One Taste

by Cari Quinn

  “Son of a bitch!” He wrenched his door open and hopped out.

  The road was endless and empty save for a tumbleweed bouncing along the sandy side. Shriveled plants of unknown origin looked like singed cotton balls. The sun was just above the mountains in the distance. She opened her door.

  “Stay in the truck!”

  She hopped out. “What? I’m going to get killed by a passing car? Oh right, there are no cars.”

  His granite jaw flexed, and shocker—he was silent. He went to the back of the truck, and his face grew even more grim. She wasn’t sure it was possible, but it did. He slapped the tailgate and crouched.

  “You have a spare, right?”

  “Yeah, I have a spare—but I need two.”

  She hurried after him and hissed out, “Shit.” She dragged her hair into a messy knot. The sun might be low, but it was still hot. At the moment anyway. She’d read somewhere that the desert temperatures were a drastic change once darkness set in.

  Kendall stood in the center of the highway and looked ahead. Nothing but road. Miles and miles—hundreds of miles, to be exact—of road.

  “Get out of the road, Kendall.”

  His voice was low. Her skin prickled at the tone. She turned back and saw what had shredded their tires. A rusted length of pipe and the half-hollowed-out muffler were crumpled and sharp. One tire was mangled, and the other had simply torn thanks to the skid into the shoulder.

  “I don’t think this is exactly in the AAA coverage area,” she muttered.

  He dug his phone out of his pocket. “How’s your signal?”

  She ran back to the truck and grabbed her phone. “I’ve got a bar.”

  “Better than me.”

  She flicked through her contacts. “I have AAA, actually.”

  “Do it.”

  “Sure, I can call them for you. No problem.”

  He gave her a stony look.

  “Okay, calling. Jeez.” She went back to the truck for her wallet and followed the prompts. She crossed her fingers as the operator came on.

  “Are you in a safe location?”

  She looked around. “For now.”

  “Is that a yes, ma’am?”

  “We’re on the side of the road in the desert.”

  “Can I use your phone to determine your location?”

  “That would be awesome.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  Kendall tipped her head back. “Yes.” A sense of humor was definitely not in the tips-and-tricks portion of customer service training.

  Shane’s firm hand on her back calmed her. His forest eyes were as serious as the chick on the phone. However, his brand of serious she was coming to crave. Not so much on the phone girl. He stood close to her, probably to hear the conversation, but she didn’t care. She liked when he crowded her.

  “Based on the location of the closest towing company, I cannot promise the thirty-minute service.”

  “We’re just happy with service.”

  She went through the reasons for the call and the tow. The diagnosis was ninety minutes. She turned and banged her forehead into the solid wall of his chest.

  “Thank you,” she mumbled and hit the End button.

  A surprised thrill chased comfort as he buried his fingers in her hair and held her there. Nothing about him was relaxed, but he was trying to calm her down. She linked her arms around his waist and soaked in his woodsy scent. “I’m assuming you heard.”

  “Hour and a half? Yep.”

  “If we’re lucky.”

  He tucked her head under his chin. “Yep.” His attention didn’t seem to be on her but on the situation and their location, but he continued to stroke the base of her neck. This was the worst possible thing to happen to them, and she felt more comfortable with him now than when they’d started the trip.

  What the hell was going on with her?

  Where the hell was her outrage and fear? Had he really gotten under her skin this much? The level of stupid was astronomical, but she couldn’t work herself up. Not when they were together.

  Finally he drew back. “Keep a lookout. I’m going to make sure everything in the back is secure for the tow.”

  She nodded. “Hey, since I’m short as hell, how about you boost me onto the hood. I’ll make sure we don’t have any traffic issues to worry about too.”

  “It would be nice if someone drove by, but I doubt it will happen.”

  “Not much else we can do.”

  “No. That’s true.” He followed her to the front and lifted her. She still had to pull herself onto the hood and swing her leg up. “Do you really need a truck this big?”

  “The last thing I delivered for my furniture business was an eight-foot bureau.”

  She smiled down at him. “Got a Web site?”

  “Yes.”

  She pulled out her phone. “Let’s see if my bars are a little better up here.”

  He rolled his eyes and patted her thigh. “Don’t fall off, all right?”

  “Don’t mess with the tires, all right?”

  “I just want to make sure the axle’s okay. Two new tires is bad enough.”

  “Just be careful.”

  “Worried about me?”

  “Hey, if you die, then I get the Heron.”

  His lips quirked up. “I’ll be right back.”

  She shrugged out of her overshirt and tucked it behind her on the windshield. The wind was cooling off, but the heat from the engine and the sun baking the hood kept her warm. The view was barren and achingly lonely. The desert wasn’t one of her top places to live. She’d made a list of all the places she’d wanted to live when she was a girl. Small towns weren’t exactly the Mecca of excitement, but the middle of the Nevada wasteland was definitely not on her bucket list.

  Her signal was spotty, but she managed to get a few texts out to Bells.

  She heard grunts and curses as Shane poked around the back. “Shane. I’m not going to play nursemaid if you break something because you’re too impatient to wait for the mechanic.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  She grinned and started another game of Words with Friends with her mother. “Are you sure you don’t need help?”

  “No.”

  She winced when the truck rocked and the tailgate slammed. Oscar would be coming out again. He lifted himself onto the running board and then into the tire wheel well. “Move over.”

  Yep. Oscar was definitely back. A slash of grease smeared his cheek and into his beard, and his face was dusty. “You got under the truck.”

  He pushed her over a few inches and stripped off his thermal shirt.

  She tapped her cheek. “You’ve got—”

  “Yeah, I know.” He wiped at it, and she snatched the shirt out of his hand.

  “Hold still.”

  He turned his head. “Stop mothering me.”

  She grabbed his chin and turned him back to face her. “Stop being an ass. And stop grinding your molars. You’re going to end up with a headache.”

  “Too late.”

  She got the worst of the grease off, but his shoulders were sprinkled with sweat and grime. His black tank top stretched across his chest, and she officially wanted to jump him. She needed her head examined.

  “Lean back and watch the sunset.”

  He followed orders for once but kept his arms tightly crossed over his chest. She forced her hand in under his biceps and curled his arm around her. “Enjoy the sunset. We can stress about the tires when the truck gets here.”

  “I don’t know how you turn it off.”

  She nodded to the red-streaked sky. “That’s how. The situation sucks, but that’s beautiful.”

  His shoulders eased, and he hauled her against him. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

  Chapter Nine

  Ninety minutes had been a pipe dream. Two hours and fifteen minutes later Shane heard the rig before it came into view. The desert played tricks with sounds, especially at night, but he knew that distinctive engi
ne noise. It wasn’t surprising that they had to wait out the tow truck. A service couldn’t chain up his Silverado to just anything.

  He smoothed his hand up and down her arm. “Up and at ’em, Sunshine.”

  She pressed her nose into his chest and her cold hand under his shirt along his back. The temperature had dropped, but she hadn’t wanted to move from their spot. He had to admit it was a good vantage point. Not one truck, car, or bike had come along, but it would have been the best way to flag someone down if they’d had the chance.

  “Come on, babe.”

  “Holy crap. It’s dark.”

  “You conked out right after the sun set.”

  “Yeah, I guess I did.” She burrowed into his chest. “I don’t want to move.”

  He tipped her chin up. “Helluva view, but I think I’d rather get a hotel tonight.”

  “Wow.” The wonder in her voice tugged at him. How did she keep pulling him in?

  “No city lights to spoil the view, that’s for sure.”

  “No. Not a light—” The howl of a coyote cut her off. “Did you wake me so I wasn’t food? Or because the tow truck was coming?”

  “Now a little bit of both.” He slid off the hood and reached for her. “Get in the truck.”

  She opened the door, and the wash of light showed off a haughty brow. “Get in the truck please?”

  He tipped his head back. Give me strength. “Get in the truck before a coyote thinks that sweet ass of yours is tasty.”

  “Jerk,” she muttered. But she didn’t argue.

  He jammed his fists under his arms. There wasn’t a damn thing out there to block the wind off the desert. He waved to the tow truck.

  Kendall flipped on the parking lights. The driver pulled a U-turn and slowly backed up to the truck. The engine chugged into idle, and a kid jumped out of the truck, weighing a buck forty if he was lucky. He was all wiry muscles and a few inches taller than Kendall.

  Great.

  “Hey. Thanks for coming out, man.”

  The kid pushed back a battered 49ers hat, and he realized he wasn’t a kid at all. Sharp blue eyes shone out of a deeply grooved and tanned face. “I’m Jasper.”

  Kendall opened the door. He turned and stared at her, hoping the stay-the-fuck-in-the-truck message was written on his forehead. But of course, she ignored it. She jumped down. “Hi. Boy, are we glad to see you.”

  Jasper yanked off his hat. “Ma’am.”

  Before Kendall could blaze past him and make friends, he snagged her hand in a firm grip, keeping her at his side. He held out his other hand. “Shane Justice. We’ve got two flat rear tires.”

  “What did you hit?”

  Shane kept Kendall’s hand in his and rounded the front of the truck to the driver’s side. He opened the door. Kendall tried to unlace their fingers. He looked down at her and held tight.

  “Really? You’re going to get caveman on me now?”

  He leaned down to her ear. “We don’t know this guy. I prefer—”

  “What? Dragging me around like a child?”

  “If I let go, do you promise not to make him your best friend?”

  Her eyebrows snapped together. “You don’t know me well enough to say stuff like that, Shane.”

  “Every store we’ve been in, you’ve had the clerks eating out of your hands.”

  “Jealous much?”

  She was naturally easy with people like his father—like her father. Something he’d never been able to master. It just wouldn’t ever be one of his skills, even if he had found himself smiling a whole lot more since Kendall had come into his life. Despite this ridiculous situation. The only other person he’d been this at ease with had been Kain. And that was with twelve years of history. He hadn’t been with Kendall for twelve days.

  “Cautious.”

  Her dark eyes softened in the low light from the dome light of the cab. “He’s harmless.”

  “You hope.”

  “I could take him.” She flexed her biceps, then dragged him down and nipped at his chin. “I’m not helpless, Shane.”

  He let her hand go reluctantly. “I know.”

  “You sure about that?” She took the flashlight and clicked it on under her chin. “We’re being rude to the man who’s come here to help us. So lighten up, all right?” She widened her eyes and crossed them before stepping back out. “Jasper. You gotta see this huge muffler. Maybe you can help Shane drag it off the side of the road so this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

  “Sure. Let’s see what we got.”

  Shane rolled his eyes. The woman could talk the devil into a deal. While she showed off the tires, he gathered the phone chargers, a few bottles of water from the back, work gloves, his wallet, and her knapsack of tricks. This was going to put a serious dent in their travel money. At the best of times his tires were expensive. In Bumfuck, Nevada, who the hell knew how much they’d be. Luckily it was truck country, so they had a chance his size would be in stock.

  She was laughing, and Jasper had a starstruck look on his face. Typical. The woman was dangerous. Shane came up behind her and laid his hand on her neck and shoulder. She smiled up at him. His chest tightened as he swiped his thumb along her nape.

  Jasper put his hat back on. “We’ll get you folks back to Lund. I’ll give a shout-out to the Coopers at the church. We don’t have a hotel, but they have a room they let folks stay in. Nothin’ fancy, but it’ll do for a night.”

  “We’d appreciate that.”

  “Now let’s get this muffler off the road and get you guys into town.”

  Shane nodded and handed Kendall her bag. The wind kicked up, and rust flakes scored his jeans and boots by the time he and Jasper got the muffler across the road. It was damn heavier than it looked. No wonder it took out two of his tires.

  “The truck that dropped this bad boy probably sounds like a jet engine,” Jasper said.

  Shane grunted as they heaved it well into the bush. “That stupid muffler is going to cost me over five hundred.”

  “More like seven, I’m afraid. Your tires are big ones.”

  “Dammit.”

  “You gonna be able to pay that, son?”

  “Yeah.” It would take more than half of what they had left. With the price of gas, they were going to have to get creative. “Any day laborers out your way?”

  Jasper took off his gloves and tucked them into his hip pocket. “Not in Lund. We’ve got people movin’ on left and right.”

  “Yeah, that’s everywhere.”

  “Where are you two headed?”

  “We’ve got a place in New York.”

  He whistled. “That’s one helluva drive.”

  Shane rubbed the back of his head. “Sure is.”

  “At least your wife is a good sport.”

  “She’s not my wife.”

  “Girlfriend, then. I wouldn’t let that one get away for very long, son. She’s a bottle of sunlight and smiles. There’s always someone out there a little smarter than we are who’ll snap that up.”

  Shane looked over his shoulder. Kendall was perched on the end of the tow truck, her feet swinging. The light from the phone cast her face in overbright white. She looked up, a lopsided grin on her face. “Ready, Oscar?”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  “Oscar? Didn’t you—”

  “As in the Grouch.”

  Jasper laughed. “She’s a pistol.”

  “You have no idea.”

  His laugh got louder as he stuffed his hands back into his gloves. “Let’s get this on the flatbed. We’ll get you on the road by morning.”

  “I’ll hold you to that.”

  “Oh, and I’d go with married as your answer when you get into town. The town is a bit particular about a woman and a man together if they’re not married.”

  Shane paused with his glove half on. “Pardon?”

  “The town is kind of old-fashioned. God-fearing, and most of us are of the Mormon church.”

  “Well, shit. Er…s
hoot.”

  Jasper grinned. “What you do isn’t my business, but with the church being the only place to stay…”

  Shane tugged his gloves on. “I see your point.”

  Getting the truck on the flatbed was easier than he expected, but the drive itself took over an hour. Jasper called the church and okayed an overnight stay. The town boasted five hundred and thirty-seven residents. He couldn’t imagine where. Main Street was a desolate stretch of open spaces and a church on either end with a single stoplight in the center.

  “These are the towns in Stephen King books,” Kendall whispered.

  He pressed his lips together to swallow a laugh. Finally a gas station with one pump and a one-story building behind it came into view. Jasper’s name was in red letters over the bay doors. He kept on driving till the end of the street where a pristine white and brick church was lit up with floodlights. The spire was spotlighted to show off the simple spire.

  “Go on in and ask for Delinda. She’ll fix you guys up for the night. I have your phone number. I’ll call you with a figure in the morning.”

  “Thank you, Jasper.”

  He smiled down at Kendall, who sat between them on the seat. “You’re very welcome, Mrs. Justice.”

  Her mouth dropped open, and Shane pulled her from the truck before she could say anything. He waved, holding the duffel he’d grabbed before they loaded the truck onto the flatbed. The tow truck chugged away, and still she stood with her mouth open in shock.

  “Small-town life, babe. Jasper told me it was better to drop the hint we were married so we could find a place to stay tonight.”

  She peered up at him. “Seriously?”

  He took her hat from her and plopped it on her head, smoothing her curls behind her shoulders. “Afraid so.”

  “But we live in the twenty-first century. Surely they don’t still—”

  “Believe it, babe. You saw the sign as well as I did. With a town this size, how much change do you think goes on?”

  “Crap.”

  He slung his arm around her shoulders. “Want to play virgin and patient husband later?”

  She socked him in the stomach, and he gasped out a laugh. “Tie-her-up is fine. Role-playing is a no. Got it.”

  “How can you joke? We’re staying in a church basement. It’s probably blasphemy to have sex,” she whispered.