8. Luke

He had never seen so many shades of red blinding his vision as he did when he saw Ally's car crawling down his long driveway. At first, he was concerned something was wrong, but then he realized she would have called or texted if she needed him. Not driven all the way down an unplowed country road.

As he stood glowering at her, she shrank back against the frame of her car. The snow was coming down heavily around them. She looked frightened but he didn't care. He was pissed. She'd risked her life to come all the way out to his house when she could have just called. He would have been happy to oblige her request to see him. He would have come to her at the drop of a hat with bells on just to see her.

"Answer me, little girl."

Ally held out her shaking hand holding the cookies to him.

"I… I wanted to bring you cookies to thank you for helping me.".

Her voice shook as she said it and his temper faded slightly at her sweet gesture before flaring again.

"Get your butt inside the house… now," he growled.

Gripping her elbow, he directed her toward the house with a few well-placed swats on her bottom while they walked. She yelped, trying to move her body away from his hand, but he held her firmly in place so he didn't miss her bottom. He knew he needed to get control of his temper. Flipping out would not help the situation. But she put herself in serious danger, and he wouldn't allow his Little to put herself in harm's way. No fucking way.

Ally walked quickly in front of him to get inside the house. Luke shut the door harder than intended when they were both inside, causing her to jump.

She looked up into his eyes anxiously. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted to thank you."

She shivered, balling her fingers into fists to warm them. Luke moved through the open living room to grab a throw blanket for her. Her saucer-sized green eyes watched him, lips trembling slightly.

"Take your coat off. It's soaked. Go sit by the fire and wrap up in this."

He began pulling her coat off before she could do it herself. She took the blanket from him and obeyed his command, perching on the edge of the couch close to the fire.

Luke hung her jacket and purse on the edge of a chair near the fire to dry.

"I would have come to you if you had called me. You should not have been out there driving. Do you know how dangerous it is out there in a sedan? Not to mention a sedan with bald tires."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize how bad it was until I was already on Huckleberry. I was going to call you to come get me, but…." she trailed off.

His eyes narrowed as he realized what she didn't finish saying.

"But what, Ally?" he ground out between his clenched jaw.

Ally looked up at him as he stood over her, waiting. Her face told him everything he needed to know.

"Show me your phone, Ally."

She froze in place on the couch. Without waiting for her to act, Luke strode over to the chair where he had set her purse and opened it, grabbing the phone that was sitting right on top. Already expecting what he would find, he tapped the screen. When it didn't light up, he dropped the phone back in her purse.

"Why is your phone dead, Ally?"he asked, his voice so quiet she barely heard him.

Her eyes dropped to her lap as her hands twisted together.

"Answer me, little girl."

"I forgot to put it on the charger last night before I fell asleep," she whispered.

Throwing his hands up in the air, Luke turned and stormed off to his bedroom before returning with his charger and handing it to her.

"Go plug in your phone in the kitchen."

Ally took the charger from him and rose from the couch slowly, grabbing her phone and plugging it in where he told her. When she came back to the couch, he stood in front of her to stop her from sitting.

"Ally, I reminded you last night to plug in your phone. I have reminded you every night the last few nights to plug in your phone, hoping to help you get in the habit of doing it."

"I know, I'm sorry. I was watching a movie and I fell asleep."

He could see the regret in her eyes, but he needed to show her that he cared about her well-being and wouldn't accept her acting so carelessly.

"Do you have any idea what could have happened to you out there if your car had died or if you slid off the road? You may not have been found until morning and while waiting, you might have frozen to death."

He didn't mean to sound so harsh, but he was so upset with her for putting her life at risk and he needed to get his point across. He would never discipline her while he was pissed, but he would scold her good and well, and discipline her once he calmed down. Whether she was his or not.