“Thanks, so much for the science lesson,” I mumbled.
He chuckled, and I spun around in my seat to face him.
“You know what, I don’t know what your deal is, but you could at least try to be civil toward me. You don’t even know me. I promise I’m a nice person. I just want to help with the lodge. I’m not some corporate monster that’s descended upon your town despite what you might think.”
“I am being civil.”
“You call snippy responses or ignoring me, civil?”
“I drove you here, didn’t I?” He was glaring at me now.
“Only because your aunt practically forced you to.”
“Hey, look. I’m sorry if I’m not falling all over you. I’m sure that’s what you’re used to, right? Just because you usually get everything you want from guys doesn’t mean I have to bend over backward for you.”
I laughed bitterly. “Me? Get everything I want from men? That’s a good one.”
He pulled out of the parking lot but snuck a glance at me. His hard eyes had softened ever so slightly.
“Seems like there’s a story there.”
“There’s not.”
He whistled. “Must have been bad. Nasty breakup or something?”
“You could say that,” I muttered, staring out the window.
“Did you drive the last guy away with your ditzy attitude? Or was it your affinity to stick your nose in other peoples’ business?”
I whipped my head around. “Why don’t you shut the hell up.”
He took his eyes off the road briefly to glance at me. At least he had the decency to look contrite.
I crossed my arms and resumed staring out the window, not caring that I had just made a scene. He had been baiting me all night. He had wanted an outburst out of me, and now he had one.
Screw him. Honey could only get you so far if the fly turned out to be a hornet.
After another minute, Giles sighed. “Look, I’m sorry. That was way out of line.”
I didn’t respond or turn to look at him.
“I might not like that you’re here, but it doesn’t give me an excuse to make personal jabs at you.” He cursed under his breath. “Look, I’ve got a lot going on right now. It’s not an excuse to be a dick, but it is what it is. I’ll try to stay out of your way while you’re here for the next few weeks.”
My ears perked up. “Well, I might be gone then, but someone from my company will be here after that. Hopefully, you don’t treat them this poorly.”
“The trial period will be up in a few weeks. Then this will all be over,” he insisted.
“Well, I plan to wow your aunt right into signing a contract with us.”
“Sorry to break it to you, but that won’t happen. I have a partial stake at this lodge, too. I only agreed to the trial period because she begged me to give it a chance. I will not be so generous when it comes to signing a long-term contract.”
My mouth hung open. “But I thought Bev was the primary decision maker.”
He shrugged. “Technically, she is. But I’ve got a lot of history with the lodge too. Plus, we’re family. She’s going to take that into account in the end.”
“We’ll see about that,” I said.
He opened his mouth as if to say something else but thankfully shut it.
