Page 6 of Driftwood Daffodil 2

It felt like hours passed while I stood there, contemplating my possible quick escape. There were a few potted plants and expensive looking deck chairs I could hide behind. The one on the right would work great. It was bigger than the others, and by bigger I meant at least three times the size.

What the hell? It looked like a chair, but maybe it was a loveseat? It was also made out of metal.

My eyes narrowed.

Was that thing reinforced? Why would anybody need something like that? Exactly what kind of torture was happening in this house of horrors? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer to that, though I was seriously considering making a mad dash for my truck.

“You’re late.”

“Jesus Christ!” I sprang back from the sudden deep tone resounding through my ears and slapped my hand over my hammering heart.

I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a familiar scowl sneering at me from the now open doorway.

“Do you have to answer the door so quietly?” I snarled back at Gio’s stupidly chiselled form.

Who lurked around in their doorway like some kind of creep? And yes, this might’ve been partly my fault. I was slightly distracted by the abnormally large chair, but that was no reason to scare me. Bastard.

Gio folded his arms over his chest. “Maybe if you were on time…”

Who cared about that? I was much more interested in his apparent ability to be sneaky. Would it hurt him to apply those skills to stalking? Seriously, I was a little insulted by the lack of effort.

“Calm down, punctuality police.” I wasn’t that late.

“I told you to be here by 8.”

I looked down at my watch, then cocked a brow at him. “It’s 8:03.”

“That’s not 8 o’clock.”

“Technically, it’s three minutes into eight o’clock. Henceforth, it’s still eight o’clock.”

Gio smacked his lips together, “Don’t get smart with me.”

Well, someone had to. Obviously the guy didn’t understand the basic fundamentals of logic.

“I could play stupid if you prefer, but I think you’d be doing yourself a serious disservice. Clearly you need to learn a few things.”

I didn’t think it was possible for Gio to look more unimpressed, but I was wrong. His expression fell even flatter while those deep emerald eyes of his darkened, giving away just a hint of anger.

“You need to learn how to be on time.”

There were so many ways I could respond to that statement, all of which would more than likely enrage him further. Considering I was here to basically trade myself for my brother, I should probably try and stay on Gio’s good side. If that was even possible.

“I don’t accept tardiness.”

Tardiness? Who did he think he was? The school receptionist?

“Actually, I was here early. I just didn’t knock on the door before eight.”

Apparently my mouth didn’t care why I was here or about staying on his good side.

“I know.” He stated flatly. “I saw you.”

He saw me? “What were you doing, just sitting in the window watching me?”

“Yes.”

Okay… well… I wasn’t really sure how to respond to that, so I opted to glare at him instead. That didn’t work out very well. Gio’s response to my action was to do nothing. He just stood there, staring right back at me. And he was much better at this game than Memphis was. I was the staring contest champion in childhood, but Gio…

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