Page 17 of Known By You
“What would you have picked for yourself?” I had to know.
“If I ever have the choice for Mexican food of any kind, that’s it. All the more after living in Europe and being absolutely bereft of options.”
The genuine distress in her voice as she discussed this had me completely charmed. “Guacamole is hard to come by there.”
“You have no idea.”
Dang, I liked her. She was just so… so herself. She came off as so closed and controlled, but it wasn’t like she didn’t laugh or have quirks. It was a silly thought, but I liked seeing this side of her. And I wanted to see how much more I could learn before we landed in LA and the main part of our mission began.
“Now time for our game.”
“Another one?”
“Obviously. While I’m the driver, we will play.”
She chuckled. “While you’re the driver?”
“Yes. Driver makes the rules. Copilot humors him. On a road trip, this is the way.”
I wished I could look over and see what her expression said, but the whole me being the driver thing meant I should do my best to keep my eyes on the road.
She hummed. “I accept your terms. How do we play?
Adjusting my grip on the wheel, I did my best impression of a man who was not overly excited to be playing a game with a girl he used to like.
Usedto like was the key here. Because now? Now we were friends.
Sure, she was beautiful in a way that stuck to my ribs and smart and capable and covertly funny and she was warming up to me faster than I’d hoped, but friends.
Obviously only friends.
“Nothing fancy. It’s twenty questions. Small stuff only.”
“I can do that.”
And we did. I learned her favorite fast food and that she had a little bear she slept with as a kid. She got me talking about a tree house a neighbor kid down the street had, and how I’d always dreamed of having one, but we didn’t have trees anywhere around our trailer. We covered favorite foods and movies and music and books, favorite parts of our job, favorite celebrities.
We stayed away from everything else—all the things that might make one of us shut down. It should’ve been pleasantly surface level. Should’ve kept us right in the sweet spot of a superficial get-to-know you that gave us additional comfort working together, but not much more.
Ah, the shoulds. They got me very time.
CHAPTER NINE
Elizabeth
My eyes popped open when I felt someone grabbing my wrist.
“Hey, sorry. We’re here.”
Kenny’s voice situated me to the moment—in the car, on a mission with Saint Security, and with Kenny Carmichael. “Here” had to be LA, which meant I’d slept for a solid hour. I hadn’t meant to conk out entirely, but the jet lag was still hammering me.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to sleep on you,” I said, unbuckling and gathering my things.
“That was always the plan. No apology needed.”
He slipped out of the vehicle, and I followed. In a matter of minutes, we were checked in and riding the elevator up. If we’d been in one of Jojo’s books, we’d end up in the same room and the hotel would be sold out. There’d only be one bed.
And I would… not be mad about that.
