“No,” I answer at the same time. Wes lifts a brow at me in question, which I guess is fair with his stuff still spread across my living room. “We can find you a hotel. That couch is fine for one night but I doubt you want to stay there another two,” I explain, already wondering if it would make me a total asshole to drop him off at a car rental place—if there are even rentals available with the holiday—and head south.
“I’ve slept in far worse places.” Wes flashes another of his broad grins and heads toward the garage.
In search of a distraction, I pull out my phone to check the forecast again. There’s a text from Tracy.
You went home?? AND WHY IS WES WITH YOU?!
“Shit.” I squeeze my eyes shut with a long groan. I forgot about the radar app tracking our locations. Anyone who bothers to look for us can easily see that we’re together. And nowhere near storms.
Before anyone else catches on, I snap a quick photo of the mangled SUV and send it to Tracy.Dumbass finally ran out of luck. We’re at my brother’s garage.
My phone rings immediately.
“Are you okay?” Tracy demands, worry coating every word. “IsWesokay? What the hell happened?” Then, more muffled, “Did you know Wes wrecked?” and Matt’s distant “What the fuck?”
“We’re fine.” I take a deep breath and quickly explain how we ended up here.
Tracy is quiet when I’ve finished, though I hear Matt’s low curse in the background. “Please tell Wes I said he’s a fucking idiot,” she finally says, worry and fear and anger all wrapped up in one. “Matt agrees.”
“Oh, I did. I’m sure I’ll tell him again.”
“Good.” She sighs. “Does that mean you’re stuck in town? Because Monday is lookingreallygood.”
Of course it is. “I didn’t check the forecast this morning. Where?”
“Southeastern New Mexico into West Texas for Monday. Storms are going to wobble around for the next week before shifting north into Oklahoma and Kansas, possibly Nebraska. Monday’s spot—that’s what, six hours from you?”
“More like eight to ten.” I grimace, glaring at Wes’s SUV. “I should just leave him here and go on my own.”
Of course, if I do that, and I get the cover shot while he’s cooling his heels, he’ll never shut up about it. I can practically hear him complaining that if I hadn’t left him, he could have gotten an even better shot. That I only won because I ditched him.
“Or,” Tracy says, drawing out ther. “You could both leave. In your car.”
“We’ll kill each other before we get out of Colorado,” Iprotest. But even as I say it, my mind wanders back to my kitchen. Wes didn’t have to go out and get me coffee or make us breakfast. Just like he didn’t have to do that promo for Mae. Maybe he’s notallbad—but I’m still not sure I want to be trapped in close quarters with him.
“If we get a good weather pattern, backtracking to pick up his car would cost us days of chasing. We could be stuck together for a while.”
“True.” Tracy hesitates, her tone turning contemplative. “You could always tell him if he pulls any shit you’ll drop him off at the closest airport.” And then, softer, “I think he’d behave, though. He’s really not a bad guy.”
“So you keep saying.” I blow out a breath and glance toward the garage. Signing off on a quote can’t take much longer. If I’m going to do this, I need to make a decision pretty quickly.
It’s not like Wes can just get any old rental, and I doubt the kind of SUV with good tires he’d need is going to be available last-minute right before a holiday. If we don’t go together, neither of us is going—and Ireallydon’t want to sit around my house for the next couple of days.
“I’ll talk to him about it,” I finally relent. “Maybe. Probably.”
“For what it’s worth, I have a feeling it will go a lot better than you’re thinking.”
“I’m going to remind you of that when I dump him at an airport in two days.” Movement catches my eye as the garage office door opens. “Looks like he’s done with Eric.”
“See you in a few days!”
Before I can question her singsong tone, Tracy hangs up, and Wes is crossing the parking lot in his long, ground-eating strides.I’m surprised to see Eric coming too, now that the garage is about to open, but it turns out he hasn’t come to say goodbye to his big sister so much as dump a problem at my feet.
“All good?”
Wes nods. Eric is the one wearing a scowl. “Mom might call you. She’s looking for help with something.”
Far too aware of the heavy weight of Wes’s stare on me, I struggle to maintain a neutral expression while silently cursing. “Mom doesn’t even know I’m in town,” I remind my brother. “I’m not supposed to be here.”
