4
Grace shiveredas she stood on the side of the road. Her jacket, gloves, and beanie were doing nothing to stop the bone-deep chill that was running through her. As much as she wanted to be in the warmth of her vehicle, there was no way that she was going to have this man outside fixing her car while she was safely out of the elements.
She watched as the gray Henley the sexy stranger wore stretched across his broad, muscular back while he crouched down next to her tire and used a tool to loosen some bolts that she assumed were holding the tire on. Her first thought was that she’d really like to see those muscles sans the shirt. Her second thought was that he had to be from around here. He didn’t even look the least bit affected in the freezing weather.
The wind whipped across her face, and she shivered. “Can I help?” she called out as the man walked from his truck back to her flat tire.
“You can pop the tailgate. I need to get the spare.”
Right.The spare. She’d thrown her entire life in the back of the SUV, which meant the spare was buried beneath her belongings.
“Um.” She moved to the back of her vehicle. “Okay, just give me a minute to rearrange some things.”
She kicked her foot beneath the sensor on the bumper and the tailgate opened. When it did, she realized her Jenga packing skills were going to work against her in this situation. There was no way to quickly remove the Tetris puzzle she’d created.
“Here. Let me.” The deep voice sounded from behind her, and she saw a large arm reach around her and begin to disassemble the contents. One minute she was staring at the solid wall of bins, suitcases, bags, and clothes. The next it was all stacked neatly beside the car.
It wasn’t just the task he’d completed that was so impressive. It was the ninja quickness, and effortless grace he’d used to do it. She’d never seen a man move with the grace, power, and majesty of a lion before, but that is what she’d just witnessed.
She turned to face him and she realized even in heels she had to tilt her head up to look at him. At five foot seven, she was slightly above average height. She never had to look up when she wore heels, but with this man she did.
He was large, in every sense of the word. From his sheer mass to his presence. With him standing in front of her, she was in a pocket of warmth, shielded by his body.
“I need to get the tire.” He motioned behind her.
“Oh, right.” Grace stepped out of the way. She was off her game in a major way. She chalked it up to her making such huge life decisions in the past day. It had nothing to do with this sexy mountain man who had shown up when she was in a very out-of-character damsel-in-distress moment in her life.
She stood to the side and watched as he removed the tire and then returned to the side of her vehicle. A warmth spread through her and she realized that just being near him was like a shot of whiskey that had her heated from the inside out. She’d never reacted to a man quite like she was reacting to this one.
Maybe it was just relief that he didn’t seem like a serial killer. Also, the fact that he was, by far, the most attractive man she’d ever seen probably had nothing to do with it.
The wind cracked and Grace looked in the direction of the sound. That’s when she saw it. A large pine tree was falling down and the man who was working on her car was in its path.
Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion.
“No!” She screamed and lunged toward the man who was crouched down beside her truck. Her feet felt like they’d been dipped in cement and she wasn’t even sure if she made any noise as she yelled.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the pine getting closer.
At the last second, he looked up at her and his confused expression was the last thing she saw before she shut her eyes and dove onto him.
There was a loud “oomph.” She wasn’t sure if it came from him or her as their bodies rolled like they were Jack and Jill going downhill as they tumbled down the snowbank.
When she finally opened her eyes, her face was covered in snow and there was something very heavy on her. It was the sexy stranger. He was safe. He hadn’t been hurt.
He lifted his head and looked down at her, his eyes searching her face. “Are you okay?”
“Are you okay?” she repeated the question.
He’d been the one that had been in mortal danger mere seconds ago, not her. Well, she guessed that wasn’t strictly true. She’d sort of thrown herself smack dab in front of the danger and inserted herself in the line of fire. Or line of falling tree, in this case.
Sexy stranger straightened his arms, taking the weight of his body off of her and she missed the pressure immediately. He turned his head to the side and his mouth dropped open. Wanting to see the fallout, she pushed up on her elbows and peered over the snow that was piled up beside her. That’s when she saw where the tree had landed. It was on his truck. The cab of his truck to be specific. She looked back at him, expecting to see that he was not too happy about the damage.
“I’ll pay for it,” she quickly assured him.
The only reason he was stopped on the side of the road in the first place was because of her, so it was really the least she could do. She watched as his expression changed and she assumed he registered the events that had just unfolded.
When he looked back down at her, he breathed, “You saved my life.”