2. Maya

2

MAYA

My heart is beating so hard I can't think.

Of all the cars in the world to run into, I crash into Cade Wylie's!

The man who's been haunting my dreams for the past three years.

The world is against me.

"Sheriff or insurance card." He looks me dead in the eye. "I don't have all day."

I stomp through the snow to the passenger's side, open the door, and take the card out of the glovebox. "This is unnecessary. There's no damage to your car."

"How do you know? Do you have X-ray vision? Can you see what's under the bumper? I'll let you know that this is a brand-new luxury car under warranty. Therefore, I'm going to take it to my mechanic for a thorough check. You hit me pretty hard." He snarls. "Are you hurt?"

"No." I humph. "You?"

"No." He points at my BMW. "You don't have snow tires on that thing."

"Not that it's any of your business, Mr. Wylie, but I've lived in Colorado my entire life, and I've never put snow tires on my car."

"Explain this," he waves his hand at where our bumpers are connected. "Look, I don't know where you're going, but with that lead foot of yours, you'd better get off the road. There's another storm coming right after this one. Besides woman, seeing the way you drive, you're either going to kill someone or kill yourself."

"Woman? You have some nerve. It's the twenty-first century, Mr. Wylie. Women are just as capable as men." I snatch my card out of his hand. "Now, if you're done demeaning me and getting gas for your brand-new toy, I would appreciate it if you would move so that I can fill my tank. I have to be in Denver by seven o'clock tonight for an annual family Christmas party."

"Denver?" His brows snap down tight. "You'll never make it."

"Because I'm a woman?"

Cade's cheeks flash bright red. His nostrils flare. And his jaw starts to twitch. "No, Ms. Prescott." His deep blue eyes turn to ice. "Here's a newsflash for you, take a good look around." His arm sweeps through the air. "It's a raging goddamn snowstorm, and you don't have snow tires on your pretty little ride."

"Don't use that tone with me." I flinch.

He steps forward. "Is it the tone that bothers you, Ms. Prescott? Or the fact that a lowly little hockey player has the audacity to tell the Ice Princess the truth."

Infuriated and horrified that he dared to call me Ice Princess to my face, I snap back. "Unlike you, Mr. Wylie, I don't judge people."

His gaze turns to steel. "That's a lie."

His eyes drift to my mouth, which shouldn't send a wave of heat coiling through my entire body, but it does.

"I never lie." I shoot back.

"Right. And you're a good driver."

Seething, I back away from him because this conversation is getting us nowhere. The man is talking to me like I'm gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe. Yet my body is on fire, lighting up on the inside like it's one of those professional fireworks displays. I'm putting an end to this right now.

"We're done here, Mr. Wylie. You have my insurance information."

Cade stares at me in silence for a few seconds before he clomps through a snowdrift. He climbs inside his Rover, starts the engine, then hangs his head out the window. "A word to the wise, Ms. Prescott. Don't drive in this storm."

I watch as the taillights of his Rover fade through a curtain of snow. As much as I hate to admit it, Cade is right. Driving to Denver in the storm would be reckless. I gather what's left of my pride and take out my cell to find a hotel.

And then I pray I will never see Cade Wylie again.