Chapter 8

Gemma

My heart sank when Luke started the car and I realized what I had just agreed to. There was no way I was about to let him drop me home. What would he think of me when he dropped me off at my trailer? What would he think when he realized that I still lived with my parents, and what kind of a family I come from? If ever I was ashamed of my origins. He didn’t really know who I was. But then again, why did I care so much?

That was a good question. I was racking my brains as we drove in silence. The silence between us was comfortable. Neither of us seemed to feel the need to talk. It gave me a chance to think as well, although being this close to Luke was a distraction. I couldn’t stop goose bumps from erupting on my skin. I couldn’t stop my nipples from hardening. He had a strong physical effect on me. Probably because I had never personally met someone so good looking before. A man who looked like him could only have been a fantasy to me before.

Was that why I was so ashamed of my trailer park? Because Luke Stoltz was a good-looking man? Or was it because he had punched Big Mike for my sake, coming to my rescue in the most unexpected way? Or was it because I had been rude and snappy with him until now? I had also confessed to him that I wanted to get into med school. A piece of information I had shared with nobody other than this stranger. Whatever the actual reason was, or if it was a combination of all those things, I wasn’t going to let him see my house.

“I’m not actually going to my house,” I blurted out, my voice slicing through the silence in the car. Luke looked over at me and I noticed the way his dark wavy locks fell dreamily over his forehead. His face looked peaceful again. If he had lost his temper back in the diner earlier, not a trace of it remained now.

“So where are you going then?” he asked, not perturbed in the least. He just had a look of mild curiosity in his eyes.

“It’ll be great if you can just drop me off to my car again,” I told him, trying to keep my voice even so that he’d believe me.

“In the middle of the highway?” His voice was suddenly high-pitched, nearly about to break into a laugh. I could see that he thought I was crazy.

“I’ll call the tow company or just change the tire myself, and then be on my way. I will need my car at some point,” I said, twisting my fingers together on my lap.

Luke smiled, while staring straight ahead of him. “Sure, let’s go get your car and fix that tire,” he said and I licked my lips. I didn’t want to get into that same debate all over again, about who got to change the busted tire. He could do it if he wanted to, I told myself. Anything to get him to leave and get out of my life. I needed to do some thinking, set my life in order again. From the moment Luke had stepped into my life, everything had turned topsy turvy.

We fell into silence again, and I resorted to staring out my window as he drove back onto the highway. I only just realized that the sky had gotten quite stormy. Not that it was sunny to begin with, but now it appeared as though it was about to rain. A winter rain could only mean one thing, an eventual blizzard or blinding fog later at night. I shivered in my seat just thinking about it, despite the car being toasty warm.

“Looks like it’s about to rain,” Luke said, looking up at the sky through the windshield. We heard the crack of thunder just then and the sky split, with fat raindrops sliding down the windshield. Luke had slowed down and I breathed in deeply.

“Good prediction. Ever considered reading palms for a living?” I asked and Luke laughed. That laugh! Those dimples! It was getting impossible to think of anything else but how gorgeous he was. I nearly pinched myself to see if it was all real.

“Might have to delay the tire-changing plan,” he said, smiling over at me. He was obviously right; it would be ridiculous to change my tire in the rain. It would be crazy to even step out of the car in this downpour.

“Will I just drop you home then?” he asked and I turned my head around to look at him. We were on the highway, drawing close to where I had left my car earlier. Something in me snapped. I was desperate to stop him from seeing my house. Perhaps I was angry with myself for being ashamed of my roots, of our trailer park.

“Stop the car, please just stop the car!” I cried, splaying my hands. Even I could hear the panic in my voice.

Luke looked confused, but he followed instructions and slowed the car to an eventual halt on the side of the highway. Unbuckling his belt, he twisted around in his seat to look at me. I gulped when I saw the intensity with which he was focused on my face. The patter of the rain outside, on the car’s hood, was like a lullaby in the background. The trees in the dense woods on either side of the highway were swaying in the harsh winds. On any other day, I would have been more upset with the rain for ruining my plans, but today the rain had a soothing effect on me.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but do you want to tell me?” he asked, piercing me with his dazzling black eyes.