Page 20 of The Grinch who Loved Me
He sucked in a breath and drank a swig of water and she stared at him, “Are you all right?”
He nodded, “Just went down wrong.”
She smiled and then let out a small giggle and that giggle turned into a small laugh that she tried to smother behind her hand.
He snorted and then laughed himself.
She laughed so hard she started crying and Ryland knew he had never laughed that hard in his life.
He looked over at Aria and she was wiping her eyes, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh. You just looked so cute.”
She sucked in a breath, and he lifted his eyebrow, “Cute? You think I looked cute?”
She nibbled at her lip again and then she nodded, and he felt his lips lift in a smile.
She ate a few more bites and he watched as she did.
She thought he was cute? What did that mean? Girls were so confusing.
And yet, he liked hearing that she thought he was cute.
He finished up eating and then he put his plate in the sink.
Aria went to stand and he hurried to her side, “Let me help you.”
He put her plate in the sink with his and she stood, with the help of her crutches.
She was so tiny. Barely coming up to his chest.
And she was beautiful.
He cleared his throat, “Let’s see about your car. You can stay here if it’s easier.”
She shook her head, “I don’t want to stay here. I would rather be out there with you, if that is okay?”
He nodded and led her back outside.
She was fast with her crutches and he wanted to ask why she had them.
But he figured it wasn’t really polite to ask a woman that.
He walked to her car and when he couldn’t find the issue in the top of the engine, he pulled his slider board over to the car and after jacking the car up a bit, he slid underneath the car.
“Do you see the problem?”
He bit back a smile at Aria’s voice and then slid out from under her car, “It looks like you have a loose hose. I will fix it.”
She smiled and jumped a little when Cheeto jumped up in her lap.
Aria turned her attention to the cat in her lap and Ryland lifted the car on his lift to get easier access to the hose.
But when he got a better view, he saw the hose was completely broken and he would need a new one.
But he didn’t have the part for it. He didn’t have the type of car parts for her car just lying around and he smothered a curse.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and then turned to Aria, who was petting Cheeto and looking at him with her brows drawn down.
“This is going to take longer than I thought.”
