Page 10 of Wilde Secrets

She swallowed and watched as the truck backed up next to her. The passenger window rolled down, and she peered into the shadowy interior. All she could see was the outline of a man, gripping the steering wheel with one hand that she could have sworn was the size of a baseball glove. The darkness inside the truck gave her no idea of his age or what he looked like.

She took a step back, almost losing her footing on the wet ground.

Harper wasn’t prepared when the driver spoke. The deep, masculine voice sent warmth over her skin and down to her toes. She paid no attention to the words, standing in the rain gaping like a fish.

She shook her head and snapped her jaw shut as a gust of freezing rain hit her in the face.

“Are you alright?”

She was standing in the rain, covered in mud, clutching her ruined handbag to her chest. The rental car that was meant to be her source of independence in this whole shitty situation was undrivable. Her sister—her best friend—wasn’t speaking to her, and her father had banished her, possibly forever.

She was so far from alright that she started laughing hysterically.

No, she was not alright.

But why had it taken this long for someone to ask?

ChapterFive

Logan

It had been a long day for Logan West. He should have been home hours ago, but he had wanted to finish the demolition job he’d been working on for his cousin. He hadn’t taken this unseasonal storm into account and wanted to get home before the water rose over the road. There was one low point that always flooded when it stormed like this, and he’d rather be on the other side of it than sleep in his truck.

He cursed himself for working so late. He knew he had a reputation for being a perfectionist, not wanting anything but the highest quality of work to be associated with his business, Cape Wilde Construction. But it could have waited a few days.

Logan knew that, but as far as he was concerned, it didn’t matter if the job was a small maintenance task, or if he was building a house. The West name meant something in these parts, and he’d get it done.

People waited for months to get onto his books, so squeezing in a job for his cousin, Rhett, had to be done outside of his usual work hours. But Logan didn’t mind. It wasn’t as if he had anyone to go home to.

That was if he could get home.

Sheets of rain washed over the road. Logan slowed as visibility got worse, and cursed himself again for not leaving earlier.

Over the past few months, he’d helped Rhett turn a pair of old hunting cabins into luxury retreats. The cabins had been so successful they’d begun work on renovating another of the run-down, but solid, buildings that dotted Rhett’s property. That’s where Logan had been that day; ripping out kitchen cabinets that had long since outlived their usefulness.

He was tired, dirty, and longed for a hot shower and something to eat.

Lightning lit the sky as he took the turn toward the waterfront house he called home. Surrounded by woods and granite boulders leading down to the shore, it was quiet. And as far as Logan West was concerned, quiet meant perfection.

Rain battered his windshield, and he was deep in thought about what to eat for dinner, so he barely managed to avoid the lone figure walking down the road.

“Hell.” He hit the brakes, wincing as he accidentally hit a puddle, spraying the walker in water.

Nobody in their right mind would be out in this kind of weather.

He backed up and wound down the passenger window.

“Are you alright?”

She—for there was no doubt the walker was a woman, with the curves her wet clothes clung to—clutched a muddy bag to her chest. Her hair was stuck to her head, water streaming over her face.

What was she doing, walking around in a storm?

“Are you alright?” He asked again and was concerned when she started laughing.

“You just sprayed me with mud! No, I’m not alright,” she said, her laughter turning to a sob.

Logan grimaced. He put the handbrake on and grabbed the blanket from behind the seat. He always kept a blanket in the truck in case he came across injured wildlife on the side of the road. In a rural area like this, he’d used it often, wrapping up all kinds of critters before taking them into town to his sister Cassie, the local veterinarian.

---