Page 25 of Trusting Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings 2)

Asher nodded with a smile. It shouldn’t surprise Grace that Asher knew Easton’s family. Hope Falls was a small town where everyone knew everyone.

“And how do you two know each other?”

“We don’t,” Grace responded but then felt Easton’s stare boring into the side of her face. “I mean…we didn’t…until last night.”

Grace Wells never got flustered. Ever. So why did she feel herself blushing now?

“I got a flat and was stranded on the side of the road. Easton stopped to help, but then that happened.”

Grace motioned to the large tree that was still on top of Easton’s truck.

“That’s your truck?” Asher asked.

“Yep.”

From the look on Easton’s face, Grace could tell he was upset about the damage. She was, too. Which is why she was going to pay for the repairs.

She was a millionaire, after all. Technically. She could afford it.

“After the tree fell, we decided it would be safer to stay put and wait for help to come rather than go out in the storm,” Grace continued to explain.

“Good call. Someone from transportation should be here soon to clear the tree, and I already called a tow truck.” Asher motioned to the crushed truck then back to Grace’s SUV. “I can take a look at the tire.”

“I’ve got it,” Easton stated firmly.

Grace expected Asher to tell Easton thanks but no thanks and that he had the scene under control, but instead, he just stared at him and then nodded.

“You should get inside. It’s freezing,” Asher instructed.

Grace wanted to help if she could, but she didn’t think there was anything she could do. So, she got back in the car. This time she went to the driver’s seat.

When she got in and shut the door, the realization of last night and what she’d done hit her, but it didn’t feel real. In the stark light of day, the entire encounter felt like a dream.

The road crew showed up within a minute or two and within about fifteen minutes, her tire was fixed, and her car was packed up the way it had been when she’d headed out on her journey. Other than the scent of him in the car, there was no evidence that she and Easton had spent the night they had together.

As she reached for the door handle to get out and thank Easton for changing her tire, for stopping to help her, for…everything, she caught her reflection in her side mirror. Holy hell. She looked like she’d been on a two-week bender. There were dark circles of makeup smeared beneath her eyes, her skin looked pale and her lips had a blue tinge around them, probably from being cold. Why had she wasted fifteen minutes just sitting there watching the tree getting removed when she could have been making herself more presentable?

She’d barely flipped the visor down to try and fix the mess that was her face when there was a knock on the window. She was nervous to turn and face the person standing on the other side, but this time it wasn’t because he was a stranger. She was nervous this time because she knew exactly who was on the other side of her window.

Her hand was shaking as she pressed the button and the window slowly rolled down. When she turned, she was once again stunned speechless by how good looking Easton was. She wouldn’t have thought he could get any sexier than he looked last night, but Easton in the bright morning sun with his stubble even a little bit longer took him to a whole new level. It wasn’t actually fair that he could look this good in the morning when he hadn’t showered or had coffee and she looked like death warmed over.

“You’re all set to go. Tire’s fixed.”

“Thank you so—”

“Bishop!” Asher called out and Grace saw the tow truck pull up.

“Do you want me to stay? I can give you a ride?” Grace asked, not wanting their time together to be over.

“No, that’s okay. I can get a ride with the tow.”

Grace’s heart sank. “Are you sure?”

Easton’s lips turned up at the corners and the bad-boy grin turned her insides to mush. “Yeah, I’m good. Drive safe.”

With that, Easton pushed off the driver’s side door and started walking to the tow truck as Josh was stepping out of it.

Grace had known Josh most of her life from the time they’d spent vacationing in Hope Falls. Her baby sister Audrey had always had a massive crush on him. She got it. Josh had always been good looking, even when he was a kid. He had a very Tom Hardy vibe about him. If there was a movie casting Tom Hardy’s younger brother, Josh would get it even without any acting experience. He was the quintessential blue collar bad boy. He’d worked for his family’s auto shop from the time he was a kid. She remembered, he couldn’t have been more than ten and he’d helped her mom when their car had overheated. Audrey had sat in the backseat with stars in her eyes.

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