“No, I’m not.”
Lash let out an exasperated breath. He was not going to win this. He looked down at Bear who was looking at them, her head bouncing between them as if she were looking at a tennis match.
She was right. They weren’t together in the sense that they hadn’t made any commitments to each other. That didn’t matter to him. He cared for her greatly, and it hurt him to see her so upset. He was stuck between wanting to tell her that he cared and knowing that it would hurt her more when his job was done.
“Fine, you’re not mad,” he said. “Let’s just get going, then.”
“Fine.” She yanked open the car door.
It wasn’t until Lash settled into the driver’s seat that he noticed a fishy odor. “What is that smell?” He leaned over toward Naomi and sniffed her sandwich. “What are you eating?”
“It’s called a tuna fish sandwich. Haven’t you ever seen one before?”
“I know what a tuna sandwich is.” He started the car. It was going to be a long drive. “It smells. I don’t know—fishy.”
“That’s because it’s tuna fish.” She rolled her eyes and took another bite.
“I’m not sure you should trust the quality of the food that’s sold in a gas station.”
Naomi stuffed the last piece into her mouth. “Weakling,” she mumbled, took a swig of water, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “You don’t know questionable cuisine until you’ve tried Chuy’s chili. Now, I’m sure someone like your friend Megan back there couldn’t handle anything that isn’t gourmet.”
“You’re not going to let go of this, are you?” Lash threw her a glance. “I told you, she’s just a friend.”
“There’s nothing to let go of.” Naomi leaned back against the car seat, crossed her arms, and closed her eyes.
Yep, a long drive, he thought as he turned his attention to the highway.
Chapter 18
Lash pulled over to the side of the road as the car rolled to a stop. He scratched his head as he looked at the dashboard gadgets, wondering what was wrong with the car. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary to explain why it suddenly gave out.
Bear snapped her head up and looked around. Curious eyes met his.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said. “I swear I didn’t kill the car.”
Bear barked.
“Shh. You’ll wake up Grouchy.” He opened the car door, picked up Bear, and stepped out of the car.
As he’d expected, the last few hours since leaving Abilene had been pure torture. He’d tried to ease the tension by turning on the radio. She’d complained that news radio was boring, so he’d changed the channel to a music station. She’d complained that hip-hop was giving her a headache, so he’d turned it to a Latin music station. Then she’d accused him of playing up to stereotype in order to get on her good side, so he’d changed it to a country music station. Then she’d complained he was playing to a stereotype that because she was Texan she would like country. He’d glared at her and snapped off the radio, finally released from her constant complaining when she fell asleep again. It was only then that he would look over at her, entranced by lips that were slightly parted as she slept. Messy dark hair fell against pink cheeks tinted by the sun. It was in that moment that he felt drawn to her again. She was beautiful—as beautiful as any of the angels he’d once worked with.
Stretching, he looked down the long, empty highway. It’d been a long while since he’d seen a car pass by and even longer since they’d driven past the last gas station. The wind blew, stirring up dust in the vast flat lands of the Texas-New Mexico border. He could fly back to the nearest town for help, though he’d have to wait until it was dark. It’d probably be faster to see if Naomi could get reception on her cell phone. He dreaded the thought of waking her.
“Lash. Why did we stop?”
Crap, she’s awake.
He got back into the car, leaving the door open for a quick escape if he needed it. “The car won’t start.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” She sounded surprised.
“Of course not. I don’t need to use a car that much. Wings, remember?”
“Did the car make any funny noises or did smoke come out of—” Naomi clutched her stomach for a moment, swallowed, then continued. “Did smoke come out of the engine?”
“Are you okay?”
“Just answer the question.”
Lash’s chest rumbled a low growl. What is it with this woman? “No.”
“Then why is the hood up?”
“Because I wanted to check to see what was wrong.”
“I thought you didn’t know anything about cars.”
“I don’t.”
“So you popped up the hood to just stare at it?”
Lash gritted his teeth.
“Uh, huh,” Naomi said, noting his reaction. Her stomach made a strange rumbling sound.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”