Men could be such idiots.
“Before she came to Colorado, Lexi made me promise that I wouldn’t let her get stuck in Scarlet Springs. She’s my best friend. She tells me everything. I know how much she hates it here.”
“I get it. You came to keep your promise.”
“You’re afraid that spending time with me will remind Lexi how much she loves her life in Chicago, and you and Austin wanted to keep me away from her. That’s manipulative and just plain wrong.”
His smile vanished. “I was joking. You know, ajoke? If you think Austin or I can make Lexi do anything she doesn’t want to do, you don’t know her as well as you say. Whether she stays or goes is up to her. Austin won’t stop her, and neither will I. But I’ll admit that I wasn’t excited about you coming here. Lexi has been through enough. She doesn’t need you making things more complicated.”
He turned and started to cross the street toward the parking garage.
Vic stood there in the heat, the glare of the sun almost blinding. She glanced left and right. Still no taxis.
Well, hell.
She called after him. “You’re just going to leave me here?”
He stopped, looked over his shoulder. “I thought you were going to take a cab.”
“Do you see any cabs?”
He turned and strode back to her, reaching for her luggage.
“I can manage.”
A muscle clenched in his jaw. “Fine by me.”
Vic followed him, dragging her suitcases behind her, her temper as hot as the air. Okay, so maybe she had been planning on campaigning pretty hard for Chicago—the tickets she’d bought for the Adele concert, Taste of Chicago, shopping on Oak Street, the beach, Lou Malnati’s deep-dish pizza. But she knew Lexi would be turning her back on so many things she loved if she stayed in Scarlet Springs. What were best friends for if not to keep you from making a big, fat mistake?
Vic followed Eric until they came to a blue pickup with a handful of bumper stickers on the back.
Support Search & Rescue. Get Lost.
Climbing: It rips the screams from your throat.
Firemen find ’em hot and leave ’em wet.
Someone certainly had a high opinion of himself.
“You advertise your prowess on bumper stickers?”
“Bumper stickers? I put them on my truck because I think they’re funny, not because I’m advertising.”
“I’m surprised you don’t have one that just says, ‘Hey, I’m a fireman. Want to play with my hose?’”
He laughed. “That’s pretty good. Do you want to play with my hose?”
She rolled her eyes in disgust.
“I’m joking! For God’s sake.” Eric jerked open the passenger side door and stepped aside to make room for her. “Just leave your luggage. I’ll put it in the back.”
“I’ll do it. I don’t need some big muscle man to save me.”
“Okay.” He walked to the rear of the vehicle and lowered the tailgate, then stood a few feet away and watched her, arms crossed over his chest.
She unstrapped the bags, and then lifted the smaller one onto the tailgate and rolled it into the bed of the truck. The bigger one was a lot heavier, however, and she struggled to raise it high enough to get it onto the tailgate. She only needed to lift it a few … more … inches…
Damn.