Page 8 of Turn Up The Heat

“Look out!” He shoved his arms beneath hers in a rough yank, and she tumbled against him just as the door slammed against the doorstop hard enough to leave a dent.

“Oh!” Sharp pain streaked through her ankle, which she knew without looking must be turned at a rather unnatural angle, because it hurt like a bitch.

“Jesus. Are you okay?” Shane murmured into her hair as it blew around both of their faces in the biting wind.

Bellamy’s ankle sent up a chorus of “hell no”, but no way was she going to admit it out loud, especially not to a total stranger, anddefinitelyespecially not this particular stranger. “I’m fine.”

Sure. If “fine” meant clumsily tumbling into the arms of a brooding, borderline obnoxious car mechanic with the hottest smile this side of the Mason-Dixon line, then she was just peachy.

Didn’t Guinness have records for weeks this bad?

“You sure?” Shane didn’t loosen his grip, as if he thought she were bluffing. Which, naturally, she was, buthedidn’t need to know that.

“Yeah, absolutely. You can let go. Thanks.”

“Suit yourself, city girl.” He shrugged and let her go without preamble.

Bellamy’s cheeks flamed as she tested her weight on her throbbing ankle. After a few ginger steps got her through the door and into the parking lot, it looked like her pride had taken a bigger hit than anything else. Not thatthatwas new. She flipped the handle of the battered pickup truck and climbed inside.

“So, what kind of car do you drive?” Shane asked, getting in and starting the truck.

“A Mazda Miata.”

He shifted his weight and looked out the driver’s side window so she couldn’t see his expression as they pulled away from the lot, and her heart sank. Maybe the sporty convertible was out of his area of expertise.

“Is that going to be a problem?” Bellamy asked, rubbing her hands together.

Shane scoffed, flipping the heater on high. “No. They’re just a pain in the ass to fix, that’s all. Pardon my language.” He muttered the last part, like he was actually embarrassed he’d let the curse slip. “Can you tell me what’s wrong with it?”

Bellamy looked at him blankly. “Um, it doesn’t run.”

Shane’s smirk-and-eyeroll maneuver translated to a glaringHello, Captain Obvious.“Yeah, I got that part. I was thinking more along the lines of what happened to make it that way. Weird noises, dashboard messages, stuff like that.” He gave her a sidelong glance.

Her cheeks flooded with heat. “Oh. Well, come to think of it, it hasbeen acting a little funny lately. Every once in a while it makes this grinding noise. I figured it just needed a tune up or something.”

Again with the well-duh look. So she’d skipped a freaking tune up. Was it really that big a deal?

“Anyway,” she continued after biting her tongue. “Just now, a whole bunch of white smoke started coming out from under the car. It kind of jerked a little, made the grinding noise again.” She broke off, wracking her brain. There had to be technical terms for her botched explanation, but hell if she could come up with a single one. “Then it just kept lurching forward instead of really going anywhere, even when I hit the gas, so I pulled over. That’s pretty much it.”

Shane’s frown was less than encouraging. “You just passing through?”

“Sort of.” God, what a mess this bright idea of hers was turning out to be. “I’m supposed to be meeting friends at the Pine Mountain Resort for a girls’ weekend.”

Wait, did he just roll his eyes again before he looked out the window? Really?

“That’s only about fifteen miles from here. You’ll need to call someone to get a ride.”

Bellamy pulled back, frowning. “Do you think it’s that bad?”

Shane’s black-coffee eyes met hers for an instant. “I don’t think it’s good. At the very least, I’ll have to come back with the tow truck to get it to the garage for a better look.”

She must have done something cosmically terrible to have karma bite her on the ass this hard. First Attila the Boss, then Derek, and now this. “That’s me, right there.” Bellamy pointed through the window to where she’d left her car on the narrow, muddy shoulder by the scenic overlook.

“Yeah, I figured. Not too many two-seater sports cars on the side of the road up here. Especially in January.” Shane pulled over, but not before she caught the cocky smile he tried to hide as he looked over his shoulder to check his blind spot.

Wow, his shoulders were broad.

“You coming, or do you want to wait here? I can leave the truck running if you want,” he offered without much enthusiasm.

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