Page 16 of They Love Me Knot (Starsfalls Omegaverse #2)

His own analogy doesn’t even make sense. If I were a princess, would I be out here in the dirt cutting the flowers myself??

I’m practically foaming at the mouth in my ire. I know if I say anything, there will be spit emphasizing every word whether I like it or not.

I don’t care what Ciro thinks, and it’s high time I showed him that. I’ll also show him I am a princess, in that I’m classy and won’t stoop to his level by continuing to argue with someone who’s unreasonable.

I draw myself up into my most regal bearing, and then swiftly bring my knee up, hitting him on the upper thigh. Not in a spot that will do any real damage, but close enough that he knows I could hurt him if necessary.

Ciro jerks back in surprise, cursing, but pauses like he’s assessing whether I actually hit his brain.

I don’t wait to see how long it takes him to figure out I only bruised his thigh, if that (his thigh felt really thick and muscular. I don’t think I have enough strength to hurt him much, even using my pointy knee as a battering ram).

I make it out the front door while he’s staggered and run to the truck.

I fumble in my pocket for the keys, which he thankfully left on my person during his search, and yank on the door handle, frantically pressing all the buttons on the remote until it unlocks.

I hop inside and slam the door behind me, locking it just as Ciro reaches the truck.

He bangs on the glass after trying the handle. “Princess! Open this door!”

I start the truck and throw it in reverse, giving my response in sign language before peeling out.

I back down the road several hundred feet, but he keeps running after me. When there’s enough distance between us that I won’t hit him, I quickly do a U-turn and speed down the road away from the farm.

I check my rearview mirror and Ciro is finally far away, though whether he stopped trying to chase me or I just outpaced him, I don’t know. I focus ahead and go as fast as I can to get off the farm.

Once I’m on the main dirt road, I pick up even more speed, just in case Ciro tries to turn this into a car chase. I check the mirrors again and, thankfully, don’t see anything.

I had already loaded dozens of flower buckets onto the truck, so at least I’m not leaving empty-handed. The flowers I gathered should be enough to get us through most of our orders.

The ride back is even rougher than the drive out here, but I don’t want to risk slowing down. I’m going just fast enough that I’m not a danger if I come across another car, and I’m not stopping until I get back to town and safety.

A particularly deep rut in the road almost causes me to lose an eye as the vehicle drops, making my chest bounce up toward my face.

Alright, I slow down marginally to prevent a nipple from hitting me in the face. Maybe I should hold them down while I’m on this road. Who knows when I’ll hit another pothole.

I keep one hand on the wheel and use the other arm as a strap across my chest. As the road continues to jostle me, I keep feeling my dress rub against my hand, and it’s silkier than I remember it being.

I run my fingers across the fabric and admire my choice of clothes. I don’t usually buy dresses this satiny, but maybe I should buy more. I don’t always like the way they look on me, but if they feel like this, who cares how it looks. I’m the one who has to feel it after all.

What brand was this dress again?

I glance down like the dress can tell me, choking when all I see is skin. I quickly look back up and brake hard after making sure there’s no other cars around.

I remove my arm with trepidation to find that more than half of my boobs are out after unbuttoning my dress earlier, and that silky feeling was all skin.

No wonder that idiot kept getting close to me. Even though Ciro despises my life choices, he certainly had a hard time keeping his hands to himself.

I button my dress back up with shaking fingers, glad that the loose drapes of fabric kept my nipples covered at least.

I’m also glad I didn’t end up deciding to garden in the buff.

After a few deep breaths to center myself, I restart the drive back to Starsfalls.

I rarely wear revealing clothes, so the next time I see him, he should be less interested in rubbing up on me. Since Ciro dislikes me so much, I’m sure it will be no trouble for him to ignore me when I’m not dressed up. Or dressed down .

I frown as I feel an ache in my chest. I must have strained something while bending over to clip all those flowers.

Well, it doesn’t matter what he thinks of me. I don’t care about his opinion. In fact, I hope I never run into him again.

As I near town, I try to focus on other, less embarrassing, happy things. Like cookies.

No, not those. That just reminds me of Flourist, and I can’t go back there either.

I’m suddenly finding many places to ban myself from in Starsfalls.

I tap my fingers on the wheel as I run through other subjects to think about instead. Ciro keeps popping back up though, my mind wanting to analyze our conversation and every minute detail of our interaction.

I think about coffee instead, every delicious drink I love to order, salted iced lavender latte with brown sugar cold foam, iced sakura matcha latte, hibiscus and vanilla bean paste latte, and cinnamon oat milk latte with orange blossom foam, but in the back of my mind, my brain is listing all the things I should have said to really show him I’m not to be messed with.

It would have been nice if my brain had told me these things at the time .

I slow down as the first few businesses come into view at the edge of Starsfalls, my shoulders slumping.

It doesn’t matter. I’m sure we’ll both mutually avoid each other from now on, and everything will be fine.