____________________
She had no sooner disconnected
the call than the view of a winter wonderland outside her windshield was
obliterated by a sudden gust of smoke rushing from the front of her car.
“No no no,” she urged,
frantically checking her gauges.
No lights were flashing…yet.
She continued driving for another six miles before the check engine
light came on. “Crimeny!” she
muttered angrily, pulling over to the side of the road.
Suddenly, the snowfall outside of
her car was not nearly as beautiful.
Her pea coat was expensive but not nearly heavy enough to keep her dry
and warm outside. She also wore a
pencil skirt with a silk blouse and high heels. She couldn’t exactly walk home, even though she wasn’t more
than three miles away. She knew
enough to know better than to try to nurse the car home. She suspected a blown radiator hose,
which translated to possibly overheating the engine. And that meant very costly repairs.
Instead, she picked up her phone
and called Information for a tow truck.
A woman answered the phone and said she would send someone
immediately. Taryn hadn’t caught
the name of the company.
As she waited, she remembered the
last time she’d been stranded on the side of the road. It had been raining that night rather
than snowing. And she’d
missed a consult because of that flat tire. All had turned out well as Jac filled in for her and met Dr.
Will Archer, the man she married a few months later. And because of that night, Taryn was now going to be a
godmother to a beautiful little girl.
She tried to forget about the
rest of that night.
She tried to forget Gray
Campbell.
She’d been trying to forget him
for two years.
In the privacy of her office, she
had cyber stalked him, learning that he had graduated high school and
immediately gone into the Army. He
served for fifteen years and was promoted as high as Master Sergeant. He had ended his career with Special
Forces in Afghanistan, where he and his team encountered an IUD and he had been
hit.
He had limped slightly that night
as he had hopped out of his truck and approached her car. His jeans had hugged his thighs, and
his legs looked muscular and well formed.
He was rugged and more than a little bit gorgeous, with a crooked nose,
a bit of scruff on his jaw, and a full mouth.
And he’d been rude to her.
The President of the United
States awarded him with a Purple Heart and he’d been labeled a hero. But that didn’t change the fact that he
was a complete douche bag.
She silently prayed he wouldn’t
be the tow truck that arrived to help.
Then she pulled down her visor
and checked her make-up in her mirror…just to have something to do while she
waited.
The tow truck appeared in her
mirror and she could see the figure in the driver’s seat. As it drew closer, she could see he
wore a baseball hat. And as it
drove past her, she was disgusted to see the name on the door. Campbell’s.
“Crap,” she muttered, even as her
heart began to race…in anger, not excitement.
He climbed down from the tow
truck and admired the silver Lexus.
He could see the blond hair behind the wheel and he couldn’t help but
smile to himself.
The first time he’d met her, she
had been rude and stuck up. The
second time he met her, she’d been spouting off military lingo into some high
tech device to a hidden security team.
And when he’d misunderstood and thought she was on a bad date and had
tried to step in to help, she had pulled her gun on him.
He’d done his research after
that, looking MaCall Securities Consulting up on the Internet. He had sent the first bill to the
company and had ribbed her about Joe MaCall footing her bill. When her face came up on his computer,
he was captivated by her cold beauty and astonished to learn she was none other
than Taryn MaCall, Vice President of MSC and daughter—not mistress—of Joe
MaCall.
At least he was prepared this
time.
Even through the heavy snowfall,
he knew she was watching him and he anticipated her bitter reaction. He headed her off with a charmingly
crooked smile that often worked favorably where women were concerned.
She rolled down her window. “Why are you grinning like an idiot at
me?” she greeted.
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