Before I can pop the hood, I hear the rumble of another vehicle climbing the narrow lane behind me. A red truck curves around the bend, and whoever’s inside has a tanned, muscular arm propped out the window, tapping along to music blasting from the radio.
My breath catches as he gets closer.
He’s one good-looking motherfucker.
Even through the windshield, even with the sunglasses, I can tell. His sun-kissed blond hair is a windswept mess, but the intentional kind, like he just stepped off the cover of a magazine. His face is chiseled, his lips full and soft-looking, and when he smirks, a dimple appears that should honestly be illegal.
He coasts to a stop beside me, lowers his sunglasses, and reveals bright blue eyes. My heart stutters, then kicks back to life, dropping somewhere into my lower belly.
This guy is hot. Dangerously hot.
“You need help?” he asks, his voice threaded with teasing and something darker that makes every part of me sit up and pay attention.
“Looks like it,” I say, trying very hard not to imagine him naked and sweaty. Sexualizing strangers, even in my head, is wildly inappropriate and very unlike me. “You don’t happen to have any tools on you?”
“A man is nothing without his tools.” He sets the handbrake, switches off the engine, and steps out.
I take a step back. He’s tall. Really tall. Maybe six five or six six. At five nine, I’m a tall woman, and it’s rare for someone to tower over me and make me feel small.
God, if only I’d met him under different circumstances. I would’ve climbed him like a tree and held on for dear life. I shake my head.
What did we say about sexualizing strangers, Sierra?
He smells incredible, something earthy with a hint of spice, as he walks around me and leans in to pop the hood, grimacing at the steam rising from it.
“Yeah, you’re lucky you stopped when you did. The engine’s overheated. If you’d pushed any farther, you might’ve blown it completely.”
I sigh. “I was afraid of that. It’s all these mountains. She’s not used to them.”
“Yeah. You need to let it sit for a while. How about I take you where you’re headed, and we can come back later with some water and coolant?”
I hesitate. I’m usually not the type to get into a car with strangers, but I might not have a choice here.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“Luke. Why?”
I pull out my phone and speed-dial my best friend, Piper.
“Hey,” she answers on the third ring.
“Hey, Pipes. I’m in the mountains and my car broke down. I ran into this guy named Luke. Tall, blond, attractive. Think Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain, minus the cowboy hat. Anyway, if anything happens to me or I go missing, he did it.”
Piper is used to this routine, so she doesn’t miss a beat.
“Got it,” she says, then hangs up.
I slip my phone back into my pocket and find Luke watching me with those bright blue eyes. He bursts out laughing.
“Did you really just do that?”
I smile sweetly. “You can’t be too careful.”
“Sure, but I probably wouldn’t have done it while I was standing right in front of me. I mean, now I could just dye my hair, change my name, and no one would be the wiser.”
“Yeah, right. The hair isn’t going to change anything. All she has to hear is tall, handsome, Heath Ledger, and she’ll know it’s you.”
He raises an eyebrow and steps closer, lowering his voice to a near whisper. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were flirting with me.”