“What are you doing?”
She stopped, startled by Parker’s large body behind her. “I needed to work out some frustrations.” She pulled her mask down and pushed her protective glasses higher on her nose with the back of her hand. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going to dinner in Tyler?”
“I don’t want to talk about that.” His jaw ticked. “Not with you.”
“Oh.” She set the sander down. After grabbing her phone from her back pocket, she glanced at the time. He’d barely spent any time away from Prospect, so she doubted he had a good time with his girlfriend.
He shook his head. “I can’t afford that place anyway.”
She set her phone aside and stared at him. “What’s wrong?”
He didn’t say anything as he searched for his house key. Aubree waited, watching as he unlocked the door and went inside. A few minutes later, he came out shirtless with a bottle of whiskey in his hand.
“That bad, huh?”
He tipped the bottle back, taking a swig, before finally meeting her eyes. “You’re a bad penny.”
She snorted. “Don’t blame me. I didn’t have anything to do with your date.”
He drank another swig of whiskey. “Maybe not, but you’re making my life hell right now.”
“I’ve done nothing to you.” She shoved her phone in her pocket. “I offered to talk to her. That’s the opposite of making your life hell.”
He gave her a sour look. “What’s in it for you?”
“Nothing.”
“Yeah right.” He stood and came toward her. “You deliberately went to the bakery to eat the fucking cake with those crazy old ladies even though you knew there was nothing between us.”
Aubree rolled her eyes. “Do you want chocolate chip instead of cookies-n-cream mousse?”
He crowded her, stepping into her space. “Sophie is pissed off about tonight.”
“Why? Because you can’t afford a fancy dinner?” Aubree glanced down at his bare, muscular chest. “Most girls would have said that even though Pierre’s restaurant was great, they would have been perfectly fine eating takeout on the couch while watching Netflix.”
“Yeah?” He took another drink of the liquor. “Let me guess … you’re like most girls.”
“No. I would have gone to the restaurant.” She licked her lips, staring at his. “And I would have had the lobster.”
He narrowed his gaze at her. “You are nothing but trouble.”
“I haven’t done anything.”
He set his whiskey aside. “No, but we’re going to.”
|
