Page 41 of Two Is Better Than One

"Thanks for coming to pick me up."

"I'm pumped you're coming over again," he said. He was smiling at me, and there was an edge of pleasure and mischief to his smile that hadn't been there yesterday. I was so glad to see that he was feeling better. He looked a little thin, but his color was back and I loved seeing that.

"I told my sister the truth about you picking me up," I said.

"What'd she say?" he asked. "Are you afraid to hold my hand, germ-wise?"

"No, I'm not," I answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

He opened his hand, and I put mine in it.

"We did this all day yesterday, so I better not be afraid."

"I was too out of it to think about that yesterday. I just wanted to touch you. I still do."

"Good, because I want you to, too."

As we were engaging in all this talk about handholding, we were holding hands. My senses were on high alert, and my heart was pounding.

"What did your sister say when you told her you were coming home with me?" he asked.

"I didn't say it like that, I said you were picking me up for work. Technically, you're working right now. She told me to tell Brooks your hours."

"I don't want to be paid. She doesn't need to pay me for something I want to do."

"If she doesn't pay you for it, then I'll have to explain to her that I just wanted to hang out with you."

"Well, then just tell her that you want to hang out with me."

His statement made my heart skip a beat, and then my mind skipped to something else. "Has Casey said anything to you about Summer?"

"About what?"

"About liking her."

"No," he said. "I hinted at it, and he didn't bite."

"I hinted at it with my sister, too, and I have no idea. I know she likes him as a person, but I… you're the one who saw them at the apartment. You said you saw something brewing a week ago."

"I was talking about how Casey looked, but he hasn't mentioned it to me. He's leaving in two days, so I'm sure he's got his mind on the job. He does intense work where he disappears for months sometimes."

I nodded because I knew that to be true. "I was hoping we could make those two see each other like that. It would have made it easier for us if they spend time together. But it doesn't look like it's going to happen. Casey's last day with her is tomorrow."

I stared at him from across the console as he drove, and I gasped when a thought hit me.

"Let's do something special tomorrow to try to make it happen before he goes away. He's working with her tomorrow, and we can set it up for tomorrow night. What could we do? Something romantic. Let's brainstorm about it. We can set up a romantic dinner."

"Like the Parent Trap?" he asked, talking about the movie.

"Yes. Exactly. I feel like those two are already on their way. Don't you?"

"I have no idea. I think of them both as people who can't do that. They don't have time for relationships in their lives."

"What do you think of us as?" I asked still holding his hand.

"We're people who can do it," he said. "That's why you don't need to lie to your sister about me working. I mean, unless you…"

"Unless I what?" I said.

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