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  “Thanks. But I can’t put you to all that trouble.”

  “It’s no trouble at all.” He holds out his hand. “I’m Ewan.”

  And I take it, because it would be rude to refuse, and I’m not sure I even want to. His hand is large and dry and surprisingly reassuring, despite the contact sending a rush of warmth through me, right down to my toes and other places that haven’t been wide awake for a good while. “I’m Lara, and this is Ruby, my car.”

  He doesn’t drop my hand right away. “Pleased to meet you, Lara and Ruby,” he says, his dark eyes catching the sun. “I’ll just get a couple of the guys to help me move her. Back in a minute.”

  CHAPTER 4

  Ewan

  Accepting help doesn’t seem to sit easily with Lara. What is that about? In any case, I don’t want her to refuse, so I leave her standing there, an uncertain frown on her face, and bring back Tom and Billy before she can protest. We push the car around to the back of the station. It won’t be in the way there.

  I scoot right back to where Lara is waiting before Cooper decides he needs another number for his collection. “Where do you live? I’m just leaving, and I can run you home.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but it’s okay. I can get the bus.”

  Right. I should have thought. There’s no way she’s going to get in the car with a guy she doesn’t know without some kind of reassurance. “I don’t bite, honest. The guys will all vouch for me. I’ll give you my name, rank and serial number. Text your friend all my details.”

  She frowns. “It wasn’t that. I can look after myself, but I live in Oakley.”

  “It’s on my way.” At least, it is now. She’s worth going twenty miles out of my way for.

  “You live out there?”

  “No, Westport.”

  “That’s the other direction.”

  “Only if I don’t go via Oakley.”

  She laughs, and then she seems to think better of it. “It’s too far. Really, I can get the bus.”

  “There might not be a bus for ages.”

  “I’ll wait. It’s my fault for living in the sticks. I’ll just see when the next one is.” She starts looking at her phone.

  “Don’t worry about that. I’ll take you home anyway.”

  She ignores me and continues to tap away. “Ten past five. The next bus is not for hours.” Her face is aghast.

  “Like I said, I’ll take you home.”

  “If you really don’t mind...”

  “I don’t mind. I wouldn’t have offered if I minded.”

  Talk about fighting to do someone a favor. Getting her to accept a lift is like pulling teeth. Every other damsel in distress would be fluttering her eyelashes, playing helpless, and jumping at the offer of help, but not Lara.

  What is it with her? If I hadn’t seen the way she reacted when I held onto her hand just a bit longer than necessary, or the faint flush on her cheeks when she spoke to me now, I would have said she just wasn’t interested, but I think there’s something more to this.

  CHAPTER 5

  Lara

  Ewan is going to think I’m hopeless. First my car breaks down, and I don’t call for a tow right away. Instead, I do that thing with opening the hood and pretending to know something about cars when it’s obvious that I don’t. Then I live so far out of town there’s no regular bus service. And to top that, I make it obvious I want to get home immediately as if I couldn’t possibly amuse myself for a few hours while I wait.

  But I shouldn’t even care what he thinks. He’ll give me a lift home. I’ll send a tow truck for my car. He’ll get on with his life. I’ll get on with mine. I glance at his hands on the wheel. No ring. Why hasn’t some woman in need of a man snapped him up by now? Maybe he’s divorced.

  “What are you thinking?” he asks. We’ve been going for a couple of minutes and neither of us has said anything.

  I feel my cheeks redden. “This and that. I have to work tomorrow so I’ll see if I can get a garage to collect my car in the morning. Where will I tell them to pick up the keys?”

  “I’ll let you know. Don’t call them yet. We can probably fix it by tomorrow and save you the bother. A few of us are handy with cars.”

  “I can’t expect you to do that. I can pay for a garage...”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it. You were there to help out with the charity.”

  “Yes. To give it, not receive it.”

  “That doesn’t matter. Stick your number in there, and I’ll call you about the car.” He points to his phone that he threw down into the center console when we got in. I grab it and go to his contacts, happy to have something to do.

  “You don’t have another Lara.” I blush. Why did I say that? I shouldn’t have been looking. But he seems to have every other female name in there (some of them twice) along with the usual work numbers, dentist and the like. My heart drops. I’ve no idea why. I’m not looking for a date, and even if I was, what would I expect from a guy like him? He wasn’t shy about asking for my number or giving me a lift.

  “No. I don’t know any other Laras. In fact, don’t know anyone else like you,” he says.

  “What’s different about me?”

  “I’m still trying to work that out.”

  “You think I’m odd?”

  “No, just different.”

  “You mean I have horns and a tail.”

  “No, but you say stuff like ‘I have horns and a tail’ and that makes you different.”

  I put my number in his phone and send myself a text so I know how to contact him. My number will come up as “CAR (Lara).” I refuse to be the Lara in his collection of women. Maybe he’s looking for a full house of names.

  He smoothly overtakes a slow truck. “How come you work on a Sunday? What do you do?”

  “I work most weekends in a café.”

  “And other days?”

  “I’m a marketing assistant, and I help out at the local vet’s when I can.”

  “You have three jobs? How come you ended up with so many?”

  “I’m saving up for the down payment to buy a place.”

  After Dad left, my mother always worried about getting the rent together. Even now, I sometimes have to help her out. I want a place I can call my own eventually, even though I know it will take years to pay off the mortgage on a house. And that’s if I can scrape the down payment together.

  “You live at home now?” he asks.

  I glance over at him. Jeez, every time I look at him I wonder if I ventured onto the pages of some men’s razor ad or something, and my heart starts hammering. I imagine him scraping the razor through his stubble, cutting a path through the foam on his firm perfect jaw, his shirt off, towel around his waist, his abs and stomach on display like they were on the flyer. I need to get a grip on myself. This is ridiculous. He’s just a guy.

  I cough and pull myself together. “No. Not at home. I like my own space. My mother’s great, but she lives even farther from civilization than I do. It would take me forever to get to work.” I point over to a turning on the right. “My cottage is down here.”

  He turns down the narrow road. “Inconvenient living here without a car if you have three jobs. I thought you’d be a city girl.”

  “This is the first time Ruby has let me down.” I frown, hoping it’s the only time. I really need that car. “Anyway, I like it here. Low rent, it’s peaceful, and I get to keep my dog. Most of the city landlords won’t let you keep pets.”

  “What do you have?” He smiles, and I notice the dimples in his cheeks, giving him a boyish look, despite him being quite a bit older than me at twenty-two. “Great Dane or chihuahua?”

  “I’m not sure what he is. There’s Labrador in there and a touch of poodle, maybe even some kind of spaniel. Toby is his own breed.”

  “The best kind.”

  “Someone dumped him at the vet’s a couple of years ago when he was a puppy. He latched onto me, and we’ve been together ever since.”

 
He stops the car and comes around to help me out before I have the chance to get out myself. He doesn’t know that being treated as if I can’t exit a car irritates me more than it possibly should.

  But I’m not inclined to be a bitch about it. He’s helped me out so much today, so I just say, “Thanks for bringing me home. It would have taken me hours.”

  “Pay me back by having dinner with me? I know you’re busy, but some time when you’re free. You can’t work all the time.”

  I hesitate. What would it be like to go out with him? Just one date is not going to change my life. What harm could that do? But then I remember all the women in his phone. I don’t want to boost the man’s ego by letting him add me to his harem. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

  “It’s only dinner.”

  “Still, I don’t think so.” Am I really turning him down? Part of me thinks I’m crazy—the same part that wishes I could believe in happily ever after.

  He looks at me. I thought he might be more surprised I turned him down—a guy like him, sexy, probably experienced. I try not to let my mind wander to what that means or how it might be to date a man like him. He can’t get many single women saying no to him. “You’re already dating? Or married?” he asks.

  “No, and I’m not gay either before you say anything.” I smile. I can’t help liking him a bit, and I don’t want to offend him. But there’s just no point in him asking me out. “I just like my life the way it is, believe it or not.”

  “Okay then, Lara-not-Gay, which, by the way, I wasn’t going to ask, I’ll pick you up in the morning. What time do you need to leave for work?”

  “I can’t expect you to do that. I’ll find out when the buses are and call a cab if I need to.”

  “That won’t help your house saving fund. I’ll just come back at dawn, unless you tell me what time to come and get you.”

  “Do you never give up?”

  “Not when I see someone needs help. Is that so terrible?”

  “I guess not.” And I know it isn’t. He’s just making me feel bad for turning his invitation to dinner down and still being nice.

  “In that case, what time? Please, don’t make me get up at dawn.”

  “Nine thirty. I start at ten on a Sunday. Don’t you have to be at the fire station?”

  “The way the shifts work this week, I don’t have to work until Tuesday.”

  “Okay, then thanks. You’re very kind.” Kind? It’s like I’m thanking my neighbor. Sexy Ewan, with the washboard abs and dimpled smile, is nothing like old Sam in the next cottage. I turn to go in.

  “Hey,” he says, touching my arm and sending a shiver of excitement down my spine. “It was nice bumping into you today.” And his eyes show me just how nice he thought it was.

  I have the strangest feeling of wanting to grab him and not let him go. Before I know it, I’m saying, “It was nice bumping into you, too.”

  I rush inside, hoping he won’t notice my red face. But as I close the door, I can’t resist peeking out at him, only to catch him looking at me, as if he can’t believe I ran off. I stand with my back to the closed door, trying to calm myself down and recover my breath, while Toby jumps up at me, always pleased to see me.

  Why on earth did I make that “you too” remark? There’s no way I want this to go any further.

  CHAPTER 6

  Ewan

  I’m pretty sure Lara is interested, so why doesn’t she want to admit it? That question needles me all the way back to town.

  It’s not like I haven’t met women who like to tease and play hard to get. It’s all a game with them. Usually, I’m happy to go along with that, but I don’t think Lara is playing games. She turns me down, even though she’s tempted to say yes. I can see it in her eyes, in the glances she gave me in the car, the soft blush on her cheeks.

  I fucking love that blush, that mixture of shyness and independence. Her giggle. Her softness. Her whole “just got out of bed and threw my clothes on” look. Almost everything about her, except the way she turns me down. Repeatedly. Hell, I’ve got it bad, and I’ve only just met her.

  Maybe it’s just like she says, and she’s comfortable with her life and wants to be alone. But somehow, I don’t believe it.

  There must be someone who hurt her, something that puts her off getting involved. I can’t let this go without finding out what’s stopping her having dinner with me.

  Still, I’ll see her tomorrow—and first, I’m going to fix her car. I’m hoping it’s a basic repair, because I’ll have to call in a few favors if not.

  But luckily, it’s just loose wiring between the alternator and the battery, so once I get that sorted out and the battery is charging again, the car is running fine. No need for an expensive tow or garage repair at all.

  As I’m wiping my oily hands on a rag, I get a text from her. “My neighbor is going into town tomorrow morning, so I won’t need a lift. Thanks for your help.”

  Fuck. I was hoping another half an hour in the car would be enough for her to warm to the idea of going on a date with me.

  I have to resort to texting, “Car fixed and I have your keys. Meet you after work. What time do you finish?”

  “Thanks! Six. At the fire station?”

  “Yes, see you then.”

  And I have to be content with that for the moment.

  *

  I thought I might be imagining how much I like this girl. I thought she might have seemed more appealing just because she wasn’t falling into my lap. But when she turns up after her shift at the café looking as natural as ever in her simple jeans and checkered blouse, I know it’s not that.

  “Do I owe you anything for the repair?” she asks. “Did you have to buy any parts?”

  “Nothing and no, but there’s a price for getting your keys back.” I hold them just out of her reach.

  “What’s that?”

  “Dinner with me tonight.”

  She shakes her head. “I already said no to that. But anyway, I have to get home to Toby—my dog.”

  “He can come too. If he scrubs up well and has good manners.”

  I think I surprised her and caught her off guard. She laughs. “He’s never been taken out to dinner before. You know a dog-friendly place?”

  “I do.”

  She hesitates, and I wait like an anxious teenager who asked a girl out for the first time.

  “All right then,” she says. “If that’s what it takes to get my keys, I’ll get him spruced up.”

  “I’ll follow you back to make sure your car’s okay, and then we’ll go out.”

  “He might take a bit longer than that to do his hair.”

  “I’ll wait outside.” Just as well; I’ll be wading through Google on my phone looking for places to take her dog. But if she goes out with me, I don’t care how many four-legged friends tag along.

  CHAPTER 7

  Lara

  No one ever followed my car to make sure I was okay before. Or wanted to take my dog out just to spend time with me. Maybe I should let him off the hook about taking Toby, but I’m curious where we can possibly go. There’s nowhere around here as far as I know.

  Toby sits, head cocked, on the back seat of Ewan’s dark blue Audi, looking like he’s wondering much the same thing.

  “Where are we going?” I ask.

  “It’s a surprise. I hope you don’t mind dining outside, though. I wanted to take you somewhere fancy, but what if they were snooty about their dress code? Toby might have had to wear a jacket and tie.”

  We drive down to a little fishing village he knows on the coast. “They have the best fish and chips I ever tasted here. I’m not sure Toby is into fish, but they do a mean sausage supper, so I’ll order him that.”

  Ewan gets a blanket out of the car and spreads it on the low stone wall skirting the beach. “I’ll be right back. Are you warm enough?”

  “Yes. I’m good.” This is the funniest date I’ve ever been on. I hug Toby. For some reason, I’m
happier sitting looking out over the beach at the sea in the gently fading light than I’ve been for ages.

  Is it Ewan? I hope not. I can borrow him for the date. I’m okay with that. But I can’t keep him.

  We eat our food and lick our fingers, and he throws pieces of sausage to Toby, who makes a game of catching them and starts running around in the cool, damp sand at our feet.

  “Is it me you don’t like, or dating in general?” Ewan asks suddenly, catching me off guard.

  “Dating.” I think it’s pretty obvious it’s not him from how easy the conversation has flowed tonight.

  “What did dating ever do to you? Don’t answer that if you don’t want to.”

  “It’s just easier staying single.”

  “Seriously? Not a trouble shared is a trouble halved?”

  “Not when the trouble comes from the other half.”

  “Boyfriend? Husband?”

  “A few troublesome boyfriends, but parents mainly. Nightly battles when I was young, and not a thing I could do about it. The boyfriends just did nothing to change my mind.”

  “Are they still together, your parents?”

  “Oh no. Their marriage was never going to last with all that rage going on.” Should I tell him more? Somehow, I need to make him understand why I’m saying no to him. I don’t want him to think it’s him. He’s been nothing but nice to me.

  “Dad left when I was eight. My mother hasn’t a good word to say about him, and we’ve never seen or heard from him since. Those fights really stick in my mind. Who needs that kind of trouble? Toby is no problem at all to get along with.”

  The dog leaps up for another morsel of sausage. I stroke his fur and throw him what he wants.

  “He’s much less fun to kiss, though.” Ewan tilts my chin toward him and looks at me. And then his mouth is on mine, his hands cradling my head, and I breathe in his light citrus aftershave and clean soap that sends a ripple of excitement right through me.

  He starts with soft, gentle kisses, little more than lip touches, coaxing me into it. But there’s no need for that. Because after the initial shock, I kiss him right back, opening to him, clinging to the solid muscle of his body as my heart thunders in my chest so hard I’m sure he will notice.