How had the switch come on again? Was it due to some kind of peace or unfettered connection that had come from being released by the tears I’d released while ensconced in her arms?  Most likely. Or maybe it was discovering the surprising inner strength of our new relationship that had revealed itself during that moment in the club earlier, when we’d pretended to be simultaneously upset with Shane, and then we’d exchanged a ghost of a smile to acknowledge our minds had clicked into an unspoken understanding of jointly weaving a deception.

Even though I’d been watching her, I didn’t realize that she’d started humming until I could hear a melody escape her lips. Also, the satellite radio that she’d normally kept on was off. “You remember that song?” she asked, without turning her head. She was smiling, too.

I laughed a little. “Yeah, that was the song playing when I drove us from the beach to the Italian restaurant, the other night, right?”

“I love the melody, but I can’t remember the words to it,” she said shaking her head.

A deep feeling for her rose from somewhere inside me like a bird and it flew and perched on my heart.

She eased to a stop at the next light, and then turned to face me.

“I know what I did today really confused you, and all I can say is I have a long story to tell you. Part of it includes a moment in Vegas earlier today, when I was surrounded by pretty badass people, who had guns strapped to them, and I found that I didn’t care. The only sharp-pointed things on me were my heels, and despite the odds, without thinking twice I threatened them I’d rain hellfire on them if they reneged on an agreement that we’d struck.”

I sat up from my relaxed position and clutched her forearm.

“You were in Vegas?” I asked, as if that was the worst thing that she’d just said.

She nodded, and then reminded me gently, “Did you miss the part where I said I had threatened a bunch of gun-toting badasses? Do I look like the kind of person who goes around doing that?”

I squeezed my eyes shut as if to reset my brain. When I opened my eyes, the light had turned green, and she’d refocused on the road again. I said softly as I stroked her face, “There’s so much that I don’t know about you, Aerin, but no, something tells me you are not the kind of person who takes risks like that. Unless you had a really, really good reason…”