Page 112 of Blindly Yours

It’s a struggle not to roll my eyes. There’s no way that’s the truth. I pull out my phone again and navigate to the Uber app. “It’s fine. You go ahead. I’ll call a ride.”

Malcolm laughs. “I came out of my way to get you. No reason to make this a wasted trip. I’ll take you home.”

I enter my address and wait for the system to find drivers while I picture a scenario where I’m forced to spend forty-five minutes alone in the car with him, especially when he’s an awful driver to begin with. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m not riding with you.”

Ignoring me, he peers up at the brick estate and sighs. “Nice place. Wonder why they built it out here in the middle of nowhere.”

“Because it’s peaceful,” I murmur as I discover that the nearest driver is almost an hour away.

“It’s too quiet.” Malcolm shudders. “And imagine the bugs out here. Mosquito heaven.”

I bite my lip and weigh my options. The rest of my family is just as far away as the Uber, Junie is out of town, and Nate is in the middle of Kara’s appointment. For all I know, he’s getting some tense news, and I promised myself I wouldn’t bother him.

Malcolm is going to continue to beg me to ride with him, so I can either listen to that for the next hour or just bite the bullet and get in his car. I’m stuck with him either way.

When I peer up at him, he’s picking at a bit of lint on his shirt. He lifts his eyes to mine and raises a brow. “Does Uber even come out this far?”

I study him for a long moment. Just a quick ride into the city. A quickforty-five-minuteride. It’s not going to be easy to explain this to Nate, but it’s starting to seem like the best option.

“Fine,” I say quickly as I stand and make my way to the stairs.

Malcolm follows in my wake. “Surprised you didn’t call that boyfriend of yours. Is that already over?”

I shake my head and walk quickly toward the car. “He’s busy today, otherwise I’d have called him the instant you walked up those steps.”

“Too busy to help out his girlfriend?” He speeds up to open my door for me.

I slide in and wait for him to get in the driver’s side. “He had to take his daughter to a medical appointment.”

“He has a kid?” Malcolm asks incredulously, watching me with true surprise. “Jeez, be careful, Rose.”

“From a previous marriage,” I clarify. “His wife died.”

“Shit.” Malcolm starts the engine and sits back.

I don’t know why I’m telling him all this. I guess I’m just tired of keeping secrets. I’ve reached my limit, and it’s all spilling out.

“How old’s the kid?” he asks.

“She’s seven. Let’s go.” I point out the windshield.

He slowly pulls around the driveway and back toward the road. “He’s probably taking you for a test run to see if you can fill that vacant mom role.”

I lean back and shake my head. “Yes, he’s specifically dating me for my maternal skills.”

Malcolm snorts. “Yeah, because you’ve got those in spades.”

I furrow my brow. “You don’t think I’d be a good mother?”

He speeds up onto the mostly vacant two-lane highway as drops of rain start to pepper the windshield. “Sure, with a little help, you’d be great.” He peers sideways at my offended expression. “What? You had…what’s her name…Helene? She practically raised you, didn’t she? Doubt your mom could have done it on her own.”

“Excuse me?” I sit up taller.

“Rose, you have the money to hire help. And you’ll have even more if you marry me. Don’t waste time worrying about diapers and discipline. Leave it to the professionals. You’re not cut out to handle it all.”

“Stop the car,” I say through gritted teeth.

Malcolm laughs, speeding up instead. “I’m not stopping the car in the middle of nowhere.” The rain increases and he flicks on his wipers.

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