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“I’m not saying that.”
Penny’s tone changed but not the volume as she sweetly hissed into the phone. “Give her anything she wants.”
Out of habit, I glanced around the corner, searching for a flashof red, RJ looking at something on her phone or her fingers drifting to her full lips, the same lips I’d been fantasizing about for a week, pretty much nonstop. “Anything she wants, got it.” I shoved my phone back in my pocket and returned to the tent, happy to have something to keep me busy by making sure everything wrapped up well. I didn’t see RJ anywhere, though. No more red dress. No more temptation to put myself out there.Good, need to get her out of my head anyway.
Chapter 15
RJ
MY STOMACH LURCHEDas the car came to a soft stop and the slipping, sliding momentum finally stilled. The sound of mud and metal wasn’t as dramatic as a crunch, but just as final. I tested the ground, seeing if giving the car gas would move me forward, but my tires just spun, probably making it worse.
“Shit, shit, shit.” I dropped my head to the steering wheel and let out a long, slow sigh. The deer had run out from the woods and I’d panicked, swerved on the rain-slicked pavement, and ended up here on the side of the road, my car facing the wrong direction and halfway down an embankment. It was late, I was already bone tired after the wedding, and now my car was stuck in a muddy ditch. That, plus I would have reacted faster if my head hadn’t been elsewhere, namely on Lear I-have-some-skills Campbell. On Lear’s lips and his puppy-dog expression when I turned down his request to get a drink, the one he hid quickly behind that stupid smirk. The smirk was all the reason I needed to forget about him. I’d been thinking about his voice, though, how it had been gravelly after our almost-kiss. I lifted my head and let it fall against the steering wheel again, shuddering at the idea of having to call in sick to work because I had been injured while returning from a wedding at a gas station. “Shit.”
I was bent over the middle console fumbling for my phone, which had gone flying, when headlights illuminated the car from behind me. Relief and fear overtook me at once: relief at someone helping me, and fear at someone finding me defenseless in the middle of nowhere. I fingered the pepper spray attached to my key ring. My heart rate sped just the same. I could just stay in my car, but that wouldn’t do any good, so I unlocked my phone, having it at the ready, and pushed open my door, which lodged against something. A figure emerged from the car, but the headlights obscured any details.
“Are you okay?” The voice made my heart stop completely and then double its speed.
Grabbing my purse from the floor of the passenger side, I tucked my phone into it. There was just enough space between the door and the car for me to slip out, and my foot sank into the muddy ground with a sickening slurp. I closed my eyes as my foot slipped into the muck, trying to ignore the vile sensation. “I’m not hurt,” I called out. The next step left me sliding to the ground, my butt sinking into the wet earth, and I shuddered at the squishy feeling.
“RJ? Is that you?”
It wasn’t a murderer.
It was worse. Lear stood on the edge of the ditch, inching forward.
“In the flesh,” I said, clearing my car door and sludging up the embankment.
“Let me help you,” he said, stepping down enough to hold out a hand.
Pride made me want to ignore his hand, but my sheer exhaustion and the ankle-deep mud won. I let him help me the last steps.
His smirk was gone, replaced with a look of concern, and he grasped my hand and steadied me with his other arm against mine. Minus the car wreck, the mud, the grease stains—and that wehated each other—it was almost like a slow dance. “Are you sure you’re okay? You didn’t hit your head or anything?” His hand traveled up my arm and his gaze moved over my face.
The touch, the look, the words: They were all utilitarian, how I’d expect any decent person to act in this situation. What surprised me was how comfortable I was with his touch and his concern, the latter being something I never wanted, not since I’d learned concern could turn to pity and resentment fast. I took a small step to the side. “Thanks,” I said, glancing down at my mud-caked shoes. “I’m fine. My car is stuck, but I’m not hurt.”
Despite my step to the side, he was still holding my hand, his fingertips still brushing my biceps. He seemed to realize it then, too, and let his hands fall. “Did you call for help already?”
“Just about to.” I pulled my phone from my purse, thankful it wasn’t dead. One small bright spot in the night.
He nodded, glancing over my shoulder at the car. With a better view now, I saw how close the rushing water was to the edge of the embankment. “The creeks out here flood fast when it rains,” he said, returning his gaze to me, his brown eyes once again sweeping my face in this intense and sexy and annoying way. Lear motioned to the sky. “This system will go until one or two in the morning.”
“Why do you know that?”
“Because I was running an outdoor event tonight.” He motioned to his car. “I think I have a few towels and a change of clothes in my trunk. Let me check while you call.”
Of course he would know the weather.He got under my skin and on my last nerve, but I knew he was actually good at his job. I wasn’t sure why being nice was so difficult for me when I was around him. Roadside assistance answered quickly but warned me it might be hours before a tow truck could arrive, and might not be until morning. By the time I’d hung up, raindrops had hit my nose, and Lear returned with a beach towel.
“Thanks,” I said, awkwardly trying to clean myself. “It’s going to be a while, so the towel will come in handy.”
“How long is a while?”
“Hours. Maybe not until morning, but I can just call for a ride. You don’t have to stay.”
“RJ, I’ll give you a lift,” he said, glancing up as the raindrop frequency increased.
“No, it’s fine.”
“It’s raining, it’s the middle of nowhere, and you’re still refusing my help?” He cocked an eyebrow, the gesture losing and gaining something as that same brow twitched after a drop of rain hit his forehead. “Will you just let me give you a hand for once?”
