Whirlwind (24 page)

Skeptical, I briefly took my eyes off the road to inspect his face. The humor had been replaced with a thoughtful stare.

“What’d you have in mind, exactly?”

“How about this: let’s spend some time getting to know each other, pretending we just met. I could even take you out on a real date—maybe dinner and a movie? Start over again, the normal way,” he said.

“Hmmm. Normal, huh? I’ll have to think about that.”

I took the ramp onto the freeway and considered his proposal. Baring my body to Jason had been a stretch, but baring my soul? That was another matter. I could already feel the connection between us strengthening, which would make breaking it that much harder. But we couldn’t spend days together without getting to know each other; that’d be ridiculous. We’d have to talk and probably find something to do—besides repeating last night’s activities—during the daylight hours, at least.

“After our date, there will be sex, of course,” he said matter-of-factly, sliding his hand up my leg.

“How do you do that?” I asked. I grabbed his fingers and moved his hand to the arm rest. His touch was not conducive to my keeping the car in just one lane of the busy freeway.

“Do what?” He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it gently.

“Read my mind. Are my thoughts tattooed to my forehead or something?” The words came out louder than I’d intended, echoing back to me in the confined space.

Jason chuckled. “Thinking about sex again? We must be on the same wavelength.”

I shook my head. “Never mind.”

His shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. You must think sex is all I think about.” He turned away to stare at the urban sprawl flying past us.

“It’s not?” I teased, but he didn’t laugh. “Don’t be sorry, I, uh,
was
thinking about…you know. Is it hot in here?” I flipped on the air conditioner, and he finally returned my sidelong glances. “It’s just that you seem to pick the thoughts right out of my head pretty much whenever you want. I need to be more careful what I think about, I guess,” I said. I squeezed his knee, and he ran a finger over my knuckles in response.

“I had no idea. We really
do
think alike,” he said, seeming almost in awe.

The intensity in his words set butterflies loose in my stomach. Clearing my throat, I said, “So your idea is to get to know each other before we have another round of amazing sex. Does that cover it?” I wondered if he would classify what we did last night as “amazing” too.

Jason turned back to me, smiling. “Precisely. Are you interested?”

“Okay, but I think we need some ground rules. Is kissing allowed before this ‘real’ date?”
I sure hope so. His kisses are…
mmmm
…

Jason sat back and pinched his bottom lip, lost in thought. How
I
wanted to pinch his lips—with mine.

“Well, I did kiss you when we were first introduced.” He brushed his fingertip across the exact spot on my cheek.

“You sure did.” I couldn’t believe he remembered.

“You had that same beautiful surprise on your face. That settles it. Kissing is definitely allowed.” He moved his warm hand to mine, which was still resting on his knee. “I’m not sure I could give that up anyway,” he said. “Hugging and handholding are also acceptable.”

“Acceptable? That’s an understatement.” I smirked. “But there’s a line for touching, right?” I started to move our joined hands up his leg, trying to find out exactly where that line was. And to think I’d only met Jason twenty-four hours ago…

He tightened his grip as my fingers neared the top of his thigh. “Uh, yeah,” he squeaked. He very deliberately moved my hand back to the steering wheel. “I’m thinking until our date things should stay PG-13.” He took a deep breath and folded his hands in his lap. “Can Naughty Melissa handle that?”

I kept my eyes forward, trying not to dwell on the word
handle
. “Uh, I think so. I’ll pretend Mom’s in the room with us. So…when is this date? Not tonight, I assume. We’ll be lucky to make it to Santa Lucia by dinner.”

Jason nodded. “Okay, let’s not make this too hard on ourselves. Tomorrow night?”

I grinned at him. “You read my mind.”

His teeth flashed as he returned my smile and settled back into his seat. With the rules agreed upon and time on our hands, I decided to start the get-to-know-you ball rolling.

“So, what kind of music do
you
like, Jason?”

He winked and rubbed his hands together, ready to play our game. “I like a little bit of everything—rock, classical, pop, but…” He paused and looked away shyly.

“Yes?” His self-consciousness made him even more attractive. Faint pink colored his sun-kissed cheek. I gripped the steering wheel a little tighter and forced my eyes back to the road.

“You’ll get a laugh out of this—my favorites are movie themes. They’re the first things I learned to play on the piano.” He ran a hand through his hair, obviously uncomfortable with his confession.

“Let me guess…
Mission
Impossible?”

“Now who’s reading minds?” he asked with a nervous laugh, but when I gave him an easy smile, he relaxed a bit. “I must’ve played that song a hundred times before Mitch burned the music. Of course, I had it memorized by then, so the torture continued.”

“I’ll have to change his ringtone the next time I get the chance,” I said. How I wished I could see Mitch’s face when his least-favorite song came blaring out of his cell phone. I wondered if I
would
get the chance.
If Jason were to move…

I banished thoughts of the future before my imagination really ran away with me.

The miles rolled by as we took turns asking questions. Jason’s stories about his childhood antics with Mitch were interspersed with short anecdotes from my past as a bookworm. Although we both grew up in
California
, Jason spent his spare time either playing piano or surfing, while I amused myself writing or skiing. We compared elementary schools, junior highs, and by the time we got to high school, Highway 101 brought us back to the coast in
Ventura
. Jason’s witty stories had easily distracted me from the tedium of driving.

It was back to me to ask a question, and I finally broached the one subject the reporter in me was dying to discuss. “So, did you play any sports?”

“Yeah, I was a real jock in high school. None of that sissy stuff like football or baseball for me,” Jason said.

I raised an eyebrow at him curiously.

“I lettered in tennis and golf.” His laugh rang out again.

“Not quite good enough for either Tour, huh?”

“No, I decided science was much more to my liking. How about you? Badminton? Field hockey?”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “No, I played soccer for a season and a half in high school and nearly made all-state as a goalie, if you must know.”

“What stopped you?”

“I dropped out mid-season my sophomore year.” I glanced at Jason before I spoke again. “That’s when my dad was killed,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

Jason inhaled sharply. He put his hand on the back of my neck and rubbed it gently. “I’m sorry. Detective
Clark
thought very highly of your father.”

“He was a good man. Somehow Dad arranged his work schedule so he made it to almost all my games. He really enjoyed watching me play, and I loved hearing him cheer me on.”

I’d been at a game when I found out about Dad’s death. I hadn’t touched a soccer ball since.

“I’m sure he loved you very much,” Jason said quietly.

I took a deep breath and smiled weakly. “And I loved him. I miss him every day.”

Jason didn’t speak again. I wondered if he didn’t know what to say, or if he knew his presence was more comforting than any words.

The harsh ring of an old-fashioned bell telephone came from the cup holder. Jason picked up my cell phone and checked the display. “It’s Linda.”

Glad for the distraction, I threw him a warning glance. “She’ll be on speaker.”

With a flick of his fingers, he locked his lips and threw away an invisible key.

Linda didn’t know I’d spent the night with Jason—at least I didn’t think she knew.
So what if she does?

With a guilty pang, I activated the speakerphone. “Hey, Linda, what’s up?”

“MELISSA!” she screeched. “He did it! I’m ENGAGED!”

Jason and I both flinched when her high-pitched voice pierced our eardrums.

“Linda, not so loud! You’re going to blow out my speaker,” I said, trying not to scream myself. “So the bouquet worked its magic for you?”

“Of course it did! I wish you could see my ring, Melissa. It’s huge! And gorgeous! And absolutely PERFECT!” she yelled.

“Calm down. Start from the beginning.”

Jason rubbed his ear, trying to recover from Linda’s screaming.

“Okay, okay. So let me think. You left before Mitch and Ann did, right?” She didn’t wait for an answer and plowed on, her words gaining speed as she spoke. “We all went outside and did the birdseed thing.
Ann’ll
be picking that stuff out of her hair for a week! Anyway, she and Mitch got in the limo and drove off. I started to go back inside with the rest of the crowd, but Chase wouldn’t budge. When everyone else was gone, he raised his hand and
another
limo pulled up. It was for
us
, Melissa! Our own big, black limousine! I couldn’t believe it!” She took a breath, giving me a chance to speak.

“I’m not surprised. Chase is quite the romantic. What happened next?”

“So we got in the car, and Chase knocked on the divider. Without a word, we drove away. I asked him where we were going, and he just smiled and put his hand in his jacket pocket. Guess what he handed me?”

I looked at Jason, who shrugged.

Not waiting for an answer, Linda hurried on. “
Disneyland
tickets!
My favorite place, Melissa! He took me to
Disneyland
!”

Jason shook his head, and I chuckled. If Mickey had a spare room, Linda would move in with him, even if it meant polishing his ears.

“How sweet—” I started, but she didn’t hear me.

“So it was almost midnight when we got there, and Chase says in his sexy voice” —which she then mimicked, causing Jason to throw a hand over his mouth— “‘I know a great place to watch the fireworks.’ He led me through the park with a blanket slung over his shoulder. We were still in our wedding get-ups too. Everybody stared at us. Finally, he stopped at the steamboat—you know the one?”

“Yes, I know, the long, boring ride we take when we’re too tired to stand in line for one of the roller coasters,” I said with a groan.

“It is
not
boring! I love it. Anyway, the ride was closed when we got there, so I was trying to get Chase to tell me what was going on when one of the park employees came over, shook hands with Chase, and let us on the boat—alone! We went up to the top level, and he laid the blanket out on the deck, cuddling up with me. The fireworks started right over our heads!

“Oh, Melissa, it was so romantic! It was like the show was just for us. When the finale started, the sky turned white there were so many shells going off. That’s when Chase pointed up and said, ‘Linda, this is what my heart feels like whenever I’m with you. Will you marry me?’ Then he lifted my hand up toward the exploding fireworks and slipped on the ring!”

She was screaming again, and I quickly reached for the volume button.

“That’s wonderful! Congratulations!” I shouted back to her.

“But that’s not even the best part,” she said. “When the fireworks ended, Chase got that I-want-you-now look in his eye and kissed me like you wouldn’t believe. Every inch of my skin was on fire! When he tried to unzip my dress, it ripped and—”

“LINDA!
You’re on speaker!”
I hollered and looked at Jason. No longer able to contain himself, he laughed out loud.