Bound to the Bachelor by Sarah Mayberry Page B

drifted his way. Her shampoo, he guessed.
    She glanced across at him, her dark eyes glinting in the dim light from the dash, clearly wondering why he hadn’t started the car yet.
    “I thought we were in some kind of a hurry to get to the resort…?”
    “Good morning to you, too,” he said dryly.
    She frowned. “Is it?”
    He grabbed one of the two take-out coffees nestled in the center console between them.
    “Double-shot latte,” he said, offering it to her.
    Lily looked at the takeout cup then at him before taking it. “Thank you.”
    He started the truck and put it in gear as Lily sipped at her coffee.
    “This is good. Where’d you get it from? Not the diner, because I hate their coffee and this is delicious,” Lily said.
    “I made it.”
    He saw her startled glance out of the corner of his eye. There was a small pause before she responded.
    “Andie told me about your coffee machine. Said you’d marry it if you could.”
    “I’m not the marrying kind.”
    Another short silence.
    “How did you know I like double-shot lattes?”
    “I asked Andie.”
    Lily had paid a lot of money for this date, after all. He figured he was honor bound to make it as good as he possibly could.
    “You did recon on me?”
    He slid a glance her way. She’d pulled off her beanie, and the back of her hair was ruffled. He took his hand off the wheel, then caught himself before he could reach out to smooth her hair.
    WTF?
    Wrapping his hand back around the steering wheel, he returned his focus to the road, more than a little disturbed by his own impulse. He was pretty sure he’d never laid a finger on Lily in his life, and he wasn’t about to start now. He definitely wasn’t going to start by smoothing her hair , for God’s sake. Like a freaking serial killer.
    He shook his head. He must have left his brain in bed this morning. Or something like that.
    “What’s wrong?” Lily asked.
    “Nothing.”
    “You usually drive around scowling and shaking your head at nothing?”
    He forced his face to relax. “This is a special occasion. I’m pulling out all the stops.”
    “Lucky me.”
    They subsided into silence. After a few minutes he reached out and turned the sound system on. Classic U2 filled the car, and he was aware of Lily glancing across at him briefly before focusing once again on her coffee. He reached for his own drink, taking a pull of full-bodied Brazilian Arabica.
    “So. Andie tells me you’re working at the printing works in town,” he said.
    “Oh, God. Please don’t tell me we have to make small talk,” she groaned.
    “It’s a long drive.”
    “And it’ll be even longer if we have to come up with a bunch of bullshit to bamboozle each other with.”
    He let himself look at her again then. “I take it you’re not a morning person?” he guessed.
    “Never have been, never will be.”
    “We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”
    “Let’s do that.”
    She tucked the now empty coffee cup into the center console and angled the seat back. By the time he was turning onto the I-90, she was asleep, her lashes casting dark shadows on her cheeks.
    His gaze lingered on her unguarded face for a second before sliding down her slim body. As he’d guessed, she looked great in ski gear, the stretchy fabric of her pants accentuating the slim athleticism of her legs. Not for the first time he wondered about her past. Not the stripping, but the stuff that had come before that. She was whip-smart, but she’d never mentioned going to college. She’d never mentioned her family, either.
    Not that he’d spent enough time with her to know what her usual topics of conversation were. He’d been too busy avoiding her. Keeping his distance.
    That’s working out real well, by the way . Congratulations .
    The rising sun was turning the world pink, and he reached for his sunglasses as it finally breached the horizon, momentarily blinding him. Golden light fell across Lily’s face and she stirred, her long legs