Free Completely Consumed (Addicted To You, Book Eight) by Lucy Covington Page B

traffic.
    “That was fun, huh?” he asked, glancing at her like nothing was amiss. That it was just every day that he got pulled over by cops and lied to them about who he was.
    She didn’t answer at first. Her mind was spinning, trying to make sense of how strangely Elijah had behaved about being pulled over for speeding.
    “Why did he call you Jake?” she asked.
    “What?”
    “That cop called you Jake. And your registration says Jake, too.”
    Elijah didn’t answer for a long moment. Finally, he glanced at her. “Listen, I’m giving you a ride to New York City. I’m not here to explain my life story to you.”
    “Who said anything about your life story? You just lied to a cop about your name. Either that, or you’re lying to me. Any way you look at it, it’s pretty messed up.”
    He shook his head, then smirked. “Oh, that’s pretty rich coming from you, Caelyn.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Look at you,” he said, glancing at her again, his eyes raking up and down her body from head to toe. “You’re a mess. Your freaking skirt is ripped, your shirt’s all stretched out, makeup’s running down your face. It’s pretty damn obvious you’re running away from something. But did I try and demand that you tell me about it?”
    Her mouth opened and closed. She crossed her arms over her chest and shrank away from him. The way he’d looked at her and spoken to her—it had been so brutal, so cruel in a way. She hadn’t expected that. Is that what he’d been thinking, is that why he hadn’t really looked at her since he’d picked her up on the highway?
    “You’re right,” she almost whispered. “I’m not going to ask you anything. Just pull over and let me out.”
    “Caelyn,” he said, his voice apologetic now. “Look, I’m sorry, it’s just – ”
    “LET ME OUT OF THIS CAR.”
    “I’m not putting you out on the highway,” he told her.
    She pointed to a rest stop up ahead. “You won’t be letting me out on the highway. Look, there’s a travel plaza right there.”
    “It’s only another hour to New York and the bus station.”
    She looked at him and met his eyes. “Let me out, Elijah. I don’t want to go anywhere with you. Understand?”
    His jaw set. “Fine,” he said, in a clipped tone.
    A moment later, he was pulling into the rest stop and parking the SUV. “Let me just explain one thing,” he started to say.
    But Caelyn had already grabbed her purse and bag, opened the passenger door, and started getting out of the car. She was so done talking to him—she was furious, and she could feel the rage flowing through every crevice of her body.
    How dare he look at her like that, talk to her like that, judge her like that?
    She immediately began walking toward the entrance of the convenience store that was linked to the rest stop. Caelyn was walking fast, not looking back, her hands clutching her purse and bag.
    Once she got inside, she pretended to look at some snacks, just for something to do while she regained her composure.
    She wouldn’t look up to watch him drive away, either, she decided. She could already picture his SUV pulling out and leaving the area. He would be gone and she’d never see him again. For some reason Caelyn couldn’t even fathom, the idea of him leaving hurt badly. It hit her in the chest and stomach like a vicious cramp.
    Why did she care? He clearly had a screw loose, and he was a liar, and he was mean on top of it all.
    She grabbed a Slim Jim, even though she didn’t even like them, just so that nobody would think she was crazy for standing in the aisle and doing nothing but staring at the snacks.
    The door chimed as it opened, and she didn’t look up to see who was coming in.
    She didn’t want to be disappointed when someone else’s face greeted her.
    But why do you still want to see Elijah? Why did you make him drop you off if you still want to be with him?
    There was no good answer.
    She looked down at the dirty floor of the