Page 14 of Tempting Promises
Still dead.
“Try again!” he yells back to me.
So I do, and Frankie fails me again.
He comes around the passenger side. “I think you need to call the shop.”
“Again with the helpful advice. I’ll call. Thank you for the help that didn’t help.”
“The guys are probably at Sugarlips,” Rowan informs me as if I hadn’t already known. Donny is the only mechanic in this town, and he works the most bizarre hours—probably because he’s drunk most of the day—and closes for three hours during lunch. Three. Who does that?
Of course, my truck breaks down during that timeframe.
“Well, I’ll wait until they’re done,” I say, waiting for him to leave.
There’s no reason for him to wait around.
“I know you need to get back to the farm. Why don’t you let me drop you off, and you can have Donny come look at it once he’s eaten enough bread to sober up.”
“I can walk,” I say, feeling defiant.
“I know you can, Charlotte, but it’s freezing out,and it’s at least eight miles. I’d rather not be accused of allowing you todieon the road. Get in my truck, I’ll take you home, and you can tell everyone that I browbeat you into going,” Rowan says before letting out a heavy sigh.
It’s really annoying that it had to behimwho not only witnessed this but also has to help now. While my defiant nature wants to rebuke his offer, I’d like to keep all my fingers and toes, which probably wouldn’t happen if I walked home in this weather.
“Okay. I’ll let you do something nice for a change.”
“I knew your grandparents, and I know they taught you manners. You should be saying, ‘Thank you, Rowan, you’re such a great guy. I know I’ve been a raging—’” He pauses. “Insert adjective of your choice, ‘but I was wrong all along and accept and appreciate your help.’”
Oh dear God. “That’s never going to happen. A thank you is about all you’ll get.”
He opens the passenger door for me, grabs my bag of groceries, and walks over to his—very new and very large—truck.
“Overcompensating?” I ask, literally hanging on to the handrails and jump to get in.
I start to teeter back and his hand moves to my ass, pushing me up. “Get in the truck and be nice.”
I try to turn so I can kick him for touching my ass, but he is already walking around the truck. Rowan doesn’t have to jump or climb. He just puts his foot on the running boards and steps in as though it’s not an almost four-foot leap.
Show-off.
I buckle my seatbelt and cross my arms over my chest, feeling a mix of several things. I’m appreciative that he offered to take me home because I’m not sure I would’ve been as nice to someone who has continually been nasty. But Rowan didn’t hold that against me. I’m a little irritated that I need his help because I really hate the idea of not being able to do everything myself. However, I didn’t ask. He offered, and I took it. That’stotallydifferent. I also hate this because I used to like Rowan before he broke my sister’s heart. He wasfunny, nice, and freaking hot. Aurora is only sixteen months older than I am, and we always had the same taste in men.
Which is pretty much the guy next to me. Tall, scruff on his chiseled jaw, dark brown hair, and the most beautiful blue eyes a girl could stare at for days.
And that part sucks because I’m bound by sisterly duty to hate him forever.
“Are you cold?” he asks as I rub my arms.
“A little.”
He pushes a button on the console, and a minute later, my butt is warming. “You have heated seats?”
“Brynn calls them hiney heaters. They also have a cooling option, and she calls those cheek chillers.”
I laugh. “I guess business is good then? You’re driving this insane beast of a truck with your fancy gadgets and you bought all that land that I wanted—I might add.”
“Things are good. The land wasn’t in my immediate plans, but once it went up for sale, I knew I wouldn’t get this chance again. No hard feelings.”
