Page 23 of The Other Half

“Well, thanks again for the ride. I appreciate it. Now I need to figure out what to do with my car tomorrow. I don’t even know how this works. I’ve never had a car break down before.”

“Never?” His brows snapped together.

“No. What do I do?”

“Kiehnau’s in Baileys Harbor can probably grab it for you. Otherwise call Kenny at Sister Bay Automotive. They’re both honest and no one will rip you off. Just tell them you’re on the Kangaroo Lake causeway and they’ll grab you with the tow truck and give you an estimate to fix it.”

An estimate to fix it? As he said it, I realized I didn’t have any money to pay for a tow truck or the repair. I’d made almost a hundred dollars in tips tonight, but that probably wasn’t enough to get much fixed, and I needed to buy more food. “Do you think it will be a lot? I don’t have much money right now.” I chewed on my lip.

“I’m not sure. They won’t rip you off, though.”

“Okay,” I answered, but even if they didn’t rip me off, I still had no money to pay. “Well, thanks again for the ride.”

“Yep.”

I opened the door to the truck and looked at the sizeable drop to the ground. Trying to maneuver my feet to the step, I hung on the handle above my head. When I let go and stepped on the metal sidestep, the pain in my feet from the pressure hit me like a bolt of lightning. I shrieked as I tumbled out of the truck, landing with a grunt.

“Ouch.” I groaned as I pulled myself up out of the gravel and used the open door to haul myself to standing.

“Are you okay?” he asked when I made it into view.

“Oops,” I said with a bashful shrug of my shoulders. I prayed it was dark enough he couldn’t see the crimson blazing heat across my cheeks.

After a moment of staring at me his lips twitched, but this time, instead of stiffing into a frown again, they drew into a huge grin. He did have teeth. Nice ones, too, I noticed while he flashed a smile so charming, I could almost feel my panties drop. The smile widened as he burst into laughter. It started as a soft chuckle just shaking his shoulders and then grew into a deep belly laugh that shook his whole body. Palming my face, I couldn’t help but join in on his contagious laughter. The brooding, quiet man had a laugh that made me dissolve into hysterics.

“That was so embarrassing!” I said between laughs.

“Not as embarrassing as asking what’s in a whiskey and coke!” he added, his own laughter rumbling as loud as his big truck’s engine.

“Shut up, Jake!” I said and laughed even harder.

“Or getting stuck in your porch when you thought a harmless pine snake was going to kill you!”

The shroud of sadness that had been wrapped around him slipped down even further. I stood in the truck’s doorway struggling to breathe while we laughed together, memories of all the embarrassing things he’d already witnessed me do flooding back into me and fueling the laughter. “I’m just gonna go inside and die of embarrassment now if you don’t mind.”

“Try not to get stuck in your stairs,” he added, then choked on his laughter.

“Good night!” I laughed and slammed the door, sealing him and his laughter inside.

While I hobbled to my cabin on painful feet, he idled in the driveway and kept his lights on until I made it safely over my broken stair into the front door. After opening the door, I turned around and gave a wave into the bright lights. I couldn’t see him in there, but I imagined he was still laughing at me. As soon as I closed the door, I heard the truck drive off and I peeked out between the plaid curtains and watched his taillights disappear around the trees.

Poppy barked, and I ran over and opened the bathroom door I’d sealed her behind.

“Hi, Princess Poppy! Mommy worked a job tonight! Can you believe it?”

She launched into my arms and covered me with kisses. While I enjoyed her kisses immensely, I wondered what kind of kisses could come from the man with a smile that still had my stomach doing cartwheels.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Jake

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I maneuvered Cassie’s car into her driveway and stopped before I got to the cabin.

“What the hell am I doing?” I asked myself while I sat there with the engine rumbling louder than my truck. Considering I had special pipes put in for sound, that was saying something. It had taken a little more than an hour to get the thing running again, but now that I’d done it, I wondered why I had.

“You’re just being nice, Jake. Doesn’t mean anything,” I reminded myself, remembering the worry in her eyes when she’d said she didn’t have any money to fix it. After getting up early and taking a drive to the causeway, I’d popped the hood to see if I could fix it and save her a few bucks.