AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Wade’s face does something weird and horror seeps into my voice.“Sixty?”
This time he turns to me. “Are you…grading yourself?”
I blink. Feel the familiar burn of embarrassment crawling up my neck and into my cheeks. My arms cross and I sit straighter. “What if I am?”
He reaches for my crossed arms, using a single finger and that smile to pry them loose. Then he leans in, again getting close enough to my ear that I can feel the teasing warmth of his breath. “That was a solid eighty-five. And with another pit stop or two, you’ll be acing this.”
“Sweet-talker,” I say, relaxing into my seat.
“Next exit’s in seven miles.” He starts the truck with a wink and heads back toward the highway. “So I’m guessing you’re the girl who always blew the bell curve, huh?”
I grin, not even trying to hide it. “You know it.”
Chapter 5
Wade
Afew hours later, I turn off on Prairie Lane and follow the gravel road back through the trees, passing the first two mailboxes before making a left at the third. The crush of gravel welcomes me even before the trees open up enough to see the house.
“Dad loves to take care of the yard. And Mom’s got some pride over those flowerbeds. If you want to butter them up, that’s the way to do it.”
Clicking her tongue, she shoots me a withering glare. “Now I’m going to feel dirty when I compliment them. And for the record, I would have done it on my own.”
Leaving the joke aboutfeeling dirtyuntouched, I pull in next to Walt’s Ranger where the drive widens for a turnabout. When I lived at home, he and I shared a beat-up truck that didn’t have privileges in the attached two-car garage, so we parked in the open space on the side.
It’s empty now, but too much to hope it will stay that way.
Shit. I’m an asshole for even thinking that.
When I don’t get out of the truck, Harlow touches my hand. “You sure you want to do this? Lie to your family? It’s not too late to back out. Tell them I broke up with you in the driveway. Honestly, it would be fine.”
I grin at her. “No way. You’re stuck with me. Unless you need to bail.”
Please don’t need to bail.
She huffs a quiet laugh. “No quitter here.”
“Okay, then.” Wrapping my finger with one of those dark ribbons of silk, I give it a gentle tug. Harlow’s lashes lower and she gives me the kind of coy smile that is some serious grade-A work. “They’re probably already watching out the window. But once I open this door, guaranteed, we’re going to have less than twenty seconds before the Gradys are all over us.”
Her eyes light. “This is intense.”
I nod. “So here’s the game plan—”
“Not a jock here.”
Maybe not, but she’s got the focus of one.
“We’ll check into the hotel this afternoon, which gives us some time with the family and then a good excuse to cut out for a break.”
“Nice. We’ll be able to address any questions that come up in private.”
Harlow is all about the mission.
“Or, you know, catch a nap or a few minutes without the familial barrage of questions that’s about to come raining down on you.”
Yeah, my brother’s the one getting married next week, but having me home for a stretch like this is an opportunity my parents don’t see often. Grace and Bill will not squander it.
And the fact that I’ve brought a girl along?
