A Cross-Country Christmas(27)

She silently chastised herself for thinking so, forcing herself to become engrossed in the tinsel hanging overhead.

Dot appeared with coffee, or as Lauren called it “nectar of the gods.”

She took a sip, savoring the hot, slightly bitter goodness. She closed her eyes as the liquid traveled down her throat all the way to her empty stomach. “Mmmm.”

“Ooh, that’s a good sign, Dot,” he said. “You’re getting a big tip.”

The older woman giggled and walked away. Lauren shook her head. “You’re shameless.”

He sipped his coffee. “Am I?”

“I’m almost offended,” she said. “I mean, you’ve flirted with every woman we’ve encountered on this trip except me. Even Rosa, who fell for it hook, line, and sinker.”

Surprise skittered across his face. “Do you want me to flirt with you?”

Her face flushed. “No! I mean, of course not. I don’t want. . .I’m just saying.” She retreated back to her coffee, hoping it would help shut her mouth.

He took a drink. “Good. Because I can’t flirt with you.”

She rolled her eyes. “I know, because I’m ‘Spencer’s little sister’.” She said that last part as if it were a demeaning title.

And not your type. Too plain. Too bookish. Too nerdy.

“No,” he said. “Because flirting doesn’t really mean anything.” He paused and then added, “And because your Spencer’s sister.”

Her laugh was so soft, he probably missed it. “I mean, it kind of does.” She paused. “Mean something. You know, flirting. It means a lot more to people who don’t experience it often, that’s for sure.”

She had his full attention now, and she felt a little too raw to enjoy it. She wished she could find a way to change the subject, but her mind had gone blank.

“I get that,” he said. “But for me it’s just a conversation and a few extra smiles. I like people.”

“You like women,” she corrected, but even as she said it, she thought of injured Jackson Pope and his mom. She wasn’t being fair.

He looked away.

“Sorry,” she said. “That’s not accurate.”

The hopeful look on his face when he met her eyes turned her insides out. Did Will actually care what she thought of him? He held her gaze so long she felt the red flag unfurl again.

“Well, at any rate, I can’t flirt with you,” he said. “Because there’s nothing casual about you.”

“What does that mean?” She resisted the impulse to tell him she only dated casually because that was the safest thing. She was a little too eager to prove him wrong—why? So he’d agree to flirt with her? Good grief, she really needed to pull it together.

He didn’t need to know that the guys she’d dated were the ones she was sure to never fall in love with. The ones who could never break her heart. It wasn’t his business, and he undoubtedly didn’t care anyway.

“Please, Lauren,” Will said. “You know you’re not the kind of girl you date.”

“Ouch.”

He leveled her gaze. “You’re the kind of girl you marry.”

She nearly choked on her coffee.

He’d said it so simply, like it was obvious, like it was the only thing that made sense. But he had no idea what those words did to her.

“You didn’t date a lot in high school, right?” he asked.

Her mind flashed back to her never-ending crush on the boy who had turned into the man sitting across from her. She shook her head, hoping he couldn’t read her mind, trying desperately not to be humiliated by this little trip down memory lane.

“Why do you think that is?”

She scoffed. “Because I was a loser?”

He frowned. “Because you were too good for the guys in high school and they knew it. You were completely out of their league.”

“Ha, right.”

“Lauren, nobody was going to date a girl like you when all they wanted was one thing. And they all knew you weren’t about that one thing.”

“Oh my gosh, you sound exactly like Spencer.” How many times had her older brother said the same thing? And why did the words mean more coming from Will?

“The guys also knew if they messed with you, your brother and I would kill ‘em.”

“Wait, what?”

He grinned at her just as Dot set their plates on the table. After she’d gone, he put so much syrup on his pancakes it made her teeth hurt. Next, he shoveled a bite into his mouth and finally, his eyes made it to hers.

“Come on, Lo, you didn’t really think we were going to send you to high school without firing a warning shot, did you?”

“So, you’re saying the reason I went to prom with my cousin was because of you and Spencer?”

He laughed. “Well. . .not directly, but. . .”

“And he was shorter than me!” she cut him off with a groan. “The photos were horrendous. I look like an Amazon woman.”

“Hey, Wonder Woman is an Amazon Woman,” he said. “Just saying.”

“Whatever. Her costume is totally impractical for fighting.”

Will paused, lost in thought for a moment.

“And if you’re trying to picture me in that skimpy outfit you can stop.”