“Hey,” she murmured softly, leaning forward through the window and getting her first up-close look at Brady in what felt like a lifetime. He was flawless. It was undeniable. Whatever had gone on between them, whatever had ended it all—it didn’t change how attracted she was to him. How attracted she had always been to him.

“Get in the car,” he said, unlocking the doors.

“Brady . . .” She trailed off. She couldn’t believe that he was here right now. She couldn’t believe she was staring at this beautiful face and that she was talking to him. She couldn’t believe she’d had the guts to call him and that he was here. She just wanted to stare at him, but instead she said the only thing that she could muster enough courage to say: “I don’t think we should do this.”

“Get in the car.”

“Look, it’s not a good idea. I’m really messed up. Calling you was impulsive and thoughtless of me. I shouldn’t have freaked you out. But driving away with you right now would be even worse,” she told him, hugging herself tightly. All she wanted to do was say the exact opposite of what was coming out of her mouth. She wanted to drive off into the sunset with him and never look back. She always had.

“Get in the car, Liz.”

“I’m still dating him, Brady. Think about what you would feel if you were him. Think about how much it would hurt if he knew about this—about what I’m thinking of doing,” she said even softer than before, her whole body nearly trembling with the anxiety.

“Liz,” he growled. “Get. In. The. Car.”

“I can’t. I just can’t get in the car with you,” she said. She made the mistake then of lifting her eyes to meet his deep chocolate orbs. Fuck! His eyes were so intense and commanding. She just wanted to get lost in those eyes forever. She swallowed hard and licked her bottom lip. “It’s not a good idea.”

“Goddamn it, Liz. Get in the car!” he yelled. “I didn’t get out of my meetings for the night and drive thirty minutes out of the way for you to tell me to go home. Now get in the car.”

“Seriously, shut up,” she cried, pushing off of the car door. “I made a mistake. People make mistakes.” The car jerked into park and he popped the driver’s-side door open. “What are you doing?”

“I said get in the car, Liz, and you’re going to listen one way or another,” he said, walking around the front of the car.

“What the f**k does that mean?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “I’m trying to have a conversation with you. I’m not in the right frame of mind tonight, and being around you is a bad idea.”

“I like bad ideas,” he said, standing before her.

“Well, I don’t!”

Brady shook his head, a gorgeous smile replacing the glare he had been shooting at her. Dear Lord, he was too attractive for his own good. She could hardly even concentrate when she looked up at that face. Liz tried to find her words again to tell him to leave, but in that moment, he moved forward and stood a mere inch away from her. She could feel his body heat radiating toward her. She stood ramrod still at his nearness. He moved forward as if he was going to touch her, and then at the last second he pivoted quickly and threw her easily over his shoulder.

She screamed in protest, completely caught off guard. “What are you doing? Brady Maxwell, put me down. Put me down now!”

“I told you to listen, and you didn’t.” His arm held the back of her legs easily in place to keep her from moving as he opened the back door of his Lexus.

“I didn’t think you were going to act like a caveman,” she said, muffled in the back of his suit coat.

“Well, now you know better, huh?” he asked, tossing her into the backseat and slamming the door shut in her face.

Liz reached for the door, yanking the handle back and forth uselessly. “You have f**king child locks on these doors?” she screamed into the empty car as he slowly strolled back to the driver’s side.

She shoved her entire body into the movement anyway, wrenching her shoulder with the extra effort. Releasing the handle, she fell backward, the cool leather cushioning her body upon impact. She quickly righted herself and climbed into the front just as Brady eased into his seat.

“I can’t believe you!” she yelled, sliding her body into the passenger seat and reaching for the door. Pulling the handle several times in frustration, she discovered it too was locked. She moved to grab the lock and pull it up, but Brady’s hand caught her wrist and put it back at her side. “Seriously?”

Brady smirked. “You should have gotten in the car from the beginning.”

“You’re kidnapping me,” she growled, glaring at him.

“Listen here,” he said, reaching across her body to grab her hands. She tried to pull away from him, but he held her hard and fast, pressing her back into the seat. “I want you to remember that you called me crying in the middle of the night,” he growled. “You were the one who used that line. You were the one who used that name. You were the one who fell back into old methods. So don’t you f**king pull this shit on me. Did you or did you not call as Sandy Carmichael?”

He waited.

“Yes,” she grumbled through gritted teeth.

“Did you or did you not typically call that line for me to f**k you?”

He waited again.

She tilted her head up and refused to look at him. She was not going to have this conversation right now.

“Liz,” he growled, tightening his grip on her hands.

“Yes,” she yelped. Well, sort of.

“Then stop acting crazy. I don’t have time for this. I’m going to let your hands go, and you are going to act like a normal person again. Are you ready?”

She nodded her head with as much dignity as she could manage as he let her hands go and put the car into drive. Liz didn’t say anything as he pulled away from the newspaper. She was fuming. First Hayden’s accusations, and then when Brady showed up he acted like a maniac. She really should have just gone home and cried into her pillow.

Except now that she was here . . . with him, she didn’t actually want to be anywhere else.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

His brown eyes cut over to her momentarily and she had to keep from sighing. Christ, the man did things to her body she didn’t understand.