Page 44 of Secret Baby With My Brother's Best Friend

"HE," Haley corrected, laying emphasis as she said. "My ride is a man."

I caught Harper rolling her eyes at her from the corner of the garage, and It brought a smile to my lips. I unlocked the car and dropped Harper's luggage in the trunk before climbing in. "Try not to crash my car."

I nodded. "I won't."

"I'll see you when you get back," she said in a sexy voice, swaying her tongue over her painted lips.

I didn't reply. Instead, I started the car, and we got on the road. The drive to the airport was quiet and uncomfortable, almost like attending a funeral. The tension was tight between us. I took my eyes off the road a few times, stealing a glance at Harper. She had her eyes fixed on her phone the entire time, which was disappointing. I wished we would talk, but It didn't look like that would ever happen.

"Is the cell network back?" I asked, some minutes into the drive.

Harper took her eyes off her phone for a minute, making eye contact with me. She shook her head and muttered. "No."

"Hopefully, there will be service once we get a little further out of this area," I said.

"Hopefully," she sighed. "I just hope I catch the flight today. I really can't wait to get out of here."

"Why? Does it suck here that much?" I dared ask, not looking at her. I couldn't bear the thought of seeing how badly she wished to get away from me.

"It does. I hate it here. There is nothing here for me," she replied.

"I see, and there's something for you back in San Francisco?" I heard myself ask. I still couldn't look at her.

"Yes."

My heart shrunk, and my grip tightened on the steering. I guess she is really seeing someone. "And what's that?"

"What do you care?" she retorted.

"I don't. Just curious."

"Don't be. I don't have to tell you anything about my life there. I don't owe you that or anything."

"Okay," I said, and we drifted into absolute silence.

I slowed down a few minutes later as I spotted a roadblock up ahead and noticed several officers gathered around it. "What are they doing?" Harper questioned rhetorically as we drew nearer, and I eventually stopped at the block.

"Good afternoon, officers," I greeted them politely as one of them approached my window.

"Good evening," he responded, taking a quick glance toward Harper and me.

"What's going on, officer? Why is the road blocked?"

The officer looked at me and sighed, clearly weary from how many times he must have already answered this question. "The storm caused a massive amount of fallen trees on the road and knocked out power lines. It's not safe to continue down this route for now. In fact, we advise you to stay off the road for the next few days to avoid accidents. The weather is quite unpredictable now, and we are on a tornado watch this evening, so it's better to be safe than get caught up in a storm."

"How long must we wait before the roads are reopened?"

"You can check back here in a few days. I reckon the road will be opened by then. We move a bit slower out here than what you may be used to son. We will get a crew to come out here and cut these trees in half, so we can load them up and move them out and off of the road."

"Thank you, officer," I said, rolling up my window.

"I guess we are going back to the motel”. I reversed the car and turned to find a devastated-looking Harper beside me.

"I can't believe this."

I can.

As I made a turn, I tried to conceal the pleasure in my voice as I carefully muttered my next words to Harper. "Looks like your plan to dash will have to wait for a few more days," and she jerked her head towards me.

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