“You can do this, Avery,” I muttered.
I turned the key, grimacing at the sound of the loud engine roaring to life. I squared my shoulders, adjusted the mirrors, and put the truck in gear. As I lifted my foot off the brake, the large vehicle lurched and I gasped. This was a more powerful vehicle than what I normally drove, and I prayed I wouldn’t smash into anything trying to move Daniel’s truck.
A tap on the driver side window startled me, and my hand flew to my chest. I turned to see Daniel’s weary face outside the window, staring at me. He stepped back, holding up his hands in supplication. He was shirtless, his broad chest strong in the early morning light. A pair of sweatpants hung low on his hips. His eyes were no longer stormy and angry, and silently we stared at each other through the glass. He tapped again, and I shifted back into park, then hit the button to lower the glass.
“Training for a new career, Avery?” His voice was flat with fatigue. “Grand theft auto in case accounting doesn’t work out for you?”
“I wasn’t stealing your truck,” I replied. “I was just moving it to get my car out.”
“I knew you weren’t stealing my truck. I came out here to see if you needed some help.”
“Right, because I couldn’t possibly move your truck without your help.” My anger started to build again.
He sighed and scrubbed his face. “Do you really want to fight over this again?” he asked softly.
“I didn’t want to fight about it in the first place.”
“Neither did I. I only meant to tease . . . and suddenly we were arguing. Then you sent me away.”
“I didn’t think it was a good idea to meet my friends while we were angry.”
“Probably not.” Opening the door, he leaned into the cab of the truck, his muscled body pressing into mine, his face so close I could feel his hot breath on my cheeks. “But I didn’t like it.”
“I wasn’t very happy either.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Where were you last night?”
“I was with Beth.”
“I came looking for you.”
“You–you did?”
He nodded, his gaze locked on mine.
I could see the exhaustion etched on his face, dark shadows under his eyes.
“I came back to the restaurant to look for you, but the hostess said you had left. I drove to your apartment, but you weren’t there. I waited a while but you never came back.”
“I stayed the night at Beth’s. We’d been drinking and she didn’t want me to go home.” I paused to collect myself. “She drove me here this morning so I could get my car, I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“You didn’t want to disturb me or you didn’t want to see me?”
“I didn’t know if you wanted to see me,” I admitted.
“I sat in front of your apartment building for three hours last night, Avery. I came home, paced for a while, drove back into town, and waited a while longer but you never came home.” He blew out a long breath. “I was so worried about you. I figured you were with Beth, so I thought I would give you a little time. I’d hoped I would see you today.”
“You never called.”
“I was pretty sure you’d ignore my calls, and what I had to say to you I didn’t want to say on the phone. I did call later, when I couldn’t find you or stop worrying, but it went straight to voicemail.”
“My phone died and my charger was in my bag here.”
“Yeah, I saw it in the side pocket. I assumed, if you were with Beth, you’d eventually show up here to get your car. I’ve been waiting for you all night.”
“So you thought you’d block me in to stop me from leaving?”
Without a word, he reached forward, shut off the engine, then dragged me across the seat and out of the truck. He lifted me off my feet, and pressed me against the side of the vehicle, pinning me to the cold metal of the truck with his body.