“Sign here,” the paramedic stated, none too thrilled the guy was refusing treatment.
“I don’t want to be any trouble, but I’d know if I was hurt, I swear. What’s your name?” He stuck out his hand to shake.
She rolled her eyes. “Frankie. Yours?”
They shook and he grinned, “Avery. Thank you, Frankie, for helping me. I appreciate it.”
Frankie sighed as she put a piece of gauze on his head before applying surgical tape to hold it in place. “If you start feeling nauseated or dizzy, go see a doctor, okay? Promise?”
Avery smiled. “Promise.” He handed the clipboard back to her.
Frankie turned her attention to me. “And you, good Samaritan?”
“I’m Holden Rose.” She was cute with big green eyes and short blonde hair, buthewas definitely more my type.
Frankie gave me a smile. “Thank you for helping us find him. He could have gotten himself a serious case of hypothermia.”
We both looked at Avery. “I’m just glad that didn’t happen. So, uh, we’re going to go talk to the police to see what to do about Avery’s car. Was the truck driver hurt?”
Frankie glanced around. “High. Driving too fast, and the tires on the trailer were so low on tread that it wouldn’t pass inspection, according to the trooper. Anyway, nice to meet you, Holden Rose.”
She stared at me as if she wanted me to say something in return, but I turned to Avery. “Let’s go.”
The two of us walked over to a pair of Virginia State Troopers watching the tow truck driver trying to figure out how to get the truck from the middle of the damn highway so they could open traffic lanes. It was a fucking parking lot.
“This is Avery—” I turned to the beautiful man standing next to me, nudging my head toward the trooper.
“Oh, uh, I’m Avery Langhorn. The truck swatted me off the road. My car is over there—well, It’s not even my car, it belongs to my roommate. It’s pretty messed up. What should I do?”
“Lock it up and leave it until daylight. We’re probably going to be here for another four hours, so you won’t be able to get it out tonight. Put a pin on your phone for the location of your car and call me tomorrow. I’ll come out and help with traffic for you to get the car towed. Here’s my card.” The trooper handed Avery a business card.
He glanced at the card and then met the cop’s stare. “Thank you, Trooper Jergens. I’ll call you after the snow stops.”
Trooper Jergens walked away to talk to the others working at the scene of the accident, and I turned to Avery. “You need a ride somewhere?”
Avery looked around. “I guess I do. Where are you going?”
“I live in Cedars, just outside of Baltimore. Where do you need to go?”
He chuckled. “Baltimore. I live in Baltimore, too.”
Avery Langhorn had my attention. I hadn’t even seen him during the light of day, but I knew there was something special about him.
Chapter Six
Avery
“He’s hot, though that might be weird for me to say, considering...”
The voice was back. Not a peep when the car was spinning out of control, but now that I was in a large truck with an attractive man named Holden Rose, it started jabbering again?
“You cold? I can turn up the heat.”
I glanced at the man behind the wheel, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
“Yeah, and he’s a great guy. You lucked out that he found you. Nobody was looking for a damn Prius in the snow. Trust me. I learned that shit the hard way.”
What the fuck was going on? Why did the voice sound like it knew the man who’d rescued me?
