Page 22 of The Billionaire's Special Relationship

He knew he should offer to give her a ride to the tow company, but he really needed to get going. And besides, she was an industrious young lady. She’d find her way. “Well, take care of yourself.”

“You too,” she said again.

He gave her another glance that had his eyes looking down the length of her, which she found odd and he couldn’t control, as he began walking toward his car.

But as soon as he made it up to his fancy car and was ready to open the driver side door, she realized herdilemma. And she began hurrying to him again. “Stuart. Stuart!”

He turned to her.

“I left my phone in the car.”

“Excuse me?”

“My phone.” She made it by his side. “It fell out of my hand when that girl hit my car. I hate to be a nuisance, but could I borrow yours to call for a ride? They aren’t gonna let me use any phone in that police station.”

Stuart knew that was undoubtedly true. He pulled out his own phone, put in the password to open it, and then handed it to her.

“You know a phone number by heart?” he asked her as she pressed numbers on his keypad.

“Just my cousin’s,” she said as the phone began to ring. “Stacy, hey,” she said relieved when her cousin answered. “I need a ride girl. No, it didn’t break down. I was in a car accident. That girl I caught sleeping with Darius rammed into the front of my car. Yeah girl. It was so scary. But can you pick me up? No, it got towed. I need a ride to the tow yard.”

The disappointed look that came over Tabby’s face let Stuart know whomever she was calling didn’t want to help her. Which he halfway expected.

But Tabby, he noticed, didn’t give up so easily. “But you can just drop me off,” she said over the phone. “It won’t take long, I promise.” Then she waited and listened again. She even glanced at Stuart as if she was embarrassed. “No,no, I understand. Okay. Yeah sure. No, I know. Right. Me too. Un-hun. Okay bye.” She ended the call abruptly like a young lady accustomed to turndowns.

She handed the phone back to Stuart. “Thanks.”

“Is there anyone else you can phone?”

Tabby hated to admit it. “No. There’s nobody else.”

“What do you mean nobody else? You only have one friend?”

She wasn’t a friend, she was a cousin. “I work day and night,” she said. “I don’t have time for friends.”

But somehow Stuart knew it was the other way around: They didn’t have time for her.

“Thanks again for everything though,” she said heartfelt. “You’ve been very patient and kind with me. God bless you,” she said like the sweetheart she was, Stuart thought, as she turned to leave.

Everything within him was telling him to just leave her to her own misery. Let her do bad all by herself. She was accustomed to it. Everything within him was telling him to just go. Everything except his heart. “Get in,” he said to her.

She turned and looked at him. But when she looked, she didn’t see a man eager to help. She saw a man helping reluctantly. “I can see on your face you have to go.”

“Get in, Tabby.”

“But I’ve bothered you enough.”

“Would you prefer to call a rideshare?”

She couldn’t afford a rideshare.

She got in.

CHAPTER TWELVE

The ride to Grady’s Trucking Company was seemed icy. The only time a word was spoken was when Stuart was answering a business phone call. One time a lady called him, but he took that call off of Bluetooth and put his cellphone to his ear. He mostly listened during that phone call.

But it only made Tabby feel worse. She felt like she was doing too much. Not that it was all her fault. Most of it wasn’t her fault. She didn’t run into that girl. She didn’t start that fight. She didn’t arrest herself and have her own car towed.