With nothing else for it, she pushed herself to her feet, whispering an apology to Mary for being ungrateful. Miranda understood. Miranda was very supportive of creative coping strategies.
“What the hell are you doing sitting in the middle of the road during the busiest time of the day?” a dark, angry voice boomed from behind her.
Bliss shrieked and searched the ground around her for something to defend herself. Where was Excalibur when you needed it? A sword would be helpful right now. Or even a sturdy stick, she wasn’t picky.
Wait.
She knew that voice.
What was the deal? Was she on the universe’s cosmic naughty list? It was the only explanation. Of all the people who could have stopped to help, why did it have to be him?
It wasn’t like she hadn’t known they’d run into each other. Darling was a small town. But she wasn’t ready. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Had someone forgotten to tell her it was National Pick on Bliss Day? She’d have appreciated a memo. Struggling to her feet, she readied herself to face the latest crap storm in her life. Apparently, fate had decided subtlety was overrated.
He looked ready to spit fire. At her. Tall, broad, and radiating the kind of masculine fury that made sensible women run for cover. His dark coat stretched across shoulders built like a linebacker, and the winter air puffed from his mouth in sharp, angry breaths. And did he just growl?
“Trouble, you haven’t seen a crap storm yet. But you’re about to.”
Dang it! She thought she’d gotten better at keeping her private thoughts to herself. With nothing else to do, she pasted on a bright smile, pretending she wasn’t standing beside a blown tire while facing the one man capable of wrecking her heart all over again. “Hi, Connor,” she said in her brightest voice. “It’s been a while.”
CHAPTER NINE
Connor’s nostrils flared like a bull ready to charge. Hell, he probably looked like one too… big, pissed off, and seconds away from plowing straight through whatever stood in his path. Two seconds in her presence, and his control was already shot to hell. It was impressive considering he’d spent eleven months rebuilding that control brick by brick.
When he’d seen her sitting in the middle of the road, his heart had almost stopped. He’d seen the skid marks arched over both sides of the road and chalked it up to idiot teenagers out for a joyride. Darling had plenty of those this time of year, tourists and locals alike thinking snow meant permission to drive like lunatics.
Rounding the curve and spotting Bliss’s car angled off the road, he’d had a moment of relief. She wasn’t hurt. At least she was upright, breathing, and not crumpled somewhere in a snowbank.
That relief had morphed into an anger unlike any he’d ever experienced—which was saying a lot considering her antics in Nevada—when he saw her seated on the pavement, cradling something in her arms. Who in their right mind thought themiddle of a highway was a perfectly reasonable place to sit and contemplate life?
For a split second, he’d thought she held one of her girls. For some reason, cold fear, the kind that turned his blood to ice, shot through him at that possibility. Of course, that was no more than any compassionate person would feel.
It didn’t evidence any feeling for those particular children. At least, that’s what he told himself, even though his gut knew better and wasn’t shy about pointing it out.
She hadn’t learned one thing from everything they’d been through earlier that year. You’d think being kidnapped by the Society and sold to a Russian crime boss in marriage would have taught her something at least. But not Bliss. She hadn’t learned a damn thing.
Her personal safety had been the least of her concerns then, and that obviously hadn’t changed. She was still as reckless as the wind and twice as stubborn.
Okay, maybe he wasn’t being reasonable. But she was sitting in the middle of a well-traveled road, and as best he could tell, didn’t even notice when he pulled off the road behind her car. She damn sure didn’t glance back when his truck door slammed.
And then, to pretend like he was some casual acquaintance from school?
Oh, hell no. That wasn’t happening. Not in this lifetime.
“It’s been a while?” His voice was deep and dangerous. And all stern Daddy. Just like it should be. It was the tone that made grown Littles snap to attention and rethink every decision that had led them to their current dilemma.
He sounded like a dangerous Daddy because that’s exactly what he was. She stood there, as beautiful as he remembered, her looks alone making him want to snatch her up and kiss her, and all she had to say was it’s been a while? Like the last eleven months had been nothing more than a coffee break.
The only thing saving her well-rounded bottom right now was the way she pressed her thighs together and did her best not to squirm. Evidently, it hadn’t been that long of a while since he’d been on her mind. No one reacted that way to someone they’d forgotten.
And why did that soothe him? Why did the sight of her bracing for discipline settle something ugly and restless inside his chest? It didn’t.
You don’t care if she’s been thinking of you because you aren’t going there, remember?Not again. Not with her.
Regaining a modicum of control, he tried again, albeit through gritted teeth. “I asked you a question, young lady. Why are you sitting in the middle of the road in the freezing cold? And where is your coat?” He swore on everything holy, if she said she left it at home, he might actually lose the last grip he had on his patience.
She peered down at the ridiculous sweater she wore like she hadn’t seen it before. Okay, she looked adorable in the oversized sweater with—were those jingle bells sewn to the antlers of that moose? Who the hell sewed bells on a moose?
