He nodded, a mix of sympathy and mischief settling in the half grin on his tempting lips.
“Usually,” he responded casually. “But Jeb owes me a favor, so hopefully I can get him to come straightaway.”
“Of course his name would be Jeb,” she mumbled.
“Sorry, didn’t catch that.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose, hoping the slight discomfort would siphon off some of her annoyance. The anger didn’t recede, however, until she felt his strong touch on her arm. At that point, all that was left was a rising need Vanessa knew she’d better get a handle on before she did something reckless like lean into his touch.
“Vanessa, this is just a minor inconvenience. Don’t let it get to you.”
Trust me, Sheriff. It’s not the car trouble that’s getting to me right now.
She gathered her strength and blinked, trying to clear her vision so she could at least act like a levelheaded adult, even if she was feeling far from that right now.
“Fine,” she huffed. “Call Jeb and see if he can work a miracle.”
“Sorry, Sheriff. It doesn’t look good.”
Michael could feel the displeasure coming from the tense ball of anger Vanessa had twisted herself into.
“What’s wrong with it, Jeb?”
“Can’t be exactly sure until I get her back to the shop and run a diagnostic. Off the top of my head, all signs point to electrical damage. If it turns out to be what I think it is, we’ll have another problem.”
Vanessa stepped in front of him to talk to Jeb directly. “What other problem could there be?”
“I think you’ve got a throttle-body issue. If my guess turns out to be right, you’re gonna need a new part. We don’t get many luxury vehicles like this ’round here. I’d have to order it from a supplier in Philly. It might take up to a week for me to get it, install it, and get you back on the road.”
“What?”
Michael could see this was about to go sideways from the lines on her furrowed brow and the terse way her lips sat pressed together. Michael nodded toward Jeb. “Take it back to your shop and call me when you’ve got definitive information. Ms. Jared will be with me while she waits.”
Jeb, a smart man with a wife and three daughters, caught on quickly to what Michael was doing. Incurring the wrath of a beautiful woman didn’t appear to be on his agenda either, so he simply reciprocated Michael’s nod and backed away. He quickly jumped in his flatbed and maneuvered it so he could hoist the Jaguar onto it.
“Michael, I can’t stay here a week. I have a life to get back to.”
“I understand your concern, Vanessa. Your worries notwithstanding, I can tell you, that man is never wrong when it comes to cars. If his assumption is right, there’s not much else you can do about this situation.”
She threw her hands up in frustration. And even though he felt sorry for her predicament, it was the cutest thing he’d ever witnessed. He wouldn’t admit that out loud, though. He was smart and valued his life; therefore he kept his amusement to himself and tried to be supportive.
“Listen, I can’t stay here.”
“Okay, I can drive you home, then,” Michael said. “When your car is ready, I’ll make sure to get it back—”
“That might work,” Vanessa interrupted, tapping her chin as she seemingly considered his words. “I’m less than two hours away. If we leave now, you could be back before noon.”
He shook his head as he prepared to burst her bubble of hope.
“You didn’t let me finish.” He held up his hands palm-side up, trying to get her to slow down. “Vanessa, I can’t leave for the next four days. We have a festival that kicks off tonight and lasts until Tuesday. Soon our streets are gonna be filled with more visitors than we see any other time of year. I have to be here to make sure everyone is safe.”
She groaned loudly. “Don’t you have deputies?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, this is an all-hands-on-deck sort of situation. If something happens and I’m not here, the mayor will have my ass and I’ll be out of a job. I can’t risk that. No matter how much I want to help you.”
She slumped against his car and watched as Jeb drove away with hers. He could see defeat in the slouch of her shoulders and it made him want to hold her, be the strength she needed even to get over something as mundane as car trouble.
“Fine,” she sighed. “I don’t want you to get fired. I’ll make somecalls to see if I can get a car service to come pick me up. If that doesn’t work, I guess I’m stuck here until Tuesday.”
