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Thesteeringwheeljerksin my hand as a rattling sound startles me. I pull to the side of the road, thankful I’m on a usually empty residential street. Clutching the keys in my hand, I climb out, walk around my Jeep, and groan when I see the flat tire.
I open my trunk, move the floor mat, and grab the kit and spare tire out before calling Jensen to come meet me. While I’ve learned how to do a lot of things for myself being a widow, changing a tire is not one of them.
After three unanswered calls, I dig through my purse until I find the old roadside assistance card, only to be left twice as aggravated when I find out the coverage has expired and they want over five hundred dollars to reactivate and come out for an emergency service.
“Olivia?”
I scream, turning around from where I was resting against the door to face Cole. Butterflies flutter in my stomach, and my cheeks flush as flashes of our night filter through my mind.
“Cole?” I question back, glancing down the deserted street. I wasn’t that close to either of our houses.
His chest is rising and falling fast as he steps closer. He lifts the bottom of his shirt, showing off his muscular stomach as he wipes the sweat off his face. “You need help?” He waves his hand towards my flat tire.
I bite my lip, unsure if I should accept his offer or eat the cost of the roadside assistance. The longer I’m in his presence, the more my body tingles. I’ve been grateful he’s avoided the house, or at least me, the past week since school began.
Cole’s eyebrows furrow. “Are you really contemplating saying no?”
With a sigh, I shake my head. “Sorry, thanks for asking. I grabbed the kit out of the trunk.”
He nods, grabbing it and rolling the spare closer to the flat tire. He squats down to get to work, and I glance away, shaming myself for admiring his body once again. Then I remember what my son had texted me an hour ago when I had left for my errands.
“So, where’s Jensen? He told me he was with you and didn’t answer when I called.”
Cole freezes, his face flushing as he sneaks a peek at me before focusing back on the tire.
“Uhh. He was with me, but I decided to go for a run, and he left. I’m not sure where he went.”
I fold my arms across my chest as I lean against the car. “And you wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”
“Of course not, Mrs. Mathews,” he mumbles, and the car shakes as he continues to change out the ruined tire. My lips thin as I watch him through narrowed eyes. I am positive he is lying to me.
“What are you doing running around here?” I ask instead.
Cole shrugs. “I just run wherever. Don’t really have a place in mind. I know the town well enough to make it to a main road if I get lost.”
“It’s still dangerous.”
He looks over his shoulder with a mischievous smirk. “Worried about me, Olivia?”
I narrow my eyes. “Of course… I still care about you. Like a second son.”
“Really? That kind of feeling and what we did would be technically illegal then,” Cole snickers.
My cheeks burn, and I glare harder, hoping he can feel my withering stare. “That’s inappropriate.”
“Not as inappropriate as when you were on your knees and–”
“Cole! Stop talking about that night,” I exclaim, then sigh. “Sorry. We agreed, didn’t we? We would go on like normal.”
He’s silent as he works through my tire. Worry courses through me that I upset him, but at the same time, I need him to stop acknowledging the obvious sexual tension that has been thick in the air since he appeared before me.
After a few minutes, I clear my throat. “Thanks for doing this.”
Cole shrugs again. “Pretty much learned how to do it with my eyes closed sophomore year in auto shop.”
I’m impressed till the stark reminder that sophomore year was less than two years sours my mood. I grind my teeth, hating the constant shame of the gap between our ages.
As he stands, he peels his shirt off and uses it to wipe off the grease and grime on his fingers from my tire. I bite down on my tongue to stop it from falling out of my mouth at the sweat-slicked skin of his abs. When he lifts the old tire and swings it into the trunk, I fan myself for two seconds to cool off my ridiculously horny body. I walk to my driver door, determined to get away from this man and his tempting ways.
