He squatted down and I couldn’t look away. His shirt pulled tight over his shoulders. His black belt held it tucked in and added a border over his tight ass. Powerful thighs twisted and turned as he set the compressor aside and undid the lug nuts one by one. The small grunt he let out before he loosened each nut made me feel slightly better about my inability to do the same.

The light scruff on his jaw gave him a dangerous look that my inner wanton craved. He could wear all the suits he wanted, but it didn’t change that he’d grown up in the dirt, chasing cattle and his brothers. He’d polished those rough edges and I wanted to scrape them back up.

He put on the spare within minutes and cleaned up the mess before I could help. I continued to stare as he leaned in the car to tuck the tools under the back seat. What an ass.

When he bent to lift the flat, I stepped forward. “I can do that. You’ll get dirty. Dirtier.”

He glanced down and shrugged. “It’s just a suit.”

That cost more than my monthly paycheck.

He hefted the tire and carried it one-handed to the trunk and tossed it in. Dusting his gloves off, he crossed to me. “Where are you going to take it?”

“Uh…” I’d had plenty of time to think this through, but I’d spent the last several minutes ogling my husband.

“I can follow you and give you a ride home.”

“Sure. I think I’ll go to that place on Central Avenue.”

Aiden nodded his head once. “I’ll call them in the morning.”

“I should do it.” I lifted my hands. I’d started the week reverting back to the starry-eyed ingenue after one weekend away with Aiden. But nothing had really changed other than we hadn’t had sex.

One of the first things he’d said tonight was that I hadn’t been enough to drag him away from the office.

Hurt flashed in his eyes and those soft lips of his pressed into a line. “Whatever works for you.”

None of this worked for me. He’d swooped in and saved me, but he’d also devastated me at the same time.

Aiden

Kate had saved me from one of the most unproductive nights at the office. Her call had startled me out of the hundredth trance I’d found myself in.

She pulled into the parking lot of the tire shop. I idled behind the car as she ran around to grab her purse and a bag of groceries. She scrambled inside my pickup, using the running board and oh-shit handle to pull herself inside.

“Want to grab a bite to eat?” I asked as soon as she shut the door.