Before I could say another word, the line went dead. I pulled my cell from my ear and stared at the screen.Call Ended.
No, we werenotdone. I didn’t want one of his goons hanging around. I’d worked too hard to make a new life out here in California—one where no one knew who my father was. My heart pounded in my chest as I hit the button to call him back. But the call went straight to voicemail. When it happened a second time, I waited until I got to a red light and thumbed off a text. I stared down at my phone, waiting as the message went fromDeliveredtoRead. Eventually the car behind me honked because I hadn’t noticed the light change, so I drove the rest of the way to Robeks. Just as I was getting out of the car, my cell buzzed with an incoming message.
Arlo: Triple shot matcha mega-charged power surge smoothie. Sub coconut for water and oat milk for half and half. Add a scoop of bee pollen, a half scoop of probioticblend, and one pump of agave, and blend it with half a banana and only two ice cubes.
Fury surged through my veins; I felt like a pot ready to blow its lid. I didn’t even get a chance to calm myself before a second text came in.
Arlo: Don’t ask me how, but if they blend it with more than two cubes, he’ll know.
My fingers clenched around my iPhone. With each second that ticked by, a slow burn of heat spread across my cheeks and behind my eyes. Bradley Wilson was annoying, but my father was impossible.Totally impossibleto deal with. Yet I made one more attempt to call him. Of course, I went right to voicemail.
“Unbelievable,” I muttered.
Yanking the keys from the ignition, I flung open the door to my Prius and stomped each foot out of the car. The moment I stood—crack! My ankle twisted. I began to stumble, yet somehow, I managed to catch myself on the frame of the car door. I looked down at my foot. My heel had broken off, snapped straight from the bottom of my pump.
“Are you freaking serious right now?”
I kicked the shoe from my foot, bent, and without thinking, hurled it toward Robeks.Stupid freaking Robeks. It landed on the sidewalk with a satisfying clank, but that wasn’t enough to calm me down. My cell phone was still in my hand, so I wound up and threw that too. It landed with more of a thud than a clank, which was likely because my phone didn’t hit the ground…
It hit a person.
A man walking from the car parked behind mine rubbed his jaw as he turned to look at me. I hadn’tnoticed him or his vehicle until that moment. Once I did, it was hard to notice anything else. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with the kind of rugged good looks that made you do a double take. I covered my heart with my hand for more reasons than one. “Oh my God! I hit you in the face?”
“Why the hell did you throw your phone at me?”
“It was an accident. I was angry, and I didn’t see you there.” I limped toward him wearing one heel. “Are you okay? Should I call 9-1-1?”
He bent and scooped my cell from the ground. “I think maybe you should call a therapist, sweetheart.”
My eyes narrowed. “You don’t need to be a jerk about it. I’m already having a bad day.”
“That makes two of us.” He shook his head. “You need to learn to control your anger.”
He was right, of course, but in the moment, I didn’t need a lecture. “I was frustrated. Someone hung up on me.”
He smirked. “Not surprised, with your attitude.”
I froze. “What did you just say?”
“If this is how you act when someone pisses you off, I get why they’d hang up on you.”
“You don’t evenknowme.”
“I’ve seen enough to know your type.”
“Wow. And I guess you’re better thanmy type?”
“Haven’t hit any strangers today, so…”
I limped the two steps separating us and grabbed my phone from his hand. “Thanks for the free behavior analysis.”
He shrugged. “No charge.”
I briefly considered taking off my other shoe and hitting him on purpose this time. But instead, I showedhim my pearly whites. “You have a wonderful rest of your day.”
“I’d say the chances of that are pretty damn slim. Not when I’ll be spending it with you.”
“Withme? I think maybe my phone did more damage to your head than it appears.”
