Page 23 of The Billionaire's Special Relationship

But she still felt as if she was intruding on the life of this stranger when he’d already done more than anybody could have ever asked him to do. But it was a fact: She needed his help. She hated feeling so powerless, but she needed him.

Stuart could sense how terrible she felt about asking him to do her another favor. He could tell she was an independent woman who didn’t like to be beholden to anybody. Which was admirable. When he was a poor kid in Larkin himself, he was that way too. This was no picnic for her either.

That was why he decided to jumpstart a conversation. “How long have you lived around here?” he asked her as they drove to Grady’s.

She was so surprised that he said a word to her that she at first thought he was still on thephone. Then she looked and realized he was talking to her. “Oh! All my life.”

“Love it?”

That wasn’t a question that made sense to her. “It’s my home.”

He glanced at her. It was his home, too, but he hated it. “Ever thought about leaving home?”

“Sometimes I have. But people are so evil in this world nowadays that I just as soon stay put.”

“The devil you know?”

She smiled and nodded. “Right.” Then she looked at him. “You said you were born here too?”

“I was born and raised here, yes. I left thirty years ago.” Before she was probably born, he reminded himself. “When I was sixteen.”

Tabby tried to figure out his age in her head. Thirty plus ten was forty, plus six was forty-six. He was forty-six? In some ways, she thought, he looked every bit of his age. In other ways, he looked younger than his age.

Stuart suspected that she was counting up the years in her head, which amused him. “How old are you?” he asked her.

“Twenty-seven.”

“Ah. I thought even younger than that. You look good for twenty-seven.”

“You look good for forty-six,” she said to him, and he smiled. His suspicion was confirmed.

She realized her error, and smiled too. “I was good at math in school, and that’s why I guessed your age right away,” she said, and they bothlaughed. She realized, once again, how much she truly enjoyed his company.

“Turn right at that corner,” she said.

“You seem to know every inch of this town.”

“I should. I’ve been a rideshare driver for four years.”

“Two years? Were you a gig worker while you were working at Argyles?”

“No, I didn’t start gig work until my hours were reduced to next to nothing.”

“And you’ve been at it for two years. You must love it,” he said as he turned right.

“It wasn’t supposed to last this long. I was applying for all kinds of better jobs. But the recession hit and all the jobs dried up. People were holding onto what they had. I figured I’d better do the same for now. I never figuredfor nowwould last this long.”

It was a typical small-town story. They find a halfway decent job and then get afraid to let it go even though they knew it was a piece of job to begin with. But in small-town America, a little piece of something was better than a whole lot of nothing. That was why they stayed.

That was why Stuart got out.

“Here it is,” Tabby said as she pointed for him to turn into Grady’s tow yard. Which looked more like a junkyard to Stuart.

But that sinking feeling came over Tabby again. She was about to be on her own in this world again. She looked over at him. “Thanks for the ride,Stuart.”

He wanted to make sure she fully understood. Especially in light of the fact that she told him she was a rideshare driver. “You do understand that your vehicle was most likely totaled in that accident and therefore inoperable?”

“I saw how extensive the damage was to my front end, but I didn’t figure it was totaled.”