2. Dalton

CHAPTER 2

I press on the gas to get home a little faster, and my first thought is that it's a good thing the twins are not with me. They'd give me crap about speeding for sure. Well, Evan would. Ethan would give me that disappointed look of his, and I know I would slow down just because of it. It's been three years since I've heard his voice, and I'd do about anything to hear him giving me hell for driving too fast.

I'm about five miles from the house when I see the car on the side of the road in the distance. Fuck. I can't just leave them. There's nothing out here except Rhett and Maddie's ranch, Elliott and Camille's ranch, and then mine. No one else will be coming out this way today. I bang my hand against the steering wheel and slow down to stop behind them. As I get out, I put my cowboy hat on and walk up to the compact car. As I get closer, the driver's side door opens, and I practically stumble on my boots when I see the woman that gets out. Her hair is up in a ponytail on the top of her head. She has wide blue eyes that look me up and down as I approach, and she has curves that make my mouth water. The instant attraction is not something I'm ready for—or even happy about—and my sour mood gets even worse. With a frown, I walk past her to the front of the car. "What's it doing?"

She comes to stand next to me, and even though I'm not looking at her—hell, I can't because sure enough she'd know what I'm thinking—so I keep my eyes on the engine and see her shrug in my peripheral vision. "It did some sputtering and then just died."

"You have gas?"

She answers quickly. "I filled up around thirty minutes ago."

I check the oil level and battery terminal and play with the valve next to the power steering reservoir at the top of the engine. "Turn the car on."

She gets in and turns the key, and I push the valve to see if any fuel comes out. It doesn't. I shut the hood, and she gets back out. "It's the fuel pump."

She blinks up at me, and I force myself to look into her eyes. It's better that than to gaze down her body like some kind of perv. "It will have to be towed in and fixed. Probably run you around $1500 with parts and labor."

She nods, and I cross my arms over my chest. "You don't say much, do you?"

And then she smiles at me. It's not just any smile, it's like the fuckin' sun is coming out when her full lips turn up and she bares her pearly whites at me. She's a fuckin' bombshell, and I take a step back from her.

She looks me up and down and then matches my stance. "I'm sorry. I've never met a cowboy in person. I mean, I've read plenty of books about them, but wow, I mean, I get it now. I never got it before, but I get it now."

I'm totally not following where this conversation is going. "Huh?"

She laughs, and her cheeks turn a pretty pink. "Uh, sorry, occupational hazard." She holds her hand out to me. "I'm Gianna Baker."

On instinct, I wrap my hand around hers, and as soon as I touch her soft skin, I know I made a mistake. I have no business touching her because touching her, even just her hand, is putting all kinds of thoughts in my head. Damn, maybe the celibacy of the last three years has gone to my head, but I know that's not it. I see women in town all the time, and I've never had this reaction to any of them. I hold her hand a little tighter. "I'm Dalton. Dalton Gray."

I stand here, staring at her, holding her hand in mine for way longer than I should. I force myself to let go, and needing something else to do, I grab my phone from my pocket. "I'll call Hank."

She points at my phone. "I called the Hank's Repair shop that's supposed to be somewhat close to here, and it just rang and rang. I also called the tow truck place, but it just rang too."

I nod. "Yeah, they don't usually answer their office phones. I'll call their cells."

She scrunches up her pert little nose. "It's a business and they don't answer their phones?"

"Small towns," I answer as if that explains it.

I call Hank and explain what's happening, and by the time I hang up, Gianna's smiling face is now frowning.

"They can't fix it today?"

I open her car door. "No, and they can't send a tow truck out until later tonight. You want to grab your things?"

She holds her hands up. "Wait, what? My things? Why do I need my things?"

I lean against her car door, faking patience that I don't have. I should be home by now. "Because I'm not going to leave you out here all night. Hank was at the bar, so most likely he won't come get your car until the morning."

I gesture inside the car, but she's not moving. "But where am I going?"

"It's thirty minutes back to town, and I can take you, but I have to swing by my ranch first."

She has her arms across her chest and tilts her chin at me. "I can't go with you. I don't know you."

I point in the distance. "There's three ranches on this road, and one of them is mine. No one comes out this way but me. If you don't go with me, you'll be sitting out here all night."

She doesn't budge. "I'll take my chances."

I can't help it, I laugh. She's not only a beautiful woman, but she's stubborn as fuck too. "Well, that won't work for me. My family is waiting for me, and they're not going to understand why I've chosen to sleep out on the side of the road instead of coming home."

"You don't have to—"

I cut her off before she can finish. "I'm not leaving you out here alone."

She searches my face, then looks at my truck and back at me. "Are you a killer?"

I want to smile, but I don't. "No."

She still seems hesitant, and I hold my hands up. "Look, we can go home and let me check on a bull, pick up my family, and we'll take you back into town. I'm sure there is a vacancy at the motel or something."

She holds her phone up. "Okay, but I'm taking your picture and sending it to my friend so if I wind up dead, they know who to question."

I think I've smiled more in the last ten minutes than I have in the last three years. I'm not sure why, but I catch myself doing it as she's taking my picture. She looks at the picture she just took, shakes her head, mumbles something like "have mercy," and then pockets her phone. She grabs her purse out of the car, and while I shut her door, she walks around to the trunk and removes a suitcase.

I take it from her hand and walk back to my truck and throw it in the backseat before opening the passenger side door for her. She climbs into her seat, and I suck in a breath as I wait for her to settle so I can close the door.

I have a little talk with myself as I walk around to the driver's side. She's a woman stranded on the side of the road, and she doesn't need some old cowboy hitting on her, that's for sure. As I pull out on the road, I ask her, "What are you doing on this road anyway?"

"I hate driving on highways, so I take back roads."

"Where were you headed?"

"Jasper, for work."

"This way would add almost two hours to your trip."

She just shrugs like she doesn't have a care in the world. "I know. I had the time. I wasn't in a hurry, and like I said, I hate driving on main highways. I'll do it, but I avoid them if I can."

I can feel her watching me, and even though it's only five miles to my ranch, it feels a lot longer. I'm not sure what to make of this reaction to her, but I do know I need to get her far away from me. Oh, there's no doubt I want her, but she's a complication that I don't need.