Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 17073 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 85(@200wpm)___ 68(@250wpm)___ 57(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17073 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 85(@200wpm)___ 68(@250wpm)___ 57(@300wpm)
Whoever is trapped in that car is no doubt trying to hide away from the storm like the rest of us. Only difference is, the poor bugger doesn’t have anywhere to go if they’re just passing through.
Must’ve seen my lights were on and thought it was a good place to stop.
Luckily, they’re right. Where Dad taught me how to shoot a gun, hunt, and fend for myself, Mom’s sound advice was to lend a hand to those who need it most. A single act of kindness will make the world a better place.
Doesn’t mean I won’t keep my eye on him. Then again, I’d feel terrible knowing he’s freezing out there alone when I could’ve offered him a warm meal and a place to rest.
“Dad, I’ve gotta go.” I don’t elaborate on why. It would only lead to an earful of judgment about my terrible decision.
“All right, hon. I’ll call you in the morning. Love you.”
“Love you.” I hang up the call.
Now, let’s go see who needs shelter from the storm.
I pull on my parka, hanging on a coat rack next to the front door, and venture out. The thick fleece interior of my parka barely does anything at all against the harsh wind whipping icy cold lashes against my body. Every gust feels like it penetrates through my layers and down to the bone.
I’m shivering by the time I reach his car, and if we don’t hurry, I’ll probably be an ice cube before I’ve had a chance to enact Mom’s kindness.
Tinted windows meet me when I reach the driver’s seat. They block out any sign of life inside and raise my suspicions that maybe I was foolish to be so gallant in my efforts to help this guy. Nothing good can come from someone who feels they need to hide away completely.
Before I have a chance to turn back and run inside, the window starts rolling down.
“What are you doing?” I hear his voice long before I can see his face. “You’ll catch your death of cold out here.”
“Same goes for yo—” As he flicks on the overhead light, the rest of my sentence gets trapped in my throat the moment I look at his face for the first time.
Good Lord, he’s handsome. With a swirling inferno of hazel and gold in his eyes and a gentle smile carved straight into his marble jawline, I’m lost for words and out of my depth.
Sure, there are handsome guys in Crawford, but none display this aura of regality and charm without so much as dashing me a smile.
“You shouldn’t be out here. Go back inside. Shut the doors. Stay warm,” he orders with the confidence of a man used to delivering them.
“I was about to say the same thing to you.” My lower jaw rattles so viciously, I stutter on a few of the words. “That’s why you stopped here, isn’t it? Outside my diner?”
He scoffs and shakes his head. “Not at all. Kindness in a snowstorm wasn’t the first thing I’d expect. But if you’re offering, I won’t decline.”
“Then get your ass out of there, and let’s go. I’m fucking freezing.” I step away from his window to allow him an easy exit.
“My, my. I do like a woman with a loose tongue.” With a flick of his wrist, the window starts moving up again, and for the first time since I stepped outside, I feel the warmth emanating from my core instead of icy cold chills.
Was that what I think it was? Did the stranger just flirt with me?
It can’t be sane to look too deeply into a statement he probably made to anyone who offered him shelter, but I can’t help myself. It isn’t every day someone breathtaking happens upon your humble family-owned diner and throws out compliments.
As the door opens and he emerges from it, the same warmth that radiated inside me turns to tingles in places I wasn’t expecting. With a face as perfect as his, I expected at least one fault somewhere on his body.
There isn’t.
He’s tall and broad-shouldered, and his frame is dense and layered in muscle from top to bottom. Without a jacket on and the top two buttons of his white button-up loosened, there isn’t much getting in the way of my haphazard inspection of his exquisite physique.
“Are we going inside? Or did I make a mistake getting out of my car?” he teases, and even though he has less on than me, he barely shows signs of being cold.
“Yes, sorry, I—” Don’t know how to finish my sentence. While I inspect him, he’s doing the same to me, and the thrill of having his eyes wander is more alluring than I expected.
My body is better hidden, but his scan of my front seems to burn away my layers as his smile grows wider and wider.