Chapter Five

Nate

Damn, I’ve got it bad.

While I pull in a few self-calming breaths, I watch Sam jog to the front door of my shop—impressive with the dress and the kind of heels she’s rocking—and disappear inside.

While I hadn’t been trying to eavesdrop, the call with her dad certainly brought up more questions for me. Like, why did she not want to return to her own wedding? Why did she run away in the first place? Why didn’t she want to tell her dad what’s going on?

I suspect that last part is due to me being around, so that might be the answer in itself. But regardless, it has me kind of worried.

Is she running from something? It seems like it. Why else would she be out in the middle of nowhere, heading in the complete opposite direction of her friends and family?

Whatever it is, I hope she’s safe.

My hands tighten around my steering wheel.

If not, I’ll keep her safe.

The thought startles me. Jesus, where did that come from? I barely know this girl and I already want to go to war for her. I need to get it together—or better yet, get a fucking grip.

By the time I get her car into the garage and hooked up to my diagnostic tool, it becomes evident that she’s got a lot more problems than I originally thought. Not only is her engine pretty much wrecked, but she’s got all sorts of codes popping up that range from needing a fuse to her back passenger window needing the motor replaced.

Now to break the news…

Sam’s waiting for me in one of the chairs in the front of the shop, while her big poofy dress is tucked around her in a cocoon. She’s taken off her veil and has it wrapped around her arm where she strokes the light fabric between her fingers, kind of like some fancy stress ball.

She’s watching the TV mounted on the wall that’s playing a closed-captioned game of golf.

When she spots me coming through the glass door, she immediately stands. “Please tell me it’s nothing major.”

Even without saying anything, I think she can tell by the look on my face that’s far from the truth.

Her shoulders sink. “You’re kidding… what’s wrong with it?”

What isn’t wrong with it? I hold back from saying.

Instead, I go with, “Well… you’ve got quite a bit of work that needs to be done. In all honesty, I’d probably suggest just having it towed to a junkyard. You’d get more money out of them paying you for parts than trying to repair it.”

“How much would it cost to get fixed?”

I glance down at my assessment paperwork. “To do it right? Three or four thousand. I’d have to get precise prices on parts to get an exact amount.”

“In the meantime I can put a patch on your radiator leak. It should hold temporarily, but your gonna want to get that along with these other suggested repairs done soon.”

She groans and gently lowers her head to rest her forehead on the counter. I feel for her, I really do. My fingers are itching to reach out and rub her bare shoulder as a sign of sympathy but I doubt she’d want my grease-stained fingers anywhere near her perfectly pristine gown.

“If you really want it fixed up, I can… I can give you a discount. But it will take me at least a few days since I’ve got to special order some parts—”

Her head pops up. “Really?! You’d do that?”

My heart thumps. God, she is so damn cute. “Yeah, of course.”

Sam claps her hands together gleefully. “Oh my god, you are the best! Yes, yes, please. I don’t care what it costs. I have my card in my—”

She shoves her hand down into the pocket of her dress to reach for something, freezing instantly. My brow shoots up as her face falls and she slowly pulls out her hand. In between her fingers is a crisp twenty-dollar bill.

Her horrified expression tells me all I need to know. “Forgot your wallet, huh.”

“Fuck me,” she whispers.

I hate how much my cock responds to that.

A loud groan leaves her. “I can’t even get a hotel with this.”

I’m probably the stupidest man to ever walk this planet. Not because I’m pitying this girl and most likely going to give her a huge discount on whatever needs to be done, but because the instant both of us realize she’s got no money to her name, my first instinct is to offer her the guest room upstairs in my loft.

Like this woman would ever want to bunk with a complete stranger. This isn’t some TV episode where I’m left screaming at the screen because of the complete ignorance of some people to trust absolute strangers for no reason. This is real life where if that same scenario were to happen right here and now, Sam would be trying to run for the hills.

“I’m going to have to pan handle…” She’s mumbling while she holds her head in her hands. “You know any good street corners around here? Or better yet, you know any good spots to do a street performance?”

Not meaning to, I burst into laughter.

Who the hell is this girl?

She lifts her head, looking at me with tears in her eyes. It has me sobering instantly, clearing my throat.

“Sorry, I’m not making fun of you. This is a small town, so people will probably avoid you if you try and beg on the street corner. But,” I say just as her face begins to fall again. “What I can offer you is a place to stay. No cost.”

The air in my lungs freezes while I hold my breath, waiting for the inevitable cussing me out and accusing me of being a creep. I’d deserve it, even if it’d hurt my ego a little bit. But this is the least I can do for a woman who’s truly down on her luck.

To my surprise, she grins. “Wait, really? Oh man, okay. Yes. That would be amazing. Can I take you to lunch or something?”

She waves her single bill around in the air like some kind of mini flag of celebration. I don’t realize that I’m smiling until my cheeks begin to hurt from how wide it is.

I’ve got it so fucking bad.

“Yeah, sure. Let me just call the parts shop and see what they’ve got on hand and then we can head out.”

“Okay!”

***

I end up taking her to a local diner that’s not only cheap but good eating.

She insists on paying for our meal with her single twenty, and I figure giving her back a little control of her spiraling day is the least I can do.

Before we’d left, I’d joked with her about going out to lunch in her wedding dress, and to my surprise, she pulled out a spare set of gym clothes she had stuffed in a bag in her backseat.

While it’s not the normal kind of attire the diner’s used to seeing, she looks good. I was right about her slender frame under that dress, and now with her tight spandex on, it looks even better.

Shifting in my seat while looking over my menu does nothing for my half hard-on that I’ve been sporting. As embarrassing as it is to be responding to her like a hormonal teenager, I can’t say I’m shocked.

It’s been too long since I actually found myself attracted to someone and even longer since I’ve been laid. Not that I’m expecting any of that because hell, I’ll be surprised if Sam sticks around till morning. Usually, nighttime regrets are the things that do people in, and I wouldn’t blame her if she skipped out e after realizing what a fucking weird situation this all is.

Still, she seems content to browse her menu while she hums to herself, and it relieves me to know she’s not completely turned off by my offer of a guest room.

“See anything you like?” I ask.

“Damn, everything. I’m starving. I didn’t eat at all this morning because I was way too nervous that I was going to throw up during vows.”

I’m so curious to know what happened. And even more so now that she’s brought it up casually.

But I don’t ask her until after we’ve ordered and Delilah, my favorite server, sets a couple of coffees down in front of us. Sam nurses her cup with both of her hands curled around the ceramic, steam swirling around her mouth as she blows on it.

“Can’t imagine what it was like this morning leaving your wedding.” I’m trying to go for a casual tone, too. If she wants to tell me, I’m all ears. If not, then I’ll completely understand too.

Fortunately, she seems comfortable enough to say, “You ever find yourself in the middle of a shit show?”

“More times than I want to admit.”

That has her smiling. “Sorry, I don’t want to be a downer. This morning was… rough, though.”

My eyes lock onto the way her fingers carefully tuck her curl back behind her ear.

“Maybe it’s kind of my fault, but I’ve been feeling like this way for a while,” she adds.

“Not wanting to go to your wedding?”

She nods. “I know, it’s so shitty of me to ditch like that but…”

Her words falter, eyes growing distant as she slowly sets her cup down and stares into it with a far-off look. While I don’t know Sam very well, I can tell that this has been a lot for her. She seems like the kind of girl to go with the flow, so whatever happened this morning to kick up her fight-or-flight has to be bad.

Without overthinking it, I reach across the table and squeeze one of her hands in mine. Her eyes snap up from her coffee.

“It’s okay. Whatever happened, you must’ve had a reason for doing it.”

She nods slowly. “You ever heard of crypto?”

“The online money thing?”

“Yeah. I don’t know a ton about it but my fiancé,” her hand tightens around mine. “He fucking blew his entire life savings and lost it all. I overheard him and his stupid mother talking about dipping into my savings to try and pay back his debts. That’s what made me run. Well, among other things.”

What a dumbass.

To fumble a woman like Sam for some online clout would be laughable. Imagining how much money this man must’ve gone through that it’s made his fiancé run for the hills is concerning.

“Does he have access to your accounts? You might want to freeze them just in case.”

“That’s the first thing I did, don’t worry. That fucker isn’t getting a penny from me.”

My cheeks start to hurt again from smiling. “Good.”

I’m proud of her. Despite the lousy circumstances, Sam seems to have a good head on her shoulders. Even if she’d been getting weird vibes from her fiancé like she said, I’m sure it’s still quite the blow to find out that her suspicions were correct.

Besides, who wants to find that out about the partner they’ve chosen? To know that the one person that’s supposed to be keeping them safe and protected is doing the complete opposite.

“Look, as long as you want to stay, you’ve got a place with me.”

Sam squeezes my hands again. “Nate, you’re a life saver.”

My heart thumps again. I hope she never stops saying that.