Page 4 of Mechanic’s Christmas Match

The sound of another vehicle approaching the car pulled her out of her silly daydreams. But it wasn’t a motorcycle.

A faded red Chevy truck, much older than Ana’s car but in better shape, pulled over carefully in front of them. The door opened, and Rory Dunn jumped out, heading for her car with a determined look on his handsome face.

She tried not to catalogue his broad shoulders filling out the leather jacket, the gorgeous set of his lightly bearded jaw, or the glint of mischief in his denim-blue eyes.

“Here’s Rory,” she said brightly to Theo. “He’s here to help.”

“He’s big, big, big,” Theo murmured to himself.

He sure is, buddy. He sure is.

2

RORY

Rory Dunn’s boots crunched through the gravel as he approached Ana’s car.

He always worried about her driving this thing. It was probably older than she was, and constantly breaking. She took it all the way to the city every week too. Maybe now that he had a truck, he could convince her to let him drive her instead, or at least tag along in her vehicle just in case.

He’d wanted to bring up the idea with her in the past, along with so many other things, but she always seemed to hurry away before he could get to the serious subjects on his mind.

And these days… well, it was probably better to hold back.

Too bad, he thought to himself sadly. Because she certainly can’t run off in a broken-down car.

He expected to see her smiling at him shyly from behind the wheel, but as he approached, he realized the car was empty.

Had she left the car?

His heart began to thunder. It was freezing out, and it wasn’t safe to walk on the shoulder of Route One, especially not during the holidays. All it would take was one patch of ice, or one drunk driver…

Before he could start to really worry, the back door opened and Ana hopped out.

“Hey,” she said breathlessly.

She was so beautiful that he almost couldn’t look at her. Her long dark hair fell almost to her waist, and her beautiful brown eyes lit up as she greeted him. She was wearing an old pair of jeans and a bright, pretty sweater under her unzipped coat. Her presence was a flash of joyful color against the browns and grays of the Pennsylvania winter around them.

“Hey, Ana,” he said, his brain instantly turning to mush. “How are you?”

“Really glad to see you,” she said with that smile he’d been hoping for. “I don’t know what’s wrong with it, but the wheel started dancing in my hands and the check engine light came on.”

That might not be a complete disaster.

“Can I take a look?” he asked.

“Of course,” she said, pulling the keys out of her pocket.

Their hands touched briefly as she put them in his palm, and he felt a tingle of electricity that pinned him in place for a moment.

Take it easy, man, he tried to tell himself.

He’d been better around her back when he used to tease her and flirt. But it had been too long since he’d seen her up close, and he was blown away all over again, feeling as awkward as a middle schooler with a crush.

He hopped in the driver’s seat and was about to start the engine when he caught movement in the rearview mirror.

Little Theo sat in his car seat with some kind of drawing toy in his lap, gazing at Rory with curious eyes.

“Hey, Theo,” Rory said, turning to him. “How’s it going?”