“Ah, Bucky, I didn’t realize that was you. I was about to hit my panic button. I don’t have these plates in the books.”
My breath hitches.
Captain America and Bucky.
She’s supposed to bemyBucky, not his.
It takes all the strength I can muster to not turn her way, to not let her know just how much it stings that she’d let someone else call her that.
“Just me, Cap. My tire went flat on my run to Smart Shoppe.”
The wrinkled old man narrows his eyes at me. “You didn’t hitch a ride with some stranger, did ya?”
“No. I know him.” I whip my head her way, surprised she’d admit that out loud. “Unfortunately,” she adds as I stare at her with a smirk.
Ah, there she is.
“Should I let him through?”
“You’d be my favorite man in my life if you did.”
“If he gives you any trouble, Bucky…”
“Hit him where it hurts. I know, Cap.”
The old man gives her a thumbs-up and me another glare before pressing the button to lift the gate.
“Cap and Bucky, huh?” I say as casually as I can while pulling forward.
She purses her lips but doesn’t address my inquiry, instead directing me to the building she lives in. “Up ahead and to your left.”
Fine. You win this round, Denny.
I follow her directions until she tells me to stop.
“This is me. See ya.”
She grabs her bags and hops out of the truck before I can say anything else.
What the…
Oh hell no.
I shift into park and toss open my door.
“Denny! Wait up!”
She whirls toward me, wide-eyed and startled. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Walking you inside.”
“Like hell you are. I’m not letting you know which apartment is mine. Besides, you can’t just leave your truck in the middle of the parking lot.”
“Watch me,” I say, catching up to her. “You arenotwalking up there alone in the middle of the night.”
“What did you think I was going to do if you weren’t here? Have Cap walk me inside? There are like two dozen stairs in that building—I amnotgoing to be responsible for the death of Captain America.”
My lips pull into a grin, and I can see the fire in her eyes the moment they do.
