Best Man Read Online Free Page B

the steering wheel.
    “Yeah, I’ve been known for one or two of them,” I chuckled, completely forgetting to whom I was talking.
    “Is that a little laugh…Wow, are you actually smiling?” he said in a surprised voice.
    “Not because of you,” I said darkly.
    He ran his hand over his face, “ Right .”
    We drove in utter silence for the next ten minutes. Chloe didn’t even make a peep, and she was the most talkative kid I knew. When Luke pulled up in front of Ava’s, I opened the window to wave to her, and she came running out with an umbrella. She helped Chloe climb out of the back then slammed the door shut. She hugged her daughter close under the umbrella and leaned her arm against my open window. “You look a little wet,” she smiled.
    “Yeah, we were at the park, and I was hovering over your offspring, so she wouldn’t get wet,” I said.
    Her gaze drifted to Luke and a wide smile tugged at one corner of her lips. “And this gentleman was there at just the right time to save your wet ass?”
    “Fortunately for your daughter, yes. Now step back, so I can open the damned door,” I said, rolling my eyes. “It would have been nice if you’d thought to bring me an umbrella too.”
    “Maddie, let me drive you home,” his voice rasped from the other side of me.
    Ava’s eyes fixed on mine and widened. “Yeah, why don’t you let this fiiine gentleman drive you home?”
    I narrowed my eyes at her, cursing at her in my head six ways to Sunday, and slowly spun my head around to face him. “That’s quite all right, Luke. I’d rather make my own way home.”
    “In this rain, Maddie? Come on,” he waved his hands toward the dashboard and out the front windshield. “Look at the flooding already.”
    “So I’ll swim,” I snapped.
    “You are the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met, Madeline Cross.” His eyes flickered up toward Ava, and he growled, “Step back. I’m driving her stubborn ass home whether she likes it or not.” Ava and Chloe quickly backed away from the car, and he skidded into the watery street, hydroplaning down the rest of the asphalt. “Where do you live?” he demanded.
    Oh, I wanted to fight with him. I wanted to get right in his face and make him feel every hateful thing I’d ever felt since he had left. “Let me out of here, Luke!”
    “No . Tell me where you live or I’ll take you home with me! ” His eyes were dead serious. There was no way I wanted to spend time stuck with him at his house. My heart wouldn’t stand a chance.
    “56 Hollow Road,” I whispered.
    “Over Miller’s Bridge, right?”
    “Yeah.”
    We continued our drive in silence while the rain and wind howled outside. To the right of us, a huge branch crumbled and broke out across the road. Luke swerved around it just in time as I yelped out a scream. “No big deal, see?” he said, grasping my hand with his. “I got you.”
    Correction, oh stupid one, you had me . You got nothing now.
    He pulled into the driveway and thankfully kept the engine running. I didn’t want him to come in. I didn’t trust myself and wanted to stay angry with him. Because if I let him close, all he’d do is leave, and I refused to allow myself to go through that heartache again. “This doesn’t change my feelings—all this nice stuff. I still think you’re an ass.”
    He nodded but didn’t reply, and I climbed out without another word, making my way to my front door. I let myself in without turning around or waving goodbye, or even saying thank you. Yes, I was a bitch , just like he said—but the truth was I didn’t want him to see I had tears in my eyes or how much I had desperately missed him.
    In the front room, I stripped off all my wet clothes and hung them over a chair. I ran through the house naked and grabbed my old robe that hung on the back of the bathroom door. A long hot shower and steaming cup of coffee would warm me up. My shift at the bar started at six, so I had plenty of time to wipe the tears