Erik turned left onto Route 2 approaching Flathead National Forest, and with a flat, straight piece of road up ahead, it was the perfect opportunity for him to slow down a little and steal glances at her as he drove along.
Her neck was tilted far over to the side so that her head rested on the window and her hands were folded lightly in her lap, on top of crossed knees. He flicked his glance back over to her neck again; it was graceful and long for someone so short, and the way she was leaning on the window caused it to stretch at an elegant angle. Like Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina, Jenny’s favorite movie. Only Kat had lighter, longer hair, which was pulled back behind her ear into a ponytail. He flicked his gaze to the perfect, pink shell of her ear before turning his attention back to the road.
There was something really vulnerable and trusting about her sleeping beside him that roused his protective instincts again. It’s not like she really knew him. Clearly, she trusted Ingrid’s judgment, but for all she knew personally, he could be a shady character, yet she was sleeping peacefully right next to him. What would it be like to trust people that much? She could sure get into a lot of trouble leaving herself so unprotected.
He looked over at her again and caught the flutter of her pulse in her neck. Like a beacon demanding his attention, he couldn’t seem to help glancing over twice more in quick succession, fascinated by its strong, smooth rhythm. He had a sudden, fantastic urge to stop the car, lean over and press his lips over her throbbing skin, close his eyes, and just rest there, feeling her heartbeat against the sensitive nerve endings of his lips. She’d smell sweet and clean, freshly showered, and he bet her skin would be soft and warm. He swallowed against the sudden wave of desire he felt for her, for this woman he barely knew, to whom he felt drawn, somehow connected to, like he knew her.
But, you don’t, Erik. You don’t know her. She’s little and fragile and you just feel sorry for her. She’s a winged bird, poor little thing. Stop looking at her and stop thinking about it.
His jeans still felt tight and he shifted uncomfortably, wishing he could roll down the window for some fresh air to smack him in the face, but he didn’t want to risk waking her up. He looked away from her, concentrating on the road, and tried to turn his mind to his upcoming job instead.
Adding the Montana Law Enforcement three-month program to his course load at the University of Great Falls had been challenging, but Erik was willing to do just about anything to achieve his goal of working in the Applied Technology division of the Montana Department of Justice. After three more months of on-the-job training in Kalispell, Erik would be an important part of the department responsible for the Standardized Field Sobriety and Drug Evaluation and Classification programs for Montana, training law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges in Drug Recognition.
Having grown up in southern Montana, living up north would be a change, but as much as he would miss his family, Erik had known for a long time that Gardiner wasn’t where he wanted to spend the rest of his life. Seeing his sister Jenny gather the courage to follow her dream, marry Sam and move to the city after a lifetime in the sticks had given Erik the idea to follow his own dream too. And living with Jenny had certainly made his education more affordable. Her rent-free cottage had allowed him to funnel all of his savings toward his education. But between his college degree, state course load, field training, and fixing up Jenny’s guest cottage in his spare time, Erik hadn’t had much time for anything else. Certainly not for much of a personal life.
That’s not to say that Erik didn’t meet a few nice girls at UGF, and being a little older and more buff than the younger undergrads didn’t hurt his luck either. He met this one girl at a campus event in the fall and had ended up seeing her now and then, but the relentless nature of his studies hadn’t left enough time for him to focus any real attention on her.
At first, she seemed okay with last-minute dinner dates and sexy sleepovers, but—like all women—she eventually wanted more attention. About a week before Valentine’s Day she called him to ask if he was planning to spend Valentine’s Day with his girlfriend. He had responded that he didn’t have a girlfriend. The long silence on the other end of the line clued him in to his mistake.
Well, the silence that had been followed by her high-pitched, furious voice; “I’m not your girlfriend? Wow. I knew you had commitment issues, but I didn’t realize you were such a jerk, Erik. You don’t have a girlfriend…then what the heck have we been doing?” She paused. “Forget it. Don’t answer that and don’t ever call me again!”
He had cringed as she slammed down the phone, but relief had come quickly. Erik had sensed she wanted to deepen things, but he wasn’t really interested in seeing her more, and he certainly wasn’t interested in getting serious with her. And the honest, albeit awkward, answer to her second question would have been: “Eating dinner and occasionally having sex.”
He didn’t understand why women couldn’t just enjoy a fun thing like an occasional flirty dinner followed by a night of enjoyable sex. Why did
