She heard him following her even though the click of her heels on the concrete was loud and precise. “April. Wait up. Can we at least talk?”
When she reached her car, she yanked the door open and turned to face him. “No need.” She took off the jacket he’d draped over her and handed it back to him. “I’m fine. I’m going home.”
As she climbed behind the wheel and shut the door, he continued to talk and she ignored him. But then, the unthinkable happened. Again. The engine wouldn’t turn over. The car didn’t make a single noise when she turned the key. Not the first time and not the fifth time either.
Her shirt was soaked with brown sticky liquid. Her skin was pink and heated from the coffee. Her body still didn’t have caffeine running through its veins. And now her car wouldn’t start. She was close to tears, and the last thing she needed was for Cole Fucking Landry to see her looking weak.
Her heart raced as she stared out the windshield, trying to think of what to do.
Suddenly, her door opened and Cole leaned toward her. “Let me drive you home,” he stated in a soft voice. “It’s the least I can do. I’ll have someone from the shop come check out your car.”
Cole’s family owned Landry’s—the local mechanic’s shop. His dad, Marcus Landry, had opened it before Cole was born, and she was pretty sure Cole’s brother, Jacob, worked there with his father. Cole certainly didn’t. He’d taken off for the Navy the moment they’d graduated from high school, and as far as April knew, he’d never returned. In fact, what was he doing here now?
There was no denying she was in a bind, but the thought of going anywhere with Cole did not sit well. She glanced at him. “I can get an Uber.”
His brow furrowed. “Come on. Let me help. I don’t need to be anywhere right now. I obviously ruined your day. Let me at least drive you home.”
She blinked at him. The man was ten years older than the last time she’d seen him, and Lordy but he was taller, broader, and sexier than ever. Damn him. He’d made her panties melt in high school and he still did now. Asshole.
She took a deep breath. “Fine.” Grabbing her purse, she climbed back out of the car and accepted the jacket that he once again draped around her shoulders.
The day was sunny and warm, but not warm enough for a wet shirt, so she was shivering now that the coffee had cooled against her skin. She grasped the edge of his jacket and held it closed over her see-through blouse as she reluctantly followed him to a black SUV parallel-parked four cars down from hers.
Cole, the gentleman version of him, set a hand on her lower back and guided her toward the passenger side of his car. After shutting the door, he jogged around the hood and climbed into the driver’s side.
She sucked in a breath the moment they were sealed in together. The SUV wasn’t big enough for both of them. The air shifted, and she suddenly wished she’d declined and called an Uber.
He turned to face her after starting the engine.
“What?” she asked, sounding snarkier than she intended. After all, he was doing her a favor.
He lifted a brow and shot her a half-grin. “You’re going to have to tell me where we’re going, ladybug.”
She flinched. “Don’t call me that.” No one had called her that in ten years. He’d assigned the nickname to her their sophomore year of high school when she’d dressed as a ladybug for Halloween.
He sighed.
She pointed out the windshield. “Take the second left. I live in The Groves apartments.”
“Ah, right. I remember where those are.” He pulled away from the curb and headed in that direction, his hands gripping the steering wheel. He glanced at her every once in a while, but he didn’t say anything until they arrived. “Which building?”
“Building A.”
Instead of dropping her off out front like she would have preferred, he parked in a spot and exited the car, rounding it to open her door.
She slid to the ground, still awkwardly gripping his jacket around her. “Thanks for the ride. I’m fine now.” She started to lower the jacket once again, intending to hand it to him, when he stopped her.
“Please, April.” His voice was low. “Let me walk you to your apartment. I mean, let me stay for a while. I’d like to catch up. If you have time. Were you on your way to work? Did I make you late?”
She sighed. She wished she was the sort of person who could lie and tell him she was indeed in a huge hurry to change and get to work. Instead, she blew out a breath. “My appointments were canceled for the day, but I don’t want to hold you up either. You can go.”
He shook his head. “I’m free this morning.” He turned toward the building with a hand on the small of her back and started walking. His touch was possessive. At one time in their lives, she would have killed for him to touch her so intimately, but not anymore. Now, his hand seemed to be burning a hole through his jacket and her blouse.
“Didn’t Bobby Roberts live in these apartments? I think you and I made out once between buildings B and C. It was cold as heck that night, but you let me reach under your shirt anyway.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “And who names their kid Robert Roberts, anyway,” he rambled.
She glanced at him. Was he seriously joking right now? He’d always been a jokester, often to the point of annoying her, but it seemed like his current motive was nerves. Good. Let him be nervous. He deserved it.
She let him follow her into the building and to
