Page 6 of All Because I Found You

The tears stopped, the melancholy twist of her lips vanished, giving way to a bright smile as if a switch had been flipped. “Really? Good. Let’s go.”

Chapter 3

She folded up her chair—that he could now see was navy blue and covered in bright pink flamingos—and tossed the strap over her shoulder. “We going?”

He stumbled back, staring at her in disbelief. “Those weren’t real tears, were they?”

“Of course not. Do you honestly think your gruffness would make me cry? I have two brothers, eight male cousins, and let’s not even count the female cousins who, let me tell you, are more vicious than the boys. It takes a lot to make me cry.”

“You played me?”

“No, I just pulled the last trick out of my hat, and it worked. Let’s go.”

“No.” He crossed his arms over his chest and planted his feet firmly on the ground.

“What do you mean, no? You just said we could go.”

“That was before I realized you were manipulating me with your crying act.”

“Oh, get over it. I faked a few tears. If anything, you should be happy you didn’t make me cry. Now all that guilt I know you were feeling, you can let go. And the best way to do that is to continue on with your day. So let’s go to the barn.”

This woman was infuriating, but the only way to get rid of her was to give her what she wanted. “Fine. I’ll go with you to the barn. You can see it is not a suitable venue for a wedding and then you will leave. Deal?”

“Yes to everything, but the not a suitable venue? You’re so wrong on that front.”

He shook his head, then held up his finger. “Wait. One more thing.”

“And what’s that?”

“No more singing.”

A smile curved her plump lips. “What? You don’t like my voice?”

“You sound like a dying cat.”

“Now that’s mean.”

“You’re right. I don’t want to insult the cat.”

A loud gasp flew from her mouth, but he didn’t stick around for whatever would come out next.

He headed toward the house, not bothering to slow his pace for her. He could hear her grunts and squeaks from behind him. The ground wasn’t exactly even. Her shoes would be ruined, but rightly so.

“You drive,” he muttered, going straight for her passenger door.

“No problem.” She hurried behind him and looped around toward the driver’s side.

The door unlocked, and he slipped into the car, immediately regretting his decision. The sweet scent of coconut surrounded him, sparking a tiny flame of desire he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

She stopped outside the driver’s side and bent over, ass pointed right at him as she drew her pants up over her legs.

He cleared his throat and shifted away from her as she got in the car and put it in reverse.

“You can turn the car around up to your left.” If she didn’t, she’d be reversing out of the driveway.

She didn’t say anything, just did as he said until the car faced the driveway. “So not to be nosy or anything, but I remember your house being on Acorn.”

“Were you a stalker?” he asked and was surprised at the smile that tugged at his lips. It felt almost foreign to him.

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