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“They’re all-weather tires,” she said defensively. “That includes snow.”

“It doesn’t.”

I could see she wanted to snap back at me, but her eyes darted to the kid, who seemed to be bouncing on the toes of his winter boots.

“Jamie, this is Sam Caplin.”

The kid, to be fair, was a grown man. Old enough to have a couple of smile lines by his eyes even. He was tall—over six feet—but I could still see the top of his head.

“Great to meet you, sir.” He thrust out his hand. “I’m a big fan.” Then he cringed as if he’d thought that was a stupid thing to say.

It was. I wasn’t a goddamned celebrity.

“Looks like we’re all headed to the same place,” he said cheerily.

He was the only one smiling.

Something about the name Caplin sounded familiar. The kid looked familiar, too. But I couldn’t place him. And frankly, I didn’t care. All I could think about was them driving in that truck together, laughing. Snuggling.

I gripped his hand, giving him a two-pump shake that made his knuckles crack.

I grimaced. I hadn’t meant to do that. It wasn’t the kid’s fault I was a bastard.

He winced, but recovered quickly enough.

Sarah, luckily, didn’t notice any of this. She was too busy looking at me like I was an idiot. “Sam is Cora’s brother.”

The resemblance to my receptionist was suddenly obvious. I grunted, even as relief slid over me, loosening the tight muscles in my shoulders. Not a boyfriend.

I turned back to her car. “You’re not driving to Maine on those tires, Cooper.”

Her cheeks grew pink again. Goddamn, she looked gorgeous when she was mad.

I knew how I sounded. But I didn’t care. She needed to be safe.

“The hell I’m not.” Sarah jutted her chin, displaying that mole I was fucking obsessed with. “And it’s high time we all hit the road. Don’t you think?”

Sarah didn’t wait for a response. She just got in her car and slammed the door. Then she seemed to hesitate. She rolled her window down. “Sam, drop my name at the registration table tomorrow. Hopefully it’ll help you get bumped up on the list.”

Sam nodded, glancing at me. Was he expecting me to lose it or something? Because I wasn’t going to. But I sure as shit was going to tail her the whole damn way to Maine.

Sarah started her engine, and to my surprise, the tires held on the snowy pavement as she pulled out of the lot. Both the kid and I watched as she navigated her car toward the road.

And both the kid and I flinched as, a moment later, the car made a bang as loud as a shotgun, dark gray smoke billowing from under the hood.

CHAPTER4

Sarah

The stench of burning plastic filled the car as smoke puffed over the windshield. My heart pounded—the bang had scared me so badly I’d let out a little shriek. But then panic set in. Cruella was on fire. I fumbled with the handle. But before I could even pull, my door swung open and Jamie was leaning over me, cutting the engine.

“It’s okay,” he said, his deep rasp right in my ear. His massive shoulder pressed gently against my chest as he popped open my seatbelt.

“Fire!”

“It’s not fire, sweetheart. You’re safe. But you shouldn’t be breathing this stuff.”

Relief rushed through me. I wasn’t about to blow up. Jamie’s huge presence and reassuring voice felt like a life preserver I wanted to cling to.

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