“I think I know what you’re thinking.” It was the same thing she ached to do once more. What harm could it do? They’d already had sex once and they were stuck. Might as well follow her desires. “We have until dawn.” There, she’d put a time limit on whatever this was.
“Good, then this won’t come as a surprise.” He twisted and slipped his arm around her back, dragging her down and across his lap.
Before she could even think to respond, he was kissing her. Arms moving behind his neck, she gave in. Tomorrow would be crazy. For tonight, she’d give in to her own brand of crazy.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Erik tried to crank the engine and received the expected click. It was early, the rain gone. The clouds in the distance promised more bad weather. If there was even the slightest chance he’d get a repeat of last night, he’d welcome the rain.
“Well, what do you think?” Belle leaned against the side of the car and worried her lip. She was wearing his Pioneers hoodie and was swimming in the material.
I think you’re beautiful. He kept that to himself. The sex was awesome. It was the in-between moments that were awkward. And he had no idea why. Was it him or her? Or both. “I think you need a new alternator.”
“That’s what I was afraid of.” She stared at the woods lining the road, the sweet smell of the trees hanging in the air.
Perhaps he and Belle were great in concept but not in reality. Anticipation of an outcome was often better than the outcome itself. Except the physical outcome had been hot as shit. He pulled out his phone and sat sideways on the driver’s seat, his feet on the cement road. “Where do you want the car towed to?”
“The junkyard.” She shrugged, fingering the string of the hoodie. After they’d had sex a second time, she’d disappeared into the guest room without a word. He’d gone to the master suite.
“It just needs a new alternator.”
He’d expected to sleep like the dead. Instead he lay awake, staring at the ceiling until he heard her in the shower. Odd and unsettling. He’d never experienced anything like it.
“A new alternator costs money to get put in and I am not mechanical at all. Nor do I have anywhere to put the car until then. I live in an apartment with street parking.” Worry underlined her words.
“You buy the alternator, I’ll put it in.” He scrolled through the internet for a nearby auto parts store. Time to get his head out of the clouds and face the truth. The chemistry was surface only, a plus given the nature of their relationship and a minus if he wanted more than a one-night stand. Which he didn’t. They had fun together. Well, they had fun together, now it was stilted and weird.
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t ask me. I volunteered. It’ll give me something to do.” He needed a distraction and fixing cars had seemed to help in the past. He wasn’t kidding when he said that he liked to work with his hands.
Belle pulled at the strings of the hoodie, causing the material around her neck to bunch. Exasperation curved her mouth. Her very tempting mouth. “Something to do? You’re filming a TV show and training for the football season. When will you have the time to fix my car?”
“It only takes a couple of hours to change out an alternator.” He stood up and gripped the top of the door, resting his elbow on it. “I’ll order it and you can take my car to pick it up. They have a really nice garage out here with plenty of tools.”
Belle tightened her jaw and narrowed her eyes. “Erik, I can’t—"
“Yes. Yes you can.” He put his fingertip to her lips and lifted his brow, daring her to say anything else.
“Has anyone told you that you’re infuriating?” She swatted his finger away, rolling her eyes.
“No, never.” He shook his head, resisting the urge to kiss her. She wasn’t his to kiss. Last night had been unforgettable. She’d put a limit on last night. As much as he enjoyed the sex and wouldn’t have minded waking up beside her for another round, she was right. He had a lot on his plate and he depended on her for his future success. It wasn’t a great idea to shit where you ate. But damn, it was going to be hard not to give in to his growing desire for her.
“Liar.” She hissed out a breath and ran her fingers through her hair. It was pulled back in a ponytail but a few stray strands insisted on blowing in the wind.
A vehicle came down the road, an SUV from its size.
He shut the door and tucked his hands into his pockets. Birds chirped in the distance but the sound of tires on asphalt ruined the effect. The SUV pulled up and the passenger window was rolled down. Darius was driving and Tim leaned out the window. “Is everything all right?”
“Belle’s car broke down.” Erik skirted the Toyota sedan that had seen better days. While there was a chance Tim had no idea what was going on, Erik’s gut told him nothing got by Darius. Of course, he couldn’t have predicted Belle’s car trouble. Yet, he could arrange for the missing cellphone and the fact that nobody answered the door when there were people staying at the house.
“Do you have my phone?” Belle asked.
“Sorry about that,” Tim said, a flush on his thin cheeks. “I forgot I left it at the house.”
“Do you need a ride back to the house?” Darius asked, looking past Tim.
Since it was a short distance away, they’d walked to her car. “Sure.” Eric waited for Belle to climb in before he followed.
