Page 57 of Just One Little Bargain

“I’m only asking to carry you to your door.”

“I don’t need to be carried.”

“Just let me help.”

“I don’t need—”

She doesn’t make it to the second step before I’m out of the car and blocking her path.

“Get out of my way.” Her chin lifts.

“No.”

“Milo, I swear to—”

I scoop her up.

She yelps. “Put me down right now!”

“No.”

“I’m a grown adult and I can walk to my own—”

“You can’t walk. That’s the whole issue.” I shift her weight and start up the path. “The doctor told you to rest, and I promised to make sure you did.”

Do I actually give a damn about what Damien Devereaux thinks? No.

He’s a vampire in a white coat with a smile designed to make people tilt their heads and expose their necks. I knew it the second he walked into that room. But right now, Doctor Dracula’s medical advice happens to align with my interests, so I’m using it.

“Let me go.” She elbows me in the ribs, and I grunt. She has a vicious elbow for someone her size.

“After we get inside.”

She growls in frustration and twists in my arms. I hold firm, adjusting my grip to keep her secure. Her fist connects with my shoulder. Then again. Then a third time for good measure.

“Are you done?”

“No.”

Fourth hit.

“Now?”

“I’m going to be hitting you for the foreseeable future.”

“That’s fine. I can take it.”

“I hate this,” she announces to the sky.

“Understood.”

I carry her through the door and don’t put her down.

Chapter 16

Evie

Milo carries me through the door and I use the time productively. Specifically, I construct a devastating monologue in my head while my fists make a series of increasingly ineffective arguments against his shoulder.