Page 2 of Up in Flames

Eyes—from what I can see in the moonlight and twinkling hue from the streetlights, they’re brilliant blue.

“Are you okay?” he asks as he reaches out, placing his leather jacket around my shoulders.

Oh my God! It smells incredible, and I am instantly intoxicated.

In a moment of awe that shocks me, I look up at him in a daze. Feeling completely numb, whether by his presence or from the wind’s chill, I’m uncertain, but I am awestruck by his appearance and good nature.

“I, um… Gertie sputtered to a stop and won’t start,” I mumble as the rain trickles down my cheeks, pooling at my chin. It does the same to him, and I want to reach up and lick it off his face.Shit! Where did that come from?

“Gertie?” he questions, and I shake my head, seeming to come out of my trance long enough to point to my car.

He chuckles and walks up to her, bending inside and flicking something. “Does she do this often?” he asks as he approaches the car’s front, lifting the hood.

Wrapping my arms around myself, I follow him to the front and nod, realizing I am freezing cold and trembling. My teeth chatter as I watch some random, incredibly hot guy having a look under my hood. You’d think that with my father being a mechanic, I would have learned a thing or two. But no matter how much he tried, I could never understand how the carburetor works, or for that matter, how brakes function, let alone what a thermostat does.

I have no fricking idea!

His head pops up from under the hood, and our eyes connect. A sudden zap of something surges through me, turning my frozen, wet body into a quivering, overheated, lust-filled mess. As he smiles at me, I swallow hard and casually return the gesture, trying not to give away the fact that, secretly, I’m having impure thoughts about us doing nasty things in the back of my Thunderbird.

“I can… ah, I see your problem,” the man says as he walks toward me, looking me up and down.

I raise my brow while waiting for him to continue.

“Your hose is leaking. It’s unclamped itself and is in need of a good screw,” he says, then smirks overly wide.

My eyes bulge at the innuendo, but I also can’t help giggling quietly. Once I control myself, I mumble, “Don’t we all.”

“Don’t we all?” he queries.

“Need a good screw,” I answer before thinking.

His eyes open wide, and I cringe, realizing I actually said that aloud.

“Oh my God, I didn’t mean that how it sounded. I, um…”

He bursts out laughing as I put my head in my hands while he walks back to his car.

Good one, Makaylie!

I have no idea what he’s doing as I wallow in my self-pity party for one.

The hottie strolls back, grinning wide as he walks past me with a bottle of water and a screwdriver. I continue to watch him while trying to move past my embarrassment, and I think he looks a little familiar. Like, maybe I recognize him from somewhere, but I can’t quite place where. It slips my mind the minute he drops the screwdriver and bends over, giving me a view of his perfectly toned ass through his soaked jeans. My breath catches when he turns his head, spotting me eyeing his assets, and I quickly look away.

He chuckles and stands, then closes the hood. “All fixed,” he states while walking over to me and shoving his hand out for me to shake. I can’t help but notice the gold ring on his left-hand pointer finger. It’s square, with the letter ‘B’ branded on the metal. “Cain Barrington, nice to meet you,” he offers.

Ahh…‘B’ must be for Barrington—fair enough.

I hold out my hand, and he takes it firmly and shakes it once. All I can hear is a hum, almost like an electrical surge crackling through the storm above us, but I can’t see any lightning. There’s energy or a pulse coursing between us, making all the hairs on my arms stand up. I look into his striking blue eyes, and something flickers in his as he stares right back into mine. Cain’s intense, and while the rain continues to fall, it feels like he’s as taken by me as I am by him. His lips turn up in the corners like he’s amused as I realize we are still shaking hands, and I haven’t said a damn word.

“Oh, crap, sorry. I’m Makaylie. Makaylie Rayne, as in R.A.Y.N.E., not as in it’s raining, which it is, and I am very, very wet.” He smirks, and I close my eyes and reopen them slowly at how that came out. “Oh fuck! There I go again… I swear I don’t have a filter. I didn’t mean that how it sounded.” I let out a heavy sigh.

He chuckles and leans down, looking me in the eyes again. My breathing hitches as he bores deep into my eyes with his, then tucks a strand of dripping wet hair behind my ear. The gesture soothes me as my shoulders relax at his touch.

“Do you live close by? You should probably take it slow in case the clamp doesn’t hold on the radiator hose. I only had a small bottle of water to put into the radiator, so she might overheat again. I can follow you to ensure you get home safely if you like?” he suggests.

I look at him, stunned.

Does this man think I’m the type of woman who would take him home with me after a few minutes of harmless flirting, undeniable chemistry, and him fixing my hose?

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