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“What?” He laughed. “You mean in 2004?” That had to be the date of this ancient relic.
“I bought it used,” she muttered with annoyance, “so the spare’s notthatold.”
So he’d nailed the year of her car. Not bad. He worked on getting out the tiny spare, but just as he feared, it really hadn’t been moved in years. The donut acted like it was rusted into the trunk of her car. He’d need a jackhammer for this. “I can’t get this thing out, sorry hon.”
“Hon?” She bristled. “Did you really drop the ‘hon’ bomb?”
He startled at the unusual reaction. Oh yeah, he was Nash. He grinned. “Why? Do you like it?”
She rolled her eyes in response.
Porter took pity on her. “I can fix this,” he said. “I just need the right tools.” She slumped in relief and watched him expectantly like he’d just take out a magic wand and make it happen. He smirked. “Sorry, I meant I’ll need to get the tools first. How about I give you a ride into town?”
She sighed, threading her fingers through her curly hair and pushing it all around so that his attention was all caught up in her. “In that monster?” she asked with a weary laugh.
He gave her points for accepting the inevitable. She had to be disappointed that she wouldn’t have her car for a few days.
“Are you sure it won’t eat me?” she asked.
“Nah, but I can’t make any promises for myself.”
She treated him to a level stare, not allowing him to tease her. After a moment, she went to her car to gather her things, her skirt swishing playfully around her knees. She sure looked cute. He noticed that she still held his rose. When she gingerly approached his truck, he wordlessly opened the door for her.
Her brows went up at him at the gentlemanly move. He was tempted to pick her up and carry her inside the cab to show her just how flirty he could be. That might get a squeal of delight from Kylee Morningstar, but he had a feeling that Angel was a little more sensible than that. She climbed inside. He shut the door behind her, going around the truck.
As soon as he got in, he caught her gawking at the bridal skull on his dashboard. That was where Cole had stashed it a few days ago to get him back for scaring him. “What isthat?” she asked.
He tugged it off the dashboard and tossed it into the back. “Sorry, that little girl… followed me home one day.”
“That is not reassuring, Porter,” she said.
He laughed and backed out of the driveway. He refrained from taking the long way home, though he’d travel all over these roads with her if he thought that she wouldn’t notice. He missed raising trouble with his brother when they rode roughshod through the territory. Porter had a feeling that those drives with Angel would be a whole other adventure—one she might not appreciate, yet.
She’d turned quiet on the way back to town, though the calm before the storm wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable. She watched the countryside with wide-eyed wonder, making him wonder if she wasn’t used to anything that she was seeing.
“You grow up in Nashville?” he asked her.
She nodded.
“What brought you here?”
She swung around to face him, giving him such a look of disbelief that he was sure that he’d made a fatal blunder in pretending to be his twin. “I needed to get away after everything that happened. I just have to figure out what I’m going to do.”
He nodded, having no idea what she was saying. “You want to talk about it?”
“Not really.” She let out a breath and grew silent again. The dismal gleam in her eye worried him. The evening sun glowed over the horizon, dipping its gold into the emerald range in the distance. A few cattle munched leisurely at the grass. “It’s very beautiful here,” she said finally.
“You should see what’s in those hills,” he said, impulsively. He wanted to cheer her up from whatever morose thoughts clung to her. “My brother and I have probably explored every part of this county. Say the word and I’ll take you on a drive up there. This truck can get anywhere.”
She genuinely looked confused at the invitation, and he got the sense that she didn’t feel worthy of his attention.Any kind of attention.Where had that thought come from?
It’s just… why was she so sad?
Angel swallowed. “I’ve got to settle down. I can’t just take off and–and…”
“What?” he asked. She seemed to be having trouble explaining her objections, but he felt like it had less to do with him and more to do with punishing herself, for some reason. “You have something against having fun?” he asked.
“Well… I’m not a child anymore.”
