Page 9 of Turn Up The Heat

“No thanks. I’d like to see what you’re looking at, if that’s okay with you.” Earlier clumsiness notwithstanding, she didn’t want him to think she couldn’t handle herself. Her pride had suffered enough in the last twenty-four hours, thank you very much, and he already seemed to think she was some spoiled city girl. It couldn’t be rocket science to keep up with a quick look-see under the hood, right?

Shane lifted a dark brow. “Suit yourself.” He stood in front of the car and hooked his thumbs through the belt loops on his jeans, waiting.

Bellamy’s heart did a repeat swan dive toward her belly. What was he looking atherfor? Didn’t he know where to start?

“I’m, ah, going to need you to pop the hood so I can look at the car.”

She swallowed her full dose of hi-I’m-an-idiotin one hard gulp. “Oh, right. Sorry.”

As soon as the car was unlocked and her butt sank into the driver’s seat, Bellamy’s first order of business was to clutch. Come on, she had an advanced degree in business, for God’s sake. How hard could it be to pop the stupid hood? The lever, or button, or whatever, had to be here somewhere. It had to be…

“A-ha!” Bellamy crowed under her breath, her hand shooting out for the lever marked with the little stick figure lifting the hood. She gave it a triumphant yank, smiling from ear to ear.

“Bellamy?” Shane’s grin wiped the confidence from her face. He put a hand on the doorframe, leaning in. “I might be just spit-balling here, but I don’t think the problem’s in your trunk.”

If his laugh hadn’t been so deep and downright sexy, in that moment she’d have hated his guts. He and the stick figure could kiss her ass.

“Sorry, must have pulled the wrong one,” she glowered, spying the correct lever right next to the trunk release. She gave it a decisive snatch, and the hood lifted up by about an inch.

“Mmm,” Shane answered, closing the trunk before going around to look under the hood. Bellamy got out and stood next to him, watching with awe as he moved his hands over the inner workings of the car with both care and purpose. How the hellall of that stuff came together to create a whole bunch of get up and go was totally beyond her.

Finally, she couldn’t stand it anymore, though barely five minutes had passed. “How bad is it?” she asked, chewing her bottom lip.

“Go ahead and try to start it for me.”

“I don’t think anything’s going to happen,” she offered politely, trying to save him from wasting his time. The car had seemed in pretty bad shape when she’d pulled it over. If the damned thing was going to start up now, after all she’d just been through, she was going to bepissed.

“Yeah, I’ve done this once or twice before. Why don’t you humor me and give it a whirl just for grins, city girl.”

Bellamy bit her tongue to trap the rather unladylike voice in her head threatening to tell him exactly where he could shove his attitude. The reality was that the garage had been the only thing she’d seen for miles, and as much as she wanted to tell Shane off, it looked like the only option that wouldn’t get her left by the side of the road was to humor him.

His expression sure suggested he could use it.

“I was only trying to help,” Bellamy muttered under her breath as she put the key in the ignition. Of course the damn thing purred right to life just to spite her.

“Okay, you can cut the engine,” Shane said, crouching down to look under the car.

“So, is it fine?” Bellamy asked, confused. “I really wasn’t imagining things,” she insisted, sliding out of the car.

Shane’s grim expression suggested that he believed her. Bracing one hand against the fender, he reached down and swiped his fingers through a dark puddle of something seeping out from under her car in a thick, ominous stain.

“No, you really weren’t.” His frown intensified as he stood, looking again at the inner-workings of the car. “How long have you had this thing?”

“Um, four years. Five in June.” She leaned in to look over his shoulder.

Yup. Still broad.

“Should’ve known better than to hope it was still under warranty. It looks like your transmission’s blown.”

Her mouth fell open. “Are you sure?”

Shane broadcast a look that all but screamed are-you-kidding-me. “Unless you have transmission fluid coming from somewhere else, yeah.”

Bellamy quickly calculated her options, realizing that she had only the one. She had to get home in a couple of days, after all. “Can you fix it?”

Shane didn’t flinch. “Absolutely.”

Finally, some good news. “How much is it going to cost?”

---