Page 2 of Gifted

“What guys?” Her head swiveled around, but I wasn’t sure she saw them disappearing into a pub.

The two who were about to grab you.

I didn’t want to scare her, though. I was shaken enough for us both. “Never mind. What were you doing, anyway? You were supposed to be with the group.”

“Oops…” she mouthed. “I was looking at the bookstore.” She pointed to a shop a couple doors down. “Then I noticed that all the windows are decorated with Christmas scenes. They’re so cute. And the more you look at them, the more things you see. Like little Easter eggs… Except it’s Christmas, I guess, and… Um…” Her eyes got big as her stare suddenly met my gaze. Fat snowflakes had started to fall harder and kiss her face, sticking to her lashes. “Was that…our train?”

I slowly nodded with a grimace. “It was.”

“Crap,” she whispered.

“Indeed.” We were stuck here now. For how long, I had no idea. If we got the predicted blizzard, it would be a while. I needed to let the group know I’d found her, then I needed to find us shelter. Maybe not in that order. We needed to get out of the storm that was escalating with each minute that passed.

Her hands twisted together. “I always wanted to explore Europe. But not exactly like this.”

“Not in a blizzard?” I asked, deadpan.

“And not with a fox, or in a box, or on a train, apparently.”

“Dr. Seuss is rolling over in his grave,” I teased, despite our shit situation.

“Doubtable.”

“Oh and you’re an expert on this?”

“I am.” Her lips curved into a grin at her quick wit. “I’m going to write a dissertation on Seuss.”

“You are?” Nothing would surprise me with the group of students I’d traveled with. For as much as they’d been a pain in the ass, they really were brilliant.

“No. Actually, that’s not exactly my field of interest.”

“What is?” I couldn’t believe we were standing here, staring at each other, while snow piled on us. Brilliant but not enough sense to get out of a snowstorm, apparently.

She eyed me up and down, then I saw her swallow hard. Was I making her nervous? Exploring her feelings begged to be my top priority, but I needed to make that call and find us someplace to stay.

“Math,” she answered, her perusal sliding over me and landing right where it shouldn’t. And that part of me, which also shouldn’t react, throbbed at the blatant look. “I’m very interested in math and how things come together to make new equations.”

Damn…

Had I ever, even once, questioned how gifted my brilliant girl might be? She would leave me in the dust, I just knew it.

“I better make that call,” I croaked while everything in me demanded I push her up against the building and show her exactly how two could become one. “Then we need to get out of this storm.”

But there was no escaping the storm inside me or the fact I was in big, big trouble.

---