Page 24 of True North | AllFreeNovel

“O-okay. Thanks. Again, I mean. Since I already said it before.”

The only response I got was another chuckle before the line went dead, so I hurried back inside the house to wait for Rake.

Sure enough, Rake pulled up in the tow truck for the Wraith’s garage a short while later, somehow making the fifteen-minute drive in only ten. Much to my relief.

I pulled the door open and exited the house just as the driver’s door to the tow truck opened. I recognized Rake immediately. I didn’t know what the hell was going on inside the Wraith’s clubhouse, but it seemed there was some sort of unspoken rule that you had to be unnaturally hot to join up. Even the older members like Dakota’s dad, Ezra, were silver foxes. A fact Dakota did not appreciate hearing from her friends. Not that I let it stop me.

But like all the rest of them I’d seen, Rake was equally handsome—no, handsome wasn’t the right word. He was too rough around the edges, the tattoos (taking up the entirety of one arm and the lower half of the other) making him look dangerous in that way that most women on planet Earth found impossible to resist.

He wore a white tank and a pair of gray coveralls with the arms tied around his waist, showing off all that ink in the sunshine. He raked a hand over his hair, causing the hem of the shirt to lift just enough for me to spot what looked like a skull with a pair of wings tattooed across his lower abdomen.

I lifted my hand in a half wave as I closed the door behind me, making sure it was locked snuggly, before heading down the front walk toward him.

“Thank you so much for this,” I called over the rattle of chains as he got my car hooked up to the tow truck.

He looked my way, a half smirk curling one side of his mouth as he shot me a wink. That wink was enough to make any woman fall the hell out right on the concrete, it was that good. Unfortunately, despite the utter disappointment of how it ended, I hadn’t been able to get North freaking Hastings out of my head.

I knew I needed to move on, but any attempt right now would only be a rebound, and that wouldn’t be fair to the guy I tried moving on with.

“Not a problem, gorgeous.” He jerked his chin toward the cab of the tow truck. “Got the A/C going. Why don’t you go get comfortable?”

“Oh. Uh . . .” I looked down at my high-heel-pencil-skirt combo before turning back to the cab. My gaze bounced back and forth as I tried working out the logistics of how I was going to manage climbing up into that rig dressed how I was when Rake was suddenly standing in front of me.

“May I?”

I didn’t realize what he was asking until I glanced down and saw his hands hovering around my waist. The fact he asked permission first comforted me enough that I didn’t hesitate to nod in answer.

A second later, I was being lifted into the passenger seat like I weighed next to nothing, though I didn’t miss the yummy way Rake’s biceps flexed. I hit the seat with a little squeak, then let out a giggle before looking back down at the man. “Thanks.”

“Definitely not a hardship, putting my hands on you, gorgeous. Sit tight. I’ll get your car loaded, then we’ll be on our way.”

He closed the door, shutting me in with the low sounds of classic rock playing from the stereo. The inside of the truck smelled strongly of motor oil (to be expected), but beneath that was a lingering heat from whatever cologne Rake was wearing, and it was not unpleasant. Not at all.

As I waited, enjoying the quiet strains of “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac, my phone started to buzz like crazy from inside my purse. I pulled it out to find the group chat between me and my girls was going insane.

Lennon

OMG IRIS! What the hell is happening?