A man who looked similar to Victor came out of the dark garage and stepped into the sunlight. He was dressed in a dark blue jumpsuit. The first thing Anna noticed was that he was huge, taller than Victor. He stood at least six-four with wide shoulders. His hair was a light shade of brown with gold streaks but also kept very short. He was wiping his hands on a rag. His eyes were a pretty green color but Anna didn’t think he would appreciate hearing his eye color was pretty. Those striking eyes were currently raking over her body and she felt her stomach do a flip-flop in excitement. Her nipples got hard and her belly tightened with desire. This was not good. She was in this mess because she fell for the wrong man. Never again did she want to be in that place.
“I would shake your hand but I have oil on it. I am Blake Murphy.” He gave her a polite smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He had masculine appeal with a capital M but he also had a hard, rugged look that screamed danger. Anna had the feeling he was trying to size her up and was already setting judgment. She instinctively stepped closer to Victor. Victor just felt safer.
“Passing through?” he asked suspiciously.
Anna nodded, feeling very out of place and awkward. “I’m not from around here. I was passing through when my truck gave out. I’m hoping it’s nothing too serious and I can be out of here as soon as possible.”
“I picked her up by the welcome sign on the road leading out of town,” Victor added. “I can take the tow truck and go get her vehicle. I saw Sam’s car at the diner so I know he must be out to lunch.”
Blake nodded to his brother but kept his eyes on Anna. “He’s meeting Melody for lunch again.”
Victor sighed. “He’s been seeing a lot of that girl.” He went inside the building and got the keys. He came back out and gave Blake an amused smile. “Watch her. She is suspicious of every little thing. She accused me of being a Michael Myers wannabe and called my car old.”
Blake didn’t smile but he looked at Anna with a little more admiration. “Shows she is smart. A woman traveling alone can’t be to blasé about her safety.”
Anna gave Victor a superior smile but he just laughed at her and jumped in the tow truck. She wanted to ask him if she could go, too, but he left so quickly. She was left standing there alone and feeling very uncomfortable. Blake Murphy didn’t look like the type to indulge in a casual friendly conversation.
“Come inside to my office. It’s much too hot to stand out here in the hot sun,” he offered politely and she felt odd being alone with him. He didn’t smile and joke around like Victor did. He had an aura about him that felt intense. She could easily see him as one of Santiago’s muscle men. That put her on the alert.
“Do you have a name?”
“Anna,” she said simply and followed him through the garage and into a small office in the back. The surface of the desk was covered in papers and very messy. How did he get any work done with that mess? The organizer in her yearned to clean it. She sat on a chair in front of the desk, holding on to her backpack nervously. There was a very small window so it was a little dark in the room and only one door leading back out to the garage. Blake took a bottle of water out of a mini-fridge and handed it to her. She thanked him and opened it. The cold liquid felt so good going down her throat. She had driven for a long time without stopping, hoping she would make it to a large city. Then she had planned on dumping the truck since it was registered under a fake name. She had been hoping to find a temporary job soon but now all those plans were on hold until the truck got fixed. She cursed her bad luck once again.
“Do you have any idea what happened to your truck?” Blake asked sitting behind his desk. She didn’t like the way he suspiciously looked at her. It made her feel very uncomfortable and it was hard to sit still. She tried to smooth her skirt down and checked to make sure she wasn’t showing too much leg. Now she wished she had buttoned her blouse up as far as it could instead of leaving some cleavage showing. She knew his gaze lingered on her cleavage and it both excited her and intimidated her. Anna sighed. She wanted to give out as little information as possible but she could tell this man was much more observant than his younger brother was. “It wasn’t in the best shape from the beginning. I bought it used and it started running hot right away and losing water. I bought one of those liquid things to plug up a small leak in the carburetor.”
Blake interrupted her and the corner of his
mouth lifted upward. Not exactly a smile but he was no longer frowning at her at least. “Liquid things?”
Anna smiled back at him. Whereas Victor seemed to like to joke and laugh, Blake looked like he didn’t smile much.
“I admit I’m no mechanic. It was getting hot and losing water so I walked into the auto part store. The man behind the counter suggested this liquid stuff to plug the leak he said I had in my radiator. It was fine for a while, then about fifty or so miles back I began hearing little noises, but I was out in the middle of nowhere so I just kept driving and made it here.” She didn’t think it was wise to mention that she had thrown her cell phone out the window back in Reno.
Blake gave her a concerned look. “Yeah. I’m glad you made it this far. There is nothing but desert out there for miles. You would have been in real trouble then. Don’t you know it’s dangerous for a young woman to travel alone? Where is your family?”
Anna bristled. She didn’t need a safety lecture. He knew nothing about her journey or what she had been through. “Don’t you know not everyone is lucky enough to have someone who cares about them?”
“Where you going?” he asked, leaning back in his seat, ignoring her sarcasm. Anna didn’t know how trustworthy he was. She had learned the hard way that just because someone seemed nice didn’t mean they really were.
“Maybe Scottsdale or Phoenix,” she answered vaguely, shrugging her shoulder carelessly. “Just taking a summer road trip, nowhere special.”
* * * *
Blake leaned back in his chair with his arms behind his head. He appeared to be relaxed but he wasn’t. The very attractive young lady sitting in front of him was lying through her pearly white teeth. The moment he had laid his eyes on her, lust had hit him square in the chest and he had stopped breathing for a moment. Then he got angry at himself. He didn’t need this shit. He had just broken up with one conniving female and wanted to be left alone.
She sat in the chair nervously, looking around and taking in every little detail of where the window and door were. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, maybe. Her black hair was up in a ponytail, but he could tell it was long. She had big brown eyes and full lips that gave her a sensual look. Her skin was a golden brown. Her breasts were obviously plump and full. The low-cut blouse showed off enough of her breasts to tempt a saint. She had curvy hips but her stomach was flat. He could see the muscles in her arms and that meant she liked to work out. He thought she was Latina but he wasn’t sure. One thing he did know was that she was on no casual road trip for fun.
Blake was naturally wary and suspicious of everyone but especially strangers. Years of being in the military had trained him to always be on alert and ready for anything. Sexy or not, if she was up to no good in his town he would find out about it. Shady Grove was quiet and calm for the most part. He had grown up here and his family still lived here. He had never thought of moving elsewhere when he got out of the service.
“Mmm,” he said, not believing her answer for one minute. He was about to ask her more questions but he heard his brother coming back and stood up. “I’ll go and take a look at your truck. You’re welcome to wait back here if you’d like.”
She stood up, putting her backpack over one shoulder. “No, thanks. It’s dark and creepy back here. I’ll wait out front.”
Blake walked outside where his brother was unhooking an old rusty, faded blue pickup truck. He was surprised she made it ten miles in that thing. She was dressed in expensive fancy clothes and the truck did not match with that image, which only brought more questions.
Blake stopped and turned and looked at Anna who was walking behind him. She bumped into his back when he stopped walking and he felt a wave of electricity run through his body when she grabbed onto his waist to steady herself. Shit. He did not need to feel this attraction, especially to a complete stranger. “That thing is what you decide to take a fun road trip across the country in?”
Anna gave him a belligerent look and then looked at her truck as if she didn’t understand what his point was. “What’s wrong with my truck? It may not be brand new but it works. Well, it did until recently.”