Screeching tires.
Twisted metal.
Blood. So much blood.
I scream.
Strong hands rip me back against a hard body. We go to the ground as the car continues speeding off into the night. My heart is pounding so hard I’m sure it’ll shatter my ribcage. As the seconds tick by, I can still see the blood.
On my hands.
On her face.
The hard body beneath me is unfamiliar, but the scent of motor oil and pine rips me back to the present. “Are you okay?” Sawyer rolls me over and pulls me to my feet, then runs his hands over my arms.
Body trembling, I can’t catch my breath. What just happened?
“Anastasia, are you okay?” He cups my face and forces me to look at him. His caramel-colored eyes are wide, his unruly hair a mess without his ball cap.
Was it knocked off when he took me to the ground?
“I—think so.”
“We need to get you inside. Come on.”
And then the events of the last few minutes hit me all over again. “No.” I shove him off, anger and hurt pushing through all logic that I probably should let him make sure I’m okay. But I can’t do that. I can’t face him again in close quarters. Not yet. Not until I’ve fully pushed past this crush that threatens to destroy me. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
Sawyer takes a step away from me. “You almost got hit. Why didn’t you move?”
Because I was taken back eighteen years ago. “I was too close to the road.” I look at where I’d parked. It’s no wonder I was almost hit. In my nervous anticipation at seeing Sawyer, I’d practically parked on the street.
“Please come inside, let me look at you in the light. Make sure you’re okay. Then I can walk you over to your shop.”
“I’m fine,” I snap. “I’ll just call Jack and have him fly in to take care of me.” The moment the words are out of my mouth, I want to rip them back.
Sawyer’s expression goes cold once more. Colder even. It’s surreal, really, to watch his worry fade away, replaced by an icy façade that is so not the Sawyer I know.
But I put it there.
I put that pain on his face with my harsh words.
“I’m sorry, Sawyer. I’m just rattled. Thanks for saving me. I really am okay.” But I’m anything but. I’m shaken—my entire body trembling as the understanding that I could have died settles over me.
“Yeah. Well, I’ll call Zane and let him know what happened anyway. You may want to get checked.” Without another word, Sawyer turns away, lifts his baseball cap from the ground, and heads into the shop, his powerful shoulders slumped…defeated.
And it’s all my fault.
Chapter 1
Sawyer
Six Months Later
“All right, Drew. This one’s ready to go.” The smell of motor oil fades just a bit when I slide out from underneath Mr. Rodney’s ’67 Chevy. I straighten and roll my shoulders, the awkward position I’ve been in the last fifteen minutes causing an ache in my neck that I’m sure I’ll feel later.
“Thanks, boss,” he replies. Drew Wilson’s been with me since I bought the place from old man Karver after he retired. Drew hadn’t been a licensed mechanic back then, but he’s come a long way since and is the only member of my staff I’d actually leave in charge of things when I’m gone.
Since the orders have dried up, though, and we’re no longer unofficially assigned to a government agency that doesn’t technically exist, I don’t have many places to be.
