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But it had. Now she was going to be late for her date with the mysterious Midas, if she made it to the date at all. Alina grabbed for her purse, and her hand fumbled inside until she pulled out her phone.
Then she realized that she didn’t have his number. She didn’t even have the man’s last name. How weird was that?
But she did have the number for a tow truck. She kept a local tow truck number programmed in her phone, just in case of emergencies. She’d get a tow truck out and she’d be on her way, and she’d call the restaurant and ask that someone there please tell Midas what was happening. No way did she want him thinking that she’d stood him up and—
Headlights. Bright lights. In her rear-view mirror. They flashed and blinded her for an instant, and her left hand instinctively rose to shield her eyes. She waited for the vehicle to pass her.
Only it didn’t.
It pulled in directly behind her. The too-bright lights illuminated every inch of her vehicle. She turned back, but there was no making out anything about the driver. Her eyes narrowed against the glare.
Then the light was gone. Darkness once again.
Darkness, just like on the rink this morning. Unease slithered through her. How could it not? She was a woman alone, on a dark road, with a car that wouldn’t start. And, maybe, maybe that was some good Samaritan who’d just stopped to see if she was all right. There were good people in the world. She didn’t need to let her imagination run wild. She wasn’t being attacked or stalked or—
Knuckles tapped on her driver’s side window, and Alina jumped. She hadn’t even heard the driver approaching.
He rapped against the window again. She hit the button to lower the window, but nothing happened. No power. She’d have to open the door and if she did that—
“Alina!” Loud. The person on the other side leaned down. He was a big, heavy shadow.
Her eyes narrowed.
“You’re supposed to be heading for a date with me. Not stopping on the side of the road to see the sights.”
Her breath shuddered out.
She pushed open the door and practically leapt at the man. Oh, there was no practically to it. Alina threw her arms around Midas and hugged him tightly.
“Is this you getting cold feet about our date?” Midas asked. “You pulling over to rethink the plans for the night?”
She shivered. For a moment there, she’d been afraid. “Not cold feet. My car broke down.” She tilted her head up to peer at him. “How are you here right now?”
A moment passed before he responded, “Lucky timing. I was heading this way to meet you at the restaurant. Spotted your car on the side of the road—knew it was you because I saw the vehicle at the rink’s lot when you were leaving. Noticed your hiking sticker on the back.”
Her sticker. Right. Because sometimes, she just had to escape and clear her head. Hiking had always been a great escape for Alina.
“It just died,” she told him and realized that her arms were still around him. She held him too tightly and should probably step back.
Only—
There was no stepping back. He’d suddenly lifted her into his arms and was carrying her away from her vehicle and to the passenger side of his SUV.
“Uh.” She cleared her throat. “What are you doing?”
He opened the door and deposited her inside. “Getting you safe. If cars come zipping by, no damn way I want you on the side of the road.”
There were no other cars zipping by. It was just them.
She realized that his emergency blinkers were flashing. A good thing since her car hadn’t been able to flash any signal to alert anyone else. “My bag is in my car.”
“I’ll get it. And your keys. Stay here.” He started to slam the door shut. Then seemed to catch himself. Half-turned toward her, Midas gritted, “Please.”
Her brows climbed. “I’ll be here.”
She watched as he stalked to her car. He lifted the hood. Poked around inside. She leaned forward, trying to see more. But there wasn’t much to see.
The hood slammed closed. He snagged her bag. Presumably her keys, too. His stride was fast and hard when he came back to her.
