Page 8 of Falling for the Forbidden Fighter
“Where you headed?”
“Home. Lunch. Then work. I’ve got patients this afternoon.” A curious look comes over her face. “You got somewhere to be?”
I look out at the desert. “Staying at a motel about three miles that way. It’s on the same road.”
“Must be a crappy one if it’s on this road.”
“It’s not bad.”
She scans the parking lot. “Where’s your car?”
I smile, laugh, and shake my head.
“What? How’d you get to the gym?”
“I ran.”
“In this heat!? How are you getting here tomorrow?”
I jog in place and shrug. “Good warm-up.”
“In the morning, sure,” she sighs. “But you can’t be running when it’s a hundred and ten degrees out. God, we’ll be pumping you full of electrolytes. Come on, I’ll give you a lift.”
“Doesn’t that break your dad’s rule?”
Catherine narrows her eyes at me. “You think him or anyone else can tell me who I can and can’t give rides to?”
Hardness runs in this family.
“Nope.”
“Then get in.”
I can only hope that she feels the same about dating…
Catherine’s car is clean and new. It smells like her. She grabs a gym rag from the trunk before hopping in. “Don’t get sweat all over my seats.”
“Sorry.” I turn in my seat. “This is a really nice car.”
“It’s all right. Gets me from point A to point B.”
“I’ve never had a car.”
The engine hums to life, pleasant and quiet. Catherine rests her hand on the steering wheel, peering at me. “Are there any happy facts about yourself you’d like to share? So far, all I know about you is that you didn’t have parents, were stabbed as a teenager, you’ve never had a car, and got kicked out of the Navy. Are all orphans this destitute?”
I can’t help but smile.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I say. “OK. Happy fact?”
“Please.” She pulls out onto the road, turning up the air conditioning that’s already blowing ice. “Your life can’t all be all bad.”
“Well, today, I met this cool girl in the gym…”
Catherine sneaks a glance at me, biting her lower lip. “Happiest moment of your life, huh?”
I just laugh.
