She Was Never Just a Pretty Face novel Chapter 259

After a few agonizing seconds of a standoff.

Luther practically ordered her into the passenger seat.

Slamming the door shut, he turned to Lori. "Head home."

Lori couldn't help but let out a worried gasp. "Mr. Sanford."

She stood there in the biting wind.

She didn't add anything else.

But Luther knew exactly what she was thinking.

He offered her a faint, reassuring smile. He had finally gotten Hilda back, against all odds. He was going to protect her with his life. He swore he would never do anything to break her heart again. As for the distractions she was so worried about—Summer Shaw and Diana Dayne—he was going to obliterate their presence from her life completely. They would never show their faces in front of Hilda—in front of Joyce—ever again.

He walked around the hood and slid into the driver's seat.

The moment he sat down, he noticed she was frantically struggling with her seatbelt.

She kept jamming the buckle, but it simply wouldn't click.

"Let me."

His Adam's apple bobbed heavily as his long fingers reached over to take the belt from her. Before she could even protest, the sheer logistics of the movement forced him to lean directly into her personal space. He was so close she was instantly enveloped by the sharp, masculine scent of his aftershave. A scent so violently familiar it physically made her chest ache.

Joyce desperately clutched at her heart.

She had no idea what was happening to her.

It felt like something massive was violently clawing at the edges of her mind, desperately trying to break free.

But right at the absolute breaking point, it violently snapped back into the dark.

*What is this?*

In an instant, the blood drained entirely from her face, and her heart began hammering erratically against her ribs. She kept her head bowed, staring blankly at the roof of the car. When Luther finally pulled back and looked at her, their eyes locked. Her gaze was clouded with deep confusion, capturing the raw, agonizing innocence of a twenty-something girl experiencing the crushing weight of first love.

It was exactly how Hilda used to look.

Luther slowly reached out, his knuckles gently grazing the side of her cheek.

His voice was completely wrecked.

"Are you still mad at me?"

Joyce's heart went into absolute overdrive.

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