by Alison Bliss
Brett shook his head. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not going anywhere.”
* * *
Damn it. The last person Sidney Larson wanted to be rescued by was her ex.
After the stunt Brett had pulled last year, she’d broken up with him and told him she never wanted to see him again. And she’d meant it at the time. But the past year had been a real struggle for her. Part of her wanted to prove to him—and maybe a little to herself—that she didn’t need him in her life. While the other part of her had contemplated running back into his arms to make up for lost time. So she’d purposely avoided running into him…well, up until now.
She had a feeling that seeing him again would bring back all of those feelings and memories that she’d tried so hard to suppress. She was right. The urge to fling herself back into his arms—and his life—was as strong as ever. But after the crap he’d pulled last year, she just couldn’t do it.
No matter how good he looks.
Actually, he looked better than good. Brett was sexier than ever. He had always maintained a great physique, but after one glance at those arms of his, she had no doubt he’d been putting in some extra hours lifting weights at the gym. Not only that, but the man had always pulled off a grungy, bad boy look without even trying. And it completely suited him. Because he was the type of guy that fathers had been warning their daughters about for years.
But just because Brett was rippling with more muscle than ever didn’t mean she needed him to do her dirty work for her. She could change her own tire, thank you very much. A fact he should know because he was the one who’d taught her how to do it. “You always were a sucker for a damsel in distress,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But I don’t need your help, Brett. I know what the hell I’m doing.”
He grinned but planted his feet firmly in place and crossed his bulky arms over his broad chest. “That’s fine. Then I’ll just stay here and keep you company until the spare is on.”
God, no. The last thing she wanted was him standing right behind her while she was bent over with sweat dripping from her temples as she panted heavily. That reminded her way too much of that time when he’d taken her over the back of the couch and had…Jesus. Never mind. This was exactly what she was afraid of.
She huffed out a breath. “Well, maybe I don’t want your company. Have you thought of that?”
He nodded. “I have.” Then he shrugged one strong shoulder. “But that’s just too damn bad. Because until that spare tire is on your car and you’re pulling away from me, I’m not going anywhere.”
Damn it. She had a feeling he would say that. “God, Brett. I’m not afraid of the dark.”
“I didn’t say you were,” he replied, a smidgeon of irritation leaching into his voice. “But I’m not leaving you out here by yourself, Sid. So either you put the tire on or move your ass aside and I’ll do it for you.”
His demanding tone sent shivers over her skin, and her mouth went dry. It was strange that, after almost a year later, he still had that effect on her. “Fine. But I’ll do it myself. I don’t need your help.”
“All right.”
Sidney turned back to her flat tire and kneeled down on a space blanket she’d borrowed from her emergency kit. It crinkled as she tried to reposition herself, and rough pieces of gravel poked through the thin silver material into her knees. But it was at least keeping her pants clean, which had been the overall idea anyway.
Sidney adjusted the beam on the flashlight directly onto the tire and then sat back on her heels and looked over the tools in front of her. She knew what she needed to do, but it was a little nerve-wracking having a certified mechanic, who also happened to be her ex-boyfriend, standing over her watching her do it. Who needed that kind of added pressure?
Brett must’ve noticed her hesitance. “What do you need to do before jacking the car up?” he asked, prompting her.
“I know what to do,” she told him. “I have to use that four-arm metal thingy to loosen the bolts.”
He chuckled. “It’s called a four-way lug wrench.”
“Close enough,” she said, reaching for it.
Flipping the tool around, she tested each end of the wrench until she found the correct size for her lug nuts. Once the end was snugly slipped over the nut, she tried to turn the wrench. It wouldn’t move, so she rose up onto her knees and leaned over the tool to give herself more leverage and then tried to twist it again. No such luck.
Damn it. Why is this not working?
“Need some help?” Brett asked.
Sidney shook her head. “Nope. I can get it. It’s just a little tight.”
So she used the trick Brett had taught her. She slid one of the heavy jack stands under the opposite end of the wrench to hold it up in place. Then she rose to her feet and kicked off her black heels. Keeping one hand on her car for balance, she placed one foot on the left side arm of the wrench and stepped up onto it.
Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen.
Instead of standing on top of the wrench several inches off the ground, her weight was supposed to break the lug nut loose. But for some strange reason, it didn’t work.
Weird. Especially given that she had put on a few pounds since Brett had last seen her. It wasn’t like she had been all that thin back when they’d dated, but she couldn’t help worrying that her most recent weight gain only reflected how miserable she’d been for the past year.
Brett cleared his throat, as if reminding her that he was still standing there and watching her. “You sure you don’t want my help?”
“I’ve got everything under control,” she replied, bending her knees and bouncing a little on top of the wrench. Still nothing happened. So she did the only thing she could do. She bounced a little harder, hoping she didn’t break something. Including herself.
Sidney did everything in her power to force that stupid lug nut to move because there was no way she was going to admit that she needed Brett’s help. Even if, in this instance, she clearly did. So much for proving to him that she was capable of handling any situation thrown at her. That was kind of hard to do while sitting on the side of the road as helpless as a baby bird that had fallen from its nest.
“Okay, stop that,” Brett ordered. “You’re either going to damage your car or wind up hurting yourself. Get down from there and just let me take a look.”
Sidney hopped down and moved out of his way as quickly as she could, but she hadn’t been fast enough. As he maneuvered past her, a familiar scent wafted straight to her nose. In the past, he’d always smelled like this when he had gotten off work, and even then, she couldn’t get enough of it. Sure, it was probably just a mixture of sweat and grease, but the earthly, masculine notes always took on more of a smoky, charred wood quality and made her mouth water.
But she couldn’t think about that right now. She had more important things to worry about. “I don’t understand. I did it the way you showed me.”
Brett glared at her. “What? I never told you to climb on top of the wrench. You were only supposed to put some weight into it to break the nuts free. Not stand on it.”
“Yeah, but that didn’t work…and I put all of my weight into it.” And Lord knows she had plenty of that.
He squatted down and tried to crank on the wrench himself. When it wouldn’t turn, he pulled it off and checked the others. When they wouldn’t turn either, he looked closer at the lug nuts. “Damn it. I think whoever put these tires on this vehicle tightened the lug nuts too much. Probably used a pneumatic impact wrench.”
“Okay, so what do I need to do to fix it?”
Brett stood and dusted his hands off, probably more out of habit than anything. “Nothing.”
Confusion swept through her. “What do you mean, nothing?”
“What I’m saying is that you won’t be doing anything. I’ll have to fix it myself.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I’m most likely going to have to cut the lug nuts off and replace them. O
therwise, the lug bolts could break off inside the wheel, which is more expensive and complicated to fix. But I’m thinking these might have an aluminum cover so I can just chisel off the aluminum part in order to get to the metal inside. That would make things a little easier for me.”
“All right. So what are you waiting for? Let’s get to work then.”
Brett ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s not that simple, Sid. I don’t have those kinds of tools with me.”
Figures. “So now what?”
“I’m going to drive you home and then come back with the tow truck to pick up your car. That way I can take it back to the shop, where I can work on it.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you crazy? I’m not leaving my sports car out here on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.”
“It’s not like we have a choice.”
“Sure we do. I’ll stay with the car while you go get the tow truck.”
His head snapped to her, and his blue eyes narrowed. “Sidney, if you think I’m going to leave you out here all alone, then you’re the one who’s crazy. You should know me better than that by now.”
Oh, she did. But he should know her better than that too. In the past, she’d never agreed with him just for the sake of doing so, and she wasn’t about to start now. And just because he wanted her to do something didn’t mean she would actually do it either. “Well, I’m not going to risk coming back to my car sitting on blocks because someone stole my tires. They’re expensive, you know.”
He squinted at her. “If we can’t get the tire off, then how the hell is someone trying to steal it going to?”
Oh. Right. Good point. “Well, I don’t want them to take my entire car.”
“I’m certain we don’t have to worry about that either. The car has a flat tire. It isn’t going anywhere.”
“Yeah, maybe. Unless the car thief has a tow truck.”
Brett rubbed at his temples and groaned, as if a sudden headache was coming on. “Sidney.”
“What?” She shrugged. “I’m just saying.”
Brett smiled with the same adorable lopsided grin she’d always loved so much. “Just get into the truck. It’ll be fine, I promise.”
She sighed. “Okay, fine. But if my car gets stolen before you get back, I’m holding you personally responsible.”
“Yep. I figured as much.”
They picked up all the tools and the space blanket and locked them inside her car before heading to his red GMC pickup. Sidney couldn’t believe she’d been defeated by a stupid lug nut, and she wasn’t necessarily talking about the one on her car. Unfortunately, she had no choice but to accept Brett’s offer…even if she wasn’t all that happy about it.
She hated being this close to him. It was bad enough that his mere proximity set her on edge and had her stomach doing back flips. But his intoxicating scent forced her to hold her breath just to be able to think straight. Even just being back inside his truck stirred up old memories of the last time they’d been together like this. Only, that time, the windows were fogged over, their clothes were on the floorboard, and she was trembling with pleasure as he thrust inside her repeatedly.
Damn lust-filled memories. Although she’d spent the past year trying to forget them—forget him—the vivid recollections still haunted her daily. And being this close to him was only making things worse.
Chapter Two
Brett was seriously annoyed.
The fact that Sidney—who apparently was just as stubborn as that damn lug nut—would stand on a tire iron, bouncing up and down, rather than ask him for assistance really pissed him off to no end. But for the woman to admit that she would willingly put herself at risk just to try to stop someone from stealing her car? Insane. He hoped like hell she never got mugged because the person robbing her was going to have a hell of a time convincing the stubborn-ass woman to let go of her purse.
At least he’d managed to convince her to get into the truck without putting up too much of a fight. Because he’d definitely meant what he said. He wouldn’t have left her. If that meant spending the night with her in the middle of nowhere, then so be it. He’d have sacrificed himself to the cause.
Yeah, like spending time with the woman I’m still in love with is much of a sacrifice.
Either way, he was glad he was the one who had found her on the side of the road. Although he’d missed his appointment to look at the used car lot and probably lost his one shot at finding the perfect place for his new garage, it was all worth it as long as Sidney was safe. They might not be together anymore, but that didn’t mean he wanted to see her get hurt. Hell, he’d hurt her enough already.
As he pulled out onto the road, he glanced over to see Sidney rubbing her arms. “Are you cold?”
“A little.”
He flipped the heater on and pointed his vents in her direction. “Let me know if you get too warm, and I’ll turn it back down some.”
A slight smile lifted her cheeks. “Okay, thanks.”
He nodded to her and drove on in silence. But after a while, when the sounds of her slow, rhythmic breathing started to arouse him, he figured he better make small talk or he was going to end up with an embarrassing problem on his hands. “So how long have you had the sports car?”
“Oh, I got it a little over two months ago. Do you like it?”
“Yeah, it’s nice. I bet it runs great too.”
“It does.” She glanced over at him. “So you hadn’t heard I’d gotten a new car? I thought for sure by now that everyone in town had.”
He shook his head. “I’ve been working a lot so I guess I’ve been out of the loop lately.”
Which was mostly true. But he was still surprised that he hadn’t heard mention of her new sports car. After all, he was a guy who liked cars, and they did live in the same small town where any kind of gossip was fair game. Then again, they didn’t exactly travel in the same circles. Never really had.
Sidney had always been out of his league. It had just apparently taken her longer to realize it than he had. But once it finally got through to her, she’d hauled ass out of their relationship and never looked back. Yeah, avoiding him for the past year had spoken volumes.
Brett couldn’t really blame her though. He didn’t have the best reputation, and the last thing he wanted to do was soil hers any more than he probably already had. That was why he hadn’t bothered asking her out the first time he’d met her.
She’d walked into the shop wearing a pink blouse and a knee-length tan skirt that matched her high heels. Unfortunately, he’d been busy with one of his regular customers, and another mechanic had walked over to help her. Or so he had thought.
The moment he overheard the other mechanic recommending unneeded services to her and quoting marked-up prices, all because she was a female customer who probably didn’t know the difference, Brett stepped forward and offered to take over. Lord knows he’d seen plenty of mechanics pull that dick move on unsuspecting women, and surprisingly even on a few men, and it wasn’t at all something Brett condoned. In fact, once he finally managed to open his garage, if he found any of his own mechanics pulling that kind of a bullshit scam, he was going to fire the asshole on the spot.
He was just glad that he had been there that day to save Sidney from the jerk who tried to screw her over. And she had seemed pretty grateful about it too. The moment Brett had come over and declared that he was taking over, she seemed a little surprised and not entirely sure of what was going on. But within minutes, she must’ve figured it out because she’d smiled and mouthed a thank-you to him under her breath.
She’d come in for a tune-up, and that was the only thing she was charged for…and not a penny more. Brett had made sure of it. But after that, things had started to get a little weird.
The following week, she’d returned to the garage and asked for Brett specifically. She requested that he replace her air filter, though hers looked brand new. The next week, she’d come back by to ask him to check the pr
essure in her tires. Little did she know that he had already done so the week before since he thought one had looked a little low. But he went ahead and checked them again anyway, even though none of them ended up needing any air. But by the time the fourth week rolled around and she once again showed up at the garage where he worked, Brett couldn’t take it anymore.
He hadn’t planned to ask her out. Not only because she was one of his clients, but because they were just too different.
Sidney came from money. He’d learned that she’d grown up in a nice home where she was surrounded by fancy things and never had to want for anything. Although she’d always claimed to be a spoiled brat, Brett had never seen any real proof of it. She was warm and kind and funny, as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. And she was way more sophisticated than any girl he’d ever dated.
Brett, however, was only twelve when his father passed away, leaving big shoes to fill, and he tried to do so in as many ways as possible. He watched his little sister while their mom worked, earned extra money to help pay bills, and made sure that the two women in his life would never want for anything. But when he got busted for hustling pool, his reputation went downhill fast. And so did his attitude. He was moody and belligerent and rough around the edges. Not the kind of guy you take home to meet the family.
Honestly, he didn’t know what the hell Sidney ever saw in him back then.
But when he finally asked her out, she just smiled and said, “About damn time.” And then another strange thing happened. Her car suddenly didn’t have any more issues.
Guess mechanics and pool hustlers aren’t the only ones who run cons.
The thought had Brett chuckling to himself, which prompted a glance from Sidney. “What’s so funny?”
He cleared his throat and immediately straightened his face. The last thing he wanted to do was tell her that he’d been reliving the day they met in his mind. “Ah, nothing. Sorry.”
But there was something he wanted to talk about when it came to their past. One specific event that replayed over and over in his mind on a regular basis. Valentine’s Day of last year. The day he royally screwed everything up between them.
