The glare of the headlights on the large truck blinded my eyes, but I heard the engine still rumbling. Peter, the chicken shit, stomped on the gas. The car’s wheels squealed as he pulled away from the edge of the road. The door slammed into place, but something flew out the window as he took off as fast as my heart was hammering. The shock of what almost happened was just settling in as my shaking hand covered my mouth.

“Are you alright, Miss…” The voice that sounded was the same rich, gravelly tone that washed through me at the coffee shop.

He took a step forward, and as he did, he stepped into the light’s beam. I sucked in a sharp breath as soon as I saw who it was. My eyes glanced at the simple white tow truck and then back to the man.

“You,” I managed to spit out. “I know you.” He cocked his head and stared at me, his eyes calm. “From the coffee shop, I spilled coffee on myself.”

His eyes lit up. “I didn’t recognize you out here. You’re having a string of bad luck lately.”

“You could say that.” I shook my head. “Thanks for coming along when you did.”

He looked around the pitch-black road. For the first time since my mad escape from Peter’s car, I realized that we really were out in the middle of nowhere, and it was very cold outside. I shivered and put my hand in my pocket to pull out my phone. There was no signal.

Great.

“There’s no service out here. This entire area never gets service. It’s partly the reason I like to work this road. I don’t want someone to get stuck out here. No one would be able to find them.”

“That’s really nice of you. I hate to ask this, but would you be able to drive me to Quantico?”

His eyebrows rose as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, and as shaken up as I was, I couldn’t deny that something about him had my blood heating up, which was all sorts of wrong. He rubbed the back of his neck, and I clasped my hands in front of my body.

“Please, I’ll pay for your gas, or if you miss out on a call, I will pay for what it will cost you to lose the tow.”

He sighed and nodded. “Alright, but I need to go to my shop first. It’s down the road a ways, but that is where I was heading when I saw your car. I own a garage and was working on a friend’s car that needs parts.”

“That’s completely fine, thank you.” I padded my other pocket, didn’t find my purse, and swore as I spun in a circle.