Shameless - Sybil Bartel Page 0,30

the rearview mirror to make sure she was standing out of range. “Here’s goes nothing.”

Not able to see how far off the road the rear tires were because of the depth of the snow, I took a chance on being able to rock the Escalade out of its current position. Jackknifed across the road, I needed to get the damn vehicle facing one way or another. Preferably toward the cabin.

I gave it gas in Reverse, and the wheels spun but then gripped. The SUV moved a few inches back, and I hit the brakes. Quickly throwing it in Drive before I drifted, I gave it gas again. “Come on, fucking traction control. Move this beast.”

The four-wheel drive gripped, and I moved forward until the front bumper hit the face of the mountain. “That’s it.” Putting it back in Reverse, I turned the wheel.

Taking the Escalade all the way to the edge of the drop-off, then easing forward again, I repeated the process until I finally had the beast not perpendicular on the road but facing toward the cabin.

I put the window down to call to her, but she was already pulling open the passenger door.

“You did it!” Swamped in my jacket, shaking the snow off her hair and shoulders, she got in. “I knew you could.”

“We’re not there yet.” I hated to burst her fucking bubble, but getting the SUV back on the road was the easy part. Getting up the mountain the rest of the way was another story.

“You’ll manage it,” she said confidently.

Who the fuck was this chick? “Says the woman who got close and personal with the Oh Jesus handle.”

“That was before I knew you could drive a Cadillac backward off a mountain.” She put her seat belt on.

Snow dumping, the wipers barely able to keep up, I eased us forward. “That wasn’t driving. That was Escalade skiing.”

She laughed.

Lighthearted and delicate, it reminded me of the way she’d walked out of the restaurant. Some women wore heels like they were born in them, others like their feet were being stabbed, but she’d moved with the kind of grace you couldn’t teach. Ten years on her, and she’d be more sophisticated than any woman I’d ever met.

“I like that, princess,” I admitted.

“What?”

“Your laugh.” The Escalade made the first turn in the switchback we’d lost ground on.

“Yeah, well, I’m just glad not to be out in that.” Rubbing her thighs, she nodded toward her window. “Although it was much more tolerable with your jacket.” She glanced at me. “Thanks for the loaner.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her to keep it.

But I was a thirty-fucking-six-year-old former Force Recon Marine. I didn’t give women articles of clothing like I was a goddamn teen offering up his letter jacket. And I sure as shit didn’t need to give Leo Amherst’s daughter a fucking jacket. She was probably one of the richest trust fund brats on the planet.

“You’re frowning.” Leaning forward, she slid her arms out of my jacket.

“Keep it on,” I snapped, suddenly irrational about her taking it off.

Quietly slipping my jacket back on, she didn’t say anything.

Goddamn it. “It’s for your safety,” I explained.

“Got it.”

No, she didn’t. Not even I got it. Except that I was a fucking sick bastard for thinking about sinking my cock inside her. I’d destroy her teenage cunt. I didn’t care how many men she’d slept with, I’d still destroy her. She was small as fuck, and I knew just from looking at her she wasn’t like the type of women I normally played with.

I didn’t do relationships, but I also didn’t fuck casually.

I couldn’t.

Not with the shit I had going on.

“Were you scared?” she asked, pulling me the hell out of my head.

Navigating the turn that gave me problems last time, I watched the side mirrors. “Scared of what?”

“Going over the cliff.”

I snorted. “Woman, I’ve been shot, stabbed, fragged, blown up, and I survived two helicopter crashes. A short sleigh ride in a hundred-thousand-dollar armored Caddy isn’t gonna kill me.”

“That’s not what I asked,” she quietly admonished.

Fuck. Was I really going to say it? Screw it. “I wasn’t concerned for myself.”

She turned to face me. Then, like a goddamn truth ninja, she stared at me and waited.

I caved. “I was concerned about you making it to the cabin without fucking freezing to death.”

“You said I would be fine.”

I wracked my brain, going over our past conversations. “I didn’t say that.” Not when I told her to get up to the