by Molly McLain
“Nope.” Ben shakes his head. “The nearest body shop is over in Tylerville. Not too far from here, but they work at their own pace. You’ll need to get this into a bigger shop in Rochester if you want the work done before the end of the month.”
If that news didn’t mimic the overarching theme of the last twenty-four hours, I’d probably be shocked.
“I’ll need a rental,” I sigh. “Tell me there’s still a place in Tylerville.”
“Yep, but unfortunately they’re out of cars.” Ben’s smile is sympathetic. “Brought someone else there this morning. Took their last set of wheels. Sorry.”
“Okay, but I need to get to Minneapolis. Today.”
The driver shrugs. “Don’t know what to tell you. All I can do at this point is take your car to Jake’s shop and see what he can do to hook you up with some tires. From there, you’ll have to figure out how to fix this beast.”
Setting it on fire sounds like a good plan at this point.
“We’ll figure it out.” RJ clears his throat from behind us and I clamp my eyes shut. We? WE?
“You want me to take it to Jake’s then?”
“Might as well.”
“Excuse me?” I spin back to RJ and glare. “Don’t you think I should have some say in this?”
“You heard the guy. You don’t have any options. Unless you want to ride into town with him and call your sister.”
Like hell.
“That’s what I thought.” He swivels back to Ben. “Take it to Jake’s.”
Ben nods and tugs his gloves back on, like I’m not even here.
“Hold on a second. Just...” I’m going to kill RJ. I’m going to fucking kill him. “I have to pay you. Please tell me I can give you a credit card.”
He sighs, but nods. “Yeah, I guess. Let me get my little square thing hooked up.”
“Just bill my account.” RJ again. Trying to save the day again like he ought to be dressed in a cape instead of that damn quilted flannel.
“10-4.” Ben touches the brim of his hat and heads back to his rig. Yep, pretty sure I’m invisible. “You don’t have anything in there you need, do you?” he calls over his shoulder, and the last remaining bit of my pride shrivels up and dies.
“My luggage.” My entire closetful of luggage.
Kill me now.
***
RJ and I head back to the cabin after Ben tows my car away. My mountain of suitcases and bags is piled on the backseat next to Eddie, who is enviably oblivious to the tension upfront.
I’m starting to think I hit my head when I went in the ditch, because there’s no way this shit is really happening.
“Jake’s a good guy. He’ll keep your car as long as you need him to.”
“Hmmph.” Elbow on the door and head propped in my hand, I’ve got nothing more to say. At least nothing that won’t emotionally drain me.
“You’re forgiven, by the way.”
“What?” I pass him a sidelong frown.
“For telling me to fuck off. I’ve forgiven you.”
My jaw drops, but he keeps on driving, all calm and collected. “I didn’t tell you to fuck off.”
“Fuck you, fuck off...same thing.” He slows to a stop and hits the button to lower the plow before casually checking the mirror and going to work on the driveway right where he left off before Ben came. Like I’m not staring daggers at him.
“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”
“Seem to recall hearing something like that a time or two before, yeah.” He pushes a pile of snow off the side of the road and reverses, hand resting on the back of my seat. Way too close to my shoulder for comfort.
I lean away and cross my arms over my chest, glowering at him. “What part of our conversation earlier did you not understand? Just out curiosity.”
He shrugs and, you guessed it, keeps on plowing. “Pretty sure I understood all of it.”
“Pretty sure you didn’t!” I laugh. “You totally nosed your way into my business back there.”
“Yeah?” He shoots me a quick glance. “You want me to nose my way out? Take you into town or maybe I should just take you over to your folks. We could probably be there in, what, fifteen minutes?”
Bile rises in my stomach. “I hate you.”
“I know, and I’m real sorry about that. Unfortunately, I’m all you’ve got right now.”
Smug jerk.
“When are you due up north?”
“Last night.”
He rolls his head my way and glares. I shrink back a little in the seat.
“I’m waiting to hear back from Rush’s publicist. Probably later today.”
“I’ll take you.”
I laugh again. “No, you won’t.”
“How the fuck else you gonna get there? Walk?”
“If I have to.” And I just turned twelve all over again. God help me.
RJ chuckles. “All right, Crash. You put on one of those fifteen pairs of heels you brought along and start hiking your peachy little ass to the Twin Cities. I’ll sit here in the truck and wait until you get to the end of the driveway and change your mind.”
Thank God he shifts his focus to the plow, because it takes everything in me not to burst out laughing.
He may not be my favorite person right now, but in a way he’s exactly that. Without him, I’d be up crap creek. His refusal to let me float away? Let’s just say I feel it in places I have no business feeling anything for him right now.
“We good?” he asks a few minutes later, shooting me a small, knowing smile as he puts the truck in park even though we’re not anywhere near to the cabin.
I nod and let the grin I’ve been holding back slip through. “You really are something.”
“Don’t be sharing that shit with anyone.” Slouching back in his seat, he rests a boot against the door. “I got a reputation to uphold, you know.”
“Do you now?” I have no idea why we’re just sitting here, but I turn to him, rest my head on the back of the seat, and fidget with the string on coat. “I’ll pay you back for the tow and, if you’re serious about the ride, I’ll pay for gas and your time, too. You’ve already wasted a day of your vacation on me. I feel horrible about that.”
He makes a throaty sound. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but were you not there last night? In the shower? Because I wouldn’t call making you moan my name a wasted vacation.”
Flames. All up in my face so hot and fast I forget to breathe for a minute. When I finally do, I laugh. Hard. Even Eddie pokes his nose at me from the backseat to make sure I’m not having a heart attack.
RJ reaches across the cab of the truck and swipes a tear from my cheeks. “I like these tears a lot better than the ones earlier.”
I nod and wave a hand in front of my face, trying to get my act together so the poor dog doesn’t start howling. “Me, too.”
“I don’t want to make you cry like that again, Crash.”
I don’t want him to either, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen anyway. This time together... It was never meant to last. Unfortunately, my heart didn’t get the memo.
“You want to have a little fun?” he asks, sitting up again.
I lift an eyebrow and sniff away the fit of laughter. “What did you have in mind?”
“You ever plowed snow before?”
“Uh, no.” I’ve never wanted to either. At least, I didn’t until now.
Reaching down, he hits the button for his seat, slides it all the way back, and pats his lap.
“Climb on over, gorgeous. ’Bout time you learned.”
***
“No! Noooo!” I run toward the cabin, my city girl snow boots slipping and sliding, and almost taking me out before RJ’s snowball can do the job. “Ahhh!” I half scream, half laugh when the ice-cold ball of fluff pelts me in the middle of the ass. “Not nice!”
“You think your little stunt was nice?” Catching up with me, he loops an arm around my waist and swings me into the air, both of
us laughing. “You almost gave me a goddamn stroke!”
I squirm against the fingers he digs into my stomach, tickling me as punishment for almost driving his truck into the closed garage door. “You asked if I’d ever plowed before,” I pant. “Not if I’d ever driven a truck!”
“Now I’m starting to see why you put your car in the ditch.” Still holding me, he bends and scoops another handful of snow. “Tell me you’re sorry,” he warns, “or you get a face wash.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” But not sorry enough that I don’t grab his arm and slap the snow into his own face instead.
“You little...” He sets me down just long enough to wipe his face, before sweeping me up yet again and dropping to his knees in the middle of the driveway. Eddie chases around us, just as excited. “You’re going to pay for that one. You thought that snowball was cold...”
“Ooh, what are you going to do?” I mock him, still breathless. “Shove one down my pants?”
A wicked grin slashes across his face as he gathers snow with both hands now. “I don’t know, Crash, where do you think I’m going to put it, huh?” He fakes out a move to my waistband and then my face, making me squeal like a kid, trying to block him.
“You are so mean! My back is already soaked!”
“Yeah?” he chuckles. “How about your front?”
“No, but...oh, my God, don’t you dare!” I shriek, but it’s too late. Both of his hands disappear up front of my coat...and my T-shirt. “RJ Scott!”
“How’s that feel, sweetheart, huh?”
“C-cold!” My teeth chatter and my nipples pebble into tight little knots. “You are so dead when—ahhhh...”
The words die on my tongue when his wet palms cover my breasts, instantly soothing the ache he left behind last night. Breath stuck in my throat, my chest rises shamelessly into his touch and my guilty eyes dart to his.
I’m not supposed to want this anymore. Neither is he. But from his half-mast lashes and flaring nostrils, I’d say we’re both a hopeless cause.
“Crash,” he murmurs, removing one hand to lever down on a forearm and brush his lips across mine. There’s no hesitation. No question. Just me and him and the moment. And it’s completely, deliberately unapologetic.
My arms curl around his neck and my mouth opens to his, offering what I know I shouldn’t. If he wants me, he can have me. I don’t care how it might feel in the end. How much it might hurt. How could I when this, right now, feels so damn right?
I’m not sure how long we lie like that, doing nothing more than kissing like we have all the time in the world. It feels like forever and then it feels like no time at all before he rests his forehead against mine and closes his eyes.
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Yes, you should have,” I whisper back, and he blinks at me, slowly smiling.
“I know.”
I laugh softly and shift on the frozen ground, remembering where we are, now that the spell has been broken.
“Here.” He hurries to his feet and pulls me up, wrapping his arms around me for warmth. “Sorry, that was stupid of me.”
“No.” I catch his face in my hands and toe up to steal one more kiss. “It was perfect. Thank you.”
His throat works as he swallows. “No, Crash, thank you.”
Chapter Eight
“You mind if I grab a shower before we go?” RJ asks after I put on dry clothes—seems to be a problem of mine—and we share a few gulps of hot coffee in front of the fireplace.
“Not at all. In fact, I should try to get in touch with Andrew again. Strange that he hasn’t called yet.” He’s usually so on top of things. I hope nothing happened on his drive or that Rush isn’t giving him crap for no reason other than he’s Rush.
“Don’t spoil my dog while I’m gone.” Tossing a wink over his shoulder, RJ strolls off to clean up. I watch his butt in those low-slung jeans like my life depends on it.
Total Tilt-a-Whirl.
Then again, I always did love carnival rides.
Sliding down to the floor beside to Eddie, I scratch behind his ears and smooth a hand over his soft, golden fluff. “What are you going to do while we’re gone, Edster? Pretty sure Minneapolis is too long of a trip for you. Especially if we end up spending the night.”
Shit. Why didn’t I think of that earlier?
“I hope your dad has a plan.” Because I sure as heck don’t.
My phone chimes in my lap and Andrew’s name flashes on the screen.
“Moment of truth, Ed. What’s it going to be?” Sucking in a breath, I put the call on speaker. “Hey, Andrew. I was starting to worry.”
“Aww, you were?” He laughs and I smile. He’s a nice enough guy... Cute enough, too, if the picture Gretchen found of him on Google is accurate. But he’s definitely too clean cut and California blond for my taste. I like my men tall, dark, and moody. Obviously.
“How are the roads? I’m kind of worried about what I have ahead of me.” Not that I’ll be driving, thanks to RJ.
“Better than they were last night. Where’d you get stuck?
“Strangely enough, not that far from my hometown.”
“Ah, that’s convenient. Were you able to stay with family or...?”
“Actually, I stayed with a friend.” A friend with benefits? “He’s giving me a ride to the Cities since I sort of broke my car.” I tell him about my excursion into the snowy pit of hell and he roars with laughter.
“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t laugh.” Yet he continues, and I can’t help but grin about it, too. In hindsight, it is funny. Well, up until I remember I still have to get the car fixed before I can go home to Chicago. “Too bad I didn’t know you were down there earlier. Rush actually stopped in the area, too. You could have come up together. Or, better yet, just did this there.”
I snort, but thankfully not loud enough to be heard.
“Anyhow, I hate to do this, but I’m about to throw another monkey wrench into your plans.” He pauses and I hold my breath. I can’t take another big change. Not without wine. “Rush wants to meet tomorrow morning instead of today.”
“Oh, okay.” Because he has a legitimate reason or because he’s a diva? “I’ll be there.” I glance toward the bathroom, where the shower still runs. RJ is going to regret the day I walked into his yard.
“Great. The hotel was able to shift our accommodations for today to tomorrow, so does ten o’clock still work?”
“Absolutely. I look forward to finally meeting you in person.” His boss, not so much.
“Same here. Safe travels, Julianna.”
We hang up and I spend the next five minutes practicing my explanation to RJ. He’ll roll with the punches, because that’s the kind of host he’s been. I, on the other hand, have been nothing but a pain in his butt. How am I ever going to make this up to him?
“Hey, did you make your phone call?” The devil himself saunters out of the bathroom in a pair of dark washed jeans—unbuttoned and unbelted—and no shirt. The muscles in his arms flex and bunch as he dries his hair, and my mouth goes drier than the Serengeti.
“Andrew beat me to the punch, but unfortunately he had bad news.”
“Yeah?” RJ stops on the other side of a snoozing Eddie and tosses the towel over his shoulder. The fresh scent of his body wash floats from his bare skin to my nose and I pray for the strength to get through just one more night with this too tempting man. “What’d he have to say?”
“Rush wants to meet tomorrow morning instead of later today.” I bite my lip and brace for a reaction other than understanding. It doesn’t come.
“All right. So, you want to get a hotel room for the night or...?” He sticks his hands on his hips and I swear his jeans drop a little lower. Another millimeter and I’ll see where that happy trail becomes a forest.
“What about Eddie?”
“My mom can take him.”
“Overnight?”
His head tips from side to side, thinking. “She’d do i
t.”
But he hasn’t asked her yet. Hello, guilt trip version—what is it now?—fifty-two-point-oh?
“RJ, listen...” I smile and get to my feet. “I know you want to help, but—”
“But what, Crash? You gonna try and ditch me?” His crooked grin is far more at ease than mine. “Not gonna happen just because you’re worried about being an inconvenience.”
God, but he’s stubborn. And so noble. “I can’t keep asking you for more when I have no idea how I’m going to make up for all you’ve done already.
His eyes narrow for a long beat, then he knuckles his nose. “Okay, let’s do this. You don’t owe me anything, but if it’ll make you feel better, there is something you could do.”
My gaze drops curiously to his open fly and he chuckles, nudging Eddie out of the way with a bare foot.
“If I wanted you to do that, I would’ve let you last night,” he husks, shuffling forward and curling an arm around my waist. The other comes up to play with a strand of my hair. “I have something else in mind.”
“Y-y-yeah?” My hair being touched by a hot guy who smells good is my golden trifecta of weakness. I may very well melt before he gets to explain himself.
“How about we stay here tonight and drive up in the morning? Less time at the sitter for the mutt and plenty of time for us to kick back and have some fun.”
“Fun?” I’m all about fun if RJ’s involved, but somehow, I don’t think he has a repeat of last night in mind. “What kind of fun?”
“The kind that’s better when it’s surprise.” He gives my butt a playful slap and then winks. “Kinda like you, Crash.”
***
“I’m capable of feeding myself,” I giggle, hours later as the sun sets in shades of lilac and watermelon pink and the campfire blazes every variation of orange. RJ taps the last bite of his burned hot dog against my lips and I finally give in and open up. The salty richness melts on my tongue and I moan. “Mmm, so good.”
“You think I’d give you a bad wiener?”
“Ppfftt!” I nearly fall off our blanket-padded bench, laughing, but RJ snags the pocket of the hoodie I pilfered from him just in time.
