“That might have been the plan at some point.”
“Gabe.”
He watched, smug satisfaction on his face as one of the shuttles pulled up, her hand curled firmly in his.
“Sarah. Will you go out with me today?”
She bit her lip to keep from laughing as he helped her onto the shuttle marked Epcot. “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe I should think about it.”
He sat next to her, his arm going around the back of the bench. “You do that.”
She giggled. “Didn’t we already agree to spend the day together?”
“Mm-hmm.”
She eyed him sideways, a spark of mischief in her eyes. “So, where’s your date?”
He growled. “How sore do you want your ass to be?” He put on his most dominant face, the one that never failed to make her lashes lower and her breathing speed up. “Don’t make me tell you again, Sarah.
Nothing. Happened. ”
After a brief hesitation her lashes lowered, her head tilting down in submission. Good. Maybe he’d overreacted, but he was damn sick and tired of hearing her call Chloe his girlfriend. “Yes, sir.”
Her quiet whisper was music to his ears. “C’mere.” He pulled her close to him, as close as the molded plastic seats would let him, and watched the streets roll by, content just to breathe her in.
Sarah stifled a laugh as Gabe settled warily into the “cockpit” of Mission Space. “C’mon, Gabe, it’s not that bad.”
He shot her a lethal look as he pulled down the harness. “You had to pick the Orange team, didn’t you?” The Orange version of the ride was a lot more energetic than the Green version.
She coughed into her hand. “Wuss.” He opened his mouth to reply when the whine of the ride started.
“Navigator. Cool. Don’t forget to stop and ask for directions.”
He grumbled as the woman seated next to her laughed. “Yours too? My husband never stops for directions.”
Sarah turned to answer just as the shuttle “lifted”, the G-force pushing her back in her seat. After that, she was too busy punching buttons and laughing like a loon to answer anything. Even better were Gabe’s muttered curses as the ride shook and shimmied, dived and soared.
“We are heading to Hollywood Studios and riding Tower of Terror.” Gabe helped her out of the shuttle when the ride ended, a fierce grin on his face.
“Is that the dropping elevator ride?”
“Yup.” He pulled her through the store and out the door, looking like an eager kid.
Sarah, however, was not so eager. “Nuh-uh. No way.”
“Yes, way.”
“Try no way in hell, then.”
He laughed. “I got on Mission Space for you. You can get on Tower of Terror for me.”
She thought quickly. She was not doing a falling-anything ride. “I thought we were going to go shopping in World Showcase and have an early dinner. Maybe we could watch the fireworks?” She gave him her best hopeful grin.
He didn’t buy it. “I tell you what. I’ll make you a deal. We head over to World Showcase now, have an early dinner, do a little shopping and then head to Hollywood Studios. If the Tower of Terror has more than a twenty minute wait, you’re off the hook. But, twenty minutes or less, and we ride. Deal?”
She looked around. This time of year there weren’t as many guests in the park. They hadn’t gone for a ride other than Mission Space that had a longer than twenty-minute wait.
Then again, the Test Track and Spaceship Earth had had a very long wait and they hadn’t even bothered. Maybe Tower of Terror would be swamped, too. It was supposed to be pretty popular.
“Deal.”
They started walking, the warm, humid air coating them both in a fine sheen of sweat before they’d gone very far. Gabe took hold of her hand, the absent gesture saying more than words could. “So, where would you like to eat?”
They walked over the bridge to World Showcase, landing in Mexico, and Sarah had a sudden yen for Mexican. “Oh. Can we?”
He picked up her hand and kissed it. “Sure.”
They headed into the San Angel Inn, loving the Mexican market set up outside the restaurant. Sarah browsed the serapes and maracas while Gabe got their pager.
“About a half-an-hour wait until they can seat us. I thought we might shop.”
“And you said it without shuddering, too!” She patted his head, laughing when he rolled his eyes.
He picked up her hand and took her into one of the shops, smiling indulgently as she oohed and aahed over the turquoise and opal jewelry. Then he took her on the indoor boat ride, holding her hand as they chased a video Donald through Mexico.
It was all so normal Sarah had a hard time believing it wasn’t another dream.
When the pager went off Sarah was starving. They settled in, sharing a delicious meal of sangria and grilled fish. Yum. Pleasantly buzzed from dinner they made their way back into the World Showcase.
“Where would you like to shop first?”
She grinned up at Gabe, wondering if this too was a dream. “Italy. I want some Murano glass.”
“Italy it is.”
“And I want to stop in Japan and look at the Mikimoto pearls.”
His smile was beginning to look strained. It was quite a hike from Mexico to Japan. “Okay.”
“Oh! And I want to hit Morocco.”
“With what?”
She laughed, swinging their hands as she practically skipped along the sidewalk, too happy to care about the differences between dreams and harsh realities.
Sarah grimaced as she stared at the sign next to the entrance of the Tower of Terror. “Fifteen-minute wait.”
He gave her a ferocious grin, knowing he was as good as on the ride. “We had a deal.”
“I know.”
She sounded so disgusted he nearly laughed out loud. He practically dragged her into line, ignoring her muttering and dire threats of bodily injury. He was going to ride the Tower of Terror, and his mate was going to ride it with him. She’d given her word and she was going to stick to it.
They got into line. There were so few people waiting it took only a moment for them to walk through the doors. Following the cattle run, Gabe tried to calm Sarah’s anxiety. “It’s not that bad.”
“Have you ever been on it before?”
“Once.”
He wondered what his face looked like, because she paled and gulped. He’d loved the ride. If he hadn’t had to leave to meet some friends he would have gone on it more than once. “You’re gong to like this.”