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He sighs and shakes his head. “She called me already. I’m sorry, Sawyer. My cousin’s behavior is inexcusable.”
Cousin? Shit, maybe I should leave out that part about her being sexy then.
“She needed a place to stay.”
As if she can’t afford one, right?
“And she’s been through a lot.”
What, not getting her way every time she made a demand?
He shrugs, furrowing his brow as he looks off in the distance. The man has never been one to offer a ton of words, so the fact he’s sharing this much is odd, almost like a word vomit.
“I can’t make excuses for her, but I am sorry she went off on you.”
I grin and lift my hands. “Hey, no worries. I can handle a sassy woman.”
His smile seems off, like he can’t make sense of what I said. “Sassy? Barry said she was acting like a diva who wanted to throttle you.”
“Sort of.”
“She’s something like a little sister to me and Caleb, but that doesn’t mean she’s got any right to act like that.”
“How long will she be here?” I scratch the back of my neck, hating that he added that part. A little sister? I wasn’t exactly best friends with this guy, but that sounded an awfully lot like something a man couldn’t ignore in the bro code.
Dalton telling me that Claire is like a little sister means I can’t be harsh with her. She’s under his protection. I can tell. It also implies hands-off, no matter what.
“I’m not sure,” he admits, and I can’t decide how to interpret that. Disappointment fills me with the prospect that she might not stick around at all. Because sassy or not, a friend’s sibling or not, I am too damned curious about her already.
Chapter 5
Claire
Later that evening, I climb into Dalton’s truck. I didn’t get much sleep, more like none, no thanks to the hot construction worker, but my stomach is growling. Tired or not, I’m impatient to see what is so special about this woman’s dinners.
“Brace yourself,” Aubrey warns when I’m sure we’re close. It’s not a long drive, but every minute that passes feels long.
“For what?” I ask.
“Meadow Lane,” she quips from the front seat.
A massive jolt nearly sends me flying back toward the window. I grab the armrest and hold my breath. It makes no sense when Dalton continues to drive up the road. “Did the tire fall off?” I ask.
Aubrey giggles. “No. It’s just the road.”
“Worst road in all of Colorado,” Dalton gripes. He takes Aubrey’s hand, though, and I smile. Seeing him be so sweet with her warms my heart. If I could ever think about finding and holding on to love, I’d want it to be something like what he has with her. Lasting and deep.
“Hey, if it wasn’t for this road, I wouldn’t have hated you so much,” she reminds him.
“And then we wouldn’t have fought enough to get so close.”
I blink. “That sounds kind of backward to me.” Another hard jolt rocks the sturdy truck, and I slant in the opposite direction as he zooms around a twist in the road.
“But it worked for us,” Aubrey says as she leans close to him to kiss his cheek.
“Pothole,” Dalton announces before he holds her close.
“They’ll never fix this road,” she grouses as she sits facing forward again.
