Chapter 6
In front of me, the stranger said, "See?"
Ididn'tsee. But I could hear. The sound was getting closer with every passing second. And yet, there was no guarantee that the sound was coming fromJoel'scar.
I gave a small shrug. "That's probably someone else."
"Nah. It's him."
"How can you be sure?"
"I know the car."
I frowned. "But they all sound alike."
"Toyou, maybe. Not to me." His eyes filled with mischief. "Now c'mon. Let's have some fun with it."
I stared up at him. "Fun? What kind of fun?"
"You wanna see Joel flip out?"
I drew back. "No."
"Aw c'mon. Sure you do."
I shook my head. "No. I don't."
"What about payback?" he said. "The guy was an asshole. Don't you wanna give as good as you got?"
I wasn't even sure what he meant, but I did know that I wasn't the type to play games. Whatever this guy had in mind – regardless of how nice he'd been about walking me back – I wanted no part of it.
I gave another shake of my head.
He looked far from discouraged. "Trust me. You'll thank me later."
"Thank you? For what?"
He flashed me a sudden grin. "For this."
Before I knew it, he'd moved forward. On instinct, I backed up until my butt hit the front bumper of my car. I gave a little gasp. "What are you doing?"
He loomed over me, large and imposing, until our lips were almost within kissing distance. "Nothing."
I leaned my head back, trying to get some space. "Then stop it."
"Stop what?" He sounded perfectly reasonable. "I'm not doing anything."
"Yes, you are."
He gave a cheerful laugh. "I'm not even touching you."
It was true. He wasn't. And yet, I found myself reaching back with both hands, searching out the hood of my car, if only to make sure that I didn't topple over. Briefly, I considered the opposite approach – reaching out to push him away – but I wasn't sure I could do that and still maintain my balance.
And yet, for some odd reason, I wasn't afraid. Maybe I should've been, but the guy's eyes were filled with so much good-humor that it caught me off-guard.
As if making casual conversation, he said, "You see any good movies lately?"
Movies? What the hell?Enough was enough. I gave him a serious look. "I'll scream," I warned.
