Page 10 of My Casanova

“You two know each other?” the other man asked and glanced between us with mild curiosity.

Smoke smirked and pushed his sunglasses on top of his head. His dark eyes met mine again. “This is Dani Marie. She owns the wine shop.” He gestured to the other guy. “Dani, meet Dice.”

I gave an awkward wave to Dice and felt suddenly very out of place in my dusty jeans and sweat-soaked T-shirt. “Uh, hi.”

Dice grinned wide. “Wine chick,” he chuckled. “The girls are gonna be pissed that I got to meet you before them.”

Wine chick? Girls? My mind scrambled to catch up.

“Uh, well…” I stammered, unsure of what to say. I always felt a little clueless when these guys talked like there was some inside joke I wasn’t privy to.

“You call for a tow or anything?” Smoke asked and dragged his gaze from me to the mangled tire.

I shook my head, brushing my damp hands on my thighs. “Uh, no. I was just going to put the spare on.”

Smoke crouched down beside the tire and ran his hand over the tattered rubber. “Damn,” he muttered and inspected the damage more closely. “You run over a couple of axes or something, angel?”

I blinked. Angel?

It took me a second to reply because my brain was still short-circuiting over that one little word. It was probably nothing—just something he called every woman, right? But still, hearing it again in his rough voice did something weird to my insides.

“Uh, not that I noticed,” I stuttered.

I moved next to him; the heat rolled off the pavement in waves as I took him in up close. Tattoos crawled up his arms, black ink curling around defined muscles, and disappeared beneath the sleeves of his shirt. The butterfly peeked out from his collar, and the wings hugged the side of his neck. His leather cut sat snug over his shoulders, and the worn patches stitched onto the back were proudly displayed.

Even in the miserable Texas heat with a flat tire and sweat sticking to my skin, I couldn’t ignore just how handsome Smoke was.

“You come from the shop?” he asked, his deep voice cutting through the quiet hum of cicadas in the distance.

I nodded and wiped my forehead with the back of my hand. “Uh, yeah. I was just headed home when all of a sudden, my tire pressure warning light went off.”

“Good thing you pulled over when you did.”

Smoke stood up, and suddenly, we were too close. The scent of leather and motor oil mixed with the heat, wrapped around me. He bumped into me slightly, and before I could stumble back, his hands shot out and gripped my arms to steady me. A flush of heat crept up my neck at his touch, and for a moment, we just stood there, eyes locked. His fingers were warm, steady, and lingered a little too long.

“You good, angel?” he asked, and his lips curved into a smirk.

There was that name again. It had to be something he called everyone. He had said it the day of the explosion, and he had called me it twice today.

“I’ll get the spare,” Dice said, breaking whatever weird spell Smoke and I had fallen into.

I cleared my throat and took a step back. Smoke let his hands fall, and I immediately missed their warmth.

“Uh, I couldn’t get it out.” I pushed my damp hair behind my ear and felt a little ridiculous. “It’s stuck.”

Smoke and Dice moved to the open trunk and peered inside.

“It’s bolted in.” Dice leaned over, his hands moving quickly, and within seconds, he held up a small nut. “Just a wingnut to keep the tire from bouncing all over the place.”

Smoke grabbed the spare and the jack underneath with barely an effort.

“Oh, uh, well...” I stammered and felt my face heat up. I would have liked to have said I knew that there was a nut holding it in, but obviously, I didn’t.

“It’s all good, angel. A lot of people don’t know how to change a tire. That’s good for our line of business.” Smoke leaned the spare against the car by the flat tire and flashed me another smirk.

“I know how to change a tire. My ex showed me how,” I insisted and crossed my arms defensively. And I did. “I just have never had to get it out of the car.” I motioned to the open trunk. “He left out how to get the tire out.”

Smoke chuckled and kneeled in front of the shredded tire. “Just a small detail he forgot.”

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