“It’s your car? Who is driving it?” she asked.
“A friend.”
“You don’t have any friends, remember? You shouldn’t lie. Bad things will happen.”
“Like coming across a woman about to be raped and having to fight off three disgusting assholes?”
“I was going to go with stubbing your toe, but yeah. Something like that.”
She didn’t want to think about what had just happened. If she pushed it to the back of her mind, then she could keep herself from falling apart.
“Get in the car.”
“I can get myself home.” She couldn’t just climb in a car with him, right? She didn’t know him.
Well, she knew some things. He was kind of grouchy. And he liked to give orders. Oh, and he loved to scold.
He also had a really sexy beard, and she kept getting glimpses of what she thought might be a tattoo above his shirt line.
She really wanted to run her tongue over that tattoo.
“You shouldn’t have been walking around at night. It’s dangerous and you’re cold. You’re probably going to get sick.”
“I won’t get sick.”
“And then you’ll get pneumonia.”
“No, I won’t. I’m really very healthy. I take my vitamins every day.”
“Do you? That’s a good girl.”
Okay, she was not going to react to that. Because he didn’t mean it that way.
“But vitamins won’t save you from dying.”
“Are you always this dark?”
He just shrugged.
“I’m not going to get pneumonia and die.” Although she was feeling rather chilled and getting colder by the moment. She really wanted to go home, curl up into bed and drink some hot cocoa.
This had really been a stupid idea.
“Yet. Now get in the car. I’m taking you home.”
“I can really get home myself.”
He sighed. Again, it was far longer and heavier than was called for.
“You’re a drama queen, huh? Maybe I’ll start calling you Queenie. Hmm, no, that won’t work. I know Dreamie.”
He shot her a look. “Dreamie, huh?
“Ahh.” Crap. Good Lord, the last thing he needed was to make his head bigger.
“What is with people giving me stupid nicknames?” he muttered.
“Someone else gave you a stupid nickname? Not that mine is going to be stupid,” she added hastily.