Page 30 of Kiss Me Forever

"I'm a good listener."

He actually was a good listener, which she hadn't expected.

"Maybe you can't blame your mother for her opinion if you didn't tell her the truth," he added.

"My sister said the exact same thing, but my mother and I have a difficult relationship. She's very judgmental and critical, and I often fall short, so if I don't have to admit to a stupid mistake like picking a loser to date, I usually don't."

"But then you're protecting Doug and throwing yourself under the bus. You're letting her blame you for the breakup. How does that improve your relationship?"

"It doesn't. But I can't seem to act more rationally around her. By the way, you're very good at analyzing people."

"I've always been interested in psychology."

"And you use that interest in your games, don't you?"

"It helps to know what drives people to do certain things, yes." He shifted his weight. "Do you want to get out of here and find some food elsewhere?"

"Absolutely."

"Do you like Thai?"

"I eat it at least once a week."

"There's a good takeout place down the street from here. It's a hole-in-the-wall, but you won't find better Thai food in the city."

"Lead the way."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, after picking up green curried chicken and Pad Thai, Alex drove Andrea toward the freeway leading out of the city.

"We're not going to your house?" she asked.

"I have a better idea. You keep saying you want to know more about me, so I'm going to take you to one of my favorite places."

"I like the sound of that."

"I thought you would. And, no, I'm not going to tell you where we're going until we get there."

"I wasn't even going to ask," she said dryly. "But I hope it's not too far, because the food smells delicious, and my mouth is watering."

"There's no traffic, so we should be there in about ten minutes."

She sat back in her seat to enjoy the ride, silently trying to guess where they might end up. But none of her guesses came close to their destination.

Alex turned off the freeway, driving down a frontage road that moved past the bay and the airport. Then he pulled onto a dirt strip facing the southernmost runway and shut off the engine. It was a dark and isolated spot, and it was definitely not somewhere she would have expected him to take her.

"I know we're at the airport, but why are we here?"

"You'll see," he said. There was just enough light coming from the adjacent runway to show the smile in his eyes. "Watch."

A moment later, a jumbo jet turned and sped down the runway in front of them, launching into the sky with a roar and a rumble that shook the car, and then there was nothing but silence.

"It never fails to impress me," Alex said quietly.

She glanced over at him. "So you like to fly, I guess."

"I do, but when I first started coming here, flying somewhere else seemed like an impossible dream."

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