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Forcing herself not to look at him, she swung her feet out of the car and stood, turning to survey her vehicle instead of the rear end that was no doubt very, very nice.
The Porsche was listing to one side, and as she glanced down and located the ruptured tire that’d nearly sent her to an early grave, she cursed.
“If you have a spare in the trunk, I’d be happy to put it on for ya.”
Spinning on her heels, she asked hopefully, “Really?”
“Sure, just pop the trunk. It’ll be the work of a minute, and you’ll be on your way.”
Thrilled to have come across this man at exactly the right time, Vivian lunged into the front seat and pulled the keys from the ignition. “You’re a lifesaver. I can’t begin to thank you enough,” she was saying as she pressed the button to the trunk. Her words trailed off when she caught the look in his eye.
The cowboy’s eyes, which had been traveling the length of her body, snapped up to meet hers and he cleared his throat. She knew that look. Those blue eyes were spiked with a heavy dose of arousal. With a casual, unapologetic smile, he turned toward the back of the car, opened the trunk, and hefted the full-sized hunk of rubber from it.
Her own blood simmered as she watched him set to work. Men weren’t made like him back in Chicago where she lived. Nothing like her ex-husband at all. This man was rangy, his body long and lean, muscles honed to perfection. Every inch of him, from his flexing biceps to his carved back, to a—yep, she was right—tight, round backside shouted working man.
Wasn’t there a saying about saving a horse and riding a cowboy? Well, for the first time in Vivian’s life, she found herself considering what it would be like to try out a man who didn’t wear a suit to work.
Getting lost in her fantasies, Vivian failed to notice that the cowboy had finished the job until the moment he dumped the ruined tire into the trunk and slammed it shut.
“You’re all set,” he said and extended his grease-stained hand out to her.
Blinking, Vivian reached out and plucked her keys from his soiled palm, careful not to ruin her manicure. “Thank you so much. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along.” Wanting to repay him for his kindness, she said, “Let me give you some money for your time. I don’t have a lot of cash on me, but I can write you a check.” At least she still had that. Andrew hadn’t gotten around to closing their joint account yet. An oversight, surely, but at this point, she’d take whatever small graces she could get.
His smile inched up higher and, oh yeah, he had a nice set of matching dimples that served as the punctuations on his already insanely handsome façade. “That won’t be necessary.”
“But I insist!”
“Keep your money,” he argued, backing toward the field with both hands up in front of him.
Vivian stared after him. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. Making sure you get back on the road safely is payment enough.” Then, in a manner that made Vivian’s heart gallop, he pinched the brim of his hat and tipped it to her.
She must have stood there forever. Or at least, long enough to watch him jump back over the fence, climb back on his horse, and ride away. He’d come and gone so fast it felt as if she’d dreamed the whole encounter.
As Vivian climbed back into her car and pulled onto the road, she shook her head in amusement. “Get a grip, girl,” she told herself. A month out from what turned out to be a nasty divorce, and she was behaving like a hormonal teenager, panting after the first hot guy to cross her path.
It was a good thing divorce had opened her eyes to the fact that, even after sharing ten years of her life with someone, there was no way to truly know a person. Otherwise, she just might have asked that sexy cowboy out for a couple drinks rather than letting him ride off into the sunset.
If by some chance she ran into him again, though, he would be the perfect rebound cure.
TWO
He was right. Civilization was just another four and a half miles down the road, which meant that when Vivian’s car sputtered and died at the four-mile mark, she didn’t have far to walk.
In hindsight, the four-inch heels probably weren’t the best attire for a road trip. It was just that they made her legs look amazing, and she needed a good dose of amazing after everything she’d been through in the last year.
It wasn’t every day that a woman found out the man she’d been, well, not in love with, but in committed matrimony and mutual like with since…well, since their families pushed them together was in love with another man.
At least Andrew’s parents were on her side. As part of high society, the DeBoises had an image to uphold, and their bachelor son bringing home his boyfriend wasn’t part of that perfect family image. The divorce had been enough to send them into a tailspin, harassing their son day and night to reconsider and to “stop this nonsense at once.” When they found out about the boyfriend, they were going to be livid. She didn’t want to be there when that happened. Andrew would be lucky to get out alive.
Stopping in the middle of the desolate roadway, Vivian slipped off her shoes and hobbled the rest of the way toward a dusty old building with a big weathered sign mounted to the front over the wide porch that read “Grocery.” Apparently, they got straight to the point here and didn’t like fussy stuff, like actual defining names that the box stores had.
Loose rocks made the journey a painful one, and loose dirt in the parking lot made it a dirty one, but at this point, Vivian was beyond caring. She’d already lost everything, so why not her dignity too? Seemed par for the course.
Wooden planks creaked under her feet as she stepped up onto the porch, and a little bell chimed her arrival as she walked through the door. Casting her gaze around, she saw long aisles of shelves filled with everything a home might need in the way of food and personals. What she didn’t see was a clerk anywhere.
Approaching the counter, she read the small, handwritten sign that had been left out. “Back in ten. Leave your money on the counter. Thanks for shopping with us,” she read to herself. The honor system? In this day and age? “People are crazy,” she muttered as she turned back around and decided to peruse their stock. She was in desperate need of coconut water and protein bars. There hadn’t been many places to stop along her mysterious route, so she hadn’t eaten in hours.
