"It is not," I said. "It's a perfectly reasonable question."
Returning his attention to the road, he said, "Maybe I like options."
"What kind of options?"
"Like using the stairs."
From the passenger's seat, I gave him a good, long look.What was he saying?That he actuallypreferredtaking the stairs? As opposed to an elevator?
If so, why?For privacy? Or as some sort of workout regimen?
From the looks of him, seventeen floors would be nothing. Cripes,seventymight be nothing for someone inthatgreat of shape.
I asked, "You mean for the exercise?" It seemed unlikely. The Atlanta hotel had boasted a world-class workout facility.Unless – maybe that's where the privacy came in?
He replied, "You could say that."
It felt like yet another non-answer, but I didn’t want to push the issue, not when I was dying to ask something more pressing. "Back to the shirt," I said, "I still don't understand. Why didn't you have time to go to the hotel room?" I cleared my throat. "Meaningmyhotel room, not yours."
And certainly not ours, as interesting as that sounded.
He said, "I was busy."
"Doing what?"
"Trust me, you don't want to know."
Probably that was the worst thing he could've said. Because now, Ireallywanted to know, even more so than before.
I said, "I do, too."
Jack shook his head. "You justthinkyou do."
I wasn't buying it."You realize that if youdon'ttell me, I'll just think it's something way worse than whatever it is."
"I doubt it."
"So what doesthatmean?" I asked. "That it was really bad?"
"All right, if you really wanna know," he said, "ask me after the signing."
"Whyafterthe signing?"
"Because we're almost there."
This wasn't quite true. We were still fifteen minutes away at least. But hey, I'd waitedthislong, right? What was a few more hours in the big scheme of things?
I just hoped the wait would be worth it.
Chapter 38
Becka
In Redville, the book store was ridiculously easy to find.And why?It was because there was a huge line of people circled around the block.
From the passenger's seat, I spotted them from several blocks away, which made it even more surprising when Jack drove past the book store and kept going.
"Wait," I said, turning in my seat. "Aren't you going to stop?"
