Page 15 of Tempting Promises
Getting that land would’ve been incredibly hard and I would’ve had to beg my sister for money, but I could’ve expanded so much. It would’ve helped to dig out of the hole, just like the fucking steer the asshole won would have done.
It’s another reason why I can’t stand him. He cuts me at my knees every chance he gets.
“Yeah, no. Definitely. We’re on our way to being best friends,” I say in a sugary-sweet voice.
Rowan looks over with a smirk. “I can’t wait. I’ve always wanted a porcupine as a best friend.”
“Porcupine?”
“Yeah, you like to stab things when you’re mad or scared.”
“I’d like to stab you,” I mutter. His low chuckle irritates me further. “Can we just finish this drive without speaking?”
It’s another ten minutes, and I can only imagine what else he’ll say to piss me off.
Instead of speaking, he starts whistling and tapping his thumbs on the steering wheel. I try ignoring it and then singing in my head to drown out the sound. I shift, looking out the window, counting fence posts. I try it all, and every second I hear that tapping and the high-pitched whistle, I feel my anger rising.
Please stop. Please stop. I don’t want to kill you. Orange is really not my color.
But he doesn’t. He starts humming.
“Rowan!” I screech after another minute. “My God!”
“What?”
“Please stop with the tapping and whistling. You’re driving me insane.”
“You said you didn’t want to talk.”
“I take it back. Let’s talk,” I say, feeling my nerves start to splinter. “Let’s talk about the weather or Olivia or your truck. I don’t care, but the whistling is killing me.”
He grins. “Humming is okay then?”
I should’ve held it in. Now he’s going to do it just to annoy me more. I need to keep him talking. “How is Olivia? Does she love her baby sister?”
“That girl is obsessed with her. It’s crazy how fast she’s growing too.”
Safer ground here. “Did she have fun at the auction?”
“She did. She liked talking to you and wanted me to tell you that you’re very pretty. I tried to reason with her, stating that the Devil usually disguises himself to make peoplethinkhe’s not a hideous beast, at least that’s what my mother said when we were kids. However, she couldn’t be swayed and said you weren’t evil. I think she hasn’t spent enough time around you.”
Seriously. He’s the most annoying human on this planet. “For the life of me, I can’t understand what the hell my sister ever saw in you.”
“I’m adorable.”
“Stupid is more like it.”
Rowan snorts. “They say that girls who are mean to boys do itbecause they like them. I can’t help thinking all this anger and frustration is just an attempt at covering your undying love and hunger for me and my body.”
I make a gagging noise. No one can argue that Rowan Whitlock isn’t really freaking hot, but the minute he opens that big mouth, he’s not so attractive anymore. “You figured me out. I’m dying for you, salivating at every possible chance to be around you. I want you so much. Oh baby, oh baby,” I say with zero emotion.
“I knew it.”
He turns onto my little dirt road, and I thank God for small miracles. This horrific car ride is almost done.
Rowan stops at the end of the driveway, and I open the door and reach to grab my groceries, but he grabs my wrist. “Call me if you need a ride back to your car. Don’t walk.”
I look down at his hand, to his eyes, and then pull my arm back. “I’ll get a ride.”
