Page 3 of Through the Fire
A smile tugged at her mouth as she lifted her hands in defeat and pulled forward, straightening the trailer before shifting into Reverse again. After turning in a circle on the seat, Justice lay down and closed his eyes.
“Turn the wheel eighteen degrees to the left,” the man called, and she darted a glance at him in the mirror. He didn’t look like he was joking. With a small shrug, she did as he suggested—or as close as she could manage. From his exasperated look, that wasn’t precise enough for him. “I said eighteen degrees, not twenty-six.”
Instead of annoying her, she found the mild scolding amusing, and she gave him an apologetic wave as she straightened the wheel slightly. It must’ve been acceptable to Mr. Tall, Hairy, and Exacting, because he gave a slight nod.
“Now continue backing up for four feet and eleven inches.”
Four feet and eleven inches, Kit repeated in her head with a mental eye roll as she eased the trailer back. The extreme micromanagement struck her as funny, but she held back her laughter. The man seemed so earnest that she didn’t want him to think she was making fun of him. He was being nice enough to help her out, after all.
“Stop!”
Startled by his shout, she slammed on the brake. Adrenaline rushed through her again as she leaned out the window, frantically trying to see behind the trailer. “What? Was I going to hit something?”
“No.” He turned his puzzled gaze to hers. “You were about to go too far.”
She stared at him, annoyed by the remaining anxiety threading through her body. “Did I actually go five feet instead?” Immediately, she felt bad for mocking him, especially when he gave her such a warm smile in return.
“No. You’re perfect.” Above the top edges of his beard, his cheeks darkened as he cleared his throat and looked away. “Perfectly positioned, I mean.”
“Of course.” A hundred teasing responses rose in her head, but she restrained herself and just stayed silent, waiting for the next instruction.
Staring at the snow-covered road, he rubbed at the back of his neck, and Kit had a feeling he was flustered. By her. That was a novel experience. Even as a kid, she’d always been considered one of the guys. It was rare that she induced speechlessness in a man—especially one as gorgeous as this one—and she was reluctantly flattered by his reaction.
Then her gaze moved to the dashboard clock, and the time made her stomach sink. She was going to be so horrendously late. “What’s next?” Her voice was too loud, making him glance at her, startled.
“Right.” He took a deep breath, the air expanding his broad chest even more, and he looked back and forth between the trailer and her SUV, his gaze calculating. “Straighten the wheel, and reverse another three feet, two inches.”
Kit eased up on the brake and allowed the SUV to back up. Prepared this time, she didn’t let his urgent “Stop!” startle her.
“Turn the wheel six degrees to the right.”
Kit was quite impressed with her self-control, since she managed to keep a straight face throughout the process, even when his extremely specific directions included half inches. But she had to admit that his math-inspired technique worked. The trailer ended up in a perfect spot: right next to the walkway and leaving just enough room on the other side for her to park her SUV once she got home. Setting the parking brake, she hopped out and went back to unhitch the trailer, but the stranger was already on it.
Kit dug a good-sized rock out of the snow bordering the walkway and wedged it behind one of the tires as a wheel chock. As she straightened, she noticed the man eyeing her with approval. She flushed, thinking that he’d been focused on her bent-over backside, but he gestured at the rock instead.
“Good idea,” he said, and she felt stupidly disappointed that he hadn’t been admiring her rear end—and then she felt silly for being so shallow.
“Thank you.” She reached out to shake his hand. There was a pause where she wondered if he was going to accept the gesture, and then he took off his right glove and clasped her hand in his. It was warm and pleasantly rough, and his huge hand completely swallowed hers. That enveloping hold made her feel disconcertingly small, and she hurried to speak to distract herself. “This would’ve taken longer without your help.”
“Yes.” Now that he had her hand, he wasn’t releasing it, and things started to feel awkward again. “A lot longer.”
Once again, Kit wasn’t sure whether to be offended or amused, but she settled on amusement. After all, the man wasn’t wrong. Letting out a huff of laughter, she gently tugged her hand back. “I’m Kit Jernigan.”
Finally releasing his grip, he gave a small nod but remained quiet rather than give his name.
With another small laugh, Kit headed back to the driver’s seat of her SUV. The guy had just saved her a bunch of time and aggravation. The least she could do, she figured, was let him keep his anonymity. She’d return to cop mode soon enough.
Opening the car door, she looked over her shoulder at her new friendly neighborhood Bigfoot, who was still standing where she’d left him. “Well, I hate to math and run, but I’m already late for my first day at my new job. Thank you again, though.”
With another short lift of his chin, he watched as she pulled out of the driveway and turned away from his pickup. Before she reached the next intersection, she couldn’t resist another glance in the rearview mirror. He’d moved next to his truck, but he was still watching her, and Kit jerked her gaze back to the road.
“What an interesting guy…whoever he is.” She realized that she was smiling. “Just between us, Justice, I kind of like him…even if he is too pretty for his own good.” The dog, who’d been snoozing for most of the trailer-parking process, opened his eyes and thumped his tail against the seat in what Kit took as agreement.
Blowing out a hard breath, she focused on getting back to the police station. It was still her first day at a new job in a strange town, but her encounter with the nameless Good Samaritan had given her a fizzy sense of hopeful anticipation.
If all her neighbors were as interesting and helpful as her mystery mountain man had been, life in Monroe was looking promising.
