Page 6 of Iron Willed Warrior

Wow. I was impressed.

I scratched my beard, which probably could’ve used a trim. “I pulled over because I thought you might need help with that guy. Clearly you didn’t.”

“Nope. But I appreciate the thought.” She nodded once, with finality, like she really wanted that to be the end of it. She went to her trunk and pulled out a jack. Her spare was already resting beside her bumper. “Have a good day,” she added. “Drive safe.”

I was dismissed. Yet I lingered another moment, unable to shift my eyes away from her.

Those had been some kinda moves. She had training, and not just basic self defense. Not like I thought all women were helpless. Far from it. But this one was something else. Probably got hit on and bothered all the time by overeager admirers, and she showed them who was boss.

So why wasn’t I back in my rental car and continuing on my way?

I gestured at the jack. “I hope I’m not speaking out of turn. But since I’m here, I’d feel like an asshole if I didn’t offer a hand with that. Out of politeness. Nothing else.”

Her smile was sharp. “I don’t need a man to do hard things for me.”

“Didn’t say you did. I was just?—”

“Thanks, but no thanks.” She’d kept her tone even, but the message was clear. Step off.

“Fair enough,” I said.

It was cold, and I was jonesing for nicotine and grumpy as hell from the long day I’d had already. I turned and walked toward my vehicle. Along the way, I gave in and took out my pack of cigarettes and my lighter.

The first lungful of smoke hit me with an instant wave of calm. There it was. Just what I’d needed.

I could stand here and have a smoke. After all, it was a free country.

Yes, the woman was beautiful. Attraction buzzed low in my belly, and my gaze kept straying in her direction. The elegant lines of her profile, the hidden strength of her body beneath the puffy coat and dark jeans. But that wasn’t the reason I leaned against my car door instead of driving off.

What harm would it do if I stuck around until she’d finished changing her tire? I would know that nobody else would stop and bug her. Once she was on her way, I’d be on mine. Maybe in a slightly better mood before I got to Hart County.

So, I had some bad habits. If I hadn’t made that clear yet.

I’d picked up smoking during my first deployment. After joining the Rangers, I’d been nearing a pack a day. Helped me smooth out the bumps so I didn’t flinch at whatever came my way. My wife Shelley had hated it. Complained constantly that I stank whenever I was stateside.

Then I’d been wounded. Lost just about everything. The doctor had told me I should do my healing body a favor and quit poisoning it. But I hadn’t managed to cut back until Shelley ditched me. I winnowed down my habit to one a day sheerly out of spite. My ex didn’t want to be saddled with a one-legged husband? Fine. I would come back better than ever just to show her.

That had been five years ago. And I was still stuck on one a day.

My other bad habit? That one was obvious.

The pretty brunette kept glancing over at me. I managed to relocate my eyeballs on the forest across the road.

I couldn’t manage to say no to someone in distress. The worst feeling in the world was knowing a person had needed me, and that I’d failed.

The habit rarely brought me satisfaction. Sadly, even when a mission succeeded, endings were never happy like in movies. That had been the case in my Army days. Same now that I was a bounty hunter.

I’d much rather be hunting down bad guys and knocking heads together than trying to fix something that was broken. I could repair a sink drain or change a flat, but I wasshitat fixing anything of significance. My heroics were more the destructive kind.

The pretty brunette was fiddling with the jack. She cursed under her breath.

Don’t look, I told myself.Do. Not.

Fuck me. I looked.

That same moment, there was a metallic-sounding snap. This time, she cursed nice and loud. Stood up. Bowed her head like she was praying for strength.

Then she turned and walked toward me, the long metal bar hanging from her hand.

---