"A wrench," she ground out between her teeth. "Just loan me the blasted wrench."
She was frustrated. Perspiration clung to her forehead, glistened at her cheeks. Then her expression smoothed with obvious control.
"Look, really." Her voice softened and he was enchanted. Right there, to the sound of a sweet Southern belle, Nathan Malone lost his heart. "I really just need a little bit of help here. I swear. My job interview isn't going to wait for me. I promise, I won't take long."
She smiled, and he felt his world tilt on its axis. A sweet curve of her lips, a hint of nervousness, frustration, and worry lingered in the soft curve. But she smiled at him. Hell, he felt like a teenager again.
He moved around the desk and held out his hand to the door. "Show me the car. We'll get you back on the road."
"Boss, we're packed," Sammy protested.
Nathan ignored him as the young woman turned and preceded him to the door. He was watching her ass as she walked and it was the damnedest view. His hands itched to touch her. Itched to cup those curves and feel them flex beneath his hands.
"I'm Sabella." She flashed him a smile over her shoulder. "I really appreciate this."
That Georgia accent was going to make him come in his jeans. No way was he going to hold it back if she kept talking to him.
This one was his.
"It's going to cost you," he drawled as he popped open the hood to her little sporty sedan.
"It always does." She sighed. "How much do you think?"
She looked worried. She was definitely a woman with a goal and intent on getting there. Pretty polished nails, just enough makeup to highlight her features, and pretty soft lips.
"Dinner." He grinned back at her, catching the surprise in her eyes.
"Dinner?" Wariness filled her voice.
"Just dinner," he promised. For now. "Tonight."
She stared back at him for long seconds, those gray eyes seeming to sink inside him, to search, to warm places inside him he didn't know existed. Let alone knew they were cold.
Finally, her lips tipped into a charming, flirtatious grin.
"The bad boy of Alpine is asking me out to dinner?" she said mischievously. "I believe I just might swoon."
"That's not me. That's Sammy." He pointed to the mechanic. "I'm just a poor mechanic and Navy SEAL." The girls loved SEALs. Anything to impress her.
"Nathan Malone, the SEAL with the wild blue eyes and the heartbreaking grin," she stated. "I know who you are."
"But I don't know who you are," he stated somberly. '"I'd love to find out."
That look again. Intense, probing. "Dinner," she finally agreed softly. "I'll meet you."
Whatever he could get. "Piedmont's." He named the most expensive restaurant in town, which wasn't saying much. "Seven."
"Seven it is. But I'll never make it if you don't fix my car."
Sabella kept a knowing smile to herself. She had a feeling if she just told him what was wrong with it, he'd never believe her anyway. She let him piddle around, find the loose hose, and tighten it. There, just like she said, all she needed was a wrench. Her daddy had taught her how to work on her own car a long time ago. Unfortunately, her own wrench was missing.
So she let him fix it. She played helpless. Because she liked the way he looked at her, the way his wild blue eyes darkened just a bit, seemed more neon in his tanned face.
"Seven," he reminded her as he closed the hood and stared down at her. "I'll be waiting on you."
"And I'll be there," she promised. Because there was no way she was going to miss this. She'd seen him in town often enough, she'd even fantasized about him a time or two after glimpsing him.
The hot SEAL. The bad boy of Alpine. Every woman she knew at the college lusted after him. And Sabella decided, in that moment, Nathan was going to be hers.
Two years later
"Oh my God, Bella, what have you done?"
Bella jumped as she turned to face Nathan, seeing his wild eyes, his pale features, his hard, buff body stalking across the front yard, his chest slick with sweat, bits of the grass he had been cutting sticking to his jeans as he strode furiously to where her car met the back of his truck.
"It's just a little dent, Nathan. I promise…" Her heart was in her throat. Not in fear. He would never hurt her. But he sure knew how to pout when he wanted to.
"A little dent." He gripped her shoulders, moving her aside as he stared down at the crumpled fender as it sank into the bumper of his truck.
It was an accident. It was all his fault. If he hadn't been wearing those butt-snug jeans and boots with no shirt as he cut the lawn, it would have never happened.
"You hit my truck." Male pride and offended dignity filled his voice. "That's my truck, Bella."
Yes. It was. And he was very proud of the powerful, black four-by-four he babied worse than any woman would a child. She would be jealous if it weren't for the fact that he couldn't actually bring it into the house.
"I'm really sorry, Nathan." Her accent thickened as she stared up at him, biting her lip nervously as she wondered how much he would pout.
Nathan could go all quiet, somber, and answer her in monosyllables that drove her insane. He would glare at her.
He would watch ball games. He would come to bed late. Late. After she went to sleep. And wouldn't give her any until the next morning. It really wasn't fair.
"Nathan, please don't be mad at me…"
"How did you hit my track? How? It was sitting in plain view. Plain view, Sabella." He was getting angry. He only said her full name when he was really getting angry or really, really horny. And he was not horny. Okay, this wasn't good. She could do without for days. But she didn't like it.
She stomped her foot, glaring back at him in irritation. "If it weren't for you, I would have never hit it."
"Me?" He stepped back, shaking his head fiercely. "How the hell was this my fault?"
"Because you were cutting the grass, with no shirt, in sexy jeans and boots, and seeing your tight ass striding across the lawn made me horny. You distracted me. It's all your fault. If you would dress properly things like this just would not happen, Nathan…"
He kissed her. It wasn't a gentle, easy kiss. It was rough and ready and smack full of lust as he jerked her against him, pressing his c**k into her belly as she gasped in pleasure.