I swallowed.
I raised my hands in surrender, backing away from him. Away from his murderous glare. But he kept walking toward me, stalking me, looking like a pissed off archangel.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning?” he whispered. His voice was as soft as a feather, as sharp as a knife.
“B-beginning?” I parroted stupidly. I looked past him, gauging how fast I could get away and to my car.
“Don’t even try it,” he warned.
Nothing pisses me off more than someone telling me I can’t do something. We looked at each other for a heartbeat. Waiting. Waiting. And then I sprang for the car.
His hand shot out, gripping my arm. His hold didn’t hurt at all, but it was firm. The look he shot me told me this wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d hoped it would be.
“You’re unbelievable,” he said.
I sighed in defeat. “I won’t try to escape again, so can you let me go?”
I relaxed my arm and his grip loosened. I shook him off. He let go, but his stance clearly stated that he was just going to catch me again if I tried to run.
I raked my hands in my hair, gathering my thoughts before I spoke again.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. Sincerely. Because the truth was he was the one wronged. He hadn’t asked for any of this, and even though I wasn’t exactly Miss Do-It-Right, I’d try to do my best to make up for it.
“I’m really sorry,” I repeated. “My brother didn’t mean to hit your motorcycle this morning.”
He closed his eyes, looking like he was praying for patience. I could see the muscle in his jaw ticking. “Your. Brother. Hit. My. Motorcycle.”
“Well, yeah. You saw what happened this morning, right? That was my brother.” I waited a beat. When he didn’t reply, I continued. “I have a deal for you. A deal only an idiot can refuse. Want to hear it?”
He opened his eyes. He was mad. He didn’t speak, just narrowed his eyes at me.
“Do you have security cameras here?” I prodded. “Did you call your insurance yet?”
Again, he didn’t answer.
“Listen. I’m taking responsibility. I’ll pay for your repairs. In fact, we’ll do them.”
He crossed his arms. I really should shut up, but his silence only made me want to confess my sins more.
“We own an auto repair shop. I hope you haven’t phoned your insurance yet, but if you have, you can probably phone them and cancel the claim. Tell them you settled. If you report it, my brother’s insurance will demand his firstborn child in payment.”
We looked at each other. I watched as the anger in his eyes faded eventually. I could tell he was thinking.
“What’s in it for me?”
I had wanted him to respond, but now that he had, I realized I preferred his nonverbal cues. He looked like a cunning fox.
“What do you mean? We’re doing your repairs for free. You won’t have to pay your deductible.”
Now he looked bored. “The deductible’s not a problem.”
I bet. “Well…we’ll add in an extra service.”
He grinned.
I would have smacked his face, but I was trying to get him to show me some mercy, not execute me. It had nothing to do with the way my heart skipped a beat at the sight of that grin. Or what I thought he was thinking by extra service. Nothing at all.
Also, it had nothing to do with the way he looked at me. No one had looked at me like that before.