You Again (You Collection #5)

Chapter 1

One

“Is that good with you?”

Angela was speechless for a second or two, thinking it over. “That should work. I’m pretty open actually.”

“You’ll be reading with Dot,” she chuckled. “We’ve had quite a turnaround on her. She doesn’t seem to keep her reading pals for too long.”

“Um... why?”

“Well, the word is...” she whispered, leaning towards her “and don’t tell anyone I told you this… I hear she can be a little difficult.”

“Oh well, I’m sure it will be fine,” Angela assured the librarian, not quite convinced

herself. She started to wonder if she had taken on more than she could handle.

An ordinary piece of blue paper pinned to a corkboard had started it all. It was just another boring Monday when Angela Jenkins spotted it in the distance. She had been in the habit of coming to the library every week to get out of the house, and for the occasional chat with some fellow bookworms.

The heading ‘Share your love of Reading’ caught her eye. She inspected the rest of the copy carefully:

‘The ‘Readers which was one of the reasons she wanted to volunteer in the first place. If she had so much time on her hands, why not do something beneficial and help someone.

And the following Monday, not knowing what to expect, she was on her way.

She hated Mondays. Bad things always happened on Mondays; she would lose her keys, her pantyhose would run, her cat would escape, her new expensive white blouse would turn pink, thanks to a rogue red sock.

She was hoping this Monday would be different but... there would be no such luck to be had.

She snuck a side peak at her map; she seemed to be going in the right direction.

There were no major landmarks; mostly farmland, horse farms, landscaping companies, corn fields and the occasional old quaint farmhouse.

The countryside is beautiful in mid spring but she didn’t take the time to notice.

She had just passed a small town and wasn’t quite sure where she was.

She tried to focus on the road, tucking a long strand of golden blond hair behind her ear.

She finally saw the sign for Majesta Road, far in the distance.

She mentally patted herself on the back for wearing her glasses; bookish tortoise glasses with a small prescription for distance.

“There it is. I’m almost there.” She turned on to the paved road. She wasn’t lost after all. She felt good.

But... it was Monday after all…and an end to that good feeling soon came when she heard a sudden loud bang and thumping from her front left tire.

She felt a pull and wasn’t quite in full control of her car.

She almost began to panic but took a breath, held the steering wheel tight and managed to drive to the shoulder and park the car.

She got out of the car and as she suspected, she had a flat tire. Yes, definitely another Monday, she thought and kicked the tire a few times.

“This is just fantastic,” she told herself, extremely frustrated. She kicked the tire one more time, hard. Her first instinct was to call Robert. She was impatient as his phone rang three times before he answered.

“Hello, Robert Walsh.”

“Robert... Hi, it’s Angela. I’m parked on the side of Majesta Road, off Stouffville Road...” she said, not quite sounding like herself. “...and I have a flat tire.”

“Yeah...and?”

“Well, can you come help me out?

“Listen Angie, I’m in the middle of work here. Just call a tow truck. Why are you even bothering me with this? You can handle it, you’re a big girl.”

The conversation had not completely surprised Angela. Robert wasn’t exactly the most considerate man on the planet.

She went into her car and reached for her purse. Leaning against the car door, she rummaged through it but couldn’t seem to find her AAA card. She kicked the tire again; a few times for good measure.

She turned when she heard a car coming close; a large black shiny SUV. Great! She figured she must have looked the complete idiot, standing there, stranded on the side of the road. She got a little apprehensive when the SUV slowed down and parked behind her on the shoulder.

A tall man got out of the car, dressed in a crisp blue suit; he seemed harmless enough. He flashed a big grin as he came closer; apparently he thought this was funny.

“That tire is really taking a beating. What did it do to you?” he joked.

Angela was mildly annoyed. “Well, isn’t it obvious?

” she said, looking at the busted tire. “I’m stranded now.

” She took a step back and clutched her purse.

She looked into the distance, wishing another car would drive by on the semi deserted road; hoping a nice elderly woman and her mechanic husband would come to her rescue.

“You’re stranded?”

“Well, I don’t know how else I should put it.”

“Don’t you have a spare tire?” he asked.

She looked up from her purse. He was standing in front of her, still smiling, still amused. She figured he was probably too clean cut to be of any use to her at that moment. Suits like him knew nothing about cars. She guessed he probably knew as little as she did.

“It’s ok. I’ve got a number for AAA in here. I can just call and they’ll be here in a jiff.”

“I can just help you right now if you want,” he offered. “I’ve got a jack in my car and if you’ve got a spare tire--”

“I’m really fine. Don’t trouble yourself--”

“Well, if you’re good, I’ll get going. I just thought I’d ask,” he told her as he slowly backed away, still holding her gaze until he turned towards his car.

She started to panic; unsure. It would be fantastic if this could just be settled right then, she thought. She was running late for her meeting.

“Umm...wait,” she yelled as he almost reached his car.

He turned around, still grinning. “What was that?” he asked.

“Well, maybe if it’s not too much trouble...,” she said, hesitating, feeling the nice spring breeze blow in her hair.

“Well, I don’t know. I was on my way to some very important business,” he told her matter-of-factly.

Now she was officially completely annoyed.

“You’re kidding right?”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll be all right on your own,” he told her, still grinning.

“You’re joking,” she insisted.

He walked up to her and held out his hand. “Of course I’m kidding,” he said as he introduced himself. “I’m Michael.”

A firm handshake followed. And she noticed he had a very kind face and a nice smile.

“I’m Angela Jenkins.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Angela.”

“Same here,” she offered a shy smile. Suddenly she was feeling ill at ease, but in an entirely different way than before.

“Let’s go check out that tire.”

He crouched down to inspect the tire. “Yep, it’s done for. Do you have a spare?”

“Um... I don’t think so,” she said, biting her lip, thinking about it. “I don’t have anything in the trunk.”

“Get in and put on the emergency brake and pop the trunk for me.” He was giving her orders now; she quickly obliged.

He reached into her trunk and lifted the floor mat. He rolled his eyes and smiled. He had barely spoken… but yet had already managed to make her feel like a complete idiot.

Yes, there it was; the spare tire, ready to save the day.

“Oh... I forgot it was in there,” she explained, not looking at him.

I am really not an idiot, really.

He took off his jacket and gave it to her to hold without a word.

He rolled his sleeves and reached in to lift the tire.

She observed he had a nice lean muscular build and decided she might have judged him a little too soon.

Her father had always told her not to judge a book by its cover.

Maybe he wasn’t just a suit after all; he seemed to really know what he was doing.

He ran to his car to get his jack and tire iron. She ran behind him, trying to keep up and took the opportunity to lay his jacket on the sleek black leather of his front car seat.

“As the saying goes: It’s better to teach a man to fish so he can feed himself than to give him a fish that will feed him just once,” he explained as they walked back to her car.

“I’ll teach you how to change your tire. That way, if it ever happens again, you won’t be stranded,” he said, emphasizing the last word; mocking her. Mildly offended and annoyed, she acted coy. “If you wish.”

He loosened the wheel lugs using surprising force. “You have to put some elbow grease into this part.”

She enjoyed the sight of his shoulder muscles at work.

“Counter clockwise. You want to just loosen them,” he explained. “Here, come down here and do one for me.”

She crouched down and took a shot. It was a lot harder than she thought it would be.

“Having a little trouble?” His wide grin teased her on many levels.

She was determined to prove herself strong. She was strong. She pushed on that tire iron and gave it her all; and she got it.

“Good for you,” he told her, excited. “You’re pretty strong for...” he stopped himself short.

“A woman?” she said, half defensive, half teasing.

“I was going to say ‘for such a small woman’,” he explained.

“I’m not small. I’m five feet four,” she countered.

“I mean slight… petite. It’s not an insult.”

“I’m doing all of them,” she told him and proceeded to do so. He watched her intently.

When she was done, he positioned the jack under the wheel and cranked it up.

“When the tire is completely off the ground, you can take the tire off. Why don’t you do it?”

“Um...no, you go ahead,” she told him, not intending to get dirty.

“Angela, it’s your car.”

Although she was impressed he remembered her name, she had no intention on collaborating.

“And I’m wearing my good shirt,” he joked.

Jerk.

“But you’re already dirty,” she observed.

“Why don’t you get dirty too?” he teased, a wide grin plastered on his face.

Sexy jerk.