It had only made her more intriguing.
He lifted his phone and snapped a picture, the historic café and motel in the background, dimly lit by what was left of the moon. And in the foreground, Lauren.
He looked at the image on his phone and zoomed in on her. He took another screen shot of the zoomed-in photo and saved it. He put his phone away and watched as she walked toward him.
He thought about their conversation over dinner the night before. He’d loved listening to her talk about her job—she was so passionate about it, the way he was about baseball, about the guys on his team. Lauren had this easy way of putting herself out there, of hoping for more where her career was concerned.
He, on the other hand, was totally fine with being an assistant coach. It’s about all he deserved. Not many people got a second （or in his case, a third, fourth, and fifth） chance, and he felt lucky to help lead a team after his bad choices had nearly stolen baseball from him for good.
No one to blame but himself. . .and not really what he wanted to be thinking about right now.
“Good morning, sunshine,” he said.
“Are we ready to hit the road?” she asked.
All business, even at this hour. “Any more spider sightings?”
“No, no more spiders.” She looked a little embarrassed.
“Did you sleep at all?”
“I don’t usually sleep more than four hours a night,” she said.
He frowned. “That’s actually not healthy.”
“Sleeping is unproductive.”
He chose not to correct that flawed thinking and instead asked, “Hungry?
“No, not really,” she said. “We should get going. The sooner we leave, the sooner we get home.”
“And you’re anxious to get home?” The question was pointed, and it seemed to throw her for a split second. Will knew a lot about her family situation—more than most, he guessed. He didn’t blame her for staying away the past three years. Heck, even Spencer didn’t blame her. The drama with her parents was next level—they might as well have been on Jerry Springer.
It had to have been hard on her.
Was that why she was so cold? She was dreading Christmas at home?
She looked away and fidgeted with her necklace.
“So. . . breakfast?” He flashed a smile.
She tilted her head, giving in. “Fine.”
“Great! Grab your bags, and I’ll meet you at the car.”
“Can we just eat here?” she asked.
“Well,” he countered slowly, “we ate here last night. This trip is all about trying new things.”
She frowned. “And here I thought it was about getting it over with as quickly as possible.”
“Am I really that bad of company?” he asked, playfully.
“Not when you don’t talk.” Zing.
He noticed just a twitch of a smile on her face. She hit his fastball right up the middle for a single. He wound up for another pitch.
“Okay, okay, I see how it is. Maybe next time you want me to save you from spider puppies in your shower, don’t have your frilly pink bra hanging on the doorknob.”
“What?! You didn’t. . . ! Oh, my gosh. . .”
“You had, clothes hanging everywhere in the bathroom. It was like a laundromat in there.”
She was actually stammering, searching for something to say back.
Curve ball caught her looking.
“See? Isn’t this fun?”
“You and I have very different ideas of fun, Will Sinclair.” She smacked his arm, then turned, visibly embarrassed, and started back toward her room. She called over her shoulder, “I’ll meet you at the car!” Then added under her breath, “Jerk.”
He grinned. She was teasing. He frowned. At least he thought she was teasing.
Once they were in the Jeep, Will handed Lauren a cup of coffee. “It’s not a white chocolate mocha, but it’s caffeinated.”
She still seemed a bit embarrassed, though only slightly. “Thanks.”
“I figured we could put in some miles before we eat,” he said. “Do you want to look at what we’re doing today?”
“Does it involve driving as far as we can as fast as possible?” she asked. “Because that would be my vote.”
He glanced over at her as he put the car in reverse. “Do you know how much you’re missing in the moment by always wishing you were somewhere else?”
She sipped her coffee. “You think that I, in this moment, should want to be driving across the country with you?”