Outside the diner, she let him lead the way and quietly followed him to his truck. He was not playing her game. He was going to get in his damn truck and drive home. Which was exactly what he started to do, that was until Alice appeared next to him in the passenger seat.
“What are you doing?” His tone took on a more serious note.
“I’m sitting in your car, Brady, what does it look like I’m doing?”
“Don’t be a smartass. You trying to hitch a lift or something?”
She gave him those big puppy dog eyes that she thought made her look innocent. He knew better though. “Nope, I’m coming with you. You’re going home, right?”
“You ... wanna come home with me?” His voice came out rougher than he’d intended.
She didn’t answer, she just stared ahead of her.
Damn, infuriating woman.
He was not doing this with her. If she wanted to stay in the truck, then fine. He wasn’t about to change his plans for her. He was going home, putting his feet up, and he’d be damned if he was going to give her a lift home when she asked.
This was their second drive together. The second one in silence. But this time he was the one on edge. Every few minutes he’d chance a glance over at her, and the crazy-ass woman looked like she didn’t have a care in the world.
What the hell is she playing at?
Pulling up to his house ten minutes later, he cut the engine. No one had been here before. Not even Jake. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of the place, it just wasn’t quite guest-ready yet. When he moved back to Bluestone, he wanted to buy a piece of land to call his own. But being the small town that it was, there wasn’t exactly an array of real estate for him to choose from. Which meant he had to settle for a fixer-upper.
Wanting to help Alice out, he rounded the truck. He was still a gentleman, after all. Most of the time anyway. But as he reached to help, the stubborn woman batted away his hand and jumped down. His eyes were fixed on her as she looked around, so much so, he almost missed the car parked around by the side entrance of his house. That’s when he realised it was Alice’s car. The sneaky thing had left her car here and then gone to find him. How she got back into town, he had no idea.
She caught him looking back and forth between her and the car, a smile tipping up at the side of her mouth.
“So ... you gonna invite me in, Deputy?”
“I don’t know what you think you’re playing at, darlin’... but I’m not—” He was cut off by a hard shove to the shoulder. One he wasn’t prepared for, which forced him to take a step back.
“I swear to God, Brady.” Her voice was no longer calm. “You wanna play hardball, we’ll play. One way or another, I’m not leaving here until we’ve done your PT. Now, I would prefer it if we did this the easy way and you invited me inside. But if you’re determined to be an arsehole, then we’ll do it right here, right now.” She gestured around the open field in front of them.
Brady didn’t know whether to be impressed or terrified that she’d gone from sweet to scary in a split second. But if she was going to play dirty, so was he.
“Sweetness, if you were interested in getting sweaty with me, then all you had to do was ask.”
For the first time ever, he saw a tint of colour tingeing Alice Hart’s cheeks. It might make him petty, but those cheeks looked something like victory. He’d affected her. Finally. Because she sure as hell had spent the past month affecting him. In ways he was trying his very hardest to ignore.
“On your back, Brady. We’re gonna start with a straight leg raise.”
“Pants off too? ’Cause, sweetness, normally I prefer if a girl buys me dinner first.”
If steam could come out of someone’s ears, he would imagine that right about now, he wouldn’t be able to see through the smoke.
“I’m not fucking around, Brady. I’ve got all night, and I’m not going anywhere.”
He shouldn’t be so excited about the idea of her spending the night with him, but he was. So, like the mature adult he was, he walked away and headed toward the house. Suppressing a chuckle as he heard Alice loudly grumble behind him. After letting himself in, he went straight for the fridge.
Beer will help me.
She was his shadow. A freeloading shadow who grabbed her own beer and joined him on the couch. But the TV couldn’t distract him from the daggers currently being shot into the side of his face.
“I’ll make you a deal.” It had only taken thirty minutes for her to crack. He was a little disappointed. “I’ll transfer you to another physical therapist if you tell me the real reason you don’t want me working on you.”
He thought about that for a minute. A new PT was the goal. It would definitely make things easier, but he still didn’t want to go into why he couldn’t work with her.
Why not? She’s read your record, knows all about your injuries and how you got them. You’re not telling her anything she doesn’t already know, and this way she doesn’t get a front-row seat to watch you fail again.