Chasing Charli - Kat Mizera Page 0,2

it was all she could do not to pull her hair out when twenty-two five-year-olds alternated saying the word for hours on end.

Those were the exceptions, though. Normally, she loved teaching kindergarten, and this year’s class was exceptionally well-behaved and cute. Niko was still her favorite, though, and she’d become friendly with Dani and Sergei.

A black truck pulled up and a red-haired man she’d never seen before stopped in the spot across from her Toyota. He stuck his head out the window and looked at her.

“You are Charli?”

He had an accent she couldn’t quite place but she nodded. “Yes.”

“I am Miikka.” He got out of his truck and for a moment she couldn’t do anything but blink. He wasn’t traditionally handsome, but he was tall and built and had an air of athleticism that was unmistakable. As he approached her, the muscles in his thighs visibly flexed even through his jeans and she couldn’t help but let her gaze travel up to what appeared to be a wide chest beneath his bomber jacket.

Wow. He was nice to look at.

He gave her a little grin and held out a can of WD-40, forcing her eyes up to his. “This will fix.” For a moment, their gazes locked and her heart skipped a beat as they looked at each other. Then he turned and squatted beside her, spraying the remaining three lug nuts liberally.

“That’s brilliant,” she breathed. “Thank you for coming. Where’s Sergei?”

He said something she didn’t catch and she frowned. Had that been another language? Not Russian, but something Scandinavian maybe?

Miikka whistled as he worked, replacing her lug wrench with one of his own and cheerfully removing the lug nuts.

“Oh, thank you,” she said happily. “I can change a tire. I just wasn’t strong enough to take off the—”

He interrupted her with a torrent of words that meant nothing to her.

She blinked.

He stared back.

Then he laughed. “Sorry. I forget.” He scratched his head and then pulled out his phone. He typed into it and then seemed to be reading what was on the screen. “I am already here and…happy to change tire. My mother would not be happy if I let a lady change her own.” His accent was thick and he stumbled over several of the words, but it was no less endearing and she couldn’t help but smile back.

“Then thank you. Let me get the spare.” She moved to the trunk and reached for it just as he gently nudged her out of the way, shaking his head.

“Is okay.”

She watched him with a secret smile, trying not to notice the way his T-shirt rode up and exposed a flat, firm stomach. As he started tightening the lug nuts again, his biceps flexed and since he’d taken off his jacket, she had an excellent view of them through his long-sleeved T-shirt. He was pretty damn sexy stretched out on the ground, and she had to avert her eyes to keep from licking her lips. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d met such a gentleman, and one that was incredibly hot had to be a first.

“Hmmm.” He was muttering to himself in whatever language he spoke and didn’t look happy.

“What’s wrong?” she asked worriedly, crouching down beside him.

“No okay.” He put the tire on the ground and frowned.

Charli glanced down and sighed. Well, this was going to suck.

Her spare tire was flat.

2

Miikka had been happy to jump in and help when Sergei had asked him to give Niko’s teacher a hand changing a tire, but he wasn’t prepared for someone as cute as she was. She wasn’t flashy or built like the strippers at the clubs he frequented, but there was something captivating about her, especially the blue eyes lurking behind her glasses. Too bad he couldn’t get a closer look.

“Is okay,” he said finally. “We fix.”

“I just… Shit.” She put her hands on her hips and looked up at the sky, muttering something about bad luck, but he didn’t catch most of it.

“Come. We go to fix.” He gently touched her arm.

“I guess I don’t have a choice.” She seemed irritated but gave him a little grin. “You know that saying, if it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all?”

He had no idea what that meant so he stuck to what he knew. “We go?” He motioned to his pickup truck. “We fix, come back?”

“Yes, okay.” She didn’t seem to have any qualms about getting into the truck of a stranger, but since she was friends