“Whythehellam I sitting in the backseat again?”
My eyes flashed up to the rearview mirror, a helpless twist to my lips as I watched Scarlett huff and puff in the backseat. Her arms were crossed over her chest, mouth pursed to a pout, her brows furrowed together and everything.
She was a grown woman throwing a little girl’s tantrum for not getting what she wanted—dramatic flare and all.
She was adorable, and I was stupid for thinking so.
“It goes like this,” Derek started next to me, maneuvering to face Scarlett and grinding on my well-worn nerves. “Tiny women go in the back. Big men with long legs go in the front. I need room to stretch out.”
Her tone was as droll as the look in her eyes. “I highly doubt there’s anything big about you.”
A smile blew out onto my face that I poorly rolled between my lips to hide. I shook my head, squeezing my hands around the steering wheel, trying to not bust a gut.
Goddamn.
Everything about her was fire. Her wit, her sense of humor, her temper. She was practically fucking glowing in the backseat, her skin an electric chamber barely containing her radiance.
That glow about her intensified as Derek opened his worthless trap again. “You know there’s a fine line between being sarcastic and being a bitch, right?”
“Ooo, I hit a nerve there, didn’t I?”
“No, you didn’t hit a nerve.” I cast an annoyed glance over to Derek to see his face screw up into an uglier version of what it already was. Scarlett was playing his ego like a goddamn fiddle. “I’d offer to prove it to you, but I think James would flip the car trying to strangle me again.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“I’ve already seen what a little Vienna sausage looks like, so I’m good.”
A stiff laugh barked from between my lips, my hand flying to my mouth too late to cover it up. The emerald glint of Scarlett’s eyes caught mine in the rearview mirror as she smiled knowingly at my outburst.
Derek shifted in his seat, tearing a hand back through his yellow hair in frustration. “Okay, now I really can’t tell if you’re being funny or an outright bitch.”
His insult wound through my fingers, tightening my hold around the steering wheel. Artificial red blurred in my peripherals, wicked mockery catching up right after.
“It’s a fun game, isn’t it?” Her voice was a ride of temptation, soft and sultry, and sounding a hell of a lot older than she was.
Beside me, Derek grew even more agitated.
“No, and I’d like you to stop.”
“And I’d like you to stop being such a sexist prick.”
“I am not a—Reyes, come on, man.” Derek clipped my shoulder with his fingers. “Help me out here?”
“Yeah, Reyes.” Scarlett was right next to me, mischief on her cherry lips as she turned them towards me. “Help the poor asshole out, won’t ya?”
A low-pitch hum started in my throat as I worked my jaw from side to side. Derek was playing right into Scarlett’s game and was too much of a fucking moron to see it, and I’d had more than enough of him and her wild flower scent.
“All right, children. Settle down.”
Derek’s mouth fell open like a gaping fish as I threw him an accusing stare before focusing back on the road. The fire-haired hellion, however, tried to steal all focus as she smirked in the rearview mirror.
“Does this mean you want me to start calling you Daddy?”
All of my attention fell to her pretty little mouth that spoke such filthy little words. “Not in a fucking million years. Now sit back and put your seatbelt on,” I ordered, voice firm.
Excitement flared up her dainty features, and she slowly lowered herself back in her seat.
“Yes, sir, Daddy.”