“Hug?”
“Yeah, are you still freaked out about that?”
“I wouldn’t say freaked…”
Reaching over, Levi took one of her hands in his and held onto it, resting them on the center console. “How’s this? Freaking you out?”
“Levi, I already said I wasn’t freaked out.”
But she was and wasn’t sure how to pull her hand away without being too obvious.
He was onto her and every time she tried to slide her fingers from his, he held on a little tighter.
Turning his head slightly toward her, he grinned. “Tell you what, how about you just let me hold your hand until we get to the Verrazano Bridge, okay?”
“Um…”
“After that, I swear I won’t try to hold your hand again until we’re halfway through New Jersey. What do you say?”
“I think you’re making fun of me,” she said, but she wasn’t really upset.
“Maybe just a little.”
“This just feels…I don’t know…a little weird.”
“Is there something wrong with my hand?”
“No! There’s nothing wrong with your hand at all!”
“Not a big fan of intimacy?”
A million thoughts raced through her head, but all she could say was, “I never really thought of hand-holding as being intimate.”
“Well, for two people who are newly dating, it’s a step in that direction. So what do you say? You up for holding my hand for the next thirty minutes or so? I promise it won’t get too sweaty.”
Now he was really teasing her.
She sighed dramatically. “I guess I can tolerate it.”
“That’s my girl.”
And it was silly how much that little phrase made her feel better.
It was crazy how nervous he felt, but…he was.
And for some reason, holding Willow’s hand only seemed to amp up those feelings.
For two weeks, they had seen each other almost every day. She would come to the pub for lunch, or sometimes they’d go out for sushi or pizza, but every time they got together, Levi could tell she was relaxing more and more around him.
And maybe if you hadn’t been so worried about her relaxing, you could have gotten a grip on yourself.
Yeah, it was weird for sure. For a guy who was usually all about confidence and paying close attention to details, somehow he had forgotten to get his own feelings in check.
“How long do you think it will take to get to your sister’s?”
Okay, conversation…that he could do.
“About seven hours,” he said. “A little less if traffic cooperates.” It was a Wednesday morning, and they had already missed the morning rush hour, so he was hopeful things would go smoothly for them. “I figured we’d stop for lunch once we cross into Maryland if that’s okay with you.”
“Absolutely! That’s what I usually do too.”
“Really? I thought you normally flew down to Florida.”
“Most of the time, yes. But when we were kids, my father used to like to drive rather than fly.”
“Well, with three kids it was probably expensive.”
“Yeah, no,” she said with a soft laugh. “It was more like he wanted us to have time in the car–uninterrupted–so he could talk to us about the importance of education and then challenge us to all kinds of IQ and personality tests.”
“Sounds…fun?” he asked lamely.
“It was exhausting. I swear, I think the reason I hated college so much was because of him. He put so much pressure on us, but I’m the only one it caused a negative reaction.”
“You said your brother and sister were…”
“Miles is a doctor and Audrey is a lawyer.” She looked over at him, her hand still in his. “Prepare yourself to have to listen to all the bragging my parents are going to do. No doubt you’ll hear about some crazy, life-saving medical procedure Miles performed and how Audrey won some major legal victory.” Groaning, she shook her head. “Then they’ll both look at me expectantly and want to know why I still haven’t found a practice to join before reminding me I can move to Seattle and join theirs.” Another groan. “No, thank you.”
“So that’s what they’re really after–having a big family psychology practice?”
“Something like that,” she murmured.
“And other than not wanting to be a psychologist, how do you feel about moving to Seattle?”
He knew how he felt about it.
Miserable.
They were just getting to know each other and even though this was a fake relationship, Levi had a feeling a real one would be pretty amazing.
“There’s no way I’d move to Washington. I’m a New York girl through and through. Even if I didn’t join their practice, it’s not someplace I want to live.” She paused before explaining further. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s really nice there and I love all the food and the city of Seattle, but…I don’t know…this is home.”
“I get that.”
“Plus, I’ve lived on Long Island my whole life and I still get lost pretty much everywhere I go. And don’t even get me started on how many times I’ve gotten lost when I go into the city. Everyone tells me it’s so easy to find my way around, and yet no matter what, I end up getting turned around and completely overwhelmed.”
“Maybe you just need someone who’s good with directions to go with you,” he suggested, hoping she’d take the hint that he was good with directions.
“Donna can get us anywhere with her eyes closed, and I even manage to get her lost.”
Okay, hint not taken…
“Anyway,” she went on, “the reason I’m bringing this up is that I want you not only to be prepared to hear about my siblings, but for them to be a little…snarky toward you.”
“Me? What did I do?”
“They’re going to grill you on why you’re a bartender and how you should be aspiring to do more with your life.”
“Um…” At that moment, he realized he probably should have corrected her on all her earlier assumptions that he was just the bartender. He owned the pub and had worked really hard to make that happen! Why didn’t he open with that when he first met her?
“Personally, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. I think
