Page 12 of Outside The Wire

“Thanks.”

He turned and strolled away, and as I watched his ass, a shiver made its way down my spine.

“Okay, pull it together, Holly. Hot men will only break your heart.”

I slippedand slid across the ice of the parking lot while pushing the cart and my massive rug to my SUV. This was taking way too freaking long. At this point, I wasn’t going to get any dinner tonight. I was starving and the hunger pangs were only making me hangry.

I popped the trunk and pulled the cart to a stop, then turned to open the trunk. But as I did that, the cart decided to take off on the ice. “Wait!” I called out to the cart. I started to rush after it, then realized my trunk was open. I started to go back, but indecision pulled at me to go after the cart. It wouldn’t matter if my trunk was open if the cart ran away with my rug.

I carefully ran across the ice, trying to catch up before it rammed into another vehicle or burst out into traffic, causing a ten-car pile up. Okay, highly unlikely, but it could happen.

"Stop, cart!” I shouted, slipping on the ice. “I said stop!” My shouting was fruitless as my arms whirled through the air in my desperate attempt to stop myself from falling on my ass. I yelped as I felt my feet go out from underneath me.

My ass hit the ground first and then my back and head. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been. At least it was dark and no one saw me.

“Did you need some help?” the sexy man asked, appearing above me.

Great. Not only was my ass wet, but he’d heard me calling out to a shopping cart. Yep, I was talking to a shopping cart. And chasing it across a parking lot. That was perfect. And now I was laying on the ground, not answering him at all and staring up at nothing. I should probably answer. That would be good.

“Did you hit your head?” he asked, kneeling down beside me.

He really shouldn’t do that. God, his crotch was like…right there. I needed therapy.

“Nope,” I answered, springing upright. I got up on my own, refusing to let him see me in distress. I shoved to my feet a little too quickly and instantly went down, this time falling to my knees. They cracked painfully on the ice and I winced. He grabbed my arm, chuckling under his breath as he helped haul me to my feet.

“I gotcha.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” I muttered under my breath. I turned to him and smiled. “I’m good. Just a runaway cart. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“I saw that,” he laughed.

Man, even his laugh was sexy. Deep and throaty. Dreamy. He had that Adam’s apple thing where it stuck out and you could see it. It was so sexy. I really needed help.

“Yeah, I’m just gonna get it and then bury my head in the sand.”

“There’s only snow,” he pointed out.

“Well, it’s too cold to bury my head in the snow.”

Completely mortified, I turned and headed away from the man, marching toward my cart. Great, the cart had hit a truck. A very nice black truck. There was no hiding the scratch the cart left. I sighed, shaking my head at the damage.

“Dammit,” I hissed under my breath.

I dug through my pockets, knowing I had a scrap piece of paper somewhere. I always had a million things in my pockets. You never knew what you would need at any given time. Chapstick was a given in Colorado. Kleenex was always necessary. Oh, look at that. A tape measure. A pen. I would need that. Peppermints. And ribbon. I wasn’t sure what that was for, but there had to be a reason. And there it was. My little notebook.

Dear Owner,

I’m very sorry for my runaway shopping cart hitting your very nice truck. The ice was too slippery and I’m afraid I couldn’t stop it from taking out your vehicle, despite calling out for it to stop. I will pay for any repairs. Please call me and I will pay for the repairs.

555-1800

Sincerely,

Holly Lane

I tuckedthe note under his windshield and grabbed the cart, shoving it back toward my SUV. The man was smirking at me, watching the whole thing as if it was all so funny. Well, I didn’t need him to laugh at me. Even if he was extremely handsome and sexy.

“Do you want some help with that?”

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