~

“Excuse me?” Frankie knew that she’d heard him, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to call him on it and see if he had the balls to back it up.

Oh, this guy was just priceless, and just what she needed to add to her day. She’d escaped the city to get away from jerks like him, but they were everywhere.

She guessed the damn grass wasn’t greener, no matter how much countryside she surrounded herself with.

“Look…”

“Don’t you try to sidestep this…”

“I wasn’t — but lady…”

“Don’t lady me!” She snapped back, and the urge to zap him was getting stronger by the minute.

“Well, sure, the word lady doesn’t exactly spring to mind when I look at you,” he said, and to make matters worse; he motioned up and down her body.

Frankie turned her nose up in disgust at him. He had the attitude of a wet mop, and if she’d had a damn mop, then she knew where she would love to have shoved it.

Sure, he might have had the whole — broad-shouldered, muscled physique, good looks, sex on a stick package deal going on — but, none of that could make up for his personality, or lack of a good one.

Oh boy, did she have his number? Alpha – wolf shifter – man. Pah!

“So, firstly, you jump out behind my car when I’m reversing like an idiot, and then you claim that’s my fault. Then you get all Mr. Mean and Moody, and that’s my fault as well. Then you have the audacity to practically drool all over my breasts, and that’s somehow my fault. Tell me, do you ever actually take responsibility for your own actions?” Frankie demanded, putting her hands back on her curvy hips, and offering him a look of pure disgust and something of a challenge as she told him off.

“Are you kidding me?” Rock growled in disbelief.

Damn, but he wanted to hit somebody. This female was more infuriating than any member of his pack to date, and that included his damn stupid brothers.

How the hell was any of this his fault? And yet, there she was; all rabid she-monster trying to pin the tail on his donkey. Witch!

Hell, if she were a male, then he would already have swung for her. His beast wasn’t exactly happy either — the wolf grumbled and growled at her attitude — and with good reason.

If he didn’t know better, then he might just have unleashed his wolf to give the damn woman a piece of its mind. That he’d like to see.

But she was female, and … it hit him hard – the realization of exactly what she was – he’d thought it once but… witch! – damn it.

He might even have picked up on that earlier if he’d scented the air or gotten a little closer to her, but he’d been keeping his distance for a good reason – so that he wouldn’t be tempted to wring her damn neck, and so the human couldn’t hear him growl if one escaped him.

“I have a good mind to report you to the police,” Frankie said.

“Oh really, and what are you going to tell them? That I was stupid enough to leave the house when you were behind the steering wheel.” Rock watched her mouth drop open and took some comfort in the fact that he’d hit a home run.

“I’m not even going to acknowledge your level of stupidity with a reply,” she tossed back, lifting her chin in the air, and looking anywhere but at him. she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.

“And yet, you just did. Probably couldn’t help yourself, as a female; you like to hear your own voice.” Now that he had her where he wanted her, on the back foot, he was going to enjoy it.

Why not take the cheap shots? After all, it was payback for the fact that she’d mowed his backside down and then gotten an attitude about it. And boy, did that witch have an attitude.

Frankie glared back at him for a long moment. It was true; she could have stood there going toe to toe with him for the rest of the day, but what would be the point in that?

The man was a thick-headed alpha; it would be like walking up to the nearest wall and headbutting it.

Instead, she turned on her heels and started back toward the open driver’s door of the car. A small sound like a rumble of thunder in the distance caught her ears, and she knew exactly what made that sound, and it wasn’t the damn weather.

Rock was momentarily distracted by the sway of her curvy hips as she walked away from him. A growl escaped him, and that knocked some sense back into his mind.

What was he thinking? The woman was trouble — witch trouble —, and it didn’t matter how curvy her hips were, he knew better than to play with fire because he had the feeling that woman could burn him good.

“Where are you going?” Rock demanded.

If the woman thought that she could cause an accident, mow him down, and then just drive away without any penalty, then she could think again. Besides, there was just something about her that felt like unfinished business, and he had the urge to explore what that was … and run in the opposite damn direction at the same time.

“You’re obviously not hurt,” she tossed back over her shoulder as she climbed back into the driver’s seat and yanked the door closed behind her. Maybe she did slam the door a little harder than necessary, but that was his fault.

“So, let’s add leaving the scene of an accident to your misdemeanors,” Rock said, as he stalked towards the driver’s door and peered in at her through the closed window. “You can’t just leave the…”

“The law says; if I feel threatened I can leave,” Frankie tossed back, as she used her index finger to jab the button and snap on all of the door locks.

Her eyes flicked back to his, and she noted the way that he narrowed them on her, and for some strange reason that sent a shockwave of excitement through her body that dinged her alarm bells.

Yes, he had nice eyes, he had a nice — almost — everything, everything but his personality.

“Threatened? What the hell…?” He lifted his hand and pointed a thick index finger at her — he was about to give her a piece of his mind, and she deserved to hear it.

He hadn’t threatened her, and both he and his beast took exception to that slur.

Then the car shot back away from him, and he snapped his head around on his neck so hard that his bones clicked. He glared at her some more. Obviously, the woman hadn’t even learned a valuable lesson from knocking him down, she was still driving like a bat out of hell.

He noted the way that she punched the gears into drive, offered him a small, smug smile, and then she flipped him the damn bird before she took off like a speed demon.

Rock fisted his hands at his sides and growled. Women! If he never saw another one in his life, he’d be a damn happy man.