Her trip was off to a rocky start. She wasn’t superstitious—at least not usually—and she refused to take tonight as a bad omen. She was here for the entire summer, and no matter what happened, she planned to make the best of it.

A flash of light had her turning around. A pair of headlights approached, high and wide apart, like a pickup truck. The truck slowed, and she felt a ripple of unease.

But maybe this was just what she needed—some Good Samaritan here to help her.

The truck rolled to a stop and the driver’s-side door opened.

Macey squinted into the glare. Nerves fluttered in her stomach as a man got out. Tall, wide shoulders, baseball cap. She couldn’t see his face, only his towering silhouette against the light as he walked toward her.

As he got closer, she saw that he was very tall—six feet three, at least—and he easily outweighed her by a hundred pounds. Oftentimes, Macey liked being short because people underestimated her. This was not one of those times.

“Need a hand?”

The deep voice sent a dart of alarm through her.

“I’m good, thanks.”

He continued moving toward her, and she took a step back.

“Is it your tire?”

She spied something in his hand, something black and bulky, like a club or—

A flashlight. He switched it on and approached the tire.

“It’s fine,” she said.

“It’s shredded.”

“I’ve got it handled, actually.”

He took a step toward her, and she stepped back, clutching her phone and wishing it was a tube of pepper spray. She kept one in her glove box for emergencies. She’d never needed it before, but of course, now that she did, it was well out of reach.

He walked around her and shined the flashlight into her trunk.

“Spare’s flat, too.”

She eased away from him, and he seemed to get the hint, because he lowered the flashlight and stepped back.

“You need a ride?” he asked.

She stared at him. Did he seriously think she was going to climb into a truck with a complete stranger?

“My boyfriend’s coming. He’s on his way now. He’s a mechanic,” she added inanely.

The man stared at her from beneath the brim of the hat. The shadows made it hard for her to make out his features, but he seemed to have a strong jaw. Beads of rain dripped from it as he stood there, looking her up and down. He was checking her out, she realized, and the back of her neck tingled.

She disappeared without a trace.

Macey’s heartbeat thrummed as they stood there in the rain. He wasn’t going anywhere. She’d told him she didn’t need his help, and he was just standing there, looking at her.