One Night, So Pregnant!(28)

‘Where are you going to change?’ she asked in a breathy whisper as the sudden vision of him peeling off those trunks made her tongue swell.

His dark brows quirked upwards as his eyes heated. ‘At the pool house.’

‘Okay... That’s an excellent idea.’ She stumbled over the words, the air rushing out of her lungs on a deflating sigh. ‘Right, then. I’ll see you at the cottage.’

As she trudged back to her car she forced herself not to watch him as he walked back towards the pool. She really did not need to see his beautiful backside framed by tight-fitting Lycra. Her resolve was crumbling fast enough already.

Denial was the only sensible option in their situation. But as she climbed back into the sweltering car and stabbed her keys into the ignition she wondered why the sensible option didn’t make nearly as much sense as it had before she’d seen Nate Graystone dripping wet.





CHAPTER TEN

‘PLEASE, Jezebel, give me a break.’ Tess jerked the keys in the ignition for about the fiftieth time and prayed.

The car wheezed, whined, shuddered to life for a second, then coughed and died. She slapped the flat of her hand on the hot dash and wanted to cry.

Squeezing back tears of frustration, she flopped back into the scorching seat and gave up. ‘You traitor. Gee thanks, Jezz.’

No matter how much she begged, the car was not going to start. It really was a heap of junk. And now she was stranded in Nate’s driveway having never even got as far as his cottage.

Her humiliation was complete when she saw his tall figure, clad in a black T-shirt and faded jeans, strolling towards her from the direction of the pool.

Well, at least he had some clothes on now, she thought, dismissing the stupid stab of regret as she got out of the car.

Yet more good news she thought, as she waited for him to reach her. Even though he looked almost as devastating in faded denim as he had in virtually nothing, the low pounding of her pulse had been effectively drowned out by the stabbing headache taking hold of her temples. Good to know, the remedy for an extreme case of sexual frustration was heat exhaustion.

‘Problem?’ he asked, without a trace of the superiority she had braced herself for.

‘Sort of. I think Jezebel finally died on me,’ she replied honestly, all her belligerence having drowned in a pool of wretchedness. Was nothing in her life ever going to go right again? How the heck would she be able to accept his offer of the cottage out here if she didn’t have a car? It was probably a five-mile drive to the nearest store.

Leaning into the Car’s open window, he located the lever under the dash and the car’s bonnet popped open. He lifted the hood with his usual economy of movement and propped it on the metal upright. Dismay filled Tess as she followed his gaze and saw the sizzle of water spitting from the radiator cap.

Nate tucked his hands into his back pockets and gave his head an ominous shake. ‘That doesn’t look too healthy.’

‘Maybe if we refilled it?’ Tess asked with more desperation than conviction. ‘Would that fix it?’

‘I doubt it would fix it for long’

‘But you don’t know for sure?’

He sent her a wry smile. ‘I may be a guy, but lifting the hood is about as far as my knowledge of auto repairs goes.’ The self-deprecating remark had her smiling back at him, despite her despair. She had to give him points for not seizing the opportunity to rub her nose in it. Although, as she watched the radiator cap steam, she wasn’t sure that was all that much comfort.

‘Do you have breakdown cover?’ he asked.

‘Not any more.’ She’d cut her cover a week ago, along with all the other items in her account she’d deemed ‘non-essential’ expenditure. She’d figured she could always take the bus or the cable car if need be. Unfortunately, they didn’t have cable cars out on Highway One. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said, letting the dream of moving into Nate’s beautiful estate die a short but painful death. ‘I can catch a cab back today. I don’t suppose there’s much point in me seeing the cottage now though.’

Unhooking the hood, he let it crash down, making her jump. ‘Why not?’

‘I can’t very well stay all the way out here without reliable transportation.’

Nate studied the weary look in her eyes...and wished to hell he could solve this problem the easy way—by waving the magic money wand and getting a new car shipped up here this afternoon. But he could see the determined tilt of her chin, and knew she’d hitchhike back to the city before she’d accept the gift.

‘Not necessarily.’ Thinking fast, he tugged his smart phone out of his back pocket and flicked through the directory to Zane’s number. ‘I can’t fix the car, but I may know a guy who can.’