“Oh, my god, look at these stalagmites!” Luca whispers excitedly from up ahead.
Nathan and I laugh.
“I was in a really terrible relationship before Luca,” Nathan admits, and we stop to chat, pretending to check out the small waterfall. “I don’t have the best luck in love,” he adds, looking at Luca and gazing at him adoringly.
“Makes two of us,” I joke.
Nathan pins me with a stare. “This thing with your brother feels different.”
I swallow. “I’m happy for you.” I look down and kick some rocks. “Really. He kind of turned into a workaholic after my parents’ accident, and it seems like he’s finally starting to think about what he wants in life.”
Nathan gives me a small smile. “I hope so.” He shoves my shoulder playfully. “And hey, if I can find love, maybe there’s hope for you.”
“What are you two talking about?” Luca asks, taking another picture of the waterfall before joining us.
“Oh, how Natalia killed her date’s cat.”
“What?” Luca asks, swatting my arm.
“It’s a long story.”
Once Luca is done fawningover the lava tubes—which Nathan and I happily let him indulge in—we head back to the hotel for a quick change before our lunch meeting with the owner of one of the local farms. I squeeze into a black pencil skirt and white blouse, throwing my hair up into a sleek ponytail. Nathan stays behind at the hotel as Luca and I wait in the SUV for Anderson. I flick through my book in the third row, finishing it and starting another one—an age-gap, new adult romance. Smiling, I hardly realize Anderson gets in until we start to drive away, and I hear his low, sarcastic voice from the seat in front of me.
“Are you ever not on your phone?” he asks, not bothering to turn around.
I scowl at the back of his head. “I enjoy reading. So, sue me.” I angrily jam a charger into my phone and hold it up so I don’t have to see his stupid head in my peripheral. Unfortunately for me, he turns around. I can tell I’m about to be taunted the entire car ride to the farm, since Luca is in a phone meeting with someone in L.A. in the passenger seat.
“Can I help you?” I ask, my voice annoyed.
“What book are you reading on that giant phone?”
Luca turns around and gestures for us to be quiet, so we lower our voices.
“Why do you care?” I whisper, my voice icy and indignant.
“Are you embarrassed?” he whispers, smiling. To my surprise, he reaches over and grabs my phone from me.
“Give it back,” I hiss, holding my hand out.
Anderson’s eyebrows shoot up as he whispers, “Just as I curve my fingers ever so slightly, she cries out and thrashes against me. I continue my pace, and then I slow it down as she lets out a giant breath of air. I slowly pull my fingers out, and after one last flick of my tongue, I look up at her.”
He smirks, and the shit-eating grin on his face incenses me.
“Give it back,” I repeat, my face heating.
“I didn’t realize you enjoyed smut. I took you for a literary fiction girl.”
My cheeks flame. “It’s not smut. That word, by the way, was started by men who were angry they couldn’t give orgasms to their wives.”
His eyes narrow ever so slightly. “Is that so?” He watches me with some kind of expression I can’t place—like he’s unsure of how this conversation is making him feel.
I swallow and look away. “Haven’t you ever read a really good book that you couldn’t put down?” I ask, changing the subject.
He grimaces. “Of course, but the books I like are nothing likethat.” His voice is condescending.
I grind my teeth together. “I helped publish books like these for a living, for four years. You vastly underestimate how many people actually read and enjoy romance.”
“I suppose I do,” he answers, and then he turns around, effectively ending our conversation.
