He said nothing, and if it hadn’t been for the slight tightening at the corners of his mouth, she might have believed he hadn’t heard her.
She removed the gum from her mouth and folded it in the wrapper. “Please pull off the road so I can get my things from the trailer.”
“You had your chance, and you blew it.”
“I wasn’t awake.”
“I warned you.”
“You’re like a robot. You don’t have any human feelings at all, do you?” She tugged on the bottom of the T-shirt, which kept hitching up.
His gaze settled in her lap. “Oh, I’ve got human feelings. But maybe not the ones you want to hear about right now.”
She busied herself trying to adjust the T-shirt. “I want my clothes.”
“I woke you in plenty of time to get dressed.”
“I mean it, Alex. This isn’t funny. I’m practically naked.”
“You don’t have to tell me that.”
Maybe if she’d had more sleep, she wouldn’t have felt so snappish. “Am I turning you on?”
“Yep.”
She hadn’t expected that. She thought he’d give her one of his put-downs. Recovering from her surprise, she glared at him. “Well, that’s too bad because I’m not interested. In case you haven’t heard, the brain is the most important sexual organ, and my brain isn’t interested in having anything to do with you.”
“Your brain?”
“I do have one.”
“I never said you didn’t.”
“Your tone implied it. I’m not stupid, Alex. My education may have been unorthodox, but it was amazingly comprehensive.”
“Your father doesn’t seem to agree.”
“I know. He likes telling everyone I’m badly educated because mother used to take me out of school so much. But if she was going on an interesting trip, she believed I’d benefit if I went along. Sometimes a few months would pass before she’d remember to send me back. Even then, she didn’t always return me to the same school she’d taken me out of, but she still made sure I was learning.”
“How did she do that?”
“She’d ask whoever she was visiting or entertaining to spend some time with me and teach me a little of what they knew.”
“I thought your mother hung out with rock stars.”
“I did learn a lot about hallucinogenics.”
“I’ll bet.”
“But she spent time with a lot of other people, too. Princess Margaret taught me most of what I know about the history of the British royal family.”
He stared at her “Are you serious?”
“Dead serious. And she wasn’t the only one. I was raised around some of the most famous people in the world.” Only the fact that she didn’t want him to think she was bragging kept her from mentioning the rather spectacular scores she’d received on her SATs. “So I’d appreciate it if you’d stop making your little digs about my intelligence. Anytime you want to discuss Plato, I’m game.”
“I’ve read Plato,” he said, with a gratifying degree of defensiveness.
“In Greek?”