Page 44 of Vodka and Violets (The Hamiltons)

She lifted her head to see him giving her a teasing smile.

“That’s got nothing to do with it. You already said I have a huge heart, and it’s full of love for you.”

“Yeah, but I still love you more.”

She tickled his side. “Nope. I love you more. I win.”

Before she knew what was happening, he’d rolled them over and had her pinned to the bed underneath him.

“I win, no question about it. I get you.”

“I get you.”

He nuzzled his face into her neck. “We get each other.”

She nodded happily. “We do.” She pulled her hand free and tickled him again. “And we get a gondola ride too. Although, we should probably shower first.”

He blew out a sigh as he slid an arm underneath her. “We will, but I’m not finished here yet.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, loving the feel of his hard body against hers. “There’s no rush. We have all the time in the world.”

Chapter Twelve

“Are you sure you want to drive?” Xander asked. “It's not that long of a haul to Summer Lake from here. I can do it in one go.”

“I want to, even if it’s just for the first couple of hours,” Tori told him.

“Okay. How about you call your mom while I get us out of Vegas? We can switch once we’re out on the open road – unless you want to drive now?”

She chuckled. “That works. I do want to drive, but you’re probably best getting us out of here.”

The traffic wasn’t bad getting out of town – it was midmorning, so it wasn’t too busy. Once they were on the open road, he glanced over at her. She was staring out the window at the barren landscape.

She turned to him with a smile. “I know, I know. I’ll call her now.”

He had to laugh. “I didn’t say a word.”

“I know, but I could hear you thinking it – and you’re right. I need to call Mom and let her know that we’ll be there by tonight.”

“We don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”

“I know, and I kind of don’t want to. I don’t want our little road trip to end.”

Xander knew how she felt. He’d enjoyed every minute of the time that they’d spent on the road together. They were living in their own little world, and he loved it.

“We can make another detour if you prefer. We could go through Death Valley?”

“I’d love to. Maybe after we drop this truck off. I’m feeling a little bit guilty that it’s taken so long. I had a text from Autumn this morning. She wasn’t pushing or anything, but I know she has to be wondering by now what’s taking us so long.”

“Yeah. What do you think, shall we do what we said? We can drop the truck off for Clay, visit with your mom and Russ for a day or two, and then take off again.”

“I do like that idea. To tell you the truth, I’m worried that Mom’s going to ask when we’re headed back to Napa.”

“Does she expect you to go back?”

“No. She even told me that she knows how I feel about being there. I think it’s just me – you know, because I don’t know what the hell I am going to do with my life.”

“We’ll figure it out. If I had to guess, I’d say that your mom will be supportive of whatever you do – even if that means taking some time doing nothing while you figure out what you want your next move to be.”

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