Blitz: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romantic Comedy (Blast Brothers Book 3), стр. 42
Of course, around here, all of the cars involved were absolute beaters – old rusted hunks of junk doomed to destruction anyway.
Chase's car – whatever the heck it was – was the opposite of a beater. It was sleek and expensive, and still smelled brand new.
The only time my car smelled brand new was when I hung one of those "new-car-smell" air-fresheners from my rear-view mirror. And even then, it didn't compare to this.
As Chase pulled out onto the long country road that would take us to the fairgrounds, I joked, "So, are you gonna enter?"
Today, he was wearing jeans and a dark button-down shirt. But where I felt plain and ordinary whenever I wore jeans, Chase looked like some kind of movie star, cruising down the highway – except in our case, the highway was a long country road surrounded on both sides by open fields.
Chase said, "Enter what?"
"A demolition derby."
He gave me an inscrutable glance. "Hard to say. Ask me in a few weeks."
The answer wasn't surprising. With his money, he could decide last-minute and be fine. Probably, he'd simply send some lackey out to acquire a car all ready to go.
But I could hardly begrudge him such a thing, considering that he was the guy who'd saved the Tomato Festival – and provided a much-needed boost to festivals all over the Midwest.
And just when I'd decided that he might not be too obnoxious, he looked to me and asked, "So, what's the deal with your dad?"
Chapter 37
Mina
I stiffened in the passenger's seat. "Excuse me?"
"Your dad," he said. "What's his deal?"
I knew exactly what Chase meant. Still, I didn't appreciate the question or his tone. "There's no deal," I said. "He was just seeing me off, that's all."
With a low scoff, Chase said, "What, like you're heading out on a cruise?" He gave me a long sideways glance. "So it's a 'von voyage' thing? That's what you're telling me."
I shouldn't have to tell him anything. The question was rude and intrusive. Still, I grudgingly replied, "Yeah, it's sort of like that, I guess."
Chase laughed. "Yeah, right."
His laughter sounded nice, which only made it more annoying. Not bothering to hide my irritation, I said, "Well, what do you think it is?"
Chase leaned back in the driver's seat. "I think it's more of a…" He paused as if thinking. "…'I'm-gonna-rip-out-his-liver' sort of thing."
"Oh, come on! Whose liver? Yours?"
"That's what it looked like."
Talk about insulting. "I'll have you know, my dad has never ripped out anyone's liver."
Yes, I knew that Chase was speaking metaphorically, but that didn't change the fact that my dad was normally a pretty easy-going guy, which meant that Chase was wildly exaggerating.
In the driver's seat, he asked, "How do you know?"
"How do I know what?"
"That he's never ripped out a liver."
God, what a total jackass.
My eyes narrowed as I turned in the seat to face him. Was he messing with me? I couldn't be certain either way. But even if he was, that didn't change anything. There was no way on Earth I'd just sit here and let him make fun of my dad.
Stiffly, I informed him, "I think I would know if he ever ripped out a liver."
"You sure?" Chase said. "I mean, he might've fed it to the hogs."
Huh? "What hogs?"
"Well, he's got some, right?"
Oh, for God's sake. "No. Do you have hogs?"
"No. But I’m not a farmer."
"Yeah, well my dad's a vegetable farmer," I said. "And before you ask, we don't have any cows or chickens either."
Chase frowned. "Well that's disappointing." From the look on his face, he actually meant it.
Against my better judgment, I asked, "Why?"
"I'm just saying, a farm should have a few chickens."
"Yeah? Well maybe I'll suggest it at the next hoe-down."
Chase looked a little surprised. "Is that really a thing?"
By now, he was seriously getting under my skin. "Is what a thing?"
"A hoe-down."
"No. It was a joke. You want the truth? I don't even know what a hoe-down is."
I was pretty sure it was a dance of some sort, but I'd hardly bet my life on it.
Chase asked, "So why'd you bring it up?"
"Gee, I don't know," I said. "Why'd you bring up the hogs?"
"I just figured your dad would have some."
I almost rolled my eyes. "What about my mom? Would she have some hogs?"
"She might."
"Oh yeah?" I shot back. "And you might have a harem. So what?"
As those words echoed out between us, I sucked in a horrified breath.
Damn it.
I hadn't meant to say that. I wasn't even sure where the statement had come from. And now more than anything, I was wishing I could take it back.
But I couldn't.
As the saying went, the chickens had already flown the coop.
Chase said, "A harem, huh? That's a long way from hogs."
"Yeah, well, it's even further from chickens." But was it really?
By now, I hardly knew. Oh sure, I could spout a whole bunch of facts about tomatoes, but hogs and chickens were a complete mystery, except for what I found at the grocery store.
And when it came to harems, I knew absolutely nothing.
I clamped my mouth shut and just prayed that Chase would let it go.
No such luck.
Chapter 38
Chase
She thought I had a harem.
Now that was funny.
Lately, I didn't have anything. This was the longest I'd gone without sex since high school, and it was messing with my head. Or clearing the cobwebs. I still didn't know which.
Over the past month, I'd met with Mina maybe a dozen times. Each time I saw her, she was looking sexier and sexier – even more so because she wasn't trying to.
Take today, for example. She was wearing a long, loose floral skirt that fell nearly to her ankles. Her white cotton blouse wasn't tight or low-cut. And her shoes were basic black pumps, more sensible than sexy.
Her hair was in a loose ponytail, and she was wearing only a hint of makeup.
The look shouldn’t have been sexy. But on her, it was,