She sighed and shook her head. “Okay, so no bathing suit. Where are we going?” He was certainly in a playful mood today. And his mood was contagious. She was quickly becoming entranced by this new side to him. She’d seen the serious and lover-like Drake. She’d experienced his teasing and business personalities too. But with all the power he wielded, she never would have suspected this playful, eager man to show up. If it weren’t for his rugged, handsome face and the enormous muscles all over his body, this Drake could pass for a little boy.
“Tell me what you were working on. You seemed pretty frustrated when I walked in on you.”
She started to open her mouth to explain what she’d been trying to work into the plans but then stopped herself. She wanted to do this on her own. Drake was a genius and if she started to explain, he would simply tell her how to fix the challenge she was facing. She didn’t want that. She wanted to figure it out on her own. “No. I’m not telling you anything.”
“Why not?” He eyed her curiously as he expertly controlled the truck.
She glanced outside the big windows of the cab, impressed with how high off of the street they were inside this truck. They were now heading outside the city into the foothills. This was only mildly concerning because there were lots of fun places to explore outside of Denver but she had no idea what “tracks” might be located out in this direction. The spaces outside of the city were beautiful in a rugged, sometimes dangerous way. There were lots of things to do outdoors if one could leave the buildings behind. That would also explain why her clothes were inappropriate. She was definitely not dressed for hiking through the mountains.
She turned back to face him, cheekily grinning at him across the expanse of the interior. “Because you’ll figure out how to get it fixed and I want to im…” she stopped before she could finish. “Before I have to show it to anyone,” she finished lamely. She didn’t look at him to see if he’d caught her slip, but she cringed because Drake never missed anything.
“Okay, so you want to impress me with your creativity. That’s great,” he said and winked at her when she glared at him. “But I’m already impressed. You’ve used some interesting materials that I wouldn’t have thought about so anything you do from here on out is going to further impress me with your skills.”
She almost glowed with his compliment. She wanted to ask him what materials he was surprised about but she didn’t want to emphasize the issue too much. It might make him think that she cared about his opinion too much and that could put her in an awkward position.
She sighed out loud, wishing things could be different. Why was life so complicated? Why couldn’t she and Drake just be friends? Why did he have to make everything into this uncomfortable, mind numbing craziness that made her lose control? She didn’t like that feeling, didn’t understand it. And even if she could ignore her anxiousness about the way he made her feel, she couldn’t betray him.
She looked over at him, impressed with the way he handled the increasingly rugged roads, his strong hands and long fingers confident on the steering wheel, his tall, muscular body relaxed as he drove. She should just tell him who she was. She should be honest with him. Was she being dishonest by not admitting that her father had beaten him and left him to die?
“No long faces today,” he told her firmly as he glanced quickly in her direction. “Today is a non-stress day.”
She had to laugh at his command. “You’re dictating that I can’t feel any stress at all? For the next twenty-four hours?”
“Absolutely,” he grinned arrogantly at her. “Unless it is stress I’ve created because I’m touching you and you want more. That’s perfectly acceptable stress.”
She laughed, feeling more confident with him on the other side of the big truck and a large console between them. She wouldn’t feel so confident if he were right next to her saying those kinds of things.
But his words did help her make a decision. She would have fun with him today, finish her project tonight at home and then talk to him on Monday morning, admit to everything her father had done and then move on with her life.
He’d probably fire her, she thought with more than a touch of sadness. And she knew he would be completely justified. One didn’t continue to employ the daughter of one’s murderer, even if it turned out to be an attempted murder.
“Want to talk about it?” he asked, reaching out and taking her hand which had been laying on the console.
She felt the heat in his fingers and shivered when his thumb rubbed against her knuckles. “You’re right. We’ll just enjoy the day. We can talk about stressful issues on Monday.”
“That’s the spirit!” he replied, squeezing her hand.
He pulled off of the highway onto a road that didn’t appear to be much of a road. There were no signs of any life this far outside of the city but people who lived out this far preferred their space. “Where are we going?” she asked, interested despite her wariness. They were leaving the urban world behind and climbing the mountains, the trees turning to pines as they went deeper into the woods.
He didn’t answer, but simply made another left onto what she wasn’t sure was actually a road. Or not a truck worthy one. “Okay, now you have to tell me what’s going on,” she said as the trees blocked out the sunshine.
“I ‘have to’?” he asked, looking at her with amusement lacing those intense eyes. “Why do I ‘have to’ tell you? And what are you going to do to make me tell you?” He leered at her with sexual innuendo. “I think I’ll enjoy you trying to torture the information out of me.”
Sierra bit her lower lip as another shiver of awareness laced through her. So much for the extra space and her ability to control what he made her feel! She tried to pull her hand away, but he wouldn’t relinquish her fingers. “Drake, where are we going?”
He shook his head, thinking she looked adorable as she sat almost next to him, worried and anxious that he’d just kidnapped her. It wasn’t a bad idea, he thought. Being out here for the whole weekend, well, he might just get her to admit why she was so hot for him one moment, then pulling away from him with fear in her eyes the next. “Nope. Just a few more minutes and you’ll see. It’s right around the corner.”