Rewind & Go: A Blue-Collar Billionaire Romance (Sander's Valley Book 1) by Nancy Corrigan Read Free Book Online Page A

pissed him off. She couldn’t help it. As much as she wanted it, she wasn’t always strong. Besides, he’d brought the topic up. He could deal with her weakness for the short time she would be with him. It didn’t matter what he thought of her anyway. She’d be gone soon.
    She slipped from his arms and snatched her phone from where it had fallen on the seat. She really needed that taxi. And a hotel room far away from Kyle.
    “If you can’t break down in front of me, then who has the right to comfort you?”
    The reason for his irritation became clear. He hadn’t been upset to learn she wasn’t strong like her mother had been. He was jealous. His reaction struck her as odd. Why would he be jealous?
    “Well?”
    His command didn’t give her the chance to dissect Kyle’s mood. She couldn’t think objectively at the moment anyway.
    “I have friends.”
    “Where are they? Shouldn’t they be here with you, giving you support?” He pointedly glanced at her phone. “You didn’t speed dial or text any of them when your car broke down or when you decided to haul twenty pounds of your mom’s artwork up a mountain.”
    She looked away. He caught her chin and turned her head to face him. “Why not, Ronnie?”
    “I didn’t want anyone to know I came out here.”
    “And why is that? Afraid of what people will think when you tell them your dad had lived here? That you spent your summers here?” He leaned closer. Anger glinted in his eyes. “With me.”
    “You want the truth, huh?”
    “Yeah, I want the fucking truth.”
    He stared at her, the demand in his eyes clear, but the words got stuck in her throat.
    He grunted. “I never would’ve thought you were a coward. I guess I never really knew you.”
    She flinched, knowing it was the truth. She was a coward. Just like her mom.
    He put the truck in drive. They peeled out. “Fine. Keep your damn secrets.”
    “They’re not my secrets. They’re my mom’s. She told everyone that I went to a private boarding school for the summer. She’d also been quite adamant that she didn’t know where my father was. According to her, he left when he found out she was pregnant and never came back.”
    He muttered a curse but didn’t respond otherwise. Several minutes passed in silence before the car stopped. He turned the key, and the ticking of the diesel engine filled the chasm her words had caused.
    Finally, he laid a hand over hers. “Tell me everything.”
    His firm yet gentle tone forced the words from her mouth. “My mom told so many lies over the years. It got to the point that she couldn’t admit the truth without confessing all of her deceptions. That would’ve made Mom lose the respect of the art community. At least, that’s my opinion.”
    She sighed. “By the time I was old enough to question things, I was told that too much time had passed to make amends and to let it be, that it was none of my business anyway.”
    “If it wasn’t for your mom, would you have told people you’d spent you summers here?”
    She frowned. “Of course. I don’t regret spending time here with Dad. My parents were both flawed, but I loved them.”
    “Look at me, Ronnie.”
    She did. His command was one she couldn’t deny.
    “Do you regret me?”
    “No.”
    He closed his eyes on a sigh. “That’s all I need to know.”
    He got out and walked around the hood of the car. Her door opened. He lifted her out, but instead of setting her on her feet, he swung her into his arms. She let out an oomph and automatically linked her hands behind his neck.
    “What are you doing?”
    He closed the door. “Carrying you.”
    The hungry, possessive look in his eyes sent her pulse racing. She sucked in a breath and held his gaze, trapped by a side of Kyle she’d never seen before. He looked as if he wanted to devour her.
    The dome light cut out and left them in darkness. She tightened her hold on him. “Where are we?”
    He started walking without answering.
    She glanced around but