Page 39 of I Knew You
“I’m very aware of your ass size.”
I froze, then slowly removed my hands from the box I was trying to poach. The boxes blocked my view of his face.
Afraid my ears were deceiving me, I went and picked up another box from the truck. I turned and saw Bram standing in his green flannel, worn jeans, and brown work boots, hands loosely resting on his narrow hips. He was giving me a smoldering look under his ball cap. It made me simultaneously hot, cold, angry, and excited.
“What did I say?” The intensity of his tone and his directness touched me in places that had no business being disturbed—again. I must have liked being bossed around more than I thought…
“My back is fine,” I squeaked, still clutching the box.
“And we want it to stay that way.” He stalked toward me with predatory focus. He took the box out of my hands and pinned me with his eyes. “This is why you need to stay with me during this ordeal. You’re so stubborn. You’re going to make your demise quick and sudden.”
I laughed. “All I can see are those commercials for call buttons, you know, where you wear it around your neck? I probably need one of those things.” I was amused, but he wasn’t smiling. His teeth clenched as he carried the box into the garage.
“Don’t make me install cameras to keep an eye on you, sweets.”
“That could be interesting…”
He looked over his shoulder, and I became more flustered. “I mean?—”
“We both know what you meant.” He grinned, interrupting. “It doesn’t matter anyway because you’re coming back to the farm with me.”
“I can’t do that, Bram. It’s too much.”
His eyebrow did a sexy cock thing, like he didn’t believe a word I was saying.
Whatever armor I’d built over years of noncontact, he was disassembling it within twenty-four hours with his words, actions, and demeanor.
“Listen,” I said, “I have a phone call to make, and I?—”
“Perfect. I’ll finish this up. Then we can finish the conversation you’re trying to avoid.” He gave me another grin.
I had to talk to Kallie. I had to have some objection to everything my heart—and my body—wanted to give in to. She would provide that levity.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” I fled to the other end of the house, where I promptly closed and locked the bedroom door. It was my old bedroom, which no longer looked like the sanctuary of my youth. I dropped into a new, fluffy blue chair in the corner just in time for Kallie’s name and photo to pop up on my phone screen.
“Hey,” I answered with the speaker on low volume.
“Hey, girl. You’ll never guess what happened. Brandon’s grandma fell down the stairs at his parents’ house last night! It was a whole thing. We were with her in the ER forever, but she’s home now. I wanted to call you last night, and I forgot to text you back after you told me you’d made it. I am so, so sorry! Did you settle in? How’s everything?”
Her barrage of words made my mind spin, but a single sobering thought of Bram brought me back to square one. “It’s…going. I’m sorry about Brandon’s grandma.”
“It’s okay, she’s just bruised up, she’ll heal,” she said. “What do you mean by ‘it’s going’? You sound weird. What’s up?”
I swallowed hard. “I’ve got to talk to you about something. Well, someone.”
“Okay.” Her voice was now full of hesitancy. “Did you run into someone?”
“I ran into Bram. And before you make a joke, no, he doesn’t have Dracula teeth.”
“Quit acting like you know me,” she scolded. “Bram, Bram? Your crush from high school? Your brother’s old best friend? Kissed you on the night of your grandma’s death, Bram? Broke your freaking back, Bram?”
“I’ve told you repeatedly it wasn’t his fault. It was more complicated than that.”
She ignored me. “The Bram you were hopelessly in love with, even though he ruined your life and broke your heart while you were in the fucking hospital? Same dude?”
I shut my eyes tightly. “Stop, please. We’ve already talked through this a million times. It was my choice. I’m the one who told him to?—”
“Is he the same one?”
