Chapter 33
SAM
I slammed on the brakes and parked in front of the shop. I came in pretty fucking hot and my tires squealed. Ernie looked up from whatever he was working on under the hood of an SUV in the first bay, eyes wide. The sliding door was open and jazz came from a radio.
He came out, wiping his hands with a rag he pulled from the back pocket of his coveralls. “Hey Sam, everything okay?”
Glancing around, I took a deep breath. Clio’s scent was in the air but not overly strong. “Where’s Clio?”
I tipped my chin up and glanced at the apartment windows above, as if I could see through them. As if she stood in one like she had the night I’d picked up my truck. I’d wanted to go to her then just as fiercely as I wanted to now.
“She’s at the ranch.”
My shoulders slumped. My wolf howled in frustration. She wasn’t here.
FUCK!
“What ranch?” There were at least twenty in the county.
“Wolf Ranch.”
I blinked at the old man.
“She’s at Wolf Ranch,” I repeated.
He grinned. “Yeah. She’s there to fix that axle on your trailer.”
She was at Wolf Ranch fixing the axle on my trailer? Right now?
My axle. My trailer. I’d mentioned that it was broken to her one time when I shared my business plans. She remembered and volunteered to fix it.
He scratched his head. “You didn’t see her?”
I shook my head.
“Well, shoot. The way she ran off, it seemed like she wanted to do more than fix that axle.”
“Like… kill me?”
He wiped his hands with a rag again as he shook his head. “No, you idiot. Like kiss you.”