After he brushed the windows clear, he hopped up in the cab and put the truck in gear, taking it slow out of the parking lot while Bob was watching. The second he’d gotten past the older man’s sightline he picked up the pace, thumbing open the travel mug as he drove. Bob had said to get there fast but he was certain they had different ideas about what was an acceptable rate of speed in a tow truck.
It took him almost a half hour to get to Old Hollow Way between the snow and the fender bender he’d felt behooved to stop for. After ascertaining that the couple in the vehicle were okay and had provisions while they waited for the police, he took off, his only thought getting to Kim. If it was Kim. Something he was more sure of with every passing moment.
He’d made it almost to the end of Old Hollow Way—and nearly back to his place—when he glimpsed the small dark sedan pointing nose-first toward the side of the road. He swallowed. That was Kim’s car, unless he’d happened to come across the only two vehicles with Rolling Stones studded tongue bumper stickers.
She’d fled before dawn to avoid him. Great sign.
Smothering a sigh, he pulled the truck up behind her and flipped on the flashers. He popped up his hood and got down, already steeling himself for the conversation to come.
Kim opened her door before he’d taken two steps and hustled out of the car, tightly gripping the blanket around her shoulders. “You found me. You’re a damn near miracle worker. I—” Words eaten by the storm. “I ate two granola bars and they were both stale and then I realized if I got left out here I’d have no sustenance. Then I—” She stopped talking as he lowered his hood long enough for their gazes to connect. “Oh my fucking God. You cannot be serious.” He tried to tell himself she was now shouting to make herself heard, but he wasn’t entirely sure. “Did you hotwire my brother’s truck?”
He had to laugh, hard enough that the wind stole his breath and left his lungs aching. “No. Your brother is my boss.”
“Since when? Since how? You don’t need a job.” Apparently the questions needed further punctuation because she started hitting his chest with a closed fist. Through his thick quilted jacket, it was equivalent to being struck with a feather. “You’re mega rich. Does my brother know you’re pretending to be middle class?”
He looked down at her reddened knuckles and something inside him twisted. Kim and her stubborn self-sufficiency got to him, way down deep. She might complain but she’d always be able to take care of herself.
Pulling off the fingers of his gloves with his teeth, he fitted them onto her hands while she sputtered and continued to pelt him with questions he ignored. Once he’d slid the second one on, she let out a purely feminine moan that blazed heat straight into his groin. “Sheepskin? I can’t hold out against that.”
“Good. You don’t need to. They’re yours for as long as you need them. I have a spare pair in the truck.” What he didn’t have was a spare jacket but that didn’t stop him from whipping off his and after removing the thin blanket she wore, slipping it over her shoulders. “There.” He tipped up her chin, resisting the urge to kiss the snow off her full lips. “Better?”
“Yeah. Thank you.” Even with the storm raging around them, there was no missing the reluctance of her admission.
“Now what’s wrong with your car?” he asked, heading back to his truck to get the extra gloves.
She followed. “It stopped dead when I was—”
“Running away from my place?” He yanked open the passenger door and grabbed the spare pair out of the glove compartment.
“Not running. Driving sedately. Besides, you were already gone so who are you to judge?”
“I had to go to work.” He pulled on the gloves and shut the door. “I intended to take an early break and stop back before you’d need to leave to go to work.”
“In the same clothes I wore yesterday? What kind of skeez do you think I am?”
Huh, he hadn’t thought of that part. “I forgot you’d need new clothes. I haven’t been in this situation very often.” Try ever.
“Which situation? Having a woman you barely know spend the night after drinking your expensive bubbly or the one where a woman finds—”
“Shh.” He covered her lips with his gloved fingers. “Let’s deal with your car first, okay?”
“I hate reasonable men.”
Chuckling, he headed over to her car and opened the door to pull the hood release. “No, you don’t. You hate that you like me.”
Chapter Five
Kim tried not to ogle Michael while he worked under her hood. Really, she did. He wore a thin sweater that rode up his muscled back as he twisted and screwed and wrenched. The waistband of his black boxers peeked over the top of his jeans. His boxers had some kind of cartoon character on them but hell if she could make out what. He probably wouldn’t appreciate her yanking down his jeans to see for herself.
“Any ideas what the problem is?” she asked after handing him the wrench he’d been looking for. Hey, growing up with a mechanic brother, it was impossible not to learn some stuff through osmosis.
“Your fuel injector looks clogged. How often do you run a treatment through it?”
“Never. I thought that was one of the add-ons shady dealers tried to sell you that no one really needs.”
He shot her a look. “Brad’s your brother?”
Defensively, she clamped her arms over her chest. “So?”