Chapter 22
“IS THIS THING OUT OF GAS?” demanded the California cowboy.
“No, it’s not.” Zona swore under her breath and tried again to get the car moving.
Once more, it let her down. A car came up behind her and honked. She put on her hazard lights, let down the window, and waved him past.
The California cowboy gave a snort. “Don’t you drivers get your cars checked out before you start doing this?”
That set her face on fire. “My car’s been working fine,” she informed him.
Up until the night before. She should have stayed home and played cards with her mom and Susan.
She pulled her phone from the dashboard and put in a call to the dispatcher. “Car trouble. I need a relief driver,” she said, and gave her location. “Someone will be coming to take you the rest of the way in just a couple of minutes,” she said to Cowboy.
His look of irritation vanished, replaced by a grin. “I guess we’ll just have to get to know each other better while we’re waiting.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” she said as she unlocked the car hood. She got out to open it—a good excuse to get away from that friendly hand reaching toward her again.
By the time she’d lifted the hood, he was right there next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder and pretending to look at the motor along with her. “Let’s see if we can figure this out.”
“I’ve got it handled,” she said, and stepped away.
“I know a few things about cars. I can help you,” he insisted. “This has got to be a sure sign that we were meant to meet.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Aww, come on now. It’s fate. You’d better let me stay here with you. You don’t want to be here all by yourself.”
With cars whizzing by. It was hardly an isolated spot. “I’ll be fine. I’ve got Triple A.”
“They could take all night to come,” he said.
There was a cheery thought.
He tried to close the distance between them, but she held up her hand. “I’m not having a good night. You really don’t want to mess with me.”
He blinked in surprise. “Whoa. PMS.”
Yep. Pissed at Male Stupidity. She gave him the same glare that used to make Gary shake in his Vans.
A black SUV flashed its lights as it passed them, then parked a few feet ahead of them in the nearby parking lot of a strip mall.
Her relief driver, thank God. She had a grateful smile on her face, ready to greet him as he got out, until she recognized that light brown hair and the slightly crooked nose, the stylish glasses, and the perfect smile.
“Gary?”
Her ex looked equally surprised to see her. “Zona?”
“Zona. So that’s your name,” said the cowboy. “I guess all you rideshare drivers know each other. You two dating?”
Both Zona and Gary ignored the question.
“Have you got luggage?” Gary asked him.
“Yeah, it’s on the back seat.” Gary went to fetch the luggage, and the cowboy turned to Zona. “Hey, we got off on the wrong foot somewhere. I really am a nice guy. I’m Carl.”
“Safe travels, Carl. Gary will take you the rest of the way,” she said, sounding properly professional.
“I really would like to see you sometime,” Carl said.
Yes, she wanted to hang out with Carl from the Planet Clueless. “I don’t think so.” She pointed to the SUV. How had Gary managed to get such a nice car? “Your ride’s waiting.”
“Oh, come on. How about a phone number?” He pulled his phone out, ready to share.
Gary was with them now. “You ready to go?” he asked the cowboy.
“As soon as I get this nice lady’s phone number,” Carl said, smiling at Zona.
“You’re not going to, so feel free to leave,” said Zona.
“She’s not kidding,” Gary added.
Cowboy Carl’s brows did the irritation dip, but he recovered and shrugged. “Okay, your loss,” he said, and sauntered to where Gary had parked.
“What are you doing?” she demanded as her passenger walked away.
“Same thing as you, trying to make money,” said Gary. “I took a second job on top of my one at Macy’s.” He looked at her sadly. “I’m sorry you’re having to do this, Zona.”
“Yeah, well, me, too.” Her voice was frosty.
He looked around in concern. “Are you going to be all right here by yourself?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine. And a lot happier by myself than standing here with you.”
He pressed his lips together and nodded. Then he walked off. How had he managed to get a nicer car than hers? Oh, who cared?
She was standing by the side of her car calling for help when a truck appeared and pulled up behind her. Oh, good grief. Really?
Alec James got out and joined her. “What’s the trouble?”
“My car died and now it won’t start.”
“Let me try,” he said, and got in.
Man to the rescue, she thought, and was pleased to see that it didn’t start for him, either.
He got out and walked to the hood and Zona followed him.
Gary reappeared. “Zona, I’m going to stay with you until a tow truck comes,” he said, giving Alec James the big dog look.
Yes, that was what Zona needed, her ex who’d screwed her over deciding he now wanted to be her knight in shining armor. Except Gary’s armor was rusted and useless.
“Oh, Gary, go away,” she said irritably. “I know this man.”
Gary’s eyes narrowed. “You do?”
Alec James simply stood there, saying nothing. Looking ten times buffer than Gary, his collection of muscles stuffed into his jeans and T-shirt and windbreaker.
“You’re dating? Already?” Gary looked at her as if she’d somehow betrayed him.
“No, I’m not. Not that it’s any of your business.”
“Then who is this man?” Gary demanded.
“The lady just said it’s none of your business,” said Alec in a low-voiced growl.
“He’s my neighbor.”
“Hey, are we gonna get going or what?” called Cowboy Carl from Gary’s SUV.
Gary managed one more suspicious once-over for Alec James, then said, “Okay, Zona. Be careful.”
“Somebody should have told me that when I first met you,” she retorted.
His wounded look was almost enough to make her regret her words. Almost.
“So I guess that’s an ex?” said Alec James as Gary walked away.
“Ex-husband,” said Zona. She grabbed her phone from the car and began to search for the number of her towing insurance company.
“Put your phone away. I’ve got a tow dolly,” he said. “I’ll get you home.”
She didn’t want to be indebted to Alec James. Things were already awkward enough between them.
He sensed her hesitation. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to knock you unconscious and steal your beater.”
She frowned at him. “I never said you were.”
“You say a lot with those pretty, big eyes of yours,” he informed her, and turned back to his truck to get the equipment he needed.
“And it’s not a beater,” she muttered as he walked away.
Fifteen minutes later she was in the cab of his truck with her car following along behind them, a mixture of gratitude and unease rolling around in her stomach. “Thanks for the help,” she said. She had to be polite.
“Just being a good neighbor.” He didn’t smile and he didn’t look at her.
“A reluctant good neighbor,” she suggested.
He shrugged. “Is this the first time your car’s crapped out on you?”
“No, it happened last night, too. Martin replaced the air filter.”
“Guess it wasn’t that.”
“Guess not.”
“It could be your fuel pump.”
Here was cheery news. She frowned.
“I could be wrong. Cars aren’t really my thing.”
“Maybe they’re not Martin’s, either,” she mused.
“I’ve got a friend who’s a mechanic. He takes on side jobs at home. Want me to call him? We can tow your car right to his place. Don’t worry. It’s not at the end of a canyon.”
Okay, these jabs were making her uncomfortable. “I believe you.”
“There’s a switch,” he said. He used his hands-free and put in a call. Zona could hear voices and music in the background as a man answered, “Hey, dude. You sorry you left early?”
“Nope. Had enough of you clowns. You want some more work?”
“Sure,” said the voice.
“Okay, then, get your butt home. I’ll meet you there. Got a woman in need.”
“Oh, no. Not Angela.”
“Nope,” Alec James said, and ended the call.
It was hard to refrain from asking who Angela was, but Zona managed.
Instead, she said, “I appreciate this.” Although she should have stuck with her original plan to call Triple A.
She didn’t need to be riding around with Alec James.
At night. Just the two of them cozied up in his truck. “You didn’t have to stop,” she added.
“It looked like you had some trouble.”
“Story of my life.”
“I can identify with that,” he said.
Alec James had trouble? He was trouble.
The silence felt awkward as they drove to his friend’s house, but Zona was having a hard time figuring out how to break it so she gave up trying.
They got to the house before his friend. It was a seventies-style rambler with Alpine trim along the roof that made the house look like it had gotten lost on its way to the mountains. Beyond the large gate at the end of the driveway, she saw a two-car garage.
Alec James shut off the motor and turned to Zona. “That ex of yours have something to do with why you’re driving fools around at night?”
“You could say that. He lost all our money gambling, raided my daughter’s college savings.” Okay, this was too much sharing. A simple yes would have sufficed.
Alec James let out a low whistle. “Fun times.”
“I’m trying to fix the mess he made.” So don’t judge me.
As if she cared whether or not Alec James judged her.
He nodded, looking surprisingly empathetic. “That sucks. Sometimes all it takes is one messed-up person to turn your life upside down.”
“Try two.” Lovely. Now, she sounded like a bitter loser. Probably because she was.
“So, second time in the fire for you, huh?”
“What can I say? I’m a bad judge of character.”
“Yeah, maybe you are,” he agreed.
She scowled at him.
“What?” he said defensively. “You misjudged me.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Did I?” Great idea, Zona, get the man angry. “Sorry.”
He frowned at her. “Okay, so what do you think I am? Not a murderer. We’ve cleared that up, right?”
“Not a murderer,” she agreed.
A truck pulled up behind them, and a short, stocky man with a shaved head got out and sauntered over to Alec James’s side of the cab. “I guess this is the patient,” he joked.
“It is,” Alec confirmed. “Zona, this is Jasper.”
“The car genius,” Jasper said, and grinned at Zona.
Then to Alec James, “Let’s get this baby backed into the garage.
” He opened the gate, pulled in his truck, and then opened the second garage.
It didn’t take long for Jasper to guide Alec James as he backed Zona’s car into the driveway and then the garage.
“It might take me a couple of days to get this done,” Jasper said to Zona after she shared the car’s symptoms with him. “I hope you’re not in a hurry.”
“I can manage,” she said. It was a good thing her mom didn’t need her car.
“Okay, then.”
She watched in horror as Alec pulled a money clip out of his jeans pocket.
Alec? He was Alec now?
“I can pay,” she said, and hurried back to his truck to get her purse.
By the time she’d turned around, it was a done deal. Jasper was heading for his front door and Alec was walking down the driveway.
Zona ran across the stone front yard. “Wait! I need to pay you.” She had ten dollars in her purse. She could use it as a down payment and get the rest from her bank’s ATM.
Jasper smiled, waved her away. “We’re good. No worries.”
“No, I want to,” she insisted.
“Take it up with the man,” he said. “And good luck with that. He won’t take your money.”
“Oh, yes, he will,” she said, as much to herself as to Jasper.
Back in the truck cab, she demanded, “How much did you give him? I’ll pay you back tomorrow.”
He shrugged. “Not much. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’ve got money,” she protested.
“And it sounds like you’ve got better things to do with it than pay for car repairs.”
“Seriously, how much did you give him?”
“Just enough to cover parts. He’s a friend. He owes me. I helped him replace the floor in his bathroom.”
“Parts are expensive. I’m not going to let someone pay my bills,” she said.
“Okay, you can pay me back.”
“Great. How much?”
“Buy me a burger and fries and large shake at In-N-Out.”
The last thing she wanted to do was go out to eat with Alec.
James. Alec James. She’d seen firsthand how relationships with him went.
This was probably how he’d lured the redhead into his web.
This was how he worked. Do a good deed here and there.
Help with dog training, pick up a stranded woman.
Who had been perfectly capable of getting herself home.
She would be a fool to go out with this man.
“We can take separate cars in case you’re worried I’ll drive you off into the woods somewhere and chop you up into little pieces,” he said.
“Of course, I could do that right now,” he added matter-of-factly, and she shivered.
He glanced her way and his brows lowered.
Did he sense her sudden unease? “It’s just burgers, Zona, and I’m trying to give you a break. ”
“That’s nice of you, but I don’t need a break. Let me pay you,” she said. Thank God they were finally on their street. She was more than ready to get out of his truck.
“Why do I get this feeling that, in spite of giving me cookies and drinks, you’re actually scared of me?”
Her eyes widened. “You’re kidding, right?” Okay, she shouldn’t have said that. It sounded accusatory. “Why would you think that?”
“You blow hot and cold.”
Like you.
Understanding dawned. “Oh, wait. All the yelling, right?”
“Look, we saw your girlfriend come back and then leave crying yesterday. Whatever was going on with you is clearly not over,” she began.
“Girlfriend? I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Then who was that woman staying with you?”
“Angela? She’s my own personal nightmare.”
“She said you were a monster.” Not the wisest thing to share. “It’s none of my business. We didn’t call the cops and now you’ve helped me and we’re even.”
“But you did call the cops,” he said.
“My mom did that, and I apologized.”
“But you believed her, didn’t you?” he said, his voice low.
This conversation was getting awkward and creepy. He turned into his driveway and Zona put her hand on the door handle, ready to jump out. “Let’s put that behind us.”
He put the truck in Park and she opened the door, but he laid a heavy hand on her arm, stopping her. “Wait.”