The clenched muscle in her jaw began to ache.Three little words.
Amazing how she could still hate them so much.
He finally looked at her.His eyes were hidden by his sunglasses, but she could feel the weight of his stare.“Are you prepared for something like that, babe?Do you really want to know all the deep, dark secrets?”
She was used to being let down.
“I wasn’t lying.I just want an explanation for the way things turned out.I don’t want to meet anyone or form any bonds.”She certainly didn’t want to listen to excuses and pleas for forgiveness.She just wanted that damn sword that constantly hung over her head removed.
And if she found someone she could direct her anger towards, all the better.
“I don’t have any illusions that a happily-ever-after is out there waiting for me.”
The tilt of his head indicated he didn’t quite believe her, but lucky for him, he didn’t say so.
He gestured towards a truck on the street.“The least we should be able to do is find out why your sisters were adopted and you weren’t.”
Boy, all with the jabby-jabby today.Roxie rolled her shoulders in discomfort.“Already know the answer to that one,” she said as she yanked the passenger door open.“There was a couple there for each of us, but mine backed out.”
He stopped with the keys hovering over the ignition.“Backed out?”
“Yup,” she said, staring out the window.It had been the start of a long series of her being the one who was left behind.The unlovable one.
But—oh wait—her parents had done that to her first.
“God, Rox.”Reaching out, he caught her hand.
For once, she didn’t pull away.
She leaned her head back against the headrest.The truck was plush with leather seats and a high-tech dash.Trust Billy to upgrade.If he was driving a rental, it wasn’t going to be a basic model.
“Wait until you see this billboard,” she said chirpily.She didn’t want to talk about this anymore.“It’s a wing-dinger, if I do say so myself.”
He stared at her for a long, long moment.She thought he was going to push the matter, but then he fired up the engine.The tires peeled against the pavement as he pulled away from the curb.“And just how many wings have gotten dinged looking at it?”
She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.“Now you’re getting the idea.”
He shook his head.“Fisherman’s Road.My wing got dinged a few times there.”
She finally relaxed.“If I do say so myself.”
The drive across the bridge didn’t take long, although navigating to the dirt road that looped back took a bit longer.Fisherman’s Road was exactly like it sounded, a rough road that fishermen took down to the Cobalt River.It also happened to pass right beside the billboards that were directed towards the busier interstate.
Billy soon caught up with Lexie’s Acura.She was driving about ten miles per hour and trying to avoid all the ruts in the road.
“Wouldn’t want that car to get dusty,” Roxie muttered.
“It’s a nice car,” Billy said, siding with her sister.“And she’s not in a hurry to make kissy-face with her boyfriend.”
“True.”Roxie braced herself in the corner of the cab so she could watch him.Right ahead was the bend in the road that would take them parallel to the interstate—and offer him his first glance of her modeling debut.
He took the corner at the sedate pace that Lexie had established, but Roxie knew when he saw it, because the engine gunned.He stomped on the brake to keep from ramming into the back of the Acura, but his gaze was directed up towards the sky.
She leaned forward so she could see the billboard, too.It was amazing how much bigger it was up close.It was like looking at the King Kong version of herself.Her hair was bigger, her eyes were bigger, and her boobs were… curvy, to say the least.
God, were those really in proportion?
She tossed Billy a glance and knew exactly where he was staring.
