Chapter 3 #2
Culture shock, that’s what it was. Simple and true. Back in my world, men wore ties and suits. Not jeans and boots. Not cowboy hats pulled low over sharp jaws that flexed like he was grinding down…frustration?
He paused outside, eyes locked on something in the lot, then stormed toward the entrance—all coiled intensity and angry strides.
Belle glanced up as he shoved open the door. “Well, if it ain’t my lucky day,” she chirped. “How’s my favorite—” She stopped mid-sentence. “Zane, no offense, hon, but you look terrible.” With narrowed eyes, she peered past him out the window. “Where’s your truck?”
“Four miles out of town. On the side of the road,” he snapped. “I had to ride the new horse here.”
“A horse?” Belle blinked. “Wait, what—”
“Whose red car is that out there?”
Belle’s gaze flicked, very subtly, in my direction.
The cowboy caught it instantly. And then he was coming straight for me.
My stomach plummeted as he stopped at my booth and glared. “That yours?” he asked, jerking his chin toward the parking lot.
Heat prickled under my skin. “Yes,” I answered, feeling meek as I stared up at him, waiting for him to continue as my heart hammered. But when he just stared back, with his deep blue eyes boring into me like I’d somehow personally offended the entire state of Texas, something inside of me snapped.
Maybe it was exhaustion. Maybe it was frustration at myself for missing my damn turn.
Or maybe it was because I’d spent too long letting men like Heath—loud, angry men—intimidate me into silence and letting them tower over me like I owed them something.
Either way, I straightened my spine, lifted my chin, and met his glare head-on.
“Is there something I can help you with?”
His jaw ticked. “You could’ve. Four miles ago.”
My eyes narrowed as I studied him with confusion, wondering what mileage had to do with his apparent anger towards me.
“You don’t recognize me?” he growled, brows drawn tight.
I looked him over slowly. He did look kind of familiar. But… “Can’t say that I do.”
The cowboy expelled a harsh sigh then as he threw his arms up and waved them wildly in the air. “How about now?”
I stared, quickly becoming convinced that this guy was out of his mind. But then it hit me.
No. Way.
It was him. The man on the side of the road just outside of town. Shirtless. Sweaty. Waving like a maniac.
A slow grin pulled at my mouth as I leaned back. “Oh yeah. I guess I just didn’t recognize you with your shirt on.”
His eyes narrowed into slits. “Care to explain why you just blew past me?”
“Blew past you?” I echoed mockingly. “Hmm, let me think. Um, maybe because you were a strange, half-naked man in the middle of nowhere.”
“I was not half-naked,” he whisper-shouted through gritted teeth, scanning the room like someone might be eavesdropping.
Spoiler: they were.
“Look, cowboy,” I snapped, making the word sound like an insult. “Maybe where you’re from, women pull over for men having topless tantrums on the side of a deserted road. But where I’m from? That’s how you end up a headline on the nightly news. So, no, I didn’t stop. And no, I’m not sorry.”
His hands landed on my table as he leaned down, invading my space and instinctively making me recoil. My breath stuttered before I could stop it. Not because I was scared of him, exactly, but because my body still hadn’t learned the difference.
“Look, princess,” he bit back, matching my tone, “you don’t get to roll into town with your shiny car and don’t-talk-to-me sunglasses, acting like basic human courtesy is beneath you and treat us like peasants who should be grateful just to breathe the same air you do.
” He leaned in closer, lowering his voice to a rumbly growl.
“Nobody here’s bowing down or falling to their knees just because you say so. ”
A slow, reckless smirk curled my lips. “Maybe some of us like seeing a man on his knees.”
What the hell?
My brain immediately slammed on the brakes. I wish my mouth had done the same.
Since when do I flirt with cowboys? Angry cowboys, at that.
Instinct kicked in then, and my muscles tensed. My heart thudded, and I braced for the snap I’d been conditioned to expect…but nothing came. Just…silence, and the flicker of surprise in his eyes.
He grinned at me, but there was no warmth in it. “Oh, yeah?” His voice dropped to a low murmur. “Well, the only time I’d be on my knees is when I’m beggin’ God to take you and that spoiled attitude and drag you straight back to whatever gated hell you came from.”
I blinked, stunned for a beat, before rage flared in my chest. Hot and instant.
He glared a second longer, then pushed away from the table as he turned on his heel and stalked away.
“Screw you, cowboy!” I shouted after him. “And that horse you rode in on.”
And—whoops!—now everyone in the diner had turned to look at us.
He looked back, a smug smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“Very original, princess,” he said coolly.
“And by the way…next time you’re ‘running for your life to avoid becoming a headline,’ maybe try staying on the damn road.
” His eyes flicked toward the diner window, where my car sat crooked in the gravel.
I blinked as my stomach dropped.
No.
The front driver’s side tire was definitely deflated—sagging low and tilting slightly. Had it been like that when I pulled in?
Feeling the weight of everyone’s eyes on me, I slipped out of the booth and ducked into the restroom to calm my heart and my breath.
My hands trembled as I turned on the faucet.
The nerve of that guy—storming up to me, a total stranger, and talking to me like that.
Heath used to do that. Corner me with his words. Make me feel small and stupid.
But this time…I’d fought back.
I pushed my sunglasses up to my head, creating a makeshift headband against my freshly dyed darker hair, and splashed cold water on my face.
The icy sting brought me down a notch as I snatched a few paper towels from the wall-mounted dispenser and blotted them against my skin.
I tossed the used paper towels into the waste bin and braced against the sink, lifting my gaze to the mirror to stare at my reflection.
Shit, there went my makeup. Thankfully, though, the bruise around my eye had almost faded completely, but the memory of how I got it hadn’t.
Still, I’d stood my ground with that cowboy.
As loud and intimidating as he was, I hadn’t shrunk—not this time. That had to count for something, right?
I adjusted my sunglasses back in place, concealing what was left of Heath’s damage as I stepped out of the restroom.
The cowboy was gone from the diner, but I spotted him through the window standing beside his horse.
Movement caught my eye then, and my heart jumped.
Willy was crouched next to my car, running a hand over the ruined tire. I rushed outside.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
Willy bolted upright, hands raised like I’d just caught him stealing. “Whoa, easy now. Just takin’ a look.” He thumbed toward my car. “That tire’s shot.”
I exhaled sharply. “I didn’t even realize it was flat when I pulled in.”
“Well, that’d explain the damage. Rim’s not lookin’ so hot either. You must’ve driven a few miles on it.”
I winced. Four miles exactly. Stupid cowboy on the road. “I did,” I confessed, exhausted.
Willy chuckled. “Eh, hard to tell sometimes with how bumpy our roads are. Especially out near the cattle crossing. But I’ve seen worse.”
I blinked at him. Was that…understanding? From a man?
“Still,” he said, “that one’s done for. I own the garage down the road and can tow it in for you. Once I get her up on the lift I can see about fixin’ the rim, but I’ll need to order the tire.”
“How long will that take?” I asked. And how much is it gonna cost?
Willy scratched his beard. “Might be a couple days. Maybe longer. This ain’t exactly Dallas.”
I blew out a breath and crossed my arms as I felt my entire body sag.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed that cowboy watching me—standing with his horse and that stupid smug smirk lifting the corner of his mouth again.
He looked like he wanted to say something, but a pickup truck with a horse trailer pulled in just then, cutting off our glaring contest. Another man got out and together they loaded the animal into the trailer.
I turned back to Willy. “Thanks,” I muttered, unsure of what else to say.
He nodded and went for his tow truck as I trudged back into the diner. My booth suddenly felt too isolating, so I sank onto a barstool and dropped my head into my hands. What now? No car. No place to stay. No idea what came next.
“I know I already asked what brings you through Tarnation,” Belle said gently, and I lifted my head to meet a pair of caring eyes. “But I get the sense that this ain’t a sightseeing trip.”
A bitter chuckle escaped my lips. “More like a wrong turn I never got to make right.”
She hummed and assessed me before leaning in and lowering her voice. “What are you runnin’ from, sweetheart?”