The car wouldn’t start. Of course it wouldn’t.
Of all the times and places, this might not have been the worst, but it was certainly the most infuriating. She turned the key in the ignition again and…nothing.Shit!She’d have to go back in and—
A knock on the car window brought her head up and memories flooding in. Déjà vu from her first week in Blackwood.
She opened the door.
“Trouble?”
“Yeah.”
“Pop it. I’ll take a look.”
She popped the hood, and Ivan disappeared behind it. The tiniest sliver of a hand was visible, a sleeve moving around behind it. She wondered if he knew what he was doing. Of course he did. He was exactly the kind of man who could fix a car.
“Try it again.”
She turned the key to an empty click.
“Battery’s dead. Got cables?”
“No.” Of course not. She wouldn’t even know what to do with them if she did.
“You stay in there. I’ll give you a jump.”
Ivan drove his truck up beside the Honda and rummaged around under both hoods for a minute. Finally, he started his truck and asked her to do the same. Nothing. Not a solitary sound.
“Shit.” Uma laid her head on the steering wheel. It had been an old car to begin with, and the most she’d done in as long as she could remember was fill the tank with gas, so it could be anything, really.
Ivan opened the door and crouched down. “Come on, I’ll take care of it in the mornin’.”
Without lifting her head from the wheel, she took a deep breath. “I owe you so much already.”
“No you don’t.”
She sighed. “Sorry to ruin your night like this.”
“What are you talkin’ about?”
She finally turned to look at him. “You know. You and Binx.”
His eyebrows lifted toward his hairline. “What about me and Binx?”
“You looked like you were having a good time. I’m sorry to ruin that.”
“Binx is an old friend. Wasn’t plannin’ on doin’ anything with her, though.”
Because you like me?Uma’s pathetic inner voice screamed. “No?”
Ivan shrugged and looked away. “Figured you might need a place to crash again tonight.”
His words brought Uma’s body humming back to life. Amazing how little it took to get her going nowadays.
Simmer down, she thought.He’s just offering a place to stay.Besides, she was supposed to be avoiding him for his own good.
“It’d be great if you could drop me at Ms. Lloyd’s. She’s been behaving herself. Gave me a key and everything.”
Gruffly, he said, “Suit yourself. Come on. I’ll take you.”
