Page 30 of Thaw My Heart

“Yes,” I blush, but I don’t think he can see me clearly in the dark. “And, did you have fun tonight?”

He frowns. “Not even a little bit.”

Well, that’s a lie. “You smiled tonight. After we danced.”

“And?” He pins me with a rigid gaze.

A breath gets caught in my throat. “And well, it couldn’t have been all that bad since I actually saw you smile.”

“I have smiled before you know.” He adjusts his grip on the steering wheel.

“Yeah, but I’ll bet it’s been a while,” I say while texting Averie to ask if she has a safe ride home. She replies that she does, and also something about french fries and ice cream. I sigh in relief, focusing back on Kit.

“So, you like me,” I grin, saying it like it’s a fact.

“No, I don’t,” he denies it.

“Because I annoy you?” I challenge him, recalling what I’d overheard him say.

He glances at me. “Because of many reasons, Sadie.”

I shrug. “Well, that’s just fine. I don’t like you either, Cowboy,” I lie. But I think I’m starting to like him a bit too much.

My phone buzzes again, but I ignore it.

“You don’t?” he asks. Is he sad to hear that response?

“Nope.”

He flexes a hand on the steering wheel, keeping his eyes on the road. “Good then.”

But I don’t think he truly feels that way. He admitted to Alaska that I’m the most annoying person he’s ever met, but I don’t believe him. Maybe he doesn’t want to like me, but I’m sure that he does.

Something in him seems different since I found him outside the bar with Alaska. Like a part of him decided to shut down. I’m not sure how to get back to the Kit I was beginning to know and occasionally loathed, so I stay quiet for the rest of the ride home. Listening to the radio playing softly as the snow continues to fall. A million questions burn in my mind, but with every coherent thought comes clouded desire.

Because if I’m being honest with myself, what I really want to do is grab him in the dark, just to see how much he “doesn’t like me.”

Tequila 1. Sadie 0.

Kit catches me in his arms when I hop out of his shiny silver truck. Probably the cleanest truck I’ve ever been in, and considering his occupation, it’s surprising.

I smile and stagger out of his arms, heading towards my front door before I can do something stupid like ask him to help me out of my clothes, or scrub me down with soap in the shower with those firm, calloused hands.

“Goodnight, Cowboy,” I shout, almost slipping over from my distracted thoughts and the fact that my vision is slightly blurred.

It’s a struggle to put the key in the lock. I’m not even sure if it’s the house key or the car key at this point. About a minute later, I hear him come up behind me. His tall presence makes me smile.

“Give me the keys,” he sighs.

I do as he says, walking inside after he opens the door. Fox rushes up to me, and I bend down to give her kisses while Kit closes the door behind him.

I stand at the sound of the door clicking shut, realizing he’s in my house. He didn’t just open the door and leave.

He walked in.

I should be nervous. I should tell him to leave, but the six shots of tequila have my brain rattled, focused on one thing—my sexy neighbor Kit Harlow is in my house.

And let’s be honest, my middle name is reckless and impulsive. It’s what I do best, and one of the things my ex-husband never liked about me. He couldn’t control reckless, so that’s what I became.