Grady Owens has been burning the candle at both ends for years to get a trucking business off the ground. He’s worn out and isolated by the long hours and lonely nights. Which is probably why he agreed to a one-date deal with Ronnie. But when he starts seeing her as more than his best friend’s little sister, he’s torn between loyalty to his business partner and the woman his heart says is his perfect match.
Chapter 1
Snow Valley, Montana, liked to celebrate. That was one of the things Veronica “Ronnie” Martin enjoyed about living in the small town. Not the only thing, mind you. There was the corn maze, hay rides, trunk-or-treat, biggest pumpkin growing contest, barn dances, Big C’s famous burgers and shakes, the Christmas carnival, gingerbread house contest, cookie decorating party, a ball, and big families with cute kids that sold cookie dough for fundraisers—all of which added to her love for her hometown.
As she took the main road out of Snow Valley to pick up the pièce de résistance for her car—AR921 rims in black with machine face, baby!—nothing could make her day off from the shop any better.
Main Street was decked out for fall with dried cornstalks, scarecrows, pumpkins, and fall leaves aplenty adding to the festive fall air. Spirits were high all over town. The price for feed cattle had been published, and it looked like a banner year for many residents. High beef prices ensured that Snow Valley, and the family’s auto repair business, would flourish for another year.
She passed the Snow properties on the way out of town—it had been years since she’d been up to the hot springs. Nowadays it was a private refuge for the Snow family, but they weren’t stingy and didn’t complain if someone hiked in for a dip.
Between the Snows and the highway into Billings, there were long stretches of grazing land, cattle fat and ready for auction, and enough space that a woman could think without neighbors staring in her condo windows.
Up ahead, a truck was parked on the side of the road, a white cloud billowing out from under the hood. “Speaking of neighbors …” she mumbled as she slowed down. Thursday may be Ronnie’s day off, but that didn’t mean she could leave a neighbor stranded.
The red Dodge wasn’t familiar, but the GT Trucking logo on the side was. Her brother, Troy, was half owner of the trucking company. The business ran seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-three days a year. Ronnie saw her brother on Christmas and Easter. No one complained too much about his dedication to building his business, not when they’d grown up with a father who set a workaholic example. Ronnie was quickly following Dad and Troy’s footsteps. She worked four, ten hour days per week, as the lead mechanic, had one day off, and spent Saturdays making sure the weekend crew kept up on oil changes.
The truck driver hopped out and considered the hood, waving his hand in front of his face to clear the smoke. His truck might be smoking, but this guy was smokin’ hot. He wore a pair of jeans in just the right way, and not even a baggy hoodie could hide his muscles. Ronnie let out a low whistle.
Instead of jumping out, because her dad would have killed her if she stopped to help a stranger, Veronica slowed to a stop and rolled down the passenger-side window. The least she could do was call Troy and let him know the truck was stranded. Then she would harp on him until he set her up with this guy. She could use a distraction from work, and this looked like just the right guy to fill her head with all sorts of wayward thoughts.
A light fall breeze picked up the cloud of smoke and cleared her view of the driver’s face as he glared at the engine. Her breath caught at the sight of her older brother’s best friend and business partner, Grady Owens. She hadn’t seen him in years. Oh man, have I been missing out!
She’d had such a crush on Grady when she was in the sixth grade. He played high school football, and she’d gone to every one of his games. Getting there wasn’t a problem, even though she was twelve years old, because her brother also played. Her parents thought her undying support for the team was a show of sibling loyalty. Ronnie never revealed that the real reason she went was to watch Grady.
The Grady she remembered had full cheeks grandmas loved to pinch and long, skinny arms. His cheeks weren’t full any more. If she were to describe his face, she could do it in one word: chiseled. Strong cheekbones and a jaw that could cut leather. A field of butterflies fluttered about in her stomach.
She pressed her fingers to her throat, willing her voice to return. Grady had knocked her absolutely speechless. Her family would call her lack of words a miracle. She preferred to think of it as fate. How else would the one guy she’d always wanted to herself end up on a lonely stretch of highway in need of a mechanic when she happened to be driving by? There was no doubt about it. Her guardian angel was watching out for her today. “Need some help?” she called.
Grady turned away from scowling at the truck and met her interested gaze. She hadn’t meant to lay her cards on the table so quickly by allowing him to notice the awareness coursing through her veins like synthetic oil. He broke into a slow smile, his eyes glinting with mischief as he took her in just as thoroughly as she’d perused him. Ronnie bit her lower lip, fighting the urge to duck her head. He wasn’t looking at her like she was the little girl who cheered for him in the stands.
“I wouldn’t want to get your pretty shirt dirty.” He winked.
Ronnie gasped, the sound barely registering as her heart pounded like a stinking piston. Grady Owens winked at me! If she hadn’t been sitting down, her knees would have given out. She silently thanked her little sister for the teal, sequined tank top under her gray flannel shirt.
“I, uh, I think I can stay clean. I’ll just take a look.” She parked her car off the side of the road. She put one leg out of the car and stood up, grateful her knees weren’t as wobbly as a newborn calf’s. She held on to the car door until she was sure she could walk like a normal human being. When she turned around, Grady glanced quickly away as if she’d caught him thinking something he shouldn’t. Curiouser and curiouser. If it had been any other guy, she would have sworn he was checking her out.
Mentally shaking off the idea—because there was no way Grady would ever consider checking out his best friend’s little sister—she popped her trunk and pulled out a pair of worn and dirty work gloves. “When was the last time you checked the fluids?”
He kicked the tire. “I hired a new guy to do maintenance. He said he did it this morning.”
“Well, your new guy—” She put air quotes around the word guy, “—could have blown the engine. I’d like to have a talk with him.” Diesel engines weren’t cheap to fix.
He considered her with a flirty gaze that made the butterflies fly around in a frenzy and crash into one another. “I’d let you have that talk with him, but—” He cocked his head, “he might ask you out.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Is that a problem?” He probably still saw her as the skinny little girl who wore coveralls and had grease stains around her fingernails. Her older brother had been overprotective in an extreme way. She’d thanked her lucky stars they weren’t closer in age. If he’d been around when she was in high school, no one would have dared ask her out.
“Only for him.” Grady spread his feet apart. Great, even Grady was ready to beat up a guy for looking at her. He’d probably call Troy and get a posse together to hunt the man down if she ever looked at him.
A small smile pulled at Grady’s cheeks. “Because you’re busy that night.”
“I am? I’m pretty my calendar is open.” Her hands went slick. The last thing she needed to do was broadcast the pathetic state of her love life. Her long hours at the shop didn’t facilitate a free and easy dating life. A garage should be a good place to meet men. Besides Ronnie and her little sister, the rest of the crew were male. Happily married or high school males. Candace got asked out a lot, but she worked up front with the customers while Ronnie worked in the back with the grease and tools.
“Well, you’re busy if I can take you to dinner.” Grady lifted one eyebrow in a sexy smolder move
.
Goose bumps broke out over Ronnie’s arms. A squeal pressed hard against the back of her clamped teeth, dying to get out and make some joyful noise.
Play it cool.
Candace had just sent her an online article about making a guy work for that first date. Ronnie had laughed because she was usually the one working to find dates. Guys didn’t see her as dating material in her baggy coveralls, grease stains, ball hat, and converse. Sundays were good. Putting on a dress for church got her a few invites. Inevitably the man would stop by to see her at the garage, and he’d be turned off by her tomboy ways. Grady had seen her as a tomboy. He’d seen her as a kid with pig tales. He’d seen her as a witch for Halloween. He’d even seen her delirious with fever once. And he’d still asked her out. There was no sense ignoring good advice, though. She dropped her gaze and then peaked up at him through lowered lashes, “I’ll have to check my calendar.”
He grinned and held out his hand. “I’m Grady Owens.”
Ronnie’s mouth fell open at the introduction and she snapped it shut. Her brain did a summersault. Grady didn’t recognize her. He’d seen every version of her until she hit junior high braces—retainers, bad hair decisions and all. The only version he didn’t know was the grown-up Ronnie. The one she wanted him to know best.
Her heart sank and the butterflies settled back onto their perches. For a moment there, she thought he’d been interested in her. Well, he was, but he was interested in the dressed-up woman who didn’t spend her days elbow deep in car parts and grease rags. If Grady wanted grown-up Ronnie, he’d get grown-up Ronnie. “Veronica,” she said, using her given name. “It’s nice to meet you.” She took his hand and noticed he was warm compared to the fall temperatures. He held on just a little longer than necessary, sending zings shooting through her hand and up her arm, spreading into her chest.
“You too. So do you really think you can fix this?” He tipped his head toward the truck. The smoke had died down to a few wisps and the smell wasn’t as sharp.
Ronnie thought fast, her mind turning over possibilities faster than a racing Camaro’s engine started up. As soon as he learned she was Troy’s little sister, he would stop flirting, stop looking, and stop asking her out. She could do without all the stopping and a lot more going. “I’ll make you a deal.”
He cocked his head to the side. “I’m listening.”
“If I fix your truck, you buy me dinner.” Her heart slammed against her rib cage as if it were grabbing prison bars and screaming, “Noooooo!” She was an idiot. She really was, because she was setting herself up for a great big letdown. But this was Grady. A guy she’d never had a chance with; not until this moment anyway. She couldn’t let him slip away. Not when her guardian angel had dropped him into her path. The smoking engine? A clear sign that he was meant for her.
“Deal.” Grady didn’t even hesitate.
She grinned, unable to make herself play hard to get when things worked out so perfectly. “Pop the hood and let’s take a look.” She shimmied into her gloves and thanked her dad for her height. She didn’t need a step stool to reach the radiator cap.
Grady came to stand next to her. He was a good six foot three. He didn’t tower over her, but she liked that she wouldn’t have to bend down to kiss him like she had her last boyfriend. That had been awkward. She had tried stopping a step below him on the porch, and he’d stay on the same step. Why couldn’t he just move up? Then, they were both on the skinny step and she’d have to lean way over and off balance and it was just weird.
Kissing Grady would be a whole different experience. His shoulders were wide and all firm and just… mmm. She could grab on to those arms and… Her face flushed just thinking about kissing Grady with him standing next to her. “Your, uh, new guy either lied or you have a leak. I’d have to get underneath to run a full diagnostic.”
He leaned against the truck giving her a saucy grin. “I’m not opposed to rolling around under there.”
Another image of the two of them under the truck in total lip-lock came to mind. She promised to come back to that fantasy later and focused on the task at hand. “Save it for our date, lover boy.” She had to turn away quickly before her confident façade slipped, and he realized how much she was freaking out inside. She pulled out her phone and called Virgil, their tow truck driver.
He answered on the first ring and she gave him their location. “I’m just coming back from the recycle yard. I’ll pick you up on the way,” he replied in his gravelly voice. The man had smoked for twenty-five years and then, on the day he found out he was going to be a grandpa, he quit. Never touched a cigarette again.
“That’d be great. Thanks.” She ended the call and turned to find Grady watching her.
He stepped closer, filling the air between them with chemistry. “You don’t have to cheat to win. I’ll buy you dinner even if you don’t fix my truck.”
Cheat? Oh, he thought she was hiring a mechanic. “Don’t worry. I’ll have my hands all over your truck in no time.” Her neck flushed at the way that sounded.
“How—” Grady’s question was cut off by a horn.
Ronnie turned and waved to Virgil. She slammed the hood to Grady’s truck and stepped off to the side of the road to give the driver room to work. He nodded hello as he slid out of the cab, pulled a large chain out of the compartment on the side of the tow truck, and got to work. He wore a pair of work coveralls that were covered in dirt and grease and walked slightly bent forward as if carrying a heavy load on his back. Ronnie had a few pairs of dirty coveralls of her own back at the shop. They protected her jeans and T-shirts from ruin, and she could tuck her long and low ponytail under the collar. Virgil clanged, bumped metal, and made a general racket that killed any chance at a conversation. He wasn’t much of a talker anyway, so his silence was comfortable.
The truck lurched into the air. Grady cringed as if his best friend had been punched in the gut. Ronnie lightly touched his forearm in an effort to comfort him. She would have been sick to see her G6 towed away. The Dodge wasn’t brand-new, but it appeared well taken care of—today’s mishap aside. The front end swung from the hook. No one ever claimed tow-truck drivers were gentle.
Virgil climbed into his truck and hauled off down the road, black smoke billowing out his tailpipe as usual.
“Okay, well, I’ve got a truck to fix.” Ronnie shucked the gloves and dug her keys out of her pocket.
Grady looked down the long road towards Snow Valley. “Mind if I catch a ride?”
She pointed to her chest and widened her eyes. “With me?”
He lifted both arms out wide. “You’re the only one out here.”
She twisted her lips to the side as if contemplating his request. “I don’t know … You look kind of sketchy.”
It was his turn to point to his chest. “Me? You’re the one who stole my truck.”
She tipped her chin back and laughed. “You let me. It’s not stealing if I have your permission.”
“I’ve always been a sucker for a pretty face.”
Her heart stammered. “I can’t remember the last time someone called me pretty,” she blurted.
“That’s a darn shame.” He smiled; a true and honest smile that made her actually believe he thought she was pretty.
Flustered, and once again at a loss for words— twice in one hour, hmmm, maybe it was a miracle— she nodded for him to get in. They buckled their seat belts and she made a U-turn. Guys didn’t normally knock the words right out of her. She had grown up around men who teased to show they care and learned to have a comeback always at the ready.
Grady didn’t look at her like the men in her family or like the men she worked with side-by-side. Sure, he teased her about stealing his truck, but that last comment about her being pretty—that felt real. She wasn’t sure how to handle real.
As they reached Main Street, Grady leaned forward, peering through the windshield like an excited kid. “Check out the scarecrows.” He pointed to the one outside
the Rodeo Drive Boutique wearing a fringe covered leather jacket, skinny jeans, and a pair of pink boots. And then hooted at the one in front of Big C’s wearing a yellow Big C uniform complete with ball cap and a pot belly that bore a strong resemblance to the owner.
Ronnie gave him a light shove. “You act like you’ve never seen this place in the fall.”
He sobered. “It’s been a long time—too long. I uh,” he traced the door handle, “I didn’t make it home for Thanksgiving last year or Christmas. Coming to help my dad with the cattle auction is my way of making up for it.” He cringed. “Not that I can make up for missing Christmas.”
Ronnie shoved him again, harder, landing his shoulder against the door. “That’s from your mom.” Ronnie smiled. “She’s way too nice to push you around herself.”
He rubbed his right arm with his left hand. She hadn’t pushed him that hard—he was just trying to make her feel good. His face suddenly brightened. “You know my mom?”
“And your dad and your brothers.” She briefly closed her eyes. Shoot. She shouldn’t have said all that. “Small town,” she threw into the blank space before he could ask questions. She wasn’t ready for him to know who she was. She liked being seen as an attractive dating opportunity. Especially by Grady. He had a way of firing her up with just a look.
She slowed down, extending their drive for as long as she dared. The minute they walked into the garage, he’d figure out who she was and the current of attraction running between them would be cut.
We have a deal. One date, that’s all I need. She adjusted her grip on the steering wheel and offered Grady a bright smile.
Chapter 2
Grady Owens couldn’t believe his luck. Twenty minutes ago he’d thought the whole world was crashing down around him as he watched smoke billow out from under the hood of his brand-new-to-him truck. Now, sitting next to this gorgeous creature with eyes as blue as Casperson Pond on a fall afternoon and light brown hair that hung halfway down her back, he had the distinct impression that a broken truck might have been just what he needed.
Lucy McConnell's Snow Valley Box Set Page 41
