Page 29 of Taming the Billionaire Cowboy
“Can I have your phone?” he asks.
“Are you even buckled up?”
He clicks his seatbelt and holds his hand out expectantly. I can tell he’s been thinking about the YouTube video Ferris showed him last week. Cute bunnies hop around to a hip-hop beat, and Ferris made the mistake of saying she’d show him how to find more.
I feel guilty about the screen time but hand the phone over anyway. Sometimes the drive home is the only peace and quiet I get. I drop into the driver’s seat, hoping I make it home in time to put dinner on before Bradley gets too hungry and cranky. Fiddling with the keys, I give the engine a turn, but all I get isa coughing sound and the rumbling sigh of an engine that’s not going to start.
The dashboard stays dark when I try again.
“Can we go?” Bradley pipes up from the back seat.
“We can’t if the car doesn’t work,” I say, feeling my blood pressure climbing.
I bite my bottom lip. This isn’t what I need right now. Well, it isn’t what I need ever.
I glance at the house, which Oliver disappeared into a couple minutes ago when we said goodbye, then pull my phone out of my purse.
Ferris picks up on the first ring. “Hey. Perfect timing. I’m walking out of work now.”
“I was hoping that was the case. Bradley and I are at the ranch, and my car won’t start. Can you pick us up? I think I need to call a tow truck, but I need to get Bradley home first.”
And then I can figure out the plan for tomorrow. I’ll have to bum another ride to work… and maybe bring Bradley, if camp is still closed… and then call a tow truck to pick the car up from the ranch… and hopefully they can finish working on it before the end of the day…
“I’m on my way,” she promises before hanging up.
“Ferris is picking us up,” I tell Bradley. “The car isn’t working.”
“Okay,” he murmurs, and I glance in the rearview mirror to see him slumped against the door, exhausted eyes glazed over as he stares at the screen.
Needing some air, I get out of the car, only to find Oliver walking over.
“The car isn’t starting,” I tell him. “My cousin is on the way to pick us up. Is it okay if I leave it here until a tow truck can come get it? Either tonight or tomorrow morning, hopefully.”
“You mind if I take a look?”
It’s the last thing I expect to hear from his lips. “Um… sure.”
Does he even know anything about cars?
But as I watch, Oliver goes confidently around to the front and pops the hood. It sounds like a firework when he cracks it open, and the release makes me jump a little.
“Why?” I finally ask. “Why are you even?—”
“Looking at your car?” he interrupts. He’s busy with something under the hood. “Ah. You need a new battery. That’s all.”
“Oh.”
He glances up at me, like he knows exactly what I’m thinking, and turns the tables on me once again. “I worked on cars in high school,” he says.
I don’t know how to respond, so I just stand there. Oliver? CEO Oliver?
“My mom and I didn’t have a lot,” he continues. “I got used to fixing up the car every few months. Started doing the same for a few friends. Earned some good money doing it.”
My jaw drops. “Oh.”
I know I should say something else, but for the life of me I can’t find the words. I’ve never imagined Oliver’s life growing up, but if I had, it would have included things like servants and ski trips.
“I can order you a new battery, have it here in a few days. No need to tow it anywhere.”
