The fact that Sidney—who apparently was just as stubborn as that damn lug nut—would stand on a tire iron, bouncing up and down, rather than ask him for assistance really pissed him off to no end. But for the woman to admit that she would willingly put herself at risk just to try to stop someone from stealing her car? Insane. He hoped like hell she never got mugged because the person robbing her was going to have a hell of a time convincing the stubborn-ass woman to let go of her purse.

At least he’d managed to convince her to get into the truck without putting up too much of a fight. Because he’d definitely meant what he said. He wouldn’t have left her. If that meant spending the night with her in the middle of nowhere, then so be it. He’d have sacrificed himself to the cause.

Yeah, like spending time with the woman I’m still in love with is much of a sacrifice.

Either way, he was glad he was the one who had found her on the side of the road. Although he’d missed his appointment to look at the used car lot and probably lost his one shot at finding the perfect place for his new garage, it was all worth it as long as Sidney was safe. They might not be together anymore, but that didn’t mean he wanted to see her get hurt. Hell, he’d hurt her enough already.

As he pulled out onto the road, he glanced over to see Sidney rubbing her arms. “Are you cold?”

“A little.”

He flipped the heater on and pointed his vents in her direction. “Let me know if you get too warm, and I’ll turn it back down some.”

A slight smile lifted her cheeks. “Okay, thanks.”

He nodded to her and drove on in silence. But after a while, when the sounds of her slow, rhythmic breathing started to arouse him, he figured he better make small talk or he was going to end up with an embarrassing problem on his hands. “So how long have you had the sports car?”

“Oh, I got it a little over two months ago. Do you like it?”

“Yeah, it’s nice. I bet it runs great too.”

“It does.” She glanced over at him. “So you hadn’t heard I’d gotten a new car? I thought for sure by now that everyone in town had.”

He shook his head. “I’ve been working a lot so I guess I’ve been out of the loop lately.”