"Hm." I didn't relinquish my hold on her. "How would you know? You don't know my plan yet."
She pushed her bubblegum pink hair away from her face and tapped my hands. "Let go."
I did, but I didn't step back. "Can I drive you to your hotel? We can talk in my car."
Ara glanced at her rental uncertainly. "I have to return it before my flight on Monday, I don't want to—" Her jaw worked back and forth over unsaid words.
She didn't want to have to come back here. "I'll take care of it," I promised. "Consider it a favor for all the shit I put you through in your senior year."
Reluctant amusement crossed her features. "You weresoannoying."
"I know," I grinned. "Come on." I unlocked my EV, praying she would follow me, and to my surprise, she did. She fumbled with the hidden handle on the passenger door—shit, that was adorable—and then we were both inside the quiet, dark space.
She smelled nice. Really nice. I hadn't been in close quarters with her in a long time, and at the moment, she was filling my car with the scent of jasmine and fresh laundry detergent. Arabella turned to me, drumming her hands on her lap. "Explain what just happened in there, please."
So direct, my fiancée. I turned the car around in the wide driveway and started a slow descent away from the frigid mansion. "We weren't going to let you go through with this."
"I knew it," she muttered.
"And," I breathed out, lifting my hands partially off the steering wheel, "Knox asked me to bail you out."
She pinched the bridge of her nose. "You two are theworstwith the meddling."
"What, you were going to marry Charlie Chaplin in there?" I asked incredulously. This woman was so stubborn, I was sure she would ignore the apocalypse if she thought it would stand in the way of her goals.Oh, is the sky on fire? I didn't notice. Care to donate to my stupid ranch?
"Honestly, I was about to give my mom the middle finger and tell her to shove it," she replied hotly.
I spared her a surprised glance. "You said you'd lose everything if you did that. You'd be penniless and jobless."
"I know," she glowered.
I slid another quick, worried look her way before gluing my eyes to the dark road. "And is that… still… your plan?" Shit, that sounded pretty damn bad.
"I don't know," she admitted quietly. After a sniff, she looked out her window and asked, "What'syourplan? You saved me from having to talk to Harry, but I'll have to do what she wants eventually."
"I'm going to marry you." She rounded a wide-eyed look my way that I could only catch in my peripheral vision, so I plowed onward. "Legally and all that shit. And we can stay married for however long you need." I gave her a quick, hard glare before looking forward again. "And you need to figure out how to get out, so she doesn't do it again."Or I'll do it for you. I'll be damned if that gorgon gets a say in so much as your shoe color again.
"You would really marry me," she said, her voice low. It wasn't a question—she knew when I was being truthful.
"Yep."
"Why?" She cocked her head, pink hair falling over one shoulder and brows furrowed. "Because Knox asked you to?"
That was a tricky question. I couldn't exactly tell her the truth—both about Knox asking me to step in and the real reason I felt compelled to help her. I couldn’t tell her that her distress was a proton to my electron, that I could sooner defy physics than ignore Arabella in trouble. But I could skirt around the truth. "It isn't right," I replied finally. "What your mom is doing, what you and Knox have been through. It's not right, and I'm tired of standing on the sidelines while she tortures you both."
Ara ran a hand through her hair, clearly bothered. "That's not your responsibility, Theo."
"Hey, now," I chided. "There's no need for fighting words, using my real name."
"Your name isfine," she said in exasperation. "I don't know why you hate it so much. Besides, it's better than your middle name."
"Barney," we said in unison, exchanging amused glances.
"I did appreciate your costume junior year," she acceded.
I'd dressed like the giant, purple dinosaur that shared my middle name, and it had been a hit in our neighborhood. "And you made a decent Harley Quinn that Halloween."
"Everyone thought I was a jester," she said acerbically.
