Page 10 of One Kind Soul

Christian grabbed her rolling suitcase and led her out of McCormick’s. “I’m that truck over there.” He pointed to a black pickup parked along the curb a little way down from the pub.

Nicole followed him, enjoying the shape of his ass in his faded jeans. And while he wasn’t wearing western-style boots, he did have a bit of a cowboy swagger in his brown work boots. Several females and a few males gave Christian the once-over as they passed him. He didn’t seem to notice, which suggested he didn’t expect people to find him attractive. He most likely knew he was, but he wasn’t conceited enough to think fans had to fall at his feet or anything.

She liked that about him.

When they reached his truck, he rolled her suitcase to the back. “Is it okay if I put this in the bed?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty tough luggage. It can take it.”

Nicole, however, couldn’t take watching him lift the suitcase as if it weighed about as much as a soap bubble. His biceps bulged and his forearms rippled as he lifted it over the tailgate and deposited it into the bed, but he gave no indication that the thing was heavy.

And she knew it was. She’d totally packed too much, but she hadn’t been sure what weather to expect in May in Vermont because she’d never been to Vermont in any month. Her body was now accustomed to Hawaiian temperatures and before landing on Kauai, Nicole had grown up in southern California. Warm weather was a part of her DNA.

Though it wasn’t that cold in Boston right now. Did that have to do with the actual weather or with the hot cowboy-farmer-chauffeur she’d scored?

“Hey, how cold is it in Vermont right now?” she asked as he walked over to where she stood by the passenger side door.

He unlocked the door and took her bag off her shoulder, setting it inside the cab. “Not very cold. May in northern Vermont is usually high fifties, sixties, even seventies sometimes.” He plucked at his T-shirt. “I was fine in this.” He tugged on her gray sweater. “By the time we get to Vermont the sun will be down, so you’ll be okay.”

Good. Nicole grabbed the sides of the sweater now and brought them together. She liked a layer between herself and . . . the world. That layer seemed particularly important now that she was about to climb into the confines of a truck for the next few hours with a guy who was far more intriguing than she’d expected.

“Shall we?” Christian motioned to the still open passenger door. “Your best friend is no doubt counting down the seconds until you arrive.”

Nicole smiled at that. “God, I miss Tessa so much. She’s the sister I always wanted.”

Christian drew in a breath as if he were about to speak, but he gestured to the passenger seat again instead then headed toward the hood of the truck to brave the busy street to the driver’s side.

Nicole was about to point out they hadn’t acquired road trip snacks, but a loud screeching stopped her. She paused in her climbing into the truck, one foot already inside.

A millisecond later, her arm was being nearly ripped from her socket.

****

Get her out. Get her out.

That was all Christian could think about. Get Nicole out of the truck.

Because that screeching was getting louder, closer. Christian blinked once and then a van was in his field of vision, barreling right for them.

He yanked on Nicole’s arm, probably hurting her with his iron grip and rough handling, but that was better than letting her stay near his truck. His truck that was definitely in The Crash Zone.

Nicole stumbled as he dragged her away from the truck. “What the hell is happening?”

Christian jerked on her arm a bit harder, that van’s engine roaring louder. “Not sure.” And he didn’t want to find out either.

He glanced over his shoulder. That was enough to see the van’s current course was heading right for them. Horns of other drivers honked in annoyance as the van ignored all the rules of the road. Without thinking, he pulled Nicole in front of him, pushed her toward the nearest building where her head cracked against the bricks, and braced his body over hers. It wasn’t the best plan in the universe, but the thought of that van touching Nicole in any way made him desperate to do something.

Metal crunching and squealing tires and smashing glass erupted behind him and he widened his legs, preparing for impact and hoping his body was enough to keep Nicole safe. She turned to face the wall behind her as she huddled in front of him. He got a good whiff of her hair.

Strawberries.

Something jabbed him in the back of the leg, his knee buckled, and he nearly went down. He flattened his palms against the bricks instead and kept his stance. Whatever was going on behind him wasn’t going to touch Nicole. Nope. Besides, Tessa would kill him if something happened to her best friend.

If he didn’t get killed in the next few seconds of course.

Something big pushed into the backs of his thighs, his ass, his back. He shuffled his feet forward a bit, his body pressing against Nicole’s backside. Under normal circumstances he would have loved to be pressed against a backside like Nicole’s and if this was the last backside he ever pressed against, it was a damn good one, but not knowing if he’d be able to protect her right now stole all of his brainpower.

People screamed behind him. More horns honked. Then everything went quiet for a moment. The only thing Christian heard was the gasp Nicole made when she turned and looked over his shoulder.