Page 31 of Ice Rebel

At least I knew he hadn’t been lying to me about his method of travel.

He’d added a cool leather jacket to the ensemble, dark sunglasses shading his eyes from the waning late afternoon sun.

I bit back a reaction, halting my movements until he noticed me. The way he slowly stripped off his shades reminded me of a scene directly out of a movie.

“What are you doing here?” My question was meant to be casual, not coming off as a lioness ready or even eager to pounce.

Meanwhile, he was entirely calm and collected. His legs crossed at the ankle, one hand resting on the hood. Far too sexy for his own good.

“I was worried that after you dissected all the rules you imposed, you might back out of our deal.”

Taking my time, I moved closer. “I didn’t know we had a deal.”

“You did make the date more of a business transaction. I almost suggested we draw up a contract.”

His words amused me, but I tried to keep him from noticing. He did have a point. “I like to be thorough in presenting expectations.”

“Admirable, but does the weight carried around your neck ever become too heavy?”

He’d regrouped from when I’d had the upper hand. A man who could keep up with my banter. Both touching and intriguing. “The weight can be useful when dealing with arrogant assholes who spend more time checking themselves in the mirror than doing anything else.”

“Double whammy. You’re one tough lady.” He pushed himself off the truck, pocketing his sunglasses.

“Just protective of my space.” We were right back to where we’d been before, tension building when there was no need for it. It was obvious we were attracted to each other.

Wild horses couldn’t drag that out of me.

“A lady who’s been hurt.” I obviously had a reaction since he straightened up. “Hey, I didn’t mean to get into your personal business. But whoever he was, I’m not like that.”

“I’m curious. Like what?”

“The kind of man who disrespects a woman under any circumstances. Not cool.”

For whatever reason, I believed him. “Just so you know. I’m not the kind of lady who would ghost a guy whether at a bar or even over a text.”

“No?”

“No need to. I’ll simply tell you to your face if you should back off.”

At least I was rewarded with another grin, which was highly preferable to his scowl.

Although all things being equal, the expression was also sinfully sexy. “I knew I liked you, even more so now.”

“Well, thank you very much.” I tried to keep from noticing every detail about him, but with every passing second, doing so was becoming increasingly difficult. “You can call me Clementine if you’d like.” No real names yet. I was a cautious girl.

“Alright. That’s preferrable to ‘hey you.’ Maybe one day you’ll honor me with telling me your real name.” There went those dimples again.

“If you’re a very good boy. So what do I call you?”

His chest expanded even as he puffed out his cheeks from taking a deep breath. When he spoke, he altered the tone, putting a little more swagger into the few words spoken. “You can call me Roy.”

“Roy?”

Using his hands, he encouraged me to figure out why. “Yeah, Roy. You don’t get it?”

He was seriously upset I hadn’t. “No, afraid not.”

“It came from the greatest movie ever made.”