Forget the pants.I sat back in the seat. "I knew it!"
"Knew what?"
"When you gave me that shirt to wear, Iknewthat thing wasn't normal."
In the driver's seat, Jack looked entirely unrepentant. "Got that right."
I made a sound of frustration. "Do you realize, I wore that thing for hours? Do you know how many people teased me about it?"
"An exact number?" he said. "No."
"Forget the number," I said. "I'm just saying, there were a lot."
"Not surprising," he said. "The thing was ugly as hell." He paused. "Nice colors, though."
As I stared at his profile, I had the distinct impression that he was teasing me yet again. "I don't get it," I said. "Why on Earth would you do that?"
Before he could even to think to answer, I held up a hand. "Anddon'tsay it was because I needed a shirt. IknowI needed a shirt. I'm just saying, why didn't you simply go to the hotel room and get one of mine like I suggested?"
"Because I didn't have the time."
"You did, too," I said. "You were gone like forty minutes."
"So?"
"So our room was only ten minutes away."
At this, he turned his head a gave me a long, inscrutable look.
A smart person would've reminded him to watch the road. But I wasn'tfeelingsmart. And, at something in his eyes, a surge of heat crept up my face and then dipped lower.Way lower.And Ididn'tmean to my toes.
By the time Jack looked away, I was nearly breathless. "What wasthatlook for?"
"It wasn'tourroom," he said. "It was yours."
I almost cringed.Had I seriously said it again?
Into my silence, he added, "You had your own room."
As if I needed the reminder."Right. I mean, I know."
"And I had mine."
"Yeah, I remember. On the seventeenth floor."
"Right."
By now, I was so flustered, I didn't eventryto stop myself from asking, "And, why were you staying on that floor, anyway?"
"Why not?"
"Well…" I wasn't quite sure how to put this. "Normally people with your, um, financial means, stay higher. Are you afraid of heights or something?"
He gave a low scoff. "You realize, seventeen will kill you the same as seventy."
"Exactly," I said. "So why weren't you staying on a higher floor?"
At this, he turned and gave me another look, this one more serious than the last. "That's a funny question."
