Page 114

There was some tension that she didn’t know the source of. “Are you mad at me for getting out of the truck?”

“Of course not, I’m the one who told Bain to bring you out.”

So it wasn’t that.

“You’re still mad at me for coming with you?”

“Did you mean what you said back there?” he asked, pulling to the side of the road. He put the truck into park and then turned to stare at her intently. “That you love me?”

She bit her lip. “Did that make you angry?”

“Did you mean it?”

“Yes,” she said in a quiet voice.

“Good,” he said before putting the truck back into drive and heading down the road.

Good? That was it, good?

Okay, now she was starting to get a bit mad. She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Did you know he wants you?” Kent asked suddenly.

“Who?”

“Markovich. He wants you.”

“No, he doesn’t.” Wants her? What did he mean?

“He did. It’s why he wanted to see you. Any sign you weren’t happy and I think he would have tried to take you from me.”

“He didn’t want me. He was taking money from me each week for a debt that wasn’t even mine! He’s a bad guy.”

“It was a good way to see you each week. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was going to make a move soon. He was surprisingly easy to convince to give up extorting money from you.”

Oh. She shook her head. She couldn’t believe it.

“He wasn’t...he didn’t want me.”

He just sighed. When he pulled up outside his house, he was still acting kind of weird. He came around and opened her door as usual, helping her down. But instead of putting her on her feet, he swung her up into his arms and carried her inside.

“Kent! What are you doing?”

“You love me.” He got them inside then shut and locked the door without budging her at all.

“Yes. I love you.”

“You love me,” he repeated as though he couldn’t believe it.

“Yes. How do you feel about me?” How did he feel about her?

He reached the staircase then paused to glance down at her. “Baby, I think I fucking fell in love with you that night in the back room of that fucking awful bar that you’ll never visit again.”

“You did not.” She blushed as he set her down next to the bed.

He cupped her face between his hands. “I did.”

“It’s not possible to fall in love like that.”