I keep my thoughts to myself, beam at Jake with a smile as he stands to walk us out, and try not to
react in any way to the hand holding, even when Arrick’s grip tightens and he moves so close to me
that his arm rests against mine.
“We’ll drive rather than fly. I think she needs the time to think things through before we face Leila.”
Arrick pulls me with him as we turn to leave the office, lifting my black cardigan from the chair for me
and guiding me to the door.
“I’ve never understood your aversion to the jet; it cuts travel time by three hours. Why do you hate
flying so much?” Jake grins at his brother and is met with a shrug.
“I guess I’m just not as flashy as you. I prefer the simpler things in life. Cars that don’t require neck
braces to drive them, and keeping my feet planted firmly on the ground, taking things more slowly with
less possibility of death.” Arrick smiles at his brother, leaning in for a male shoulder to shoulder hug
from Jake, and a solid pat on the back. Jake leans in and throws a kiss on my cheek, slides a hand
over my head like he’s stroking a cat and waves us both away.
“Wuss.” Jake goads him, but Arrick just shrugs and pulls me out through his assistants’ connected
office. She is no longer sitting there but the doors are all open.
“Call ahead and tell them we will leave later today. We will probably get there late evening and stop
somewhere to eat first. I have some things to deal with before we go.” Arrick turns to face his brother at
the door and Jake leans into the frame casually.
“Sure. Have a safe trip and try not to let her off her leash this time.” Jake smirks at me cheekily. “She’s
a runner, and she hasn’t yet been chipped.” He ducks as I aim a slap at his shoulder. Gone is the
commanding bossy father figure, and that annoying Carrero pain in my ass is back in his place.
***
We’ve been driving for a couple of hours; idle chit-chat and evasion of certain topics has me staring out
at the passing scenery as rain makes everything wet, dull, and super shiny. Bored and listless as music
fills the car. We’ve listened to various radio stations as we travel and Arrick seems lost in his own head.
Nothing unusual there; he’s always been a thinker, someone who went quiet and just sorted shit out
while he drove us anywhere. I find it strangely reassuring to watch that focused frown, the gears turning
in his head and taking the quiet time to be still with everything. He hasn’t said anything for at least the
last half hour. The silence isn’t exactly awkward; we are capable of sitting without talking and not
feeling weird about it, but I’m dying to have him say something about what he’s thinking.
He glances my way when he feels my eyes on his profile for the tenth time. I’m trying my hardest to
evaluate how long I’ve been in love with his face, or if it was just always something I ignored. Taking in
every detail and trying to assess if he always gave me these butterflies and urges to feel gooey.
“You want to stop for food?” He glances at me with a frown, obviously unnerved with the intense way I
am staring at him, yet again. “Can you also stop doing that.”? He adds with a smile and I turn away with
a sigh.
“You’re not going to ask me why I’m staring at you?” I ask petulantly. “What goes on in my head while
I’m doing so?” I look back at him slyly.
“I’m not sure I’ll like the answers to either question, so maybe not right now. It is a little uncomfortable
having you give me these intense glares while I am trying not to kill us in a road wreck, Sophs. Rains’
pelting it down, the roads slippery, and yet I am only aware of a set of beautiful baby blues trying to
bore into my skull.” He slides forward in his seat to squint between the wipers as the rain seems to
break into a hurricane-style downpour and almost obscures the view instantly. I too squint out at the
sudden dramatic weather change and know for a fact he will make us stop now. His car doesn’t handle
well in the wet at the best of times, and even though he is a proficient driver, I know how seriously he
takes the safety of his passengers. The rain is forming shallow rivers across the road, and I spot a
couple of car lights blaze red as people in front hit the brakes and cars slide. People are crazy when
the weather gets extreme and it wouldn’t be the first time some idiot caused an accident from panicking
when the road is this busy.
“Sure.... There’s a fast-food place there, look.” I point through the waterfall view to a flashing
McDonalds’ sign on my side and he nods. Maneuvering us so we are soon off the main road and
following the signs to the car park, to get out of the worst of this rain. He finds us a parking spot near
the entrance and slides it in effortlessly.
“Get ready to run.” He smiles my way, pulling his jacket from the back seat of the car and looking
around for something to use as a shelter. “Stay there until I come around and open your door.” He
regards me with a cute eyebrow movement, looking about twelve for a moment before he opens his
door and disappears in a flash.
I try to screw my eyes up to see where he goes and jump when my door clicks open seconds later.
Arrick using his jacket as a makeshift roof and I slide up into the little shelter his body creates under the
jacket he’s holding. It’s over his head with one hand and he pulls me into him, so I’m molded to his
body, an arm tight around my waist so we’re both under shelter. I’m more than aware of how flustered
this little maneuver makes me, aware of every part of my body tingling like crazy, and how he makes
me feel held this way. Overly aware of the difference in our body types and how easily we fit together.
We make a mad dash for the automatic doors across the car park. I squeal as rain and puddles splash
up around me and my naked legs, in shoes that let everything in. Hiding my face against his chest as
we get into the calm interior of the entrance.
He lets me go when the door closes behind us and shakes off his jacket by holding it by the neckline
away from him and scoops my hand easily into his to lead me on. I glance down at them joined snugly
and frown. He seems oblivious to how often he automatically does this and tugs me into the already
bustling fast-food chain which is full to bursting with families and kids and crazy amounts of noise.
“I don’t know if we’re going to get a seat.” Arrick scans around at the seriously crowded restaurant and
then stops and points to a far corner.
“Table for two, way back there. Go sit down before someone takes it and I’ll get us food.” He lets go of
my hand and gently guides me ahead of him, towards the table with a hand on my lower back.
“A Big Mac.” I throw back at him with a smile and head for the general direction, having to sidestep kids
and squeeze through people milling around. Dodging hyperactive children on a sugar rush.
“I know... Same as always.” his voice follows me and then I lose him when I crush myself between two
large women and manage to secure our little spot, nestled right against the window in the smallest
corner ever. I sit down and use the time to take off my shoes and try to get rid of the water I collected
on the run in here.
I sit for a few minutes, using napkins to dry off my legs and feet, and do the best I can to wipe out my
shoes when he appears in front of me with a loaded tray and slides it down between us. He sits on the
chair opposite me with a smile. That gentle Arrick smile, not a full Jake Hollywood special, but still a
sexy ‘I’m hot and it’s effortless’ kind of smile. I never noticed before just how much his dimples appear
when he smiles this way. How much softer his face is, compared to Jake’s harsher angles and lines
and stubbly face.
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