Page 20 of Receiving His Mercy
She swore she was starting to get light-headed.
“She drove.”
“She drove? You let her drive?”
“Let her?” he asked. “I can’t tell her what to do.”
What? Was he serious right now?
“Then why are you bloody well telling me what to do?” she exploded.
“Bloody well?”
“It’s British slang. Not bloody as in, you’re all bloody after murdering the guy that interrupted your dinner, practically kidnapped you, and is generally acting like a nutter.”
“Nutter?” he repeated.
“Stop repeating what I say and answer me.”
“Bossy little thing, aren’t you?”
“Me? I’m bossy?” Her head was about to explode. She was certain of it.
Boom! Brain matter everywhere.
Now that would be bloody.
“Uh, Caren, you okay?”
“Just imagining what your truck would look like with brain matter splattered all over it,” she muttered.
“Right. That sounds . . . normal.”
“Nothing about this night is normal!” she cried as he pulled into a parking space outside her apartment building. It was a gorgeous building made of red brick with large steps leading up to the door. It didn’t have a doorman like the one in Dallas, but the door was locked all the time and people had to be buzzed in. Her apartment was on the top floor but there was an elevator.
“Nice building,” he said, sounding almost disappointed.
Why? What was happening right now?
“Travis, what is going on? Why did you interrupt my dinner? I mean, I figured we weren’t likely to see each other and if we did that you would likely just pretend not to see me.”
He undid his seatbelt and turned to her. “Why would you think that?”
“Um, because you don’t like me!” she said in a bewildered voice.
“I like you,” he said gruffly.
“Really? Now you’re lying to me! I didn’t think you would be a liar. It’s okay, you can admit it. It won’t hurt my feelings. I know that I used to annoy you. I was the weird, silent kid who followed you guys around. You tolerated me for Lacey’s sake.”
“That was a long time ago.”
“Yes, and you spent most of the wedding glaring at me. So I don’t think much has changed.”
That hurt if she was honest. She knew she hadn’t been likeable as a kid. And he hadn’t known everything she’d been going through. Plus, boys’ brains tended to develop slower than girls. So, really, they’d likely been the same age emotionally.
But she had hoped he’d have gotten over his dislike of her. Then again, Travis was the kind of guy that stayed true to his convictions.
“Yeah, well, I feel bad about that.”
