She nods, lips pressed together, hair sticking to her cheek.
“Let me take a look.” I step forward, pop the hood without waiting for permission. Steam hisses faintly, but the issue is obvious in seconds.
I explain, pointing, telling her what’s wrong.
She just blinks at me. Confusion, then frustration.
I explain again, slower. She bites her lip, looking like she’s trying to keep up but failing.
“Did you call roadside assistance?” I ask.
She holds up her hand, empty. “Phone’s dead.”
“Shit.” I pull mine from my pocket, thrust it toward her.
“Thanks.” She takes it carefully.
She dials, waits, shakes her head. “Can’t reach anyone.”
“I know a garage,” I say. “They’ll help. But they’d have to get the car later tonight.”
“Shit,” she mutters, lips forming the word in a way that makes me want to watch her talk again and again.
I shouldn’t like this. I shouldn’t like her. But I do.
She sighs, hugging herself. “Do you know where the nearest bus station is?”
I glance at her Civic, then at the sheets of rain hammering the ground. “Grab your things. We’ll talk in the car.”
I jog back to mine, wiping at my hair, heart racing for reasons that have nothing to do with the weather. First thing I dois shove any contraband—empty cans, crumpled papers, the random lighter—into the glovebox.
Then the passenger door opens. She stops, dripping on the threshold. “I’m wet.”
I can get you wetter…and a dozen other filthy replies crash into my head at once. I swallow them down.
“Get in the car. Now.”
She blinks, then slides in, water squelching from her skirt onto the seat.
I flip her seat warmer on, trying not to think about how her thighs are bare and right there. “Where do you live?”
She turns her head, hair dripping onto her shoulder, eyes locking on mine. She doesn’t answer right away.
“What?” I ask, nerves spiking.
“Your eyes,” she says.
My pulse slams. Fuck. Panic builds in my chest.
“They’re pretty,” she adds.
Relief crashes so hard I almost laugh. “Thanks.” I grip the wheel tighter.
“I’m Chloe, by the way.”
“I’m Miles,” I say.
“Yeah, I’ve seen you on the ice.”
