near shriek, but a gust of wind blew her hair across her face, and she started sputtering.
“Who said anything about you being fired?”
She swiped her hair to the side, revealing a pair of narrowed eyes.
“I’m over Seattle. I’m leaving, and you have to follow me wherever I go, right? Or things don’t work out with whatever deal you have with Ben.” Oh, this was fun.
“Right,” she said slowly as her eyes narrowed.
“Good. Then get packed, Zoe Shannon, because you’re taking me home.” I grinned as I walked back into the apartment. “Not only that, but I’ve managed to make all the arrangements without you, and it only took eight minutes.” I glanced at the clock on the wall. “The car will be here in half an hour to take us to the airport.”
“We’re going to Tacoma?” she called out as she came after me, her feet soft on the floor.
“Tacoma?” I turned back so abruptly she almost ran into me, but I caught her shoulders. They were small but strong, just like the rest of her. “We’re not going to my hometown. We’re going to yours.”
Her face drained of color.
4
ZOE
He wasn’t kidding. The entire flight and even part of the drive in from Gunnison, Colorado, I thought he’d start laughing that I fell for his horrid joke and demand to go back to Seattle.
But no, he was serious. It was now a little after five p.m., and we’d just passed the sign that read Legacy, Colorado, Alt. 9,689 ft. We were as proud of our altitude as we were of the mountains that made it possible. I took a deep breath and savored the slight burn in my lungs that came from the lack of oxygen. God, I’d missed home.
“You’re going to have to tell me where to turn,” he said from behind the wheel of the rental car—a black Range Rover that had magically been waiting at the airport. It was the first time I’d ever seen him drive himself…well, anywhere.
“I thought you said you booked a house?” Pure sugar saturated my tone.
“I know where we’re staying. It’s called the McClaren Ranch.”
My eyes widened. The McClaren Ranch was one of the only estates that hadn’t burned when a wildfire decimated our little town ten years ago. The place had to be a hundred years old, and it was huge.
“Well, are you going to say anything?” He glanced over at me.
I quickly jerked my gaze away. “Watch where you’re going or you’ll fall off the mountain.”
“There are buildings on both sides of the street.” He rolled his eyes.
“Whatever. And you don’t have to turn to get to the McClaren place. You go straight up—”
“We’re stopping at your parents.” He braked for the only red light in town.
My stomach lurched.
“We’re what?” This wasn’t happening. This was all a really bad dream I’d wake up from, right? We’d still be in Seattle, and I would not be faced with introducing Nixon-freaking-Winters to my mother.
“I already called ahead, and they’re at home.” He grinned. “Told them I was delivering a package, but if you’re not going to help, then I’ll find it myself.” He picked up his phone, flipped through his texts, and plugged something into the GPS.
Good God, the man was actually excited. “When did you have time to call my parents? How did you even get the number?”
He looked at me like I was an idiot. “Called Ben when you stopped into the bathroom at the airport. He gave me the number. I called your parents. It takes you a ridiculously long time to pee.” The light turned green, and he drove on.
“You can’t…” I sputtered as we passed The Chatterbox, my favorite diner, and came up on Sweet Cheeks, my favorite bakery. Everything here was my favorite. It was my home, and he was invading it with his…rock-starness.
“I can’t what? This should be the turn, right?” He glanced at the GPS.
“You can’t just barge into my private life without so much as asking!” Especially when certain ex-parts of my private life had very much mocked my career ambitions.
“That’s fucking hilarious.” He laughed, his shoulders shaking under his black T-shirt. The muscles of his forearms rippled beneath all that ink as he straightened the wheel. “You moved into my house without asking me. Isn’t that my private life?”
He slowed, then stopped, allowing Mrs. Henderson to cross the road with her corgi.
“It’s not the same,” I hissed, fighting the urge to slump in my seat. The minute she spotted me, everyone within