“Addie, would you mind explaining to me what is going on here?”
“Lia, don’t be mad,” she said. “I know it was just supposed to be the two of us, but Chaseyn—“
“Chaseyn? What’s he have to do with anything,” I cut her off.
“He thought it would be a good idea if we had a male companion come along with us…just in case,” she explained.
“In case of what,” I asked, hoping Chaseyn had not burdened Addie with any of the heavy details of his ancestry. She was naïve to the darker side of life, and I would hate to spoil her optimistic view of the world.
“Well, he didn’t say what exactly. He just warned that two unilingual teens alone on the big, multilingual, European continent might be easy prey for pickpockets and the like. This was supposed to be our time away without the guys, so I didn’t feel right about bringing Rob,” she went on. “Chaseyn told me all about Eli and how well you two got on in Amarillo over spring break. He set up the whole thing.”
“Oh, did he,” I said sarcastically, looking at Eli’s mischievous grin.
“Come on, Lia. It will be great. Now, you’ll have plenty of time to get to know the real me,” Eli said with a 100-Watt smile that could light up an entire room.
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“If I get on your nerves, just tell me, and I’ll back off. I promise. No funny stuff,” he assured, backing away, hands in the air like a petty criminal who had been caught red handed by the authorities.
“Fine. But just remember to keep your hands to yourself.”
“Okay,” he paused before continuing on. “But if things get a little…frosty, I’ll be here to warm the situation.”
Eli poked my ribs with his elbow when he said this last part, just in case I missed the double entendre.
“Ha, ha,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Very funny.”
“Am I missing something,” Addie asked innocently.
“Oh, Addie, be thankful,” I assured.
As the plane began to board, Addie locked her arm in mine and began skipping cheerfully toward the line.
“Ready for our first big adventure,” she asked both Eli and I.
“You have no idea,” we answered in unison.
Breathless Page 27
