Forbidden Harmony (Harmony Falls #3) - Elizabeth Kelly Page 0,15
How could he not know? Relief mixed with shame twisted through her.
She realized she didn’t want to tell him. She didn’t want him knowing that Harrison had dumped her, even if she skipped over the reason why. Telling Preacher that she’d been dumped by a man like Harrison made her feel like the biggest loser in the world.
So, instead you’ll let him think you’re the type of woman who makes out with another guy while she’s engaged to someone else?
She swallowed hard. Wrong or right, letting Preacher think she was a cheating whore somehow felt less pathetic than telling him Harrison dumped her.
“Miss Moore?” Preacher was staring at her and she realized she’d been standing there silently for nearly a minute.
Her hands sweating and her voice a bit shaky, she said, “I want to apologize for the other night, Mr. Preacher. What I did was completely inappropriate, and I am very embarrassed.”
He didn’t reply and she babbled on. “I think – I think I was just so grateful to you for saving me that I, um, took it a little too far. I hope you don’t think poorly of me.”
“Why would I?” he asked with what looked like genuine puzzlement.
“Well, because I threw myself at you when you were just trying to be nice and I…”
He stared silently at her. Any idea that he might have been attracted to her had flown out the window with the way he was acting now, and why did that make her feel like crying? It wasn’t a surprise that he would regret what happened or consider it the worst mistake of his life.
“I’m really sorry,” she blurted again. “It was a huge mistake and I -”
“Of course, it was,” he said. “Good girls like you don’t fuck men like me, do they?”
The weird bitterness in his voice made her feel even worse and her stomach churned with nausea. She backed away a couple of steps in case she just casually vomited on his damn boots.
His voice tight and guilt etched into his own face, he said, “Are you afraid of me? I wouldn’t hurt you.”
“I’m not afraid of you.” She knew without a doubt that Preacher would never hurt her. “But I feel bad about leading you on the other night, and I wouldn’t blame you for being angry with me for it.”
“I’m not angry. You were afraid and sometimes people do crazy shit when they’re afraid.” He leaned against her car and folded his arms across his wide chest. “I’ll wait with you until your fiancé gets here.”
“He’s not coming,” she said.
He scowled and his gaze dropped to her neck. Her breath caught in her throat when he stalked toward her and pulled the collar of her dress away from her throat.
“He mad because of this?” His callused fingers brushed against the pearls around her throat before he touched the hickey he had branded her with. Goosebumps skittered to life on her skin despite the cloying heat.
“He hasn’t noticed it,” she whispered.
An odd look crossed his face. “His woman’s got another man’s mark on her and he hasn’t noticed?”
She didn’t know what to say to that, so she just clutched her phone and said, “I called Wade for a tow, but he’s got a few other calls, so he’ll be a couple hours. He said I could leave the keys in the glovebox, but, uh, I think I’ll wait until he gets here. Just to keep an eye on the car.”
“No one’s gonna do anything to your junk car. C’mon, I’ll give you a ride home. You can text Wade and tell him to take this piece of shit straight to the junkyard.”
“Oh no, that’s okay,” she said immediately. “I don’t mind waiting.”
“You’re in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “It’s not safe for a little thing like you to be out here all alone.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “This is Harmony Falls, nothing bad ever happens here.”
“We both know that isn’t true.”
She flushed and stared at her phone for a moment. “Okay. If you’re sure you don’t mind?”
“I don’t,” he said.
“Okay, well, uh, thank you, Mr. Preacher.”
* * *
Deciding to take a ride this afternoon was turning out to be the best fucking decision of his life. Finding the little schoolteacher stranded on the side of the road wearing a pretty green dress that showed off her delectable thighs and clung to her perfect tits shouldn’t have made him as fucking happy as it did, but here they were.