t hear that!” On the other side of the door, she was surprised to find Levi with company. A taller guy with big eyes and slicked back hair gave her a small smile.

“This is Darren.” Levi

pointed to his friend. “Darren, this is Emerson. See? She’s real. Has a body and everything. Can I go now, asshole?” At Em’s quizzical look, he explained, “Darren insisted on proof that you were a real person.” His friend shrugged. “Your judgment

is

questionable.”

Addressing Em, he stuck out a hand.

“Nice to meet you. I’m glad you’re real.”

Ignoring his outstretched

hand, she opened the door wider and stepped to the side. “Is he coming in?” she said to Levi, too annoyed to waste energy on pleasantries.

“I

told

you

she

was

friendly,” Levi said, chuckling.

Darren smiled. “I’ll let you guys get going. Good luck.” He patted Levi on the back. “Safe travels.”

They watched him leave

then Levi stepped through the door, holding a small duffle bag. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah. I’ll get my stuff.” Already, this felt weird. Sharing a small space with a guy she hadn’t known for more than a few weeks.

Spending two days alone with him.

The intimacy of the situation sunk in. What did she get herself into?

With a sigh, she shut the door behind him. “Um. Have a seat, I guess. It’ll just be a few minutes.” She looked at the couch and cringed. Maybe having a seat was a bad idea. Jess was already grinning like a maniacal villain.

It was too late now though.

Levi was already making his way to the office chair across from the couch. At least Dani was distracting Jess by starting another round of wrestling.

“Stop!” Jess said, laughing.

“I want to talk to Em’s…friend.” Shit. She rushed to her room and gathered her stuff quickly before

Jess

and

her

creepy

girlfriend grilled him like some potential suitor in a sitcom. With her coat and laptop bag on one arm the suitcase in her other hand, she flew out of her bedroom.

“I’m ready,” she said to Levi, panting, then looked at Jess.

“No fucking on the couch.”

Jess rolled her eyes. “I have a bed, thank you. And I’m a grown up, not a teenager with raging hormones.”

By the way they were acting

earlier, she wouldn’t know it.

“Don’t forget what I told you,” Dani said. In an exaggerated whisper, she added with a wink,

“Pull over.”

“Oh my god.” Em turned for

the door. “Let’s go, before this gets weirder.”

Levi chuckled. “Good to see

you again.” He waved to the girls.

In a sing-song voice, Jess said, “Byyye.”

Emerson was more than

happy to slam the apartment door shut and leave her meddling, giggling roommate behind.

“They seem nice,” Levi

said.

She snorted.

“Let me take that.” He

reached for her bag with his free hand but she held it away.

“I’m fine.”

He arched a brow. “I wasn’t

asking.” With a quick yank, it was gone from her hands.

She didn’t bother fighting for it so he carried both their bags down the one flight of stairs to the parking lot then followed her to her car. At least he was a gentleman.

How long would that last?

After she popped the trunk of the little gray Prius, he placed their bags inside. “Keys?” He held out his hand.

She considered him for a moment. It was her car, her trip.

Maybe she should offer to drive first. But then her laptop called to her. Even a few hours of work would be helpful. Travelling to the conference wouldn’t be a waste.

With that, she slapped the keys into his hand.

He smiled. “Let’s go, road trip buddy.”

She scrunched her nose and he laughed then opened the driver’s side door and climbed in. She went to the passenger side and placed her laptop bag at her feet and her coat in the back seat. It was a little chilly without it but she always got stuffy in the car.

“Do you know where you’re

going?” she asked once he started the car.

He nodded. “I looked at a map last night. When we get closer, I’ll set up the GPS on my phone.”

“Okay. If you don’t need me,” she pulled the laptop out from between her feet then crossed her legs on the seat, “then I’m going to get to work.”

Once they made it through the city and onto the interstate, the quiet hum of the engine became background noise to her work. She had a request from a new client who wanted her to look into a financial problem with her small business. The woman suspected her partner was cheating her out of money. Grumbling, she ignored the email and started on something more interesting instead.

Prime numbers.

It wasn’t long before she was lost in her work. Time often felt like it went by faster than it actually did. What seemed like an hour to her usually ended up being three or four in real person time.

She called it real person time because sometimes time didn’t apply to her the same way it did other people. The majority of Americans didn’t last more than three minutes thinking about one thing. She lived in an ADD world, but she had the opposite problem –

or gift depending on how one saw it. Emerson was hyperfocused. She could spend a large amount of time thinking about one single concept or idea, and nothing else. Sometimes it was more of a curse than a gift.

Like when she lost track of time and ended up late for events. A few times,

when

the

event

was

important, she’d had set an alarm for herself.

“So,” Levi said, interrupting the peaceful silence, “whatcha working on?”

Slowly, she turned her head

and glared.

His face fell when he took in

her

expression.

“Oh.

No

talking?”

She shook her head.

“Okay. Sorry. It’s just, I’m used to having background noise pretty much 24/7. Music usually, or a movie if Darren is home. The silence is kind of weird.”

“Shh!”

“Okay! Jeez.”

Miraculously, he stopped

talking. She started working again, trying to get back into the groove, but having trouble not noticing him there, so close. His body took up so much space, his presence took even more, filled the car. They were almost touching elbows. Now that he’d broken her concentration, it was harder not to be aware of him.

“Can I at least turn the music on?” he asked.

She nodded. It wasn’t hard to tune out music. Jess had a thing for obnoxious pop songs. “As long as it’s not too loud.”

He turned on the radio and fiddled with the buttons. When he found a station he liked, he sat back with a satisfied smile. Guitar riffs played from the speakers. With a deep breath, she pushed him from her mind. His smell, his biceps so close she could lick them, his rumbly voice that sent shivers down her spine. Somehow she managed to block it from her mind and focused back on the code she was writing.

Sometime later, a second

voice joined with the singer, following the tune perfectly. She turned to look at Levi. He drummed his hands on the steering wheel as he belted the rock song, bobbing his head to the beat. He seemed oblivious to anything but the music.

At a particularly high part, he scrunched his face, straining to hit the note. Who knew Levi could look like such a nerd? It was fucking adorable.

A short laugh broke free and Em slapped a hand over her mouth, hoping he wouldn’t notice. But he did. He turned to her then turned the music off.

“Sorry,” he said frowning.

“I didn’t mean to bother you. I’ll stop.”

She lowered her hand from her mouth. “No. It’s okay. It was…” she bit her lip to keep from laughing again, “amusing.”

He gave her a sidelong

look. “Are you laughing at me?”

“A little.”

His mock growl made it

even funnier.

“Oh come on,” she said,

chuckling. “Don’t be offended. It was cute.”

“Cute?” He arched a brow.

“Maybe you should get back to work, little robot.”

With a sigh, she closed her laptop. “I wasn’t getting far anyway. And I’m starting to get carsick.”

“Yuck. My sister gets it real bad. Wanna switch places? For her, it’s better when she drives.” He glanced at her quickly before watching the road again. “Or you could take a nap? That might help.” She stretched her arms

above her, feeling stiff from sitting in the same position for too long. “I had a coffee this morning so I’m wide awake. Maybe I could drive for a bit.”

“Sure. I’ll stop at the next rest area. I need to stock up on candy anyway. Didn’t I promise you that?” He grinned. “What’s your favorite kind? Wait. Let me guess.” Amused, she leaned her

head back and watched him. This should be interesting.

“Let’s see. You like your coffee sweet, but you have a prickly personality so… Sour patch kids?”

“No. And I’m not prickly.”

“You are a little.”

She turned to stare out the passenger side window. Prickly?