Page 13 of Dirty
“What?Three? How can you tell?”
Fix looked down, a ghost of a smile lifting at the corners of his wretched, perfect, talented mouth. Lord, the man was divine. “Well. You’re sitting on the rims. But it was the huge, 6-inch gashes in the rubber that really gave it away.”
“That isnotpossible.” I unfastened my seatbelt and scrambled out of the car, gasping when I saw the state of my tires. They were completely deflated on this side, and just as Fix had said, there were huge, deep tears in the rubber. “How?” I squatted down, sticking my finger directly into the tire, through the gaping hole. “There’s no way a rock did this.”
Fix leaned his ass against the hood of the rental, folding his arms across his chest. “Yeah. You can safely rule out accident on this one.”
“You mean someone did thison purpose?” As soon as the words left my lips, I rocketed to my feet, my mouth hanging open like a Venus flytrap, waiting to catch its dinner. “You!” I jabbed him in the chest with my index finger, rage spilling out of me. “Youdid this!”
Fix let out a rumble of laughter, his head tipping back as he roared. “Why the fuck would I do that? I like my balls hanging right here between my legs, Angel.”
“Gross. Don’t talk about your balls.”
“Why not?” He practically purred the words. “You seemed to appreciate them plenty last night when they were slapping your pussy as I fucked you from behind.”
“Holy…” He was such a pig. I shook my head, then cocked it to one side. “What the fuck iswrongwith you? Just…stop. Don’t bring up last night again. There’s no need for us to rehash my drunken stupidity.”
“But I’d love to rehash it.” He was leonine. A consummate predator. I didn’t stand a chance against him—not with his soaking clothes displaying every outrageous curve and line of his muscular chest.
“Just quit it. You’re the only person here who’d slash my tires!” I cried. It had to be him. It had to be.
“Last night was pretty fucking phenomenal, Sera. I very much appreciated your incredible body, not to mention your talented mouth. As of right now, I’d say I’m probably the only person in Liberty Fields whowouldn’twant to slash your tires.”
I set my jaw, glaring at him with the force of a thousand volatile suns. “I thought we just agreed we weren’t going to talk about last night.”
Droplets of water coursed down Fix’s face. He licked his wet lips, and my mind transported me back to his naked form last night, and the way he’d run his hand up and down his hard-on, looking like he wanted to sink his teeth into me. Oh, for crying out loud…
He smirked, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking about. “Maybe you should just be less rude to people you meet in the middle of a storm.”
“This isn’t funny, Fix! My sister’s going to kill me. I swore I wouldn’t let her down, and now I’m going to do exactly that. I’m the only person she’s ever been able to rely on. I’m theonlyperson in her whole entire life that hasn’t continually dropped the ball. And now I’m going to break a promise I made to her, and it’s all your fault.”
Fix held his hands aloft in the air, pushing away from the car. “This has nothing to do with me. I swear it. I didnottouch your car.”
The worst part was that he really did look like he was telling the truth. It would have been far more convenient for me to blame him, because he was standing right in front of me. I could have taken my anger and frustration out on him, and I might have felt a little better at least. But with him apparently innocent of the crime… I dragged my hands back through my hair, fighting back tears. How many more things could possibly go wrong on this trip? It didn’t even bear thinking about.
“All right.” I scrutinized his stupid, handsome face out of the corner of my eye. “If you’re so good at fixing things, Felix, fix this.” My voice was small and pleading. “Please. I really need some help right now, or I’m going to lose my mind.”
The smile on Fix’s face slipped a little. His shoulders dropped at least three inches, and a strange look formed on his face. A look that resembled quiet surprise. “I have an appointment to keep this morning,” he slowly. “An appointment I can’t break.”
“Then go! Take care of your appointment, and I’ll meet you in Liberty Fields. I just need a ride to the next town over. The next place I can rent another car. Anywhere. Please! Just get me back to civilization. I’ll forever be in your debt.”
Fix seemed to think this through. For a second, I was sure he was going to say no, and my eyes began to sting like the miserable traitors that they were. Eventually, he said, “I gave you the best fucking of your life last night, Sera Lafferty. You’realreadyin my debt. But I’ll give youanotherride,” he said, mischief and arrogance flashing in his eyes. “And you’ll owe me a favor, to be repaid at a later date. Do we have an accord?”
“You sound like a pirate,” I grumbled.
“Sera…”
“Yes, yes, fine. I’ll owe you a favor. I don’t see how you’re gonna cash it in when we live on opposite sides of the country, but whatever. You have yourself a deal.”
FIVE
ALL-AMERICAN SCRAMBLER
FIX
If she hadn’t been so obviously distressed and sorry for herself in the parking lot, I wouldn’t have agreed to drive her anywhere. But when Sera looked at me like I was her only hope, and she’d asked me forhelp, I’d fucking caved. Hopeless. I shouldn’t have still been hanging around Liberty Fields. It was a miracle that two jobs had converged, miraculously right on top of one another. I should have completed both of them already and been on my way back to New York, but…
I was distracted.
