“True,” Amber murmured, sounding thoughtful as she took her time ripping open the thin plastic wrapping, “but unfortunately for you, I already contacted Amy and told her to ignore you if you tried to cancel.”
“But I have the sniffles….” Kristen mumbled hollowly, following that up with a sniffle with the hopes that it would be enough to help her case.
“You’re going,” Amber said firmly, making Kristen’s shoulders drop. That was followed by pouting, which was immediately followed by grumbling to herself when someone knocked on the front door.
Deciding to take the opportunity to figure out a way to get out of this, Kristen took a sip of the delicious beverage as she made her way to the front door only to realize that she’d made a tactical error when the delicious shake in her hand was suddenly snatched away. Frowning, she watched as Garrett, who was standing on her front step for some reason, struggled to catch his breath as he ripped the cover off her milkshake and finished it off before handing her the empty cup, making her frown and-
“What the hell are you doing?” Kristen demanded when the large bastard that owed her a milkshake picked her up and threw her over his shoulder with a satisfied sigh.
“Finishing our conversation,” Garrett said as he turned around and headed across the street, leaving Kristen with nochoice but to drop the empty cup on the ground, grab hold of his shirt and mentally prepare herself for the impending impact when she heard it.
The unmistakable sound of a rubber balloon being contorted.
Praying that she was imagining things, Kristan swallowed hard as she slowly, ever so slowly, looked up and-
“Move faster,” Kristen mumbled weakly while she watched the clown that belonged in hell as he held up what could only be described as a balloon pitchfork and-
“Definitely move faster,” Kristen said as she was forced to squeeze her eyes shut and when that wasn’t enough, she pressed her face against his back and promised herself that she would make the life-ruining bastard pay for this one day.
CHAPTER 4
“Are you going to put me down?” came the curious question that had Garrett biting back a sigh.
“Are you going to try to make another run for it?” Garrett absently asked as he turned around and-
“What if I promised not to hurt you?”
-felt his lips twitch while he made his way back across the foyer that he’d been pacing for the past ten minutes.
“That would help with the terror currently threatening to drop me to my knees,” Garrett said dryly, shifting the adorable woman who was most likely going for his balls as soon as he put her down, over his shoulder as he turned back around and made his way back across the foyer.
“Look,” Kristen began only to stop and slowly exhale before she continued, “I’m willing to overlook the fact that you kidnapped me if you put me down now and cower in fear.”
“As tempting as that is, I’m afraid that I’m going to have to pass,” Garrett said as he continued pacing the foyer.
He just…
“Is there any chance you’d be willing to pretend that the last six years didn’t happen?” Garrett asked, wondering how he kept fucking this up.
“You mean the last six years where you went out of your way to make my life a living hell?” she asked conversationally, making him wince.
Clearing his throat awkwardly, Garrett said, “That was a misunderstanding.”
“How exactly was that a misunderstanding?” Kristen asked against his back as he turned around and mouthed, “Shit!” because he’d kind of been hoping that she wouldn’t ask any follow-up questions.
He opened his mouth only to end up admitting, “I honestly have no fucking idea.”
“I have a theory,” Kristen said as he continued pacing the foyer while he debated his next move.
“And what would that be?” Garrett absently asked, sighing heavily as he reached up and rammed his fingers through his hair.
“That you’re an asshole?” she suggested, sounding thoughtful.
“Probably,” he murmured in agreement, wondering if he should have waited to do this until he had a plan.
“Any chance that you could put me down while you figure this out?” Kristen asked, sounding really fucking hopeful.
Needing a moment, Garrett leaned over and carefully placed her down on her feet only to sigh heavily as he reached over to steady her when she tripped over her own two feet with a muttered curse. That was followed by leveling a glare that could only be described as adorable on him, yanking her arm away and marching straight for the door, grumbling every step of the way. She sent him one last glare as she reached for the doorknob, yanked the door open and moved to leave only to go still, swallow hard, mumble incoherently to herself, clear her throat, and close the door.
