“Well, I have it and we need to go over wedding plans.”
She huffed out her irritation. “Fine, but just this one time. We’ll get the main things worked out tonight, but after that, if you need something, you email me.”
“We’ll see,” I said as she turned back to Carter.
“Thank you for coming out here. I’m sorry you wasted the trip.”
“I got to see you,” he grinned. “That’s not a wasted trip.”
I rolled my eyes at his cheesy line. And worse, when she smiled up at him. Was she really falling for that crap? They had some kind of moment pass between them and it looked like they were going to kiss. I couldn’t let that happen. I grabbed Anna by the arm and started leading her toward my car.
“Thanks for helping out, Corduroy.”
“Always happy to give her a lift when you’re not around,” he shot back. I flipped him the bird and led Anna to the passenger side of my car. She jerked her arm away angrily and plopped down in the seat. I shut the door and walked around to the driver’s side, grinning with a little wave at Corduroy as I got in.
“Do you always have to be such a jerk? I happen to like him.”
“Corduroy?”
“His name is Carter Roy,” she said slowly. “High school was a long time ago. I thought you would have outgrown the childish names.”
“What can I say, he brings it out in me.”
“How? All he did was try and help me.”
I started the car and swiftly pulled back onto the road toward her place. “Oh please, he just wants to get in your pants. He’s wanted you since high school, and he saw his opportunity.”
“Wow,” she snapped. “So, a man couldn’t possibly want me because he finds me attractive, but because I’m the one that he never got to fuck and he needs to get it out of his system?”
“You’re twisting my words.”
“No, that’s pretty much what you said.”
I growled in frustration. “Look, he’s not the man for you.”
“Right, and you know who is?”
I clenched the steering wheel so that I didn’t burst out that I was the man for her. “Let’s just get back to your place and figure out this wedding stuff.”
“Fine by me,” she snapped.
Pulling up to her shitty trailer made me livid. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why the hell she was living like this. She had to have some money set aside, so why choose to live like this? It just made no sense. And worse, she didn’t seem to care that she was living like this.
I carefully got out of my car, careful not to step in the potholes that lined her driveway. I was once again in a nice suit, and would ruin yet another one if I wasn’t careful. Had I been thinking, I would have brought a change of clothes with me. I slammed my door and glanced over at the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. I shut down that thought immediately. I couldn’t afford to think like that. Anna didn’t want me. She’d made that perfectly clear. Not that it mattered. I had my life in the city, so why was I hanging around my hometown with a woman that lived a completely different life than I did?
“Are you coming?” she asked over her shoulder.
I nodded and grabbed the food out of the trunk. This was a two seater, and no space for anything extra. Once again, when we got to her door, she slammed her hip into the door over and over again to try and get it open. The good news was that if anyone wanted to break in, they would have a hard time doing it. She finally got it open and walked inside, setting her purse on the table beside the front door.
Glancing around, I saw that it was magically still in the same condition it was the last time I had been here. Anna walked around collecting the pots that were filled with water on the floor and dumped them down the sink, then returned them to their spots on the floor.
“Anna, why the hell do you still live here? Do you need money or something? Is that it?”
She turned a glare on me, crossing her arms over her chest. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m saving for a house. I live here because it’s paid off and allows