“I don’t like when you do that.”
I scowled, about to tell him it wasn’t like I enjoyed it either, but trying to quit?—
“Not because it’s ugly. Nothing about you is ugly. Because it’s clearly painful and you could get an infection.”
We turned onto my street, which I was grateful for because I didn’t know what to say. I had no experience with anyone acting like they cared. I wasn’t even sure if that was what this was.
“Up there on the left,” I said, pointing at my building.
He pulled to the curb and stared at the dilapidated apartment complex that I called home.
“Thanks for the ride,” I said, jamming my feet into my shoes and grabbing the door handle. “I’ll, ah, see you later.” I knew that was what he said, but I still had some doubt there. But I didn’t have time to worry about it. I had to change and get to work.
He didn’t even acknowledge the thank-you and goodbye. Instead, he turned off the engine and reached for his door handle.
“What are you doing?” I asked, suddenly alarmed.
“Coming in with you while you get dressed. I’ll drive you to work when you’re done.”
“You can’t!”
He looked at me then, blue eyes steady. “Why?”
“I-I’m sure you're busy. You probably have work too.” I paused. “Do you have a job?” I shook my head. What a dumb question.Of course he does.“I can get myself to work from here.”
“I have time to drive you.”
I knew that tone. It was theI always wintone.
“You can’t come up,” I blurted out.
He raised an eyebrow. I was starting to wonder if that eyebrow had a mind of its own. “Is there something you don’t want me to see?”
“W-what?”
His eyes narrowed into blue slits. “Someone.”
My mind worked much slower than his. I hadn’t even comprehended the implication, and he was already across thecenter console, face close to mine, his hand wrapped loosely around my throat.
“Let me make it crystal clear, little hazard, that what’s mine ismine. So if there is someone in your life that shouldn’t be there, I will remove them.”
Remove them?“I live alone.”
He pulled his hand from my throat, and I knew the urge to ask him to put it back.
He started out of the SUV, but I grabbed his sleeve. “Wait. Please.”
He glanced over his shoulder.
My face fumed. “It’s a disaster up there.”
His brows pinched together. “Like messy?”
Messy. Outdated. My mattress was on the floor, and there were stains on the ceiling from a water leak. It was a far, far cry from his place across town.
I nodded. “Your neat-freak brain might explode if you see it.”
He glowered. “I am not a neat freak.”
