The Bully (Calamity Montana #4)(21)

“Thanks. I’ll text you directions.”

“’Kay.” I ended the call and dragged a hand through my hair. Damn. I wasn’t ready to face Nellie yet, but when Pierce asked for help, I helped.

So I grabbed my keys, forgetting the coffee. I shot Nellie’s diary a glare, leaving it on the counter, then headed for my car.

My phone dinged as I climbed behind the wheel. Then I followed the directions in Pierce’s text down First Street and to the highway, taking a few turns until I was headed down a narrow road bordered by a barbed wire fence.

Nellie’s silver sedan glinted beneath the sky. The woman herself was leaning against the driver’s side door with her arms crossed over her chest. Her hair was nearly a perfect white under the sun, like untouched snow. She’d curled the silky strands today and the waves spiraled down her shoulders and spine. Her lips were painted a sinful shade of red.

She pushed off the car and stood tall as I eased off the road and parked behind her. Her lips flattened when I stepped outside.

Guess she wouldn’t be greeting me with a smile today.

“Hey.” I jerked up my chin.

“I see that Pierce didn’t listen when I told him I’d be fine to just wait for the tow truck.”

“So I can go?” I hooked a thumb over my shoulder.

“No,” she muttered. “Could you give me a ride to the office?”

“That’s why I’m here. But you have to say please.”

She was constantly telling me to say please. To mind my manners. It was refreshing to throw that her direction for a change.

“Please.”

“Better.”

She rolled her eyes and turned, opening her door before bending inside. Her slacks molded to the curve of her ass. Her blouse rode up, revealing the dimples at her lower back.

My cock jerked. My hands inched for a touch. Just one. To grab those hips and palm that ass. This was not a safe direction for my thoughts, so I spun away and kicked a pebble across the pavement. “What’s up with your car?”

“I have no idea.” She hauled a tote bag from the car and slammed the door closed. The keys she tucked beside the gas cap. “The check engine light came on and then the engine revved before there was this nasty burning smell. I didn’t know what else to do, so I just pulled over.”

“It’s probably your transmission.”

“Awesome.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “That sounds like I won’t have a working car today.”

“Doubtful.”

“Great,” she deadpanned as she walked past me for my car.

I let myself take a single look of her ass in those slacks and the sway of her hips. Then I got behind the wheel and slammed a pair of shades over my eyes. “Which direction?”

“Straight for about two miles. Then the road curves. Just follow it.”

The scent of her perfume filled the cab as I pulled onto the road. It was the smell of beauty and temptation. I hit the button to roll down the window.

Nellie did the same to hers.

We rode in silence, the air whipping through the cab until a building came into view. It was a single story with sparkly windows and rustic, wooden siding. Clearly new. Clearly expensive. But it complemented the natural landscape and the mountain foothills in the backdrop.

Nellie rifled through her bag, snatching a different set of keys as I eased into the empty parking lot.

“Is anyone here?”

“No, it’s just me right now until the others move. Thanks for the ride.”

“Welcome.” How was she supposed to get home?

She moved to open the door but stopped when her fingertips grazed the handle. “About the other night, at Jane’s. I’m sorry.”

“For what? Making me spend a bunch of money?”

“No.” She shook her head. “When I said I hated you.”

“Don’t you?”

The apology was clear on her face. But the answer to my question was not. She lifted a shoulder. Not a yes. Not a no.

Did she hate me? According to her diary, she’d hated me at fourteen. She’d probably hated me since. And maybe she’d apologized for voicing it on Monday. But that didn’t necessarily make it untrue.

“Thanks again.” She opened the door and stepped outside.

“I’ll pick you up at five.” The sentence flew out of my mouth before I could stop it.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll find a ride. They might even have my car fixed by then.”

We both knew the chances of that were slim. “It’s just a ride, Nellie. And I’ve got nothing else to do.”

“Fine.” Her shoulders sagged. “Five.”

“Hey, Nell?” I stopped her before she could shut the door.

“Yeah?”

“Do you? Hate me?”

There was no mistaking the vulnerability in my voice. This was her chance to shove the dagger in deep. To shred me to ribbons. To go for the kill.

The corner of her mouth turned up. “Not today.”





CHAPTER SIX





NELLIE





The longer this phone call with my mechanic continued, the further my heart sank.

“I can probably have it ready for you Monday afternoon,” he said. “I think I’ve got the parts to fix it. We got lucky there.”