“You couldn’t make a woman scream if she stubbed her toe during sex, Archer.”
With that, I shoulder past him, cart wobbling, and storm into the next aisle—pretending I’m not vividly imagining him proving me wrong.
Repeatedly.
Against a wall.
The dirty floor.
Back of his truck.
Or literallyanywhere.
And because he’s clearly on a mission to end me, he follows.
“Are you stalking me now?” I snap, grabbing a bag of something I don’t need just to avoid looking at him.
“Just making sure you don’t hurt yourself,” he says. “You’re a dangerously clumsy little thing.”
I whirl around, heat in my cheeks, fire in my blood. “For a guy who couldn’t even find clean socks two weeks ago, you sure like to run your mouth.”
“And you’re just dying to keep my name in yours.”
My jaw drops all over again. If I had any self-control, I’d leave. But I’m finding my mind and body have a serious disconnect where this man is concerned.
Instead, I glare, standing nearly chest to chest with the man who drives me insane. “You are such an arrogant, insufferable—”
“Careful,” he drawls, leaning in just enough that his hair brushes my shoulder. “You might say something nice by accident.”
Before I can fire back, a loud, cackling voice slices through the aisle.
“Well, well, well! If it isn’t my two favorite sexy sluts!”
“Oh God,” I breathe, flicking horrified eyes toward Kade. “That’s your insane landlady, isn’t it?”
He grimaces, already bracing for impact. “Ex-landlady.”
My breath hitches. “Wait—you found a place?”
“No,” he mutters, eyes catching mine. “Haven’t yet. Just didn’t want Agnes caught off guard when it happens.”
“That’s really sweet,” I whisper, tuning out Mrs. Whittaker’s incessant chatter about how hot we’d look together and how badly she wants to watch.
I also ignore the fact that her voice is getting closer, but, damn, I’ve been wanting to hear the updates since I was moved out of Heart Springs and off his case.
“Met Ethel,” he murmurs, lip twitching. “She’s a lot nicer than you.”
I scoff, grinning. “Liar.”
Ethel is really nice, though. We’ve been chatting nearly every day, and she’s slowly helping me acclimate to how things are done in Summit. It’s a world away from the strict policy back in New York. Things are looser here. By the book, but the book’s a lot different than any I’ve read before.
“She has me working through that checklist you emailed,” he adds, giving me a strange look. “Doesn’t give me space, though.” I cock a brow and he rolls his eyes. “Likes to hover.”
“Ethel’s just doing her job.”
A couple days ago, I called the hospital to check on Aurora, and they gushed about how sweet it’s been seeing Kade bond with her over the last week. Apparently, he shows up every day and stays pretty much the entire visiting hours, getting to know her, making sure she feels safe with him.
The nurses are all utterly obsessed, and half in love with the guy, and I…
