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“No,” she whined. “No, no, no. Not now...” She pushed the button again.
Click. Click.
Darcy leaned forward on the steering wheel, grimaced, and mashed the button.
Click. Click.
She rested her hand on her forehead. Her parents were at their beach house in Coral Cove, which meant she couldn’t call her father for help. And her best friend, Haven, was already at work. Besides, Haven was a guidance counselor at a middle school located nearly thirty miles away, so Darcy wouldn’t dream of asking her for help. That left her one option—calling a roadside assistance service.
Darcy glanced at her watch, a bead of sweat trailing down the back of her neck. It was after nine, and she had a public relations presentation to make to the board in under an hour. She hated policies-and-procedures stuff, but it was part of her job, and she didn’t want a month’s worth of work to go down the drain.
Unlocking her phone, she shot off a message to her manager, Meredith.
Darcy: Hi! Just left my doctor’s office, and I’m having car trouble. Calling for roadside assistance now. I’ll keep you updated.
Conversation bubbles appeared almost immediately, and her gut tightened. While she appreciated her understanding boss, she always dreaded the possibility of letting Meredith down.
Meredith: Oh no! Let me know if we should reschedule the presentation.
That was the last thing Darcy wanted to do. She’d been preparing for this for weeks, and her bonus depended on it. She had to get to her office soon.
She pushed the button one last time, praying for it to start.
Click. Click.
Darcy’s frustration came out in a growl. “You had to let me down today of all days, car?”
Yanking her wallet from her purse, Darcy began rooting through multiple pockets for the roadside information card. She’d never used it before. What did it even look like? When a tap sounded on the windowpane, she gasped and jumped with a start.
Turning, she found a man peering in her window.
“Sorry.” He lifted his hand. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He pointed toward the hood of her car. “Need some help?”
She pushed her door open. “It won’t start.”
“I heard the clicks.” He grinned, and she couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was. His light-brown hair was cut short and covered with a dark-blue ball cap, and his eyes reminded her of the dark-roast coffee Dad loved to drink. He wore faded blue jeans, a black t-shirt, and a dark-blue work jacket. The outfit, coupled with the stubble on his chin, gave him a rugged look. She realized she was staring, and her cheeks heated.
The man lifted his eyebrows and nodded toward the hood of the car. “Sounds like a dead battery. I can jump it for you.”
She sagged against the seat. Why hadn’t she put that emergency roadside kit Dad had given her for Christmas in the trunk of her car instead of on a shelf in her garage? “Thank you, but I don’t have jumper cables.”
“You’re in luck. I always carry a set just in case.” He jammed his thumb toward the other side of the lot. “I’m just parked over there.” He tipped back his cap.
She noticed the logo on the front: Barton Automotive. Hope lit in her chest. What were the odds of her knight in shining chrome being a mechanic? “Oh, that would be amazing.”
“I’m Carter, by the way.”
“Darcy.”
“Nice to meet you.” He stepped to the empty parking space in front of her car and pointed to the ground. “Do me a favor and try to stop anyone from parking here while I bring my truck over.”
“Got it.”
He pulled a set of keys from his pocket, causing them to jingle. “Hang tight. Be right back.”
Darcy stood in front of her car and peered across the parking lot. A few moments later, a loud engine rumbled to life, and a black Chevrolet Suburban slowly crept down the aisle and came to a stop in front of her car. Country music sang from a radio inside of the SUV, which looked as if it had been lifted a couple of inches to accommodate the huge tires. Her father, a car enthusiast, would be impressed.
Carter killed the engine and then popped the hood on his SUV before he hopped down from the driver seat and moved to the rear of the vehicle. The tailgate opened and slammed before he sauntered toward her holding a set of jumper cables.
