Revving Her Up
Chapter One
Sarah Lange slid out of the low bucket seat of her Porsche convertible. Heart pounding, she rounded the vehicle’s front end and froze. Now she knew why the car had skidded out of that damned pothole, listing heavily to the right—the right front wheel stuck out at a forty-five degree angle. It reminded her of the tooth she’d knocked askew falling off her bike in the fourth grade. Somehow she suspected the repair would be even more painful.
This was so not what she needed right now. She resisted the urge to kick the bent wheel and retrieved her bag and phone from the car. The reception sucked, but she managed to get through to the roadside assistance center. After describing the damage as best she could, she sent them her coordinates. If this road had a name, it hadn’t shown up on her GPS.
Tendrils of hair stuck to her forehead. The short wool trench coat that had been perfect for a January day in Manhattan felt like a wraparound sauna here in Virginia. A trickle of sweat inched its way down her back as her shoulders crept up toward her ears. Relax. She removed the coat and slipped it into the car, then forced herself to take a deep breath. The scent of fresh-cut grass and cow manure filled her nostrils. Hardly the aromatherapy she’d been looking forward to. She wrinkled her nose and took another breath, a bit shallower this time. Relax.
An hour passed. Where the hell was her tow?
She was dialing for the third time when a lone chipmunk crept out of the grass a few yards away. It approached the road, pausing at the edge of the asphalt to sniff the air.
“You can cross. I haven’t seen a car since I got off the highway.”
The creature’s head swiveled to face her, its tiny body poised for flight.
She lowered her voice. “Go on, little guy. There’s no need for both of us to be stuck here.”
The chipmunk tilted his head, as if assessing the truth of her words, then trotted out onto the asphalt. The air stirred as Sarah watched it disappear into the trees. A dull roar signaled the approach of another vehicle. Finally.
Sarah pushed away from where she’d been leaning against the car and looked down the road. She watched a blue pickup truck come to a stop on the opposite shoulder. The driver’s door opened and a man in a cowboy hat stepped out. He was tall and broad-shouldered in a way that she found immediately reassuring.
The man crossed the road with long, relaxed strides. He wore a plaid shirt over a white tee, faded jeans and worn work boots. His height forced Sarah to tilt her head back to focus on his face as he got closer. Most of it was cast into shadow by his black cowboy hat, emphasizing the strength of his jaw and the dark scruff that covered it. Even without seeing his face Sarah could tell he was attractive, if one was into big and brawny. Which she wasn’t.
Her body had reached a different conclusion. A shiver raced down her spine as the deep muscles below her navel tightened and goose bumps rose on her arms—the physical equivalent of oooh, big, strong man! She squared her shoulders, ignoring her primitive damsel-in-distress reaction. She needed someone to help her with her car and presumably he could. Weren’t guys in small towns always working on cars?
There couldn’t be much else to do.
Cole Cassidy hadn’t expected an eclipse today, but he couldn’t deny what he’d seen—one heavenly body passing before another. What else would he call a sexy blonde crossing in front of a Porsche convertible? Other than his lucky day.
The woman and her car were not as lucky. Even at a distance he’d seen the vehicle leaning to the right. He couldn’t tell why—he had a hard time taking his eyes off the woman standing next to it. Her hands were on her hips, a pose that stretched her black V-neck across her high, round breasts. She wore a slim black skirt and high-heeled leather boots. Sleek sunglasses hid her eyes. He didn’t need the New York plates to tell him she wasn’t from around here.
“Afternoon, ma’am.” He tipped his hat. “Car trouble?”
“That’s an understatement,” she said with a growl, dropping a cell phone into the expensive-looking purse hanging over her shoulder.
“You call for a tow?”
“Yes, but who knows how long that will take? It’s already been an hour.”
Given how few calls they got out here, Cole suspected it wouldn’t be much longer, but he didn’t want to make any promises. “Lemme see.”
He dropped into a crouch to look beneath the car. Leaning the way it was, the sports car was too low to see under. With the woman standing over him, he had no trouble checking out the spiky heels of her boots or the smooth black leather that hugged her legs up to the knees.
He stood. “Can’t see much from here. What happened?”