“Get one. Sooner or later, you’re bound to want to come along.”
Dazzled by the thought, Darcy tripped over a piece of driftwood and would have fallen had Griffin not kept her on her feet. The man was going to flit all over the world, but she couldn’t be his traveling companion. That wasn’t any contrived barrier either. It was simply the way things were, and what they spelled was disaster.
Chapter Seven
Griffin surprised Darcy by wanting to make soft tacos for supper. While she browned the ground turkey, he chopped and diced lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and sliced an avocado. After completing that chore, he grated a whole block of cheddar cheese.
“How’s the turkey coming along?” he asked.
“I just added the spices, and it’s sizzling nicely. The tortillas are warm, so the only thing left to do is slap the tacos together.”
“Please, they’ll taste so much better if we ease the ingredients into the tortillas slowly.”
He winked at her, and she was certain he had something other than Mexican food on his mind. “My mistake, but I like things fast and hot.”
“You ought to slow down and enjoy the moment,” he cautioned more seriously.
“Oh, I enjoy myself immensely. I just slam my moments together, is all.”
“Let’s eat and argue later.”
“Now where have I heard that before?” Darcy mused under her breath.
Her kitchen was so small they bumped into each other often, but it was far more entertaining than troublesome. “Would you put some ice in the glasses for soda, please?”
“I’ll be happy to, ma’am.”
Darcy observed in amazement as Griffin not only popped the ice from the trays, but refilled them and put them back in her freezer. She’d never expected to meet a man who would bother to refill her ice cube trays, and yet here he was. It made her heart flutter.
As soon as Griffin had poured the sodas, she ladled the meat onto the tortillas and handed them to him to assemble. “I can’t eat more than two. What about you?”
“I’ll start with four and count when I’m finished, but you should have enough salad stuff left to last you until I get back.”
“I’ll take care to make it last.” Darcy carried her plate and soda out to the oak table, and Griffin followed. “Will the Seattle folks keep you as well-fed?”
Griffin sat and took a bite of taco and a sip of soda before he replied. “They’ll try, but the company won’t be nearly as interesting.”
Darcy slouched down in her chair to run her toe up his leg. “Am I merely interesting? A history professor might be deemed an interesting companion.”
“True. Perhaps it was a poor choice of words.” Griffin was well into his second taco before he spoke again. “How’s provocative?”
“Makes me wish we were in a restaurant where I could slip under the tablecloth to tease you a bit.”
“Darcy MacLeod, you astonish me, but as long as you like me, I’ll not complain.” For the last hour, he had laughed so often there was no hint of the angry man who’d stormed into Defy the World that afternoon and demanded to take immediate delivery on an iron fish sculpture.
“What’s not to like?” Darcy purred.
“You’ll find out soon enough. Fortunately, I’ll be gone fairly often until I complete this season’s concert schedule, and you might actually learn to miss me.”
Darcy pushed a bite of avocado back into her taco. She was still on her first while he was halfway through his third. He’d bought the groceries, however, and had every right to enjoy them. When he filled the whole house with his presence, it was ever so nice that he was again in a playful mood.
Although she still believed it was a good thing she couldn’t accompany him on the Seattle trip, where surely she would be shunted aside and ignored by his adoring fans. “Do you usually take your women with you when you travel?” she asked, while attempting to appear fascinated by her taco rather than his reply.
Griffin wiped his hands on a paper napkin and reached for another. “I don’t have a posse of women. I already told you, the women I’ve dated have failed to grow any fonder of me while I’ve been away.”
“None traveled with you?”
Griffin caught her gaze and held it. “No. You’re the only one I’ve ever invited to come along.”