by Mia Carson
Edmund almost said he would enjoy that but stopped the words at the last second. His plan was to keep driving south, not to stop in some tiny little town he didn’t even see on the map. Dust billowed around him from the gravel shoulder as a hot breeze blew across his face. He really needed a change of clothes and a shower after sweating in this heat. Kristen walked back from the tow truck, and he stepped aside to let her test the battery.
“Well, bad news, I’m afraid,” she said after a moment and slammed his hood shut. “I have to tow you into town.”
“Can you fix it?” he asked, following her to her truck.
“Yeah, but I won’t know the extent of the damage ‘til I get her in the shop,” she explained and reached into the passenger seat for a clipboard. “I might have to order parts, and for us, that means time.”
Edmund kicked at a rock on the shoulder. Just his luck. He was stood up at his own wedding, then his beautiful baby broke down on the road before he could even get out of Kentucky. “Great. Perfect,” he muttered.
Kristen paused in her writing. “Can I get your name?”
“Edmund Eastwood,” he said with an air of pride he’d used since he was a child.
She smirked as she jotted it down. “Listen, Ed,” she began.
“Edmund,” he corrected.
Her smile widened and a glimmer of mischief lit up her eyes. “Edmund. Green Valley ain’t big, but we have a nice inn you can stay at and good food and whiskey. It might not be a dream vacation, but you’ll survive for a few days.”
He ran a hand through his messed-up hair and grimaced. “You’re right. I guess I should be thanking you.”
“I’d wait until you get the bill,” she smirked. “I can tell you now, for this car, the repairs won’t be cheap. The parts are going to be hard to find.”
“Money isn’t an issue,” he told her.
Her smile flickered before she turned away from him. “Good to know. Well, I’ll get her hooked up, and we can head back to town. Oh, and a word of warning, the AC isn’t working in my truck.” She tossed the clipboard inside, and Edmund opted to wait outside the hot truck until she was ready to go. He watched her maneuver the truck perfectly and hook up his Mustang. She waved for him to hop in as soon as she was finished, and they pulled out onto the road.
Edmund watched the forest go by as she sped down the road, taking the turns quite fast. He glanced back at his car, but it was still attached and bouncing happily along.
“Don’t worry,” she said loudly over the wind. “I’ll get us there in one piece.”
“You grew up on these roads?” he asked, trying not to sound as worried as he felt.
“I did,” she said shortly.
Edmund debated being polite and making conversation, but Kristen didn’t appear to be in the mood for a conversation. He busied himself by taking in the details of the cab of the old truck. A necklace hung around the rear-view mirror—a pendant of a horse—along with several old car keys. There was no trash, but the cushions were torn in places. A few spare rags lay in the backseat, along with a change of clothes, and even with the windows open, the scent of oil and honeysuckle lingered, drifting past his nose every now and then.
“Well, here we are,” she said as they drove past a town sign. “Welcome to Green Valley, Kentucky.”
“Looks… quaint,” he said, trying to be polite. “Is this the whole town?”
“Three cross streets and no stop lights,” she said. “This is about it.”
She drove towards the edge of a two-lane road and pulled off in front of a large garage with three doors, looking as if it, too, had seen better days. She parked and hopped out of the cab, taking the clipboard with her.
“The inn is just across the road.” She pointed, and Edmund turned, ready to cringe at the sight of what he might see. He sighed with relief at the perfectly normal, three-story building bearing a stone front and trimmed hedges on the curb. “If you want to reserve yourself a room, I’ll swing by in an hour or two with the damages.”
He nodded. “Right then, I guess I’ll let you get to it.”
She patted him on the shoulder with the clipboard. “Might not be as bad as it looks.”
“The way my luck’s been, nothing would surprise me,” he muttered but thanked her and walked away before she could ask questions he wasn’t really in the mood to answer. He needed to get to a working phone and check in with Tommy to let him know about the unexpected chink in his plan.
As he crossed the street, eyes followed him from storefronts and cars. He smiled politely at them all, wondering why they stared. Small town, he mused, but did they never have visitors? He quickened his pace and was thankful for the cool rush of air as he stepped inside the inn and rang the small bell on the desk.
“Well, now, who do we have here?” an elderly woman asked as she stepped out of a back office. “Looking for a room, are you?”
“Yes. I do seem to be in need of one,” he said with a polite smile. “My car broke down. I’m going to be here for at least a day, possibly more. Do you have anything available?”
“I have most of the inn available,” she said bluntly and flipped open a ledger. “Would you like an upper floor? Front-facing or rear?”
“Main floor is fine, and front-facing.” He reached for his wallet, fascinated as the woman wrote down his information in the ledger, not a computer in sight.
She reached under the desk and handed him a large skeleton key with a numbered tag hanging from it. “Room four, then, should do you well. There’s a mini fridge and microwave in there, and the diner is two doors down. They don’t deliver.”
Edmund nodded as he handed over his card. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good,” she said after swiping his card through a foursquare attached to her phone. “Stay as long as you need. Won’t charge your card until you check out.”
Edmund took his card from her gnarled hands. “Any place close to buy fresh clothes?”
“Head down to your right,” she instructed. “You might not find exactly what you’re looking for, but they sell jeans and t-shirts.” She eyed his dirty white dress shirt and tux pants, all the way down to his scuffed black shoes. “And boots, they sell those, too.”
“Thanks,” he said and turned quickly to find his room.
When the door swung open, he clicked on the light. A queen-sized bed was made up with white and red linens in a room that boasted a desk, mini-fridge, microwave, and a full bath. It wasn’t much, but it was enough, and he went straight for the phone on the desk. He called Tommy, and when he didn’t answer, Edmund left him a quick voicemail with the number to the room. He had a while before he’d hear from Kristen, so he left the inn, walking past the old woman standing at the front desk and outside. He reached the shop advertising jeans and boots, and ignoring the curious looks he received, quickly found his sizes in jeans, t-shirts, and boots. Edmund checked out as quickly as possible and rushed back to his room. For not wanting to be the center of attention or gossip, he sure as hell picked the wrong town to wind up in.
A message waited for him on the machine in his room. Tommy had called back, saying to keep him posted about his car and the town but said he might not want to call his mom just yet. ‘She’s headed to crazy town’ were his exact words.
“She can wait,” he agreed and tossed the bags of new clothes on his bed. “I’m not headed home anytime soon.”
A shower and a nap, in that order. That was what he needed. Maybe later, he’d check out the diner and see if there was a bar in town. A glass of whiskey would be a perfect ending to this shitty weekend.
Can’t say it was all bad, he told himself as he turned on the shower. You did meet one hot-ass mechanic. Maybe she’ll be your first lay since Jenny.
The woman didn’t seem interested in him, but he had some time. Shower first, and he’d worry about charming this woman into his bed for at least one incredible night smelling of honeysuckle and oil.
Chapter 4
&n
bsp; Kris cursed the heat again and slipped her arms out of the sleeves of her jumpsuit, revealing her tight tank-top beneath. She tied the sleeves together behind her and went right back to work under the hood of the old Mustang. The car was in decent condition for the most part, but she had no idea what the hell he’d done to the poor thing to kill it like this. The battery was shot, but that wasn’t the worst of it. The engine had overheated, and she worried the time had come for a whole new one. This was the original, and nothing lasted forever.
The battery was an easy fix, but the engine for this car was extremely specific and expensive. Everything else looked alright, but any other repairs would be drops in the bucket compared to what she needed to fix if he wanted his car running again.
Wiping her face with a clean rag to clear away some of the sweat and grease, she sat down at her shop’s computer and searched for the engine she would need. The closest one was in Michigan, but it would take nearly a week to get to her and another few days after that to put it in. The price was close to ten grand, but since the guy wore tux pants like they were jeans, Kris wasn’t worried about his money. The clock on the wall said it’d been about an hour since she’d dropped him off—plenty of time to settle in.
Grabbing the information for him, she shoved loose strands of hair from her face and marched out of the garage. Several people stood outside the inn, staring up at the windows. Kris paused before she crossed the street and pushed her way through them. Edmund might be able to afford the repairs, but she doubted he’d survive nearly two weeks in her town where people couldn’t keep their noses to themselves.
“Excuse me,” Kris said as she reached the front door of the inn.
“Where are you going?” Molly, a woman her age who worked in the retail shop down the street, asked.
“To see my latest customer,” she said and hoped that would be the end of it.
Molly rushed around her and blocked her path. “Wait, that hot guy is your new customer?”
“His Mustang broke down outside of town,” Kris explained. “Can I please go deliver the news to him about his car?”
“What’s his name? How long is he staying? Can you introduce me?” Molly rattled on, and Kris burst out laughing. “What? A new guy comes to town and I can’t be excited?”
“You sound like a stalker.” Kris smirked. “Give the guy a night to settle in before you throw your brand of crazy at him.” She tried to move again, but Molly held her back, bouncing on her heels. “Weren’t you just dating Benji?”
“Was, past tense,” Molly said, brushing the words away with a wave of her hand.
Kris pried her hand free gently and stepped backwards into the inn. “Let him have tonight to deal with the bad news of his car. Tomorrow, I’ll be sure to send him to the diner for lunch. You can bump into him then.”
Molly pouted but finally nodded. “You’re right. I’ll back off for the moment, but I call dibs.”
Laughing, Kris walked up to the front desk and rang the bell. “All yours, Molly, I want nothing to do with him.”
“I don’t know why not. You’re single, too.”
“Thanks for reminding me,” Kris muttered and rang the bell again. “Grams!”
“I’m coming, child,” she yelled back. “Give an old woman a break.”
“Just tell me what room the new guy’s in,” she called back.
“Check the ledger,” Grams said grumpily. “My back’s acting up again.”
Kris walked around the front desk and peeked into the back office to see Grams with her feet up in the old camo recliner, a bowl of popcorn on her lap, a beer in hand, and her favorite soap playing on the old tube TV. Crossing her arms over her chest, Kris leaned on the doorframe and eyed her Grams.
“Your back hurts, huh?”
Grams glanced up and shrugged. “Horrible. Partially numb today,” she added, throwing an extra moan of pain in there for emphasis.
Kris shook her head as she checked the ledger for Edmund’s room. “You have quite a crowd out front, you know,” she said over her shoulder as she flipped through the pages until she found the right date.
“You know how this town is. It’ll be a damn circus if he stays too long.”
Kris tapped her finger on the page with his information, closed the ledger, and tucked it away again. “Well, bad news for you, Grams, he’s going to be stuck her for a long while. His car’s dead.”
“Damn. Well, about time something exciting happened around here.”
“You watch too many soaps. Nothing’s going to happen, except Molly’s going to scare him off,” Kris breathed and headed down the hall and around the corner to inform Edmund about the condition of his car.
She reached room number four and raised her hand to knock, but she spotted the oil covering her hand and paused. She’d been sweating hard the last hour and probably stank, her hair was dirty, and she probably had a few grease streaks on her face, too. Her jumpsuit hadn’t been washed in a week. Her other hand bore several bandages from scrapes she’d managed to get digging around under the hood of his car. She nibbled her tongue between her teeth but decided this rich boy came to her town. She wasn’t about to go home, shower, and put on fresh clothes just for him. Raising her fist again, she knocked on his door and waited.
Her eyes were downcast, looking over the information again, when the door opened. “Hey, I hope I’m not—shit, sorry!” She held the papers up to her face when she caught a glimpse of damp, naked skin. “I—uh, I just came by to tell you about your car.”
“It’s alright,” he replied with a throaty laugh. “I have jeans.”
She lowered the papers enough to peek with one eye, and her face grew hot. “Yeah, but still. I don’t want to intrude.” But damn, do I want to look. For a rich boy, you sure have one hell of a nice body. Drops of water dripped down his well-defined pecs to his abs and lingered along the crevices of a v-shape she’d never seen on a male body. The heat from outside was nothing compared to what flared within her, and she cleared her throat. “I… uh, I just came by to tell you about your car, but I can wait.”
“No, please come on in. I’ll dry myself the rest of the way and throw a shirt one,” he said and leaving the door open to his room, disappeared into the bathroom.
Kris breathed deeply to steady her shaking hands, and nibbling on her tongue again, stepped slowly into his room. Shopping bags littered the bed, and his dirty clothes were draped over the chair at the desk. The bathroom door closed, and she frowned, wishing she could’ve seen his ass, too.
Get ahold of yourself! He’s a damn customer, and he’ll never be interested in someone like you, anyway. Kris ran a hand down her ponytail, feeling the dirt and grime stuck in the strands, and gave her head a little shake, wondering why she suddenly cared so much about what someone else might think of her looks.
Edmund had been with Jenny so long, he forgot what it was like to have someone check him out as Kristen had with those glittering hazel eyes. She’d even licked her lips when she peeked out from around the papers she held in front of her face, and he grinned. An amused voice in his mind said to accidentally let the towel drop to see how she’d react, but he was a gentleman at heart and worried she already thought him a creeper for opening the door half naked.
While she had a gander at him, he hadn’t been completely innocent either and let his gaze roam over her bare shoulders and arms. Each muscle was well-toned and several scars marked the tanned skin. The oil smell followed her but was accompanied by sweet honeysuckle that teased his senses. His mom would scream if someone greeted her so covered in muck and grime, but Edmund found it strangely attractive. This woman was passionate about her job. It showed in the grease stains and bandages on her fingers, not caring what she might look like as long as she got her job done.
“Sorry about that,” he said as he stepped out of the bathroom in jeans and a black t-shirt.
Kristen smiled, but disappointment flashed across her face. “No, it’s fine. I guess I should’ve
warned you I was stopping by so soon.”
Edmund sat on the edge of the bed and offered the desk chair to her, but she declined. He rested his hands on his knees and admired the slope of her cheeks and smiled when she gnawed on her tongue as she flipped through the papers in her hand. A long strand of hair fell over her face, and she blew it away with a puff of air from pink lips that looked perfect for kissing. His chest tightening, he tried to look at anything else, but every subtle shift of her body drew him right back in.
Tommy was right. I haven’t had a good lay in way too long.
“So your car,” Kristen finally said and stepped closer. “I hate to tell you, but the engine’s shot.”
“That bad?” he asked as she handed him the papers.
“Yeah, but the good news is I did find one that’ll work for your car.”
“And from your cringe, I’m guessing there’s bad news,” he said. His eyes trailed lower down the page to the estimated cost. “Eh, money’s not a problem, like I said.”
She scratched her nose, and her cringe deepened. “It’s actually going to take about a week to get the engine here and then a few days for me to get it all put back together. You’re looking at almost two weeks, stuck in the middle of nowhere. I hope you don’t have anywhere you have to be.”
Edmund held the papers as he nodded. There was no chance he was getting to Miami now, but things could be worse. His parents had no idea where he was, and if he had a legit reason to be trapped far away from them, he’d take it, no matter where it was. The laughter bubbled up inside him until he couldn’t hold it in any longer. He cackled like a madman as tears of mirth filled his eyes.
“Not the reaction I usually get from my customers,” Kristen said slowly. “You alright?”
He nodded and caught his breath, fighting against the laughter. “Sorry, it’s a long story.”
“What’s the short version?”
“I hopped in my car last night and just drove,” he said as he sobered. “No idea where I was headed. I just needed to get away, so the longer it takes to fix my car, the better.” He set the papers aside and rubbed the back of his neck. “I was supposed to get married yesterday.”
