Page 82 of Love Me Reckless

Kirilee glances out the window. “Oh no.” She scrambles off my lap. “It’s Birch.”

“What the…?” My words die in my throat when the passenger side of the truck is yanked open and Birch peers in.

“Kirilee?” He glances at her, then at me. “What the hell is going on?”

“Hey! Easy,” I bark.

He sends me an icy glare.

“What are you doing here?” Kirilee asks him. She’s pressed backinto the seat, like she wants to stay away from him. My pulse taps hard in my temples.

“You didn’t answer your phone. We were worried sick. I found your car, and when you weren’t in it… we thought you’d been taken. Your parents were ready to call the police.”

Taken?That’s a little extreme. “Hey, look at that… she’s perfectly fine,” I say, staring him down.

“My fiancée spending the evening with you is far from fine.” He turns to Kirilee. “Come on. We’re going home.”

“I can get home just fine without you,” Kirilee says.

Cold fury flashes in his expression. “Shall I tell your parents I left you here withhim?” He jerks his chin in my direction. “Tell them what I learned?”

“Whoa!” I cry as alarm bells go wild in my brain. What the fuck isthisshit? “Learned about what?”

“About the kind of person you are.” Birch’s lip curls in a kind of open-mouthed sneer, revealing his perfectly straight, white teeth. “What you’re capable of.”

“Okay, just hold on a minute.” I’m trying to make sense of this while my anger is quickly eating me up inside. Now I know who was snooping around in my truck. What exactly did Birch learn? How much has he shared with Kirilee? There’s no way he can know about my past…

Fuck.

“Stop, both of you.” Kirilee sends me an anxious glance. “It’s better if I go.”

My temples throb and an ache sizzles behind my breastbone. “How is that better?”

“Please,” Kirilee says, her lip quivering.

Birch opens the door wider.

“That’s really what you want?” I ask her.

She closes her eyes for an instant, then turns away and slips from my cab.

With one final scathing glare, Birch slams my door.

Chapter Nineteen

KIRILEE

Birch pulls awayfrom the curb before I even have my seatbelt fastened.

“Why weren’t you answering your phone?” He turns right and accelerates down the main street. “Your parents were ready to call the FBI.”

My stomach twists. “I had it silenced. I’ve done that before.”

“Never when you’ve been out alone. It looked like your car had been abandoned.” He reaches across the console and covers my hand with his. “We really thought something terrible had happened.”

His touch sends icy prickles up my arm. I close my eyes. Something terrible, all right.

Terrible and wonderful.

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