Zoe’s life was already a mess and directionless, which she hated, and now she’d messed it up even more by sleeping with JD Hopper.
Chapter2
She now had to get inside her mother’s house without her family realizing she hadn’t stayed the night there. They’d be curious anyway, as she’d arrived at the party with her mom. There would be questions, but she could work out a lie there, because the truth would have ramifications.
Zoe started walking down the edge of the gravel drive. To her left was a paddock leading to a huge barn that hadn’t been that big the last time she was here.
Her heels were useless, so she’d have to stay on the grass and hope to make it home without blisters. She was calculating how long it would take her to walk and which route to take so no one would see her when she heard the throaty purr of an engine.
JD’s black Range Rover rolled to a stop beside her. The passenger door opened.
“Get in.”
“No.”
“Now, Zoe,” he growled. “You can’t walk home barefoot.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do!”
Calm down. You sound hysterical.But then, if there was a time for hysteria, now would be it.
“Get in the car, or I will throw you in here.” His words had a hard edge to them. Zoe had four brothers and an uncle who could be hard-assed; men telling her what to do didn’t bother her. She’d learned years ago how to say no.
“Go away, JD.” She started walking. He followed, keeping pace with her.
“I’ll do this the entire way home, and I’m pretty sure you don’t want anyone to know what you and I got up to last night, but they’ll certainly be thinking about it if they see me following you.”
Her hands fisted, and she clenched her eyes shut.
“Still here,” he said in a smug tone that had her wanting to slap him.
She wanted to growl and stomp her feet. She did neither because the feet stomping would hurt. So, getting in his car with as much dignity as she could muster, Zoe placed her bag and shoes on her lap.
“Put your seat belt on.”
She did in controlled movements that cost her a great deal.
He then drove down his driveway. The tension in the car was thick with unsaid words.
“Look, I know this shouldn’t have happened, and Sawyer will probably kill me if he finds out. But are we really just going to never speak about it again?” JD asked as they drove past the entrance to the main street of Lyntacky, Colorado.
Home to her family since forever. A place that most often she loved and occasionally in her lifetime had hated. Zoe sank down in the seat so no one saw her with JD. The questions would be endless, and in no way did she want the entire town gossiping about her and him. The man who constantly went to bed with a different woman.
She’d heard her brothers talking about him and what he got up to.
“That’s right. Last night never happened,” she said, her eyes going from left to right.
She saw his big hands on the black leather steering wheel clench briefly and then release. A thick gold band on the middle finger of his right hand caught her eye. There was something engraved on it, but she couldn’t make out what from here.
“Okay” was all he said. “But I don’t like lying to your brother.”
“It’s not my favorite pastime either, but he can’t know because we have a pact, and I won’t jeopardize what you and Sawyer have. I’m leaving town soon anyway.”
“Pact?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Zoe said.
“You think Sawyer would have a problem with us sleeping together?”