“You’re my best friend, and nobody demeans my friends like that. Especially someone who’s paying me.”
We kept meandering toward the door, and then he leaned in close. “I’m used to it. Doesn’t matter what they think anymore; I know what I’m all about.”
A sharp whistle pierced the air, and we turned to see Denver leaning over the bar with two fingers in his mouth. “She’s still on her shift! You can’t just walk out,” he said, holding out his arms.
“Tell Jake I’ll do an extra show,” Jericho yelled back, and that was that.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Someplace.”
“That sounds interesting. Hmm. The North Pole?”
“Nah. My nipples would freeze.”
I stumbled on my shoe and Jericho held me steady as we walked across the parking lot.
“Outer space? I’ve always wanted to go there,” I said, completely deadpan.
“Nah. The spacesuit would kill my image.”
“Disneyland!”
“Isabelle.” He scolded me with a tight squeeze. “You know I have an issue with people who wear giant costumes of animals.”
“They freak you out.”
“They do not freak me out. It’s just creepy as hell.” He opened the door to the blue truck and helped me in.
“Admit it, Jericho. Mickey Mouse makes you wet your bed.”
He snorted and slammed the door, walking around the front.
“You’re going to like this,” he promised, starting up the engine.
As we merged into traffic, I was underwhelmed by my attire. “I hope wherever we’re going, they’re not going to give me the stink eye because of my outfit. Do I need to change?”
In the dark cab, Jericho put his glasses on the dash and gave me a quiet look, softening his voice. “No, baby, you look good.”
I hid my smile and looked away. Jericho didn’t say it often, and I didn’t know if it was intentional. It’s when he called me baby. Not babe in that arrogant way some men do. The way he said baby felt intimate. The only words I’d ever heard Jericho call women were sugar and honey.
Never baby.
All those years apart allowed me to get to know him all over again. Jericho was still the badass rock star with the sexy moves, sultry voice, and sinful body. But last night he’d lifted me off the sofa and carried me to bed after I’d fallen asleep reading one of April’s books. I’d pretended to be asleep because I didn’t want him to put me down. It was such a silly thing for me to do, but Jericho gave me butterflies whenever he did the unexpected romantic stuff.
“How are you feeling tonight?” he asked.
I watched the taillights on the car in front of us brighten. “Fine.”
Then I felt him staring at me. “Isabelle, you haven’t talked to anyone about what happened to you. It’s not going to just go away.”
“It’s done with. What do you want me to do?”
“Feel?”
The light turned green, and he slowly pushed on the gas pedal.
“Feel what?”
“Something. Maybe I need to see you cry, and I never thought I’d say something like that, but it makes me nervous that you’re not making a big deal out of it.”
I gazed somberly out the window and knew what he meant. Sometimes people bottled up their emotions and allowed the contents to change them. Maybe he was afraid I’d run out on him again.#p#分页标题#e#
“Isabelle, stop thinking and talk to me.”
I sighed in frustration. “I don’t want to feel it again. Once was enough.”
He breathed in deeply and put his hand on top of mine. “I’ll let it slide tonight, but we’re going to talk about it someday. If I have to get you rip-roaring drunk, we’re talking.”
I snorted. “I don’t get drunk.”
“No, you get tipsy and dance.”
“Now you’re just making things up.”
Jericho turned his head slowly and arched his eyebrow. “Oh? What exactly were you doing in that bistro? You remember the one. We swung by there after hitting four bars.”
“For your information, it was three bars, and I was just along for the ride. The bistro served amazing sandwiches and I was merely showing a physical display of my gratitude.”
“Dancing.”
“I’m going to disagree for five hundred, Alex. I was… moving in an exuberant manner.”
Jericho chuckled and turned the corner. “You were shaking your butt, snapping your fingers, and singing a song about what was in your sandwich.”
“I don’t recollect that part.”
Jericho began singing in a raspy voice:
I got a ham and cheese,
and it’s good to me.
Because it satisfies all my needs,