Chapter Ten
Jinx got into her truck after the odd interaction with Viking outside the diner.
He didn’t seem like the paranoid sort, but he’d looked around the lot as if he’d sensed someone watching him.
If he’d been a lawyer who prosecuted bad guys, she’d worry for him, but as a man who dealt in land issues and such, she didn’t see who would be making him look over his shoulders.
“I’ll see you tonight,” she said, wondering if he’d actually show up.
Her body still tingled from the light touches earlier.
If she hadn’t needed to work, she didn’t doubt they’d have ended up tangled in her sheets already.
Not that she was easy. Hell, she'd slept with one man in all her twenty-four years. One time. Maybe if he’d been good, or if it had been good, she’d have done it again.
Gah, she needed to get away so she could get her shit together.
“Buckle up and drive safely. I’ll see you in a few hours,” he said, leaning down to look her in the eyes. “If you need me to bring you anything, shoot me a text or call me.”
Jinx gave him a thumbs up, waiting for him to shut the door before shifting into reverse. She eased onto the road, acutely aware of Viking watching her.
A couple of hours later, she moved toward the front of the bar, ready to cook herself a pizza. They had a small kitchen area behind the bar that offered pizza and a few other things that could be baked or microwaved. She never ate the microwaved shit, but the pizza wasn’t too bad.
She ducked under the counter and moved through the swinging door into the kitchen breakroom combo. Inside the standing freezer, she pulled out a personal pizza. After setting the oven temperature to the correct temperature, she pulled out her phone to check the time.
“Shit. Fred and Jordan should be here by now.” Her best friend texted earlier, saying he was catching a ride with his roommate. She didn’t think that should make them both late.
She pressed the button with his image next to it, waiting for Fred’s familiar voice to answer. After several rings, his voicemail picked up. She tried again, hoping he’d misplaced his device and would answer this time. She hung up the moment his automatic ringtone clicked into the recorded tone.
“Dammit, Freddy. Where the hell are you?”
She put her phone back into her pocket and moved toward the door leading to the bar. A buzz made her pause and pull her cell phone out. She looked down to find a message from Fred.
Her hand went to her mouth. An image of Jordan’s SUV in a ditch with a tow truck on the road made her heart lurch. The words under the image blurred. She blinked several times until she could read Fred’s message.
“A deer ran out in front of us. Numbnuts screamed like a girl and ran into one, then off the road into the ditch. We’re waiting on the ambulance and cops. Can you believe the tow guy got here first? Also, he’s hot, and his truck is warm.”
She nearly collapsed in relief after reading his explanation. The oven beeped, reminding her she needed to heat her pizza. While she typed with one hand, she hurriedly put the pizza in with the other.
“Take care of yourself and keep me posted on the damage. Tell Jordan I said I hope he’s okay, and I’m sorry about his SUV.”
Fred mentioned the ambulance, but he didn’t say they were severely injured.
She had to assume they were taking precautions or something.
Her friend was a drama king who would’ve cried to the heavens if he’d been hurt.
Not to say that Jordan might not be suffering in some way.
Fred tended to overlook others' plights when he was focused on his own. From the sounds of it, he had his eyes on a tow truck driver instead of his roommate. That could be a sticky situation, but she wouldn’t stick her nose in his business.
“Good thing I came in early to stock up. Now I can only hope shit doesn’t get crazy tonight.”
The bar phone rang, jarring her nerves. She wiped her palms down her thighs before snatching the receiver up. “Tap House,” she said.
“Hey, Jinx. This is Frank. I just got off the phone with Fred. He said Jordan has a broken leg. He’s whining about having a broken nose and possibly needing plastic surgery to fix his good looks.
The kid is broken in the head. Foolish boy.
Fred is going to ride along with Jordan and get checked out even though he swears he’s fine.
” He sighed loudly. “Anyway, I’m calling to tell you to go ahead and lock up.
I don’t want you to be there on Christmas by yourself.
Take the night off, with pay, of course. ”
“I don’t mind, Frank. Really, I’ve worked the bar by myself plenty of times.” She tried to reassure the older man, but there was a finality to his tone. She had a feeling nothing she said would sway him.
“I know that, but it’s Christmas. I want you to shut everything down and go home. Or go to a friend’s, whatever you want to do. I’ll give you a call tomorrow, and we’ll see how those two boys are doing. We might need to hire some help if they’re going to be out of commission for a bit.”
She opened her mouth, intending to argue with Frank, but snapped it closed as Frank spoke with his wife in the background. She waited until the duo stopped talking and then agreed to close up.
Jinx went back into the kitchen, pulled her pizza out, and shut the oven off.
Loneliness hit her hard. She shook her head to clear the unwanted emotion and tossed the half-cooked pizza into the trash.
After double-checking the stove to make sure it was off, she went through the bar, making sure she’d locked up properly before heading toward the rear.
Jinx set the alarm and exited the bar. She tugged at the door, making sure to shut it securely. The cold sent a chill down her toes. She shivered and headed toward her truck, stopping dead in her tracks. “Son-of-a-bitch,” she snarled.
Two of her tires were flat. She looked back at the bar and considered going inside, but then she decided to sit in her truck while she waited for the tow guy to change her tires.
Luckily, she actually had two spares. One under the bed and one in the back.
She’d gotten the sage advice the first winter she’d lived up here to always have two tires on the ready in the winter. Until now, she’d never needed them.
With a press of her key fob, she unlocked her truck. Warmth enveloped her as she sat inside, scrolling through her contacts. “God, I hope Fred doesn’t have the tow driver tied up or vice versa.”
Giving up on finding the guy’s number in her contacts, she did a Google search, hitting pay dirt instantly.
She pressed the button to contact Doyle Dunn.
She gritted her teeth as the phone rang, and then, as it went to voicemail, she groaned.
Jinx left a message explaining she had two flat tires on her truck sitting outside Taps.
She hoped he could hear the desperation in her tone as she asked him to hurry, but if he was with Fred doing god knows what, he probably wouldn’t get her message until the next day.
Jinx banged her head on the headrest. The soft cushion did nothing to soothe her anger. She looked back down at her hand holding the phone. “I’ll just text Viking. Maybe he can give me a lift home.”
She snorted at her words, but she pressed a quick text before she could chicken out. “Hey, whatcha doin?”
Jinx bit her lip, waiting for Viking to respond. Three little dots appeared, making her freeze. As the message came through, she exhaled.
“On my way. Are you safe?”
“I’m good. Sitting in my truck.”
Her phone rang, jarring in the small cab. “Hello?”
“Why are you in your truck and not in the bar?”
She gave him a quick explanation about Fred and Jordan getting into an accident, and then Frank told her to go home.
He made a few grunts, and she could hear the sound of his big truck’s engine in the background. They stayed on the phone, talking about nonsensical things while he drove to her.
When his headlights came into view, Jinx felt the knot in her stomach ease.
Viking backed in next to her, exiting his truck. He walked over to the passenger side of her vehicle and knocked on the window. She hurriedly unlocked the door, allowing him to climb in. While her Ford wasn’t as big as his, she’d never considered it a small truck until Viking sat next to her in it.
“Holy shit, it’s cold out there.” He rubbed his hands together, the sound loud and sexy in the small space. Hell, she had a feeling anything he did, she’d find sexy.
“I know. When I stepped outside, I swore the temps dropped thirty degrees from the time I’d gone in.”
“So, you’ve got two flat tires. I assume you’ve got two spares with you? If you sit tight, I’ll get to changing them, and you can get back on the road,” he began.
She held her hand up. “Ah, that’s a negative, big guy. How about you give me a ride home? And if you haven’t eaten, I will cook us something before you head home. Of course, if you have plans, then just a ride home would be great.” She pressed her lips together to keep from babbling.
He pressed his finger against her lips. “Okay, let's lock your rig up and see about getting our stomachs filled in town. I don’t want to put you out by making you cook for me. Besides, I bet you don’t have any meat thawed, and I don’t want you to stress out over making me shit.”
Holding his stare, she nipped his finger.
“Oh, you like playing with fire, Vakker.”
Jinx smiled, loving the power she felt at having this big man on edge. “I’m a risk taker.”
He shifted, the leather creaking under his weight. “Hmm, I think I like this side of you. Let’s see how much,” he said, voice deep and rumbling.
She opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but he reached across the space, slid his hand into her hair, and pulled her closer to him.
Jinx reached for him, her hands going around his shoulders, participating in the kiss.
They came together in a clash of lips and teeth.
Her body arched toward his, wanting to be closer.
“Fuck, if we don’t get out of here, I might embarrass myself.”
“I fear I feel the same. I’ve never made out in a vehicle before,” she admitted.
“Another first. I’m gonna start keeping a list.” He winked.
She laughed as he sat back, watching him push the door open. She knew he’d be coming around to her side like a gentleman to open her door.
God, she needed to guard her heart, or she’d fall for a man who would be leaving in no time, while she hid her true identity to keep herself safe.
Jinx wiped thoughts of everything except for the here and now from her mind and focused on the giant of a man opening her door with a smile on his face.
“Hey, you,” she whispered. “You come here often?”
Viking barked a laugh. “There are so many things I could say to that, but I’ll hold my tongue. C’mere, woman.”
She giggled as he lifted her down. “You must lift a lot of weights daily. Seriously, the way you move me about like I’m light as a feather is crazy.” She reached up to touch his bicep.
“You’re a tiny little thing.” He flexed his right arm under her palm.
“I’ll have you know I’m considered average, mister. Maybe a little on the thin side, but I have a bubble butt.”
Jinx slapped her gloved hand over her mouth. She didn’t want him to think she was fishing for compliments.
“Trust me, there isn’t an average inch of you, Vakker. You have a supreme ass, and the front of you leaves me breathless. If someone said differently, then whoever said such stupid shit is either blind or a complete dumbass who doesn’t know their ass from a hole in the wall.