I must have been in my thoughts longer than I imagined because the next thing I knew, Rip was pulling his truck into a driveway.

My driveway.

I needed to get it together. Calm down. Focus and get going as quickly as possible.

“Thank you so much for the ride,” I managed to tell him.

Rip’s gaze was pretty intent on me as he put the car into park and leaned back in the seat, and I watched as his eyes flicked to my house over my shoulder before returning to me. He licked his lips before he said in that boss-man voice that told me not to argue, “Get your things. I’ll wait out here.”

Uh. Maybe he had had a little more to drink than usual. “You don’t have to wait. My neighborhood is pretty safe.”

I doubted anyone would ever give me a slower blink than the one he shared with me in that moment.

I watched as he paused and looked at the bracelet I’d put on that morning. My fun thing of the day was an old bracelet Lily had made me years ago that said LOVEYOU in white beads with black lettering. He sighed and flicked his eyes back toward my face. “Luna, I’m taking you to Dallas. Get your shit.”

Chapter 13

“You really don’t have to do this.”

Rip didn’t even huff or roll his eyes as I said the same words I’d already told him five different times since he’d pulled up to my house and dropped the bomb on me.

Luna, I’m taking you to Dallas. Get your shit.

Of course I’d reacted the way any sane person would. I had sat there and stared blankly for about a minute until he’d raised his eyebrows at me and said, Night’s not getting any younger, baby girl. Let’s go.

And that, that had snapped me out of it.

Which then started us into a five-minute back and forth discussion about why he didn’t have to take me and why he was going to. I mean he could barely get through a conversation with me without huffing and shaking his head. I hadn’t even known he’d had a dimple until tonight. Yet he wanted to drive me to Dallas?

I wasn’t the kind of person to tell someone not to help me, but it just didn’t make sense.

And yet, I still found myself in his truck twenty minutes later with a bag filled with a change of clothes, my toothbrush, contact case, and solution.

I sighed and leaned my shoulder against the window. “Rip….”

“Luna.”

I pressed my lips together, watching his profile in the dark cab. “Turn around and take me back. I shouldn’t have even gotten into the car in the first place. You don’t need to do this. I’m sure you have better things to do.”

“I don’t.”

I blew out a breath that had him swinging his eyes to me.

“I don’t,” he repeated himself, those long fingers flexing on the steering wheel.

I sighed again. “It was just one little lie, Ripley.”

“You lied to the fucking cops for me, Luna. That’s a felony if you didn’t know. There’s nothing little about that.”

I guess there was no arguing that. I put my hand over my face and took a breath, sliding my gaze over to him, trying to be sneaky about it so he couldn’t see me doing it. Who was this man? Not that I was complaining that he was actually talking to me and asking me things and trying to be nice, but….

“Why are you being such a pain in the ass about me going with you?” he asked all of a sudden, forcing my thoughts back.

I stopped trying to be sneaky with my glances and just stared. “I’m not being a pain in the ass. You are.” I flexed my fingers, remembering this was my boss. “I say that with all the respect of you being an owner of Cooper’s and me being your employee, by the way. Please don’t fire me.”

He shook his head, and I wasn’t sure if it was because he wasn’t going to fire me or if I was just getting on his nerves.

Knowing Rip, it could be either.

“Look, I do appreciate you coming with me. I really do, Rip. I like your company. You know that.” I didn’t miss the way he turned to glance at me, just for a second, just for one single split second, but I didn’t miss it. The thing was I didn’t know what to think about the wary expression on his features when he did it. “But I told you, you don’t owe me. Honestly, I would have probably called my best friend to go with me if you hadn’t… volunteered.” I wasn’t sure I would call him telling me to get my shit as him volunteering, but close enough. “I really do appreciate you coming with me, but I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”

Those long fingers flexed again, but his attention stayed forward then. “You’re not.”

“You’re screwing up at least some part of your weekend off driving me to Dallas.”

“I’m not screwing up shit, Luna.” He flicked his gaze toward me and shook his head again. “Who told you that you’re an inconvenience?”

I didn’t mean for my body to get tight, but it did. “No one,” I tried to tell him as brightly as possible.

The look he gave me said he thought I was full of it.

He would have been right, because I was, and as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I didn’t like that he got that idea, especially so quickly.

“I don’t like to bother people, that’s all. I don’t like asking anyone for a favor, and if I can….”

Dear God.

I realized what the hell I had just said.

I didn’t like asking anyone for a favor. It was the truth. I would rather go without than ask anyone for anything.

And for three years, I’d been holding this favor that Rip felt he owed me, over his head.

No wonder he wanted to get it over with. It made total sense.

Hell.

“I’m sorry you feel like you owe me, and I get why you want to get this favor over with,” I muttered, feeling my face heat up as I accepted what I had done and why it was stupid of me to keep arguing with him over a favor that he was never, ever going to forget about. No matter how much I might try and talk him out of it, he’d gotten it into his thick head and nothing was changing.

“You’re not asking. I offered,” he suggested like I would really look at it like that.

I shifted my gaze out the window and nodded. “You’re right.”

There was a sigh, then, “You’re not gonna give me a hard time anymore?”

“Nope.”

His “huh” had me side-eyeing him.

“I appreciate your commitment and how… patient you’ve been with me over this,” I told him, a little more grudgingly than I needed to.

Rip hummed.

“I’m not sure how long this is going to take. If you want to drop me off and then—”

“What is with you always trying to get me to drop you off?” he snapped all of a sudden.

I made my eyes go wide at his freaking attitude. “Because, I told you, I don’t want to bother you. I don’t like to bother anyone. Don’t take it personal, okay?”

I wasn’t 100 percent sure, but I was pretty freaking positive he frowned at me.

Rubbing my hands against my pants, I decided to mess with him some more by muttering, “At the rate you’ve been going lately, I’m going to start to think that I don’t get on your nerves as much as you make me think I do, boss.”

The laugh that burst out of him literally had me clutching the door I was leaning against. It was so sharp, so out of the blue, like a freaking firework going off right inside the cab.

I jumped. Then I grinned.

And I kept it going, because why not? I’d made him laugh. Rip. Laugh. “Next thing I know, we’re going to be friends,” I kept muttering, barely able to keep from laughing.

His reply was a shake of that handsome head and a chuckle that continued on.

“But really, thank you for coming with me. And taking me home. And for having enough pride and honor to keep your word when you insist on doing me a favor that I really don’t think you owe me,” I told him, smiling even though he couldn’t see it.

The deep inhale of breath he took was loud and clear. That time for sure, I knew without a doubt he did look at me. “I don’t have that much honor, Luna. Don’t give me that much credit.”