Page 88 of Until It Was Real

He grunts. “You’re being unreasonable.”

I clutch my chest. “Me? I’m the one being unreasonable? Because I’m not letting you buy me a car?”

“Exactly.”

“I’m not with you for your money, RR.”

“I know. But it doesn’t change the fact that I do have money.”

I almost wish he didn’t. It would make our relationship more equal. I feel as if he holds all the cards now. He has money and a family. I have neither of those.

“I need to get to work.” My shift begins in five minutes, and it’s a great excuse to get out of this conversation.

He folds out of the SUV and walks around to open my door for me. I try to scramble out before he can help me, but he grasps my hips to stop me.

“I worry about you when you’re driving. Your car isn’t safe.”

Ugh. He pulled the worry card. I don’t want him to worry about me. “I only drive from the motel to the distillery. It’s ten minutes max.”

“A car can crash in less than ten minutes.”

I flinch. I’m aware of how quickly a car crash can end someone’s life.

“Fuck. I’m sorry, Havoc. I shouldn’t have mentioned a car crash.”

“It’s okay.”

He palms my neck and draws me near until he can wrap his arms around me. “It’s not okay. It was an asshole move reminding you of your husband’s accident to try and manipulate you.”

I allow myself to enjoy his comfort for a few seconds before I push away. “I really do need to get to work.”

He frowns and I hold up my hand. “Don’t you dare say you’ll pay off my loans. Especially not when Ms. Nosey is watching us.” I point to Sadie, standing at the entrance of the motel, spying on us. She waves in response.

Rhett kisses my nose. “I’ll pick you up in the morning for work.”

I watch as he drives away. I need to figure out the car situation before he buys me a new one. If I give in on the car, he’ll pay off my loans, too. They’re not his loans to pay off. I don’t need a man to handle my problems for me.

“What were you guys talking about?” Sadie asks as she opens the door for me. “It looked tense.”

I scowl at her. “You’re not going to pretend you weren’t watching?”

“Why? We both know I was spying.”

Despite myself, I smile. “You’re crazy.”

“You obviously haven’t spent a lot of time with other people on Smuggler’s Hideaway. I’m boring compared to most of them.”

“I want to disagree with you, but I just rescued an otter from the Raider brothers.”

“I knew they were the ones who stole Viking! Parker was completely panicked. She called every business in Smuggler’s Rest. She was convinced Viking escaped the bakery while she was taking out the trash.”

Kai, Zane, or Miles could have told her they were borrowing the otter for a prank. There was no reason to let her panic. They need to learn some manners and I’m up for the task. Especially after they got into a food fight at dinner. They weren’t the ones cleaning up the mess.

“Parker’s okay now. We dropped Viking off with her before Rhett brought me here.”

She rubs her hands together. “And we’re back to the hottie. Tell me more. Did he bring you to his house and make you see stars?”

I did see his house and I thought he was going to make me see stars, but then his brothers showed up and ruined our plans. All of which is none of Ms. Nosey’s business.

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