After a moment she pulled the door open and gave him a sleepy smile, looking more cute than usual, all dressed up in hiking clothes. Along with the sexy fitting pants, she wore a baby blue tank top that flattered her curves and made her skin look as soft as he remembered it feeling.
“Good morning,” she greeted him through a tired and slightly raspy voice, before covering her mouth to stifle a small yawn.
It was terribly endearing, and he couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward to kiss her cheek, then speak in her ear.
“Your morning voice is sexy.”
She laughed. “You’re funny. I don’t know what it is, but I always sound like a smoker after I wake up.”
He stooped down to pick up her pack. “Did you just get up?”
“About fifteen minutes ago.” She smirked. “How long have you been awake?”
“Are you kidding? I was so excited to see you that I didn’t even sleep.”
Samantha chortled as she pulled the door closed and locked it. “You’re a total fibber. Unbelievably cute, but still a total fibber.”
* * *
As they made their way out of town, Samantha sipped quietly on a coffee, staring ahead blankly, still looking pretty tired. Nick marginally noticed her presence in the car as he settled into a Zen-like state and navigated the minimal early morning city traffic until they passed through the southwestern city limits and Samantha began chatting him up.
“So,” she began. “How was the food critic?”
His eyes grew wide as he was shaken out of his driving trance.
It wasn’t an accusation. She wasn’t grilling him. Samantha didn’t know what he’d done, and he knew that.
Furthermore, even if for some reason she did know, it wouldn’t have mattered. He wasn’twithSamantha. He didn’t need to feel guilty or weird about it.
And yet, he did.
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and cleared his throat, as he made sure to avoid looking at her at all costs. “It went well. She uh, she liked everything about the restaurant.”
“That’s great!” Samantha exclaimed in an excited voice. “I guess your place is going to be famous now, huh?”
He smiled, still not looking at her; still feeling weird. “I sure hope so.”
“Oh I’m sure it will,” she went on. “I’ll bet you end up with some kind of reality show on the Food Network.”
He grinned. “You think so?”
“Of course! Austin is becoming kind of a destination city and Chapman’s is arguably one of the hottest places in town. Not to mention you’re young and successful and a total hunk.” She paused and he noticed her giving him a flirtatious look out of the corner of his eye. “You have major food celebrity potential. Even though you can’t cook.”
He chuckled and couldn’t help turning his face to grin at her. “The food critic said something like that too. Maybe you missed your calling.”
“As in, I should move to a big city and start eating at fancy restaurants just so I can tell people what I think?” She threw a hand in the air. “Sign me up!”
He laughed with her and then patted the top of her leg.
“You sure are cute, Samantha.”
“Nah. So! What did you feed her? Was it dehydrated hiking food?”
He had to laugh again.
“Oh yeah,” he teased. “I gave her the mac and cheese a la campfire.”
Samantha giggled wildly.
