“You’re saying you bought your friends?”
“In a manner of speaking, I guess that’s true.” He glanced her way. “Look, I know I was a jerk back then. I’d like to think I’ve changed.” He let the sentence trail off.
“A little.” Liz tried to say it straight faced, but at first sign of hurt emerged on Adam’s face, she started laughing. “Yes, you were a prick back in high school. But, so far, I see very little of that guy remaining.”
“It’s been hard. Leaving my snobby behind.” He gave her a crooked grin and Liz snorted. Adam continued, “But even now, I don't know who my true friends are. Sure, I have my buddies I went to college with. We're all kind of in the same boat, but to be honest, I'm wealthier than all of them. I could buy out all their businesses in a day without blinking an eye. At least, as long as I toe the line with my father.”
“Whoa.” Liz again wondered how much that private tour cost, and then realized, no matter what it cost, it didn’t matter. Adam Winslow was loaded.
“There is one friend I’m pretty close with. Blake lives in San Francisco. He and I do business deals together. But the rest of my college friends don’t ask if I want to go in on business transactions, even though they do things together all the time. So, I’m just this outsider.
“Even on this this trip, I can tell my money is an issue. Or maybe issue isn’t the right word. But again, it sets me apart. I know you don’t mean to.”
Liz put her hand over his. “I don't mean to set you apart. Your money makes me nervous when you start spending it, because I’m not used to seeing cash thrown around like that.”
“Let me spend it. Please. I have it, and that’s not going to change. What does it matter if I pay for a private tour? I just want you to stop talking about it. Stop mentioning it. Let's pretend we're the same.”
“But we’re not. I don't even know how much that tour cost because those things don't happen in my world, ever. So, I can't not notice when they do.” She didn't know how else to explain. “Adam, I’m pretty open. I talk about everything, so yes, I'm going to talk about your money. It is different for me. But then you have no idea what my life is like either. How I see it, we can teach each other a lot. And that’s not a bad thing.”
“You're right. I don't know what it's like to be you. I always wonder about that, too. What do people do who don’t have money to solve their problems?”
Liz giggled. “We deal. You know, if you hadn’t come and rescued me in San Diego, I would've gone home, fixed my car, started my business, and never come on this trip. That’s my reality. I would have figured life out.”
“Sounds hard,” Adam noted.
“So does not knowing who your true friends are,” Liz whispered grateful she knew her friends loved her for her.
Adam looked out over the sea again. “We should stop. Take some more pictures in our awful sweatshirts.”
She grinned. “Sure.”
They pulled off into a small parking lot on the side of the road and stood close to the edge of the cliff. Adam raised his camera high.
“Smile,” he said. And she did.
She sat on the edge of the cliff for a while, while he fiddled with his phone.
“The picture isn’t uploaded by now?” Liz asked.
He nudged her. “You know, you look a lot happier in this one.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“In the picture I took at the castle, your smile is forced. It's not here.”
“I'm a lot more comfortable now,” she said. “You surprised me with the fancy tour, and I had no idea what was going on.”
He laughed. “Sorry about that.” The gravel crunched under their shoes as they reached their car. “That was a pretty amazing tour though.”
“It really was.” Liz would never forget it.
They climbed back into the car and continued their drive to the next state park, which was about an hour away. They were losing daylight fast and would have to eat and set up the tent in the dark.
Adam pulled onto the freeway. “Now it’s your turn to answer questions for me.”
“Ask me anything.”
“How do you really feel about Tanner not coming on this trip with you?”
Talk about cutting right to it. She hadn’t expected that. She was good about talking about her life and things that happened to her. But talking about her feelings was different.
“I thought you were going to ask me about my childhood, my mother, my father or what it was like to have no money. We could also talk about how cool I was in high school. You know, the Snow Queen and all.” She winked.
“You said anything. I want to know what it was like when Tanner left you.”
“He didn’t leave me. He just didn’t bother to come along.”
“Same thing.”
“No, it’s not. He's got this huge heart and wants to help everyone. And sometimes it gets in the way.” Should she keep going? It did feel kind of good to talk about it. “I feel guilty sometimes because I feel selfish asking him to put me first. It doesn’t exactly feel great when your boyfriend cancels countless dates or bails on family events. I don’t know.”
Okay, that was probably enough. Adam didn’t need more of her ranting about her love life.
But despite her own advice to herself, she kept talking. “He works at homeless shelters and animal shelters. He volunteers at the library and at the county jail. He constantly has new projects he's working and raising money for. But he doesn’t work on my house when I need help. Sometimes all I need is to hang out and watch a movie, but he’s not great at sitting around and doing nothing.
“Most of the time I don't mind that he’s off helping others. I work a lot anyway. And I will even more when I start my own business, and then he’s going to have to be understanding of that, so I don’t want to complain too much. But, yeah it hurts sometimes. I mean I get it. It's his passion. Mine is cars. I don't know.”
Adam opened his mouth to comment, but Liz’s mouth still kept running. “Am I disappointed he didn’t come on this trip? Sure. Especially because we had a plan to get engaged at this hotel in Oregon. He was going to propose on the beach, and it was going to be beautiful. And now. Now we’ll still elope when we get back to Vegas, but it won’t be as real, I guess.”
Liz hadn't expected all that to come tumbling out. Definitely time to stop.
“All couples have things they need to work out, though. And we’ll work it out because we love each other.”
There. Now she was done. She’d never even expressed as much to Jenny. Though Jenny wasn’t a Tanner fan and Liz never wanted to fan that fire.
Adam didn’t say anything for a long moment. “It may not be my place, so feel free to stop me whenever. But, in my opinion, when you’re in a relationship, you have to put that first above everything else. I realize Tanner has a passion for helping people and making sure everybody is taken care of. But he is not going to fix the world by himself.” Adam cleared his throat. “I don’t think anyone can be their best self, and help make the world a better place, if they don’t make the ones they love most their number one priority.”
Liz nodded. “I agree,” she said quietly. “And when he gets back, we’ll figure it out. I’ll support his dreams, and he’ll support mine. We've been together nearly five years. We’re good for each other.”
Adam held on to the steering wheel tight. “You deserve somebody who will put you first. I hope you find a way to make him see that.”
“He does.” But as she said the words, Liz wondered deep down if she was being honest with herself. How many times had she and Tanner had this conversation before? What had changed?
Nothing.
But they did love each other. Liz was sure of it. And as long as that was always the case, they’d make it.
They sat in silence for a few more minutes, and finally Adam reached over and turned the radio on. Liz was grateful. She hadn’t realized this was going to turn tense.
By
the time they reached the campground, darkness had fallen. Adam pulled into the parking lot.
“Where’s all the campsites?” he asked.
“We hike in.”
“What?”
“Yeah, we’ll carry our stuff. Let’s go check out where the site is first, and then we’ll haul in everything.”
Adam grumbled as he parked the car.
“What’s the matter?” Liz asked.
“I just really need a shower.”
She smiled at him. “Me too.”
Their site was far from the parking lot, but it had a nice view of the beach. They hauled in their tent, sleeping bags, and air mattress, and left everything else in the car.
Adam went to check out the bathroom while Liz blew up the air mattress.
“No showers,” he said when he returned.
Liz grimaced. “Really?”
He scratched his head. “Where are we going from here?”
“Inland a little bit. Just outside of San Francisco. I couldn’t find a campground on the beach near there.”
He settled next to her. “Do you mind if we stay at Blake’s house instead? We can shower.”
She let out a breath. “Yeah, that does sound good. Sorry about this.”
“It’s okay. I get it. This is part of the experience right?” He gave her a tired smile.
“Right.” She chuckled.
“You wanna go sit down on the beach for a little bit?”
“Sure.”
She could use some time down on the beach as well. But in a lot of ways she wanted to go herself. Adam had brought up things Liz didn’t like thinking about. She needed time alone to gather her thoughts and convince herself that Tanner wasn’t abandoning her.
Chapter 10
Nona nudged Liz’s hand. Liz blinked her eyes open, disoriented. Where was she again?
She was in a bed. In San Francisco. Adam’s friend’s, Blake’s, house. He was a huge guy with muscles the size of watermelons. Quite frankly, he scared her a little. He looked like he should be doing security for the president or bouncing at a club. He did a good job of putting her at ease with his smile and temperament, but he could squash her like a bug if he wanted to.
She sat up, and Nona slipped out of the room through the cracked door. Liz slid out of bed and shut the door. They’d arrived at Blake’s house late last night. It was a three-story row purple painted lady in downtown San Francisco.
She hopped in the shower and then went downstairs and found Blake sitting at the bar reading something on his phone. His muscles were so large his t-shirt barely fit him.
He saw her and beamed. “Hey, sleepyhead. There’s coffee.” He pointed at the Keurig on the counter. His kitchen was modern, with a large island in the middle.
She went up to the machine and then looked back at Blake. “I don’t know how to use this.”
He chuckled and slid his chair out, coming around the bar to help her. He grabbed one of the small containers next to the machine, popped it in, and slid a mug underneath. Within a few moments, she had a steaming cup. Liz wasn’t one to want material things, unless it had to do with cars, but she might make an exception for the fancy coffee maker.
“Thanks. What time is it anyway?” she asked, sipping her coffee.
“Around ten. Adam left about thirty minutes ago. He said he’ll be back soon.”
Her palms began to sweat. She didn’t even know this man and she was alone with him in his house. “Do you know where he went?”
“Not a clue. Did you sleep good?” His face was so sincere.
“I did. Thanks.”
The front door opened and slammed. Adam bounded in. Liz felt her face split into a smile at his appearance. Oh, this wasn’t good at all. She shouldn’t be that happy to see him. He dangled a set of keys in her face. “You ready to explore the city?”
“Did you get another car?” If he did, they were going to have some serious words. That boy went through cars like Jenny did men.
“Nope. Just rented, but you’re going to like this one. Trust me. Here.” He forced the keys into her hand.
“What?” Now she was confused.
“You’re driving. I get to navigate for a change.”
Adam made a beeline for the door without looking back.
“I gotta go get my purse. I’ll be out in a minute.”
When she came back out, both men were gone, and the dogs were whining at the door. “Sorry, girls, I think this is a people-only trip.”
She pushed the dogs out of the way and stopped dead on the porch. Her mouth dropped open. “You’re joking.”
Adam leaned against the Jaguar. A 1967 E type. “All yours for the day.”
Her breath caught in her throat. No. flipping. Way. She ran down the stairs and flung herself into his arms. “Thank you!”
He held her tight against him, and she tried to ignore how nice this felt. The hug was strong, and warm, like he meant it and wanted to stay in this moment.
She hadn’t been hugged this way in a long time.
It was hard to ignore the rising feelings she had for Adam. Things were so easy for them. Though she considered she might be confusing her feelings for Adam and her feelings for that car.
She pulled away, and he opened the car door. “You ready?”
“Are you kidding? I’ve been waiting for this moment for twenty years. I have a big picture of this on my dream board.”
“Dream board?”
She waved him off. “Not important.” Moving past him, she slid into the driver seat and waited for him to climb in.
She readjusted the rearview mirror. The car smelled like old leather and leaded gasoline. She was in heaven.
Adam stuck his head out of the car, and after a few words were exchanged that Liz couldn’t hear, Blake said, “Have fun kids!” With a wave, he went back inside.
She started the car. The rumble of the engine shot goose bumps up and down her arms. “Holy hell. This is unbelievable.”
Adam laughed. “Glad you think so.”
She slowly put the car in drive and lightly touched the gas. When the car moved, she couldn’t help the tiny squeal that emerged. After she managed to compose herself a bit, she asked, “Where are we going?”
“I thought you’d probably want to check out the sights, so maybe we’ll head down to the Golden Gate Bridge then the pier.”
A whole day in San Francisco driving around. She’d thought the train would be the favorite part of her trip, but this one might top it. She still couldn’t believe she was driving a Jaguar.
She eased on down the street.
“Can I ask you a question?” Adam asked.
“Sure.”
“What else is on your dream board?”
Liz thought for a few seconds. She never talked about her dreams that much. Tanner and she had talked through some of the items on the board, but Tanner mostly blew them off as not happening.
To which she replied, “That’s why it’s called a dream board.”
Her father knew about the board and was supportive, but mostly he cautioned her not to be disappointed if things didn’t happen.
Adam pointed at a street, and Liz followed his directions. He was giving her time to think, which was nice. She wondered, would Adam Winslow ever entertain the idea of a dream board for himself? Then she remembered he had no idea what he wanted from life.
Kind of hard to make a dream board then.
What the heck, why not share it with him? Maybe it would help him figure out things he wanted, or didn’t want, in his own life.
“It’s on my computer. I’ll show you when we get back. But it’s things that strike me. Beautiful places. A few cars. My own shop. A picture of my family before my mom died.
“Chances are I’ll never have any of it. But dreams are what make me get up in the morning, you know? My mom’s dream was to do this trip along the coast again, and ever since she passed, it became my dream too. So I focused on how to make that happen.”
“And here you are driving your dream car.”
They stopped at a light, and she beamed at Adam. “Thanks. I never thought this would happen. This means a lot to me. I’m not used to people spoiling me, but you do.”
She wanted him to deny it. To make it seem like no big deal. She had no idea why he did these things, but she didn’t want to think maybe he had motives she wasn’t ready to consider. But he didn’t respond.
“Hey, Snow, what’s that?”
She wished he’d stop calling her that. She followed his finger.
“A 1965 VW Bus. Pretty one too.” It had brilliant two-tone paint, mag wheels, and was in cherry condition.
“You know what my mom called those?”
She glanced back up at the light. Still red. “No what?” She turned back to face him. He was closer than she’d expected, and he kissed her right on the lips.
She jerked back. “What the hell are you doing?”
He chuckled. “Sorry. I meant to get your cheek. Love Bus. She called it a Love Bus.”
The light turned green, and she tried to hold back the tears that were threatening. He’d just gone and ruined everything. Her mother would be so disappointed.
She gripped the steering wheel. “What do you mean?”
“This was a game we played when I was kid. Slug bug. Love bus. But generally, cheeks were involved. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you on the lips.”
A few tears escaped. She kept her eyes firmly on the road. His fingers brushed one of the tears off her cheek.
“Why are you crying?”
She gave a stiff jerk of her head. “I’m not.”
“Yeah, you are. What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” She tried to convince herself it wasn’t a big deal. But it was. He’d kissed her.
“I’m going to worry about it. Turn left.”
She obeyed and drove up a hill. Colorful houses with intricate woodwork lined both sides of the street. “Where are we going?”
“Presidio. Left again.”
She drove up a hill and into a pretty park. Large trees surrounded them as they drove through the park.
Roadtrips and Romance (Omega Mu Alpha Brothers Book 5) Page 8
