Chapter 7 #2
“Yes, but something is clearly wrong, Drew, or you wouldn’t be frowning.” Why did he have to look so good this early in the morning and smell good, too?
“I’m not frowning,” he said, turning to leave with her following in his wake.
“It sure looks like you are. Did I do something? You said to be ready to hit the road by five, and we have fifteen minutes to spare. So, what’s the problem?”
Drew didn’t answer until they reached his truck. He went to the other side to open the door for her. She figured he might be afraid she’d take a tumble again. Before closing the door, he simply said, “I hadn’t expected you to be a morning person.”
“I take it you’re not,” she countered. When she’d been walking behind him, she couldn’t help noticing–like she had yesterday–what a nice tush he had. He looked darn good in jeans.
“No, I’m not,” he said gruffly. “I might as well warn you that I’m a grouch until I’ve downed at least two cups of coffee.”
She lifted her brow. “At least two?”
“Sometimes three. Stay put. I’m going to check out and grab breakfast. There’s a stop near here where I can park the truck and eat while the food is hot.”
“I ate too much yesterday,” she said. “I can’t possibly eat again, especially not this early in the morning.”
He shrugged. “I’ve never known anyone who could resist Judy’s mouthwatering biscuits. No matter what time of day it is.”
“My granola bar and water will work just fine for me.”
**
Drew sipped on his second cup of coffee while hiding his smile. Eden had eaten two biscuits, a slice of crispy bacon, and a scrambled egg with cheese. She had questioned why he had been given four biscuits when she’d only been given two. So, he had shared half of one with her.
Now she was sitting over them, mumbling about how full she was, and that she should have stuck to her plan to eat her granola bar and drink water. He decided to be a gentleman for once and not mention that nobody had forced her to eat. He would have gladly eaten both meals without any problem.
“How do you do it, Drew?”
He glanced over at her as the truck left the rest area where he had parked the rig so they could eat. “How do I do what?”
“Eat the way you do, but without worrying about gaining weight.”
She had asked him that before, which meant staying in shape was important to her. He decided not to tell her that regular sex was a good way to burn off calories. Instead, he said, “I told you that I run whenever I can. While I’m on the road, weather permitting, I jog five miles every morning.”
“Even this morning?” she asked.
“Yes. I got up at three and ran around the parking lot.”
“But it was dark at that time.”
“Yes, it was dark, but the lot was well lit. By the time I got back to my hotel room, showered and dressed, it was time to get you.”
“No wonder you were frowning.”
“I told you I wasn’t frowning. I’m just not a morning person.” What he wouldn’t tell her was that when she had opened her hotel room door and he had seen how beautiful she looked, he had known it would be hard as hell to ignore her today.
“There’s something I meant to tell you last night, but you needed to concentrate on the road.”
“What do you have to tell me?”
“I called Sophie from Delores’ house yesterday.”
“Who is Sophie?”
“We’re like best friends, although my parents don’t know it. We’re keeping it a secret.”
“Why?”
She then told him the reason. “That’s a different strategy,” he said, taking another sip of his coffee.
“It was Mark’s idea, but he had ulterior motives for suggesting it.”
“And they were…”
“It would put him near Sophie whenever the three of us met secretly.”
He glanced over at her. “Why would your boyfriend want to get close to your best friend?” Drew felt he had been doing a pretty good job keeping up until she’d thrown him that curveball.
“The reason Mark wants to be near Sophie is because they are in love with each other, and have been since high school.”
“Come again? Did I hear you right?”
“You heard me.”
“And that doesn’t bother you?”
“Heck no. I told you that Mark and I are only friends.”
“This might sound like a stupid question, but if all of your families have money, what’s wrong with Mark and Sophie getting together?”
“Her parents intend for Sophie to marry Renard, but that won’t be happening.”
“Why not?”
“He’s gay and not ready to come out of the closet yet. But we think it will happen next year sometime, and our plan will work perfectly.”
“In what way?” Drew found all this rather interesting.
“Mark will pretend to be heartbroken because I chose to become a model instead of marrying him, and Sophie will seemingly be torn into pieces when Renard comes out of the closet. It will make sense for them to find love and comfort in each other’s arms.” She glanced over at him.
Her green eyes were shining brightly. “Now isn’t that a great plan? ”
“I guess. If everyone ends up happy.”
“And we will be.” She paused a moment and said, “The reason I told you all that was to let you know that Sophie found out something.”
“What?”
“My dad is intensifying the search. He’s hired more men.”
Drew’s jaw tightened. “Did he?”
“Yes, but Mark and Sophie are on it.”
He glanced at her. “How so?”
She told him the plan.
He nodded. “I hope it works.”
“Me too. By the way, Delores said your last name is Steele.”
He had a feeling where she was going with this. “What of it?”
“Are you related to the person who owns the trucking company you drive for?”
“Yes.” He hoped that would satisfy her inquisitiveness. No such luck.
“How are the two of you related?” she asked.
Drew knew that he could tell a lie since once he dropped her off in Memphis, they wouldn’t see each other again. However, for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to do that. “Andrew Steele owns the company.”
“Your father?”
“No. My father was Galen Steele. I’m Andrew Steele. People call me Drew for short.”
She glared at him. “Why did you lie to me?”
“I didn’t. I told you that the company had rules and regulations against riders, Eden. That is true. The only thing I didn’t tell you was that I am the CEO of the company.”
Eden didn’t say anything for a moment, then asked, “If you’re the CEO, why are you driving instead of being in the office?”
He got asked that a lot. “I love getting back inside the rig every once in a while, and I have an excellent staff managing things in my absence.”
She nodded. “How many rigs does your company own?”
“Presently ten. We hope to get four more sometime next year.”
“And you’re only thirty. I think that’s impressive, Drew.”
Why did her words touch him? Maybe because they sounded sincere? “Thanks. You still think I’m a liar?” For some reason, he had to know.
“Now that you have explained things, no, I don’t think you are a liar.”
He met her gaze for a quick moment. “Thank you.”
When she got quiet and began looking out the window at the scenery they passed, he drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Something was happening here that he didn’t understand or like.
He struggled with attachments and tended to avoid them.
Even close friendships had never been his thing.
His cousins, Harold and Lester, although older, had always been there for him.
So had his father, until the day he died of a broken heart, barely six months after his wife.
Drew would never understand his parents’ relationship.
His mother would deliberately give his father a hard time, but he had loved her anyway.
When she had been dying of a chronic kidney disease, Galen Steele had lovingly taken care of his wife until the day she took her last breath.
Drew swore he never wanted to love someone to the point that she and she alone was your whole life.
And he honestly couldn’t see loving anyone that much.
However, he could desire women and not love them.
He had never met one who attracted him with anything other than lust. He believed he was capable of loving someone; after all, he was Galen Steele’s son.
However, he felt that he was just too far gone.
Then why, for just a second, less than a minute, had he felt something strange, something warm with Eden?
Maybe it was due to her uniqueness and her beauty.
And more than anything, her determination to live the life she wanted and not let anyone dictate what that life would be.
She had spunk, that was for sure. More than that, she had fortitude, and he couldn’t help but admire her for it.
And there was the problem. He didn’t want to feel any way toward her. That was why he needed to put distance between them. And as far as he was concerned, he couldn’t get to Memphis, Tennessee, quick enough.