Page 68 of Trip Me Up
“I’ll see you tomorrow at the signing. Get some rest, okay?”
I tugged on Bilbo’s leash to direct him back toward the hotel. “I will.”
“Good. And Niall?”
“Yeah?”
“If you’re nominated for a Pulitzer or a Nobel, you’ll call me, yeah?”
“You got it.”
Bilbo led the way back to the hotel, his tail flying behind him like a flag.
* * *
I rapped softlyon Sam’s door in case she’d gone to sleep. Today had been a lot for her. For us both.
But she answered, wearing sleep pants and that camisole that drove me wild. My erection, which I’d finally walked off, sprang to life again.
“Thanks for taking care of Bilbo Baggins.”
She scooped him up and cradled him in her arms, asking him nonsense questions like he could answer as she walked into her room. I dropped the leash and let it trail on the carpet behind them.
She glanced over her shoulder. “You coming in?”
Without engaging my brain, my feet carried me into her room. The door banged shut behind me.
She unclipped Bilbo’s leash and set him on the floor. He ran into the bathroom and noisily lapped his water.
“That dog is dangerous,” I grumbled. “I can’t even tell you how many people stopped us to pet him.”
She laughed, too loud to be a society tinkle, but the music was still there. “He loves the attention. He’ll be so sad when…” Her smile faded.
My heart sped up. “When what, Sam? When the tour’s over?” Was there a chance she wouldn’t be ready to let me go, either?
She grimaced. “When we leave San Francisco and go to my postdoc. It’s at a tiny, selective university that does very cool things with computers, but it won’t have nearly as many opportunities to make friends.”
“You’ve chosen a small university?”
“Yeah. From Google Maps, it’s mostly cornfields, a little town, and the university. Nothing else for miles.”
“Sounds like where I grew up. Except for the university. You’ve got to go into the city for that.” Fuck. I’d finally met a woman who liked wide-open spaces and small towns, and she needed a world-class university. Enchanted Forest was the most beautiful town in the world, but it wasn’t known for its computing capabilities unless you counted the two ancient public workstations at the library.
“Did you like growing up there?” She rubbed one bare arm with the other hand, like she was cold.
“More than anything.”
“I know I’ll like the university. The key factor is that it’s a thousand miles from home and two hours from the closest major airport. I’ll finally get some space.”
I couldn’t stop the half-baked idea from spilling out of my mouth. “Hey, if you need space, we’ve got a couple days off coming up. I was planning to go home to Enchanted Forest and see my family.”
She grinned. “I still can’t believe you live in an actual town called Enchanted Forest.”
I shrugged. “It deserves the name. It’s the best place on earth. You could come, too. It’s quiet. You’d get a break from all the people. The stress. And Bilbo could run and play as much as he wants.”
At the sound of his name, Bilbo trotted out of the bathroom and wagged his tail.
“Oh. Um, I was planning to just hang out at the hotel. Get some work done.” She waved at her laptop on the desk.
