Page 25

She tried to keep her voice light, but the memory hurt.

The way Charlie had treated her made her feel ill, but what was even worse was that she’d let him treat her like that.

Why hadn’t she stuck up for herself more?

She buckled in her seatbelt, and he started driving toward the main street.

Oh shoot. She should have peed first. She didn’t know what it was about getting in a vehicle, but she often had to pee as soon as she got inside.

“I thought you played an instrument in an orchestra or something.”

“I used to,” she said. “I was a flutist. I used to belong to the Boston Symphony Orchestra.”

“That’s a big deal.”

Yeah. It had been. Until she’d met a guy with a cute smile and lots of charm.

That had been the best time of her life, and she wished to God she’d never gone to that bar in San Diego and met Charlie. He’d swept her off her feet, and she’d fallen for him big time.

While he was in the Navy, she’d continued to play for the orchestra, but when he’d been discharged, he’d wanted her to move in with him, and she’d had to give up her job.

God, she missed it. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d even picked up her flute, let alone played it.

“Not much use for a flutist in Greasy Knob,” she told him. “Where do you live?”

“In Colorado.”

“Wow. How long did it take you to drive here?” she asked.

“About twelve hours.”

He’d driven twelve hours to come check on her. Another hint of his kindness. He might be abrupt and grouchy, but there seemed to be a soft heart in there somewhere. Maybe it was better that she didn’t mention that to him, though.

“What do you do now?” she asked as they reached the main street of Greasy Knob, and she directed him down to where Danny’s Bar was. Yep, it was a really original name.

“I’m in security,” he told her.

All right, cool. He must be pretty good at his job to afford a nice truck like this. “And your boss was okay with you taking time off to come here?”

“Yep.”

Right. Great chat. He pulled up outside of the bar, and she saw that she was five minutes early. Awesome.

Enough time to pee.

“Well, thanks very much for the ride.” She undid her seatbelt and reached for the door handle.

“Stop,” he commanded.

She froze. Shit. What had she done? Did he not want her to touch his door? That was probably a fair call because she was worried that she was going to damage something in this gorgeous truck.

He got out and walked around, opening the door and giving her a stern look.

“What did I do?” she asked.

“You tried to open the door yourself,” he told her.

Umm. Okay. That wasn’t what she was expecting him to say.