Page 14 of Outside The Wire

“That’s smart of you.” He walked toward me, his fingers grabbing the pom pom on top of my hat. “Be safe driving home. The ice can be deadly.”

I nodded, not knowing what else to do. As he turned and walked away with the cart, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was going to call me now that he had my number.

Not that it mattered. I didn’t need a man.

4

ASHER

“You can knockoff early for the night,” Wyatt said, stepping out of the office.

“I don’t mind finishing up.”

He chuckled, leaning against another car. “It’s Valentine’s Day. Don’t you have some pretty lady to take out on the town tonight?”

I instantly thought of Holly, but I hadn’t called her. Not yet. I wasn’t sure I was going to. I hadn’t decided. “Not tonight.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because, as you pointed out, it’s Valentine’s Day. Can’t give anyone the wrong idea.”

His eyes flicked to my left hand, but he quickly averted them, walking over to the bay doors where he looked outside. “And would this have anything to do with the new scratches you have on that pretty truck of yours?”

I pulled the rag from the back pocket of my coveralls and grinned at him, knowing he was baiting me. “It was just a scratch.”

“A pretty good scratch. Looks to be maybe a dent or two. I’d say a shopping cart.”

I stared at him in shock. “How the hell did you know that?”

“I’ve been in the business long enough. You recognize these things after a while. So, it was a shopping cart, and you’re either an extremely nice guy or some pretty lady batted her eyes at you.”

“As a matter of fact, it was neither of those things.”

Holly hadn’t batted her eyes at me. She’d left me a note. I just hadn’t bothered to call for her information. There was no way I’d ask her to pay for the repairs on my truck. Not when I’d been daydreaming about her rolling around on the ground for the past two weeks.

“Ah! There it is. I saw that.”

I stared at the man who couldn’t be more than ten years older than me and refused to let him see past my poker face, lousy as it was. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It was a lady, and by the looks of it, you liked her quite a bit.”

There was no point arguing with him. I did like her. What was wrong with admitting it? He’d only hassle me more if I didn’t tell him about her. “As a matter of fact, I did like her. She’s…unique.”

A small chuckle left his lips. “That’s not usually the way a man describes a woman.”

“Yeah? And how does a man describe a woman?”

“Gorgeous, alluring, intoxicating, breathtaking…you know, something along those lines.”

Yeah, those were all the ways I had described Jade. My smile slipped just a little at the thought, but I pushed Jade from my mind. I couldn’t change the past. I could only refuse to let my mistakes rule my life and live better for her. That’s what I believe she would have wanted.

“Well, it’s too soon to tell. When I met her, she was rolling around on the ground to measure for an area rug.”

He went still, then shook his head vehemently. “Nope, run. Get as far away from that one as you can. Girl measurements.That’s what that is, and it’ll drive you fucking crazy. You don’t need that kind of insanity in your life. Trust me.”

I smirked at him. It sounded exactly like the kind of normalcy I needed.

“Shit, you’re going for it, aren’t you?”

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