Page 56 of Against the Autumn Pines
Ignoring her, I opened the passenger door of her Jeep, setting her down on the seat. Staring into her brown eyes, open-handed and waiting, I said nothing.
“Fuck you,” she muttered quietly, her arms crossed beneath her breasts as she stared out the windshield. “You’re not driving my car. You can walk home for all I care. You and your fucking girlfriend.”
I groaned. “Key. Now.”
“Fuck. Off. Now,” she replied, still not meeting my gaze.
“As soon as you hand over your keys, we can move on to that portion of the evening, little flame.”
Openly glaring at me for a moment, she let out a slow breath through her nose before she reached down into her dress and pulled out the car key for me, handing it over.
“Good girl,” I whispered and kissed her cheek before reaching up, grabbing her seat belt, and clicking it across her chest.
Her door closed, a quick jog around the front, and I was in the driver’s seat, doors locked—in case she had the genius idea to jump—and we were ready to go.
“You’re not staying when we get there,” she grumbled, her arms crossed across her chest again as she stared ahead of us. It wasn’t a far drive, but it did give us a few minutes to talk before we were in her apartment. Together. “We fuck, you leave.”
“You’re more than welcome to try to get rid of me, Ember, but good luck.”
“Was it you sending the flowers and notes? You never denied it, but you didn’t confirm it either,” she questioned after a short moment of silence.
“Would it be anyone else?” I asked, an arched brow thrown her way before my eyes returned to the road. I expected some smart and sassy reply, but she said nothing instead.
Tires screeching as I slammed my foot onto the brake, the Jeep stopped in the middle of the road before I slid it into park. My gaze settled on her as she stared at me from the passenger seat.
“Would it be anyone else, Ember Rae?” I growled, throwing her middle name in there, as I leaned back in the seat—one hand on the wheel, the other sitting on the middle console just itching to lean her over this seat and fuck her in the middle of this road. But I wouldn’t. That wasn’t how I wanted our first time together asusto be.
She just stared at me though, her arms still crossed, the small fidget she was doing pressing her breasts together in a way that did horribly dirty things to my already pornographic mind when it came to this woman.
“I don’t know. You have Mia, you never know who I have in my past, on the side, whatever,” she finally said, her dark eyes glaring across the car at me.
Ember genuinely couldn’t help but pick a fight with me, and damn did it leave me infuriatingly giddy.
“You’ve only had one boyfriend. An asshole named Jimmy who cheated on you in high school. Moron if you ask me. You’ve got two little brothers, and your parents don’t live together but are still legally married. You’ve owned and operated the bakery alone for the last three years. You bought the building and opened it with the money your grandfather left you after he passed. You’re fucking smart as hell when it comes to business moves, and you’re good with your money. You’ve been operating in the green for almost a year now, and it’s only going up. You go to a hot yoga classevery Wednesday morning, followed by lunch with your mom. You only talk to your brothers when they call you—you never call first, and you haven’t spoken to your father in years. Did I miss anything?” I asked.
Her eyes widened as I spoke, and she stared at me. “What…the…fuck, Wyatt.”
I shrugged. “I wanted to know all there was to know about you on the outside so I didn’t have to waste precious time I could be using to get to know everything else on the inside that you so desperately want to hide away.”
She turned back, facing forward, and stared out the windshield, so I put the car in drive and drove us the rest of the way back to her place. Three solid minutes of silence, and I was starting to believe I’d ruined everything.
Most people didn’t enjoy being stalked on this many levels, and I’m sure she’d realized I’d broken a few laws to obtain all of that information, but I wanted—no, needed—toknowher. Truly and completely, no secrets, know her.
I parked the car and turned it off, fully preparing to just lift her back up over my shoulder and carry her up the stairs, locking us both in her apartment with no escape until she decided we were indeed meant to be, but the train of thought was halted when she finally spoke.
“It isn’t fair.”
“What isn’t fair, little flame?”
“You know all this shit about me, and what do I know about you? Aside from how you like your dick sucked and who your siblings are.” She stared at me, her eyes finally starting to clear, and I smiled.
“Invite me upstairs and I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” I said confidently.
She let out a huff and rolled her eyes. “Fine, but don’t get any ideas. Questions, sex, you get the fuck out.”
I jumped out of the Jeep and was on her side of the vehicle, opening her door, before she could get fully unbuckled.
“Is this the whole Prince Charming routine?”
