The night was still, tinted with a hint of a growing fall chill. The cold came faster in the mountains. You could always hear better in these quiet spaces. Sound could travel for miles and—
A growling engine. Coming closer. His head tilted as Remy tried to decide just what was approaching. Nodding, he opened his door. Jumped inside. “Did you marry him?”
Jacqueline stopped tugging on the seatbelt that she’d been positioning across her chest. “Excuse me?”
He sighed once more and hooked the belt for her.
“Thank you.” A breath from Jacqueline as he leaned over her. The breath blew lightly over the shell of his ear, and once more, Remy felt a flood of awareness course through him. His head lifted, and he stared at her. The interior light had gone dark since he hadn’t cranked the vehicle but had shut all the doors.
“Did you marry him?” Remy repeated. “Is that why he’s chasing you? You said yes and then cut out on the bastard?”
“No.”
“Good to know.” He eased back into his seat. “You ran before the ‘I do’ part, huh?”
“I don’t know why you think I was marrying…” Her words trailed off. “It was an engagement. Sort of.”
How did one have a “sort of” engagement?
“Everything was a total mistake. I never wanted to marry him. You don’t know what was involved.”
Nope. He didn’t know. They were strangers. He was just giving her a lift. Playing his hand at being a Good Samaritan. Trying to understand why some people enjoyed doing random good deeds. So far, the good deed bit seemed like a pain in the ass. “Most people don’t run from an ex—at least, not as fast and as desperately as you seem to be running.” His hand moved toward the ignition.
Her fingers touched his. “Most people don’t have the trouble after them that I do.”
When she touched him, his skin heated. A definite attraction burned between them. Or at least, it burned on his end. Did she feel it, too? He’d be finding out. “Where am I taking you?”
“I…” Jacqueline stopped.
Nothing.
He started the engine. “We’ve got a motorcycle heading this way. Probably want to be moving soon because something tells me the rider is searching for your sweet ass.”
“OhGod.” She immediately started looking all around for a motorcycle.
“So…about that destination?” There had to be some sort of karmic gold stars coming his way for this night. But then, considering his past, he could probably do a million good deeds and never balance the scales.
And that is why sweet beauties like her shouldn’t walk up to me in a bar and ask me for a ride…
“Please drive.Please.Like, drive super, super fast.”
He reversed the vehicle. “Driving ‘super, super fast’ isn’t safe on these narrow mountain roads.” Someone should probably tell that to the motorcycle driver. “You don’t have a destination in mind, do you?”
She peered through the passenger side window. “No.”
“Didn’t think so. There’s a motel at the edge of Halfway. It looks like a hole in the wall, but it’s got clean rooms, so don’t be fooled by its exterior.”
“He’ll look there. I-I can’t stay in a motel.” Jacqueline swung toward him.
Oh, no. Nope.“Don’t say it.” He began driving. Slowly. “My newfound goodwill only goes so far.”
“Do you…happen to have a spare room?”
She’d said it.
His hands tightened around the steering wheel. “Do you have any self-preservation instincts at all? Like, a single one?”
“Yes.”