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Her shoulders slumped. “Ugh. Just perfect.”
“You can ride back into town with me,” he said. “You’ll have to get your car towed, and it will need some repairs.”
She looked from him to me and asked quietly, “How do I do that?”
Parks sighed as though she was a lost cause.
“We’ll get you sorted,” I promised. “Call D.F. Motors and ask for Jimmy. Explain what happened, and he’ll get your car and sort out anything else you need.”
A flicker of relief crossed her face. “D.F. Motors,” she repeated. “Jimmy. Thanks, Liam. That really helps.”
Her praised warmed me, and I shrugged it away. “It’s a small town. Everyone knows everyone, and we help out where we can. Let’s get you home.”
We piled into the vehicles and made the journey back to the station, which was located on a road off Centennial Street, the main commercial street of Destiny Falls township. The ambulance didn’t join us, so I assumed Asher was taking Kennedy directly to wherever she was staying.
I swallowed disappointment at the thought of not seeing her again, but then remembered she had a job at the resort, so she was presumably going to be around for a while. She might need new friends too. Friends, I could do. More than that wouldn’t be such a great idea. Not so soon after Zoe dumped me, and especially not with someone from L.A. If I couldn’t even stomach the idea of moving somewhere else in New Zealand, it would be stupid to get attached to someone from halfway around the world who lived in a dirty, giant city that represented everything I hated. Urban jungles and wannabe celebrities weren’t my thing.
We parked and got out.
“Coffee, anyone?” Igor asked, already on his way to the staff room.
“Yeah,” I called after him. A hot drink would warm my fingers nicely, even if the crap we kept around here barely passed for real coffee. I headed after him, and Zane followed. Parks went to his office.
By the time Asher returned, we were seated around a table, playing cards. He grabbed his mug, which Igor had filled and set on the counter, and pulled up a chair.
“So, what’d you think of her?” Asher asked, his tone teasing.
I rolled my eyes. Ever since Zoe had blown out of town without giving me the slightest bit of warning, Asher had been on at me to hook up with someone else, so I knew exactly where this was going.
“She’s pretty,” I admitted.
“She’s beautiful,” he countered. “And a little shy. I know how you like them that way.”
I pulled a face. I couldn’t help it. Women who blushed easily endeared themselves to me. “I’m not looking for anything,” I reminded him. “Especially not with an American who’ll eventually be going back to where she came from.”
Asher shrugged. “You don’t have to marry her. Just ask her out. Buy her a drink. See how it goes.”
“Nope.” I played a card and looked at Igor and Zane for support. “You get it, right? A girl like that, she’s not going to stay in Destiny Falls for long. She’ll be back in L.A. in no time, and I couldn’t be happy anywhere but here. This place is in my blood.”
Asher groaned and buried his face in his palms. “What part of ‘you don’t have to marry her’ don’t you understand? She doesn’t have to be your happily ever after. She can be a pleasant stop-off along the way.”
“He has a point,” Zane offered.
I shot him a look. “You know me. I can’t do casual. I get attached, and then it ends badly because, apparently, no one other than me wants to live in a tiny town in the mountains.” I deflated. “Not even for love.”
I would never move away from Destiny Falls. Every quaint street and old-fashioned building was carved onto my heart. My family was here, and my friends. Any time I left, even for a road trip or vacation, I missed the fresh, clean scent of the air, the glorious green surroundings, and the biting cold of winter and dry heat of summer.
I supposed my refusal to even consider moving elsewhere was why Zoe had abandoned me. Months later, her defection still hurt. We’d been dating for two years, and I’d thought she wanted the same things as me. Then, back in January, I’d dropped by her parents’ place to visit and discovered she’d left for university in Auckland the day before. She’d left a goddamned Dear John letter to break up with me and hadn’t had the guts to deliver it herself.
She claimed she’d been hinting that she wanted to leave for months, but I either hadn’t picked up on it or hadn’t cared enough to do anything about it. In hindsight, I could see the signs, but I’d been oblivious at the time. In the end, she said, she’d decided she couldn’t be stuck in a go-nowhere place forever, so she’d just gone.
This girl, Kennedy, with her sexy accent and incredible eyes, would do the same.
“I’m on Team Liam here,” Igor said in his thick French accent. “You’ve got to play to your strengths.”
Asher sighed. “Just promise me you’ll think about it.”
“Fine,” I relented. “I’ll think about it, but that’s it.”
