Still, I had to know, "Is that what you want?"
"Yes." Her shoulders sagged. "And no."
"I know the feeling."
She whirled in her seat to face me. "No you don't. You have no idea how I feel." She sighed. "Look, I'm really thankful for what you did, I mean as far as the pictures and everything else. Truly, I am. But do you realize, you've been treating me like a pariah for most of the trip?"
She was wrong.She was no pariah. But shewasother things – a temptation, a distraction, a complication. She was the thing that kept me up at night, and the person who made me smile when I was supposed to be getting serious.
And she noticed far more than she should.
I replied, "It wasn't my intention."
"It was, too," she said. "You practically admitted it, remember? You told me flat-out that you didn't want to encourage me, or however you put it."
Wrong again."No. What I said was, I didn't want to encourage myself."
"Well it must be nice to have that kind of luxury."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning you avoid me for days, then turn on the charm for like two whole hours, and then all of sudden, you announce that you're sending me away." She shook her head. "I don't get it. I'dneverdo that to you. I'd never do that to anyone."
I believed her.But that didn't change a thing. "You would if you were me."
"And why's that?"
"Maybe I'm looking out for you."
"Do you realize, you've been 'looking out for me' ever since we met?" She made a sound of frustration. "Has it ever occurred to you that I don't need looking out for?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because it's not true. Weallneed that."
"Oh, really?" Her tone grew sarcastic. "Doyou?"
"I'm different."
"Yeah, no kidding."
"And," I said, "if you think I'mnotgonna look out for you, you're crazy."
"Well, I may be crazy," she said, "but I still don't want to be treated like a child."
From the driver's seat, I gave her a good, long look.She was no child.
Far from it.
Her lips were full, and her curves were sweet. And her eyes – brown with flecks of gold – made me want to yank her into my arms and prove to her how terribly wrong she was.
But this wouldn’t be doing her any favors. So instead, I replied, "I'm not treating you like a child. I'm treating you like something else."
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Someone worthy of protection." I leaned toward her. "You think I act this way with everyone?"
