“I can wait. You’re gonna have to call a tow truck, too.”
Keira grimaced. She hadn’t even thought of that yet. She was going to lose a whole afternoon of piano practice—it was already almost five o’clock. Her fingers itched at the thought. She flexed her free hand. Her arm could have been crushed. Missing a day of practice was bad, but if she’d been hurt . . . that would have been unimaginable.
Eventually, SUV guy got in his car and drove away. Keira and Walker were alone at the edge of the nearly empty parking lot. As the sun dipped low, so did the temperature. Tired of the cold, Keira opened the car’s rear door and sat down. At least this way, she was out of the wind.
The tow truck was due to arrive any minute. She tried to call her parents, to see if one of them could come get her, but neither of them answered their cells. Susan was still at her flute lesson. Keira tapped her phone against her leg, irritated.
“Need a ride home?” Walker asked casually. “My car’s over there.” He nodded his head toward a black car parked in the corner of the lot.
“Maybe the tow truck can drop me off,” she said, crossing her arms to mirror his posture.
He dropped his arms and gripped the seat back that stood between them like a wall. “I get it. I do. You’re proud and fierce and strong and you’re not one bit interested in me.” The thrill of hearing him call her “fierce” kept his amusement from bothering her. “But getting into a truck with some man you don’t know just so you don’t have to accept a ride from me? Come on.”
Keira felt some of the pride leak out of the set of her chin. She wanted to accept Walker’s offer . . . that was part of the problem. She wanted him to drive her home. Saying yes felt too much like giving in.
A dented, rusty tow truck pulled up next to her car. The guy behind the wheel was as stringy and greasy as day-old fried chicken. He noticed Keira and a smirk spread across his face.
She turned to Walker. “Okay. Yes, please,” she said. “I’m stubborn but I’m not stupid.”
Walker looked both smug and relieved. “Good.”
“Hey. Bad day, huh?” said the tow truck driver. The embroidered name patch on his coveralls read Shrimp.
Keira stood up, grabbing her backpack. “You could say that.”
“Dispatch says I’m takin’ this over to Brutti’s Body Shop?”
“Yes, please.” Keira looked around, hitching her book bag up onto her shoulder.
“Need a ride?” Shrimp asked. His eyebrows lifted slightly, the tip of his tongue wetting his bottom lip in a way that made Keira’s stomach turn.
She felt Walker behind her—not stepping in and not taking over, but still behind her. Still watching.
“No, I’m good, thanks.” She was glad to be able to say it.
“A’ight,” he sighed. “They’ll call you when they’s got an estimate.”
Keira nodded and headed for Walker’s sleek black Mercedes sedan. She couldn’t wait to get away from the twisted remains of her own car and in front of her piano, where she could forget about the whole disastrous day.
“You sure you’re okay?” Walker asked as Shrimp loaded the remains of her car onto the back of the tow truck. “I can’t believe that you got out of there completely unhurt like that.”
Keira followed his gaze, seeing how deeply the driver’s side was bowed in. She shivered, holding her ribs where the door handle had slammed into them. But they felt fine. Perfect, even.
“I’m just tough, I guess,” she said. It would have sounded a lot more convincing without the quiver in her voice.
“Yeah, I got that. You’re not gonna let me open your door for you, are you?” Walker hesitated for a moment at the back of the car. The fading sunlight tangled in his hair, glimmering around his head like a halo.
Keira slipped around him to the passenger side. “Not a chance.”
“One step at a time,” he muttered, clicking open the doors with his key fob.
Keira slid into the car. The smell of Walker surrounded her. A steel travel coffee mug sat in the cup holder, and the floor was littered with paper napkins and straw wrappers.
Walker climbed in next to her and started the car. The engine turned over on the first try. Keira tried not to be jealous.
“Nice car,” she said mildly.
“Thanks,” said Walker, slinging an arm behind her leather seat. He turned to look out the back window as he pulled out of the parking space. “You’d think someone would’ve noticed that I’d stolen it by now.”
Keira froze in her seat. “You’re—are you kidding?”
“Um, yeah. I am.”
A muscle in her jaw jumped as she clenched her teeth.
“Do I really look like someone who would steal a car?” he asked incredulously.
“Listen, I barely know you,” she said defensively.
“Fair,” he said, hesitating at the edge of the parking lot. “But that’s only because you tried to go running off before we finished talking earlier. Which way?” He gestured toward the street.