Steele's silver Challenger exploding right next to it.
I didn't bother trying to climb out and run when he slammed the door shut and casually moved around the hood to his side. It would be thoroughly pointless, and the only thing I'd gain from it would be a few dents to my dignity.
A few more dents, that was.
"Are we late for something?" I asked with heavy sarcasm when he gunned the engine and peeled out of the parking space. I quickly clicked my seat belt on because fuck dying thanks to his crazy-ass driving.
He didn't reply. He didn't even look at me. Just drove like... okay, I had to be fair. He drove like a NASCAR racer or something. Steele had mentioned Archer was the one who drove well in real life, but I’d sort of figured that meant he could parallel park like a champ. Not this.
But still. With my history of car crashes, I found myself flinching every time he took a corner too fast or overtook someone in a dangerous stretch of road.
"Breathe, Kate," he muttered at some point on the outskirts of Shadow Grove when I almost had a heart attack, thanks to the speed he was taking the turns. "I'm not going to crash. Just take a damn breath."
I was too freaked out to argue, I just did as I was told. In truth, I hadn't even realized I wasn't breathing until he’d pointed it out.
"Where are we going, Archer?" I asked in a shaking voice, attempting to distract myself from the vivid images of a thousand and one different crash scenarios playing through my mind.
He flicked a glance at me, his brow creased, but his speed eased off ever so slightly. "Shooting range," he replied in clipped tones. "It's time you learned to shoot properly."
Of all the things he could have said, I hadn't expected that.
"Why?"
His fingers flexed on the steering wheel. "Because you shot someone over the weekend, and it was damn lucky you didn't accidentally shoot your own foot off. Had you ever fired a gun before?"
I frowned, irritated at his tone. He was acting like I was some kind of incompetent moron, when I'd quite deliberately fired from about an inch away so I wouldn't miss.
"Of course not," I snapped. "When the fuck would the Princess of Shadow Grove have learned to shoot?"
He gave me a glance, and his lips twitched. "Nice to know you're claiming that crown."
Annoyance simmered in my belly, and I scowled. "Shut up, asshole."
"Don't be like that, Princess. Open communication is such a key aspect to a successful marriage, after all." The grin he shot me was pure mockery, and I refrained from punching him in the throat. The second he stopped the car, though, he was going down.
I just shook my head and stared out the window, at a total loss for words.
"You seem different," I commented after a few minutes of silence.
"How so?" he replied. He didn't even sound combative or suspicious. Just... curious. That was exactly what I’d meant.
I bit the inside of my lip, considering what the fuck I was going to say. "I don't know. You're just..." Less angry, more relaxed. Less infuriating and more... tolerable? "...different."
He shot me another quick glance but didn't say anything. We drove the rest of the way in total silence without even the distraction of music to detract from the tension filling the car and growing with every passing minute.
By the time he pulled to a stop in front of a shooting range set way up in the mountains behind Shadow Grove, I was practically clawing at my skin. It was safe to say I regretted commenting at all. Now that I'd pointed out how his attitude had changed, the tension between us was only getting worse.
I unbuckled my seat belt and climbed out of the car before he’d even shut off the engine, then hesitated in front of the entry doors to the range.
"Aren't you eager," Archer commented, pushing the door open and holding it for me to enter.
"Eager to get this over and done with," I snapped back at him. "I have better things to do with my day than suffer your infuriating presence, husband dearest."
He shot me a sharp glare as my heels clicked on the concrete floor of the shooting range’s front shop. "Yeah? Like trying to apply for an annulment? Good fucking luck, Princess. I take my business arrangements seriously and would never leave a loose thread like that hanging out." His