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I slowed the car and exited the freeway as I looked for the grocery store. A bright yellow sign flickered above the flat building. I parked and grabbed a cart and started down the long empty aisles. I wasn’t much of a cook, so frozen tv dinners and seltzer water was my only option. I roamed the store, making sure I picked up enough food to last me a few weeks or so. The only bad thing about chilling out in the middle of nowhere was the store wasn’t just around the corner. Spotting the chilled Starbucks frappes, I grabbed a case of them and almost dropped it as my phone vibrated in my back pocket.
“Hey.” I continue loading cases of Starbucks frappes into my cart before moving down the aisle.
“Did you make it?”
“Dad, I’m almost there. I had to make a stop for food. You don’t want me starving in the woods, do you?”
He let out a low chuckle and then cleared his throat. “There’s a bad storm on the way out there. You need to book it to the cabin asap.”
I rolled my eyes and found a spot behind a lady with wild hair and shaggy slippers as I waited to check out. “I’m checking out now.”
“Call me, or else I’ll be sending a search party out for you,” he scolded.
“I’m not a little girl anymore, Dad. You won’t die if I don’t call.” I placed my groceries on the conveyer belt and winced as the loaf of bread became smashed between the two cases of seltzer.
We said our goodbyes, and minutes later, I was hauling ass back to my car when a slither of lightning crawled across the black sky.Great.I loaded the backseat, hoping to get everything inside before the soft rain turned into stinging bites of hell. Slamming the door shut, I rounded the car and hopped into the driver's seat. The road was clear, but the rain started to pick up, and my windshield wipers were no match for the golf ball-sized raindrops smashing against my car.Fucking vibrator.
I reached for my phone, nearly coming to my death as I almost collided with the railing. With my hands glued to the steering wheel, a sigh of relief washed over me when I spotted the sign for the road to the cabin. Only twenty more miles to go and I’ll be in a nice warm bed with my snacks on one side of me and my book on the other. Silly me for thinking nothing else could go wrong. The lights on my dashboard lit up like a damn Christmas tree, and my car jolted before coming to a stop.
Screaming out loud would have been pointless, so I just slumped back in my seat. Reaching for my phone, I froze, refusing to call my dad because he would order a tow truck to bring me home, and calling Emma was out of the question. She was a terrible driver, and I was in no mood to hear her complain incessantly as we drove back home. I sucked in a breath and googled the nearest tow truck company when a pair of bright headlights lit up my back window, nearly blinding me.
Unable to see the person in the truck from my rearview mirror, I stepped out into the drenching rain. The person in the truck didn’t get out, leaving me contemplating if I should get closer or get my ass back in my car and lock the door. Retreating a few feet, the driver-side door of the truck swung open, and a muscular man with wild dark-colored hair stepped into my bubble.
“Brett?”
Annoyance bubbled up inside me, although I was stuck in the middle of nowhere during a rainstorm, seeing Brett just agitated me more. The last thing I wanted was Brett to come to my rescue. Again.
“What are you doing here?” I took a step back and almost stepped out of my sandals.
I knew exactly how I looked in this moment. Like a drowned cat, but Brett looked like he was created to get wet. How could someone look like a Greek god in the middle of a thunderstorm? He stepped closer, and the toe of his boots grazed the toe of my sandal. Sheets of heavy raindrops surging down his face concealed his chocolate eyes.
“I could ask you the same thing. Car trouble?”
“Obviously,” I deadpanned before folding my arms across my sodden chest.
A stiff grin played across his face, and my knees weakened. I hated him for making my body react in ways that it shouldn’t. He was old enough to be my dad, but my body didn’t care what I thought obviously.
A beat of silence stretched between us, and he walked away. He climbed back into his truck, and my shoulders slumped. Sure, I hated him, but damn I didn’t think he’d leave me in the middle of the road with a broken-down car.
“Do you enjoy standing out in the rain, or are you gonna get in?”
“What about my stuff?” I yelled. The thought of leaving all my cases of Starbucks made me want to cry. I huffed and opened the back door. A cracking sound roared through the sky and made my heart drop in my stomach.
“Any day now,” he yelled from the window.
Grabbing my backpack and a case of Starbucks, I slammed the door closed and hurried over to his open passenger side door. I placed my backpack and case of Starbucks on the floor and settled in the soft leather seat as he pulled off into the darkness.
CHAPTER8
Stalking Tendencies~Brett
I wasin luck when she'd had to turn around and go back for her vibrator. Cora’s lime green hatchback pulled into the driveway. She didn’t even notice me; she was too busy running up the steps toward her bedroom. By the time she reappeared, I was already in my truck, but the little hint of pink that peeked from under her arm was clear as day—naughty little girl.
My primal senses kicked in. Cora seemed sweet and innocent, but something deep down inside of me let me know there was more to this little mouse. She tossed the vibrator into her backpack and climbed back into the driver’s seat. Pulling out like a madwoman on a mission, her tires screeched against the pavement, and I followed close behind.
I had never seen anyone drive as terrible as her before, and that was saying a lot. Living in California, I’ve seen the worst of the worst, but Cora drove as if her eyes were glued shut. My body remained in a tense state the entire time I stayed behind her, and when she switched lanes without her blinker, it almost killed me. My big break came when she made a stop at the grocery store. Dylan would make sure Cora always had a safe and reliable car; that was the father in him. But I wasn’t her father, I was daddy, and daddy always got what daddy wanted.
