She lived about halfway up the lane. The cottage sat well back from the road, a smallish structure with a picket fence. No garage. It was smaller than all the other houses they’d passed, and it was sorely in need of fresh paint. It did have a nice, covered veranda out front, though, and would have been cute with a few improvements and some landscaping. He knew firsthand that Erin hadn’t gotten much time off until a few months ago, and by then, the inclement weather and deep snow had prevented even a die-hard gardener from working outside.

He pulled into the driveway and turned off the ignition. “Right place?”

She looked over at him. “Yes, and I’m wondering how you drove straight to it.”

“Your uncle told me where you live.”

“When?”

Wyatt frowned. “I don’t know. A while back.”

“Amazing. Directions to my house are engraved on your brain, but you forgot to unhook the tow chain twice.”

He bit down hard on his back teeth. She’d already given him a pass on the car debacle, so he knew she wasn’t pissed at him about that. If she was still upset because he hadn’t given her his undivided attention at the wedding reception, then she would just have to get over it. A man was either attracted to a woman or he wasn’t, and he owed Erin no further explanation. That was it, in a nutshell, at least on the surface, and as far as he was concerned, she could put her own spin on it.

“Thank you for the ride home,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”

“Smashed-up car and all?”

She shrugged, grabbed her purse, and opened the passenger door. “It was an accident.” She turned to scratch Domino between the ears. “Goodbye, sweet boy.”

After jumping from the truck, she slammed the door behind her with such force that Wyatt almost believed he heard the bang upon impact. He didn’t, of course. With the AC running to keep her comfortable, he’d rolled up all the windows, and he’d only felt a push of air pressure and vibration. She walked straight to her porch, up the steps, and to her front door without looking back at him. He sat there until she was safely inside. Then he reversed his truck out of her drive and headed toward town. He purposely didn’t look back, either. He did allow himself one glance into his rearview mirror, but if she was watching, she’d never know he had.

He released a taut breath and tried to relax. But his encounter with Erin had his nerves rubbed raw. She wasn’t an easy person to figure out. He’d given her every opportunity to be a complete shrew when he tore up the front of her car, and she had given him a bit of a hard time, but she’d drawn the line at his offer to pay for all the damage. Damn it. How could he continue to give her the brush-off when she could be bitchy only to a certain point before her inherent sense of fair play took over?