Chasing Charli - Kat Mizera Page 0,3

with Dani and Dani had sent him here, he figured she wasn’t too worried about it.

He pulled onto the street after putting her spare tire in the back and cut a glance at her. She seemed lost in thought and since he didn’t have much English to draw on, he didn’t try to engage her. He kept glancing at her in his peripheral vision, though, because the more he looked at her, the prettier she got.

It only took a few minutes to get to the tire place and Miikka carried the tire for her as they went inside. One of the employees greeted them and looked over the spare with a grimace.

“I don’t think I can fix this,” he said, turning it. “Your spare is shot.”

“Shit.” Charli made a face. “Can I buy another? How much would it cost?”

“Another spare is going to cost almost as much as a new regular tire,” the man replied. “You’re better off just getting a new full-size one.”

“But I can’t drive the car the way it is and…” Her voice trailed off.

“How far away is the car?” the man asked.

“Maybe seven miles?”

“I can probably get your spare into good enough shape to make it ten or fifteen miles, but if you try to drive beyond that, especially if we get any bad weather, it’ll be dangerous.”

“Yes, okay, do that, please.” She sighed heavily. “And will you have time to put on the new tire for me if I bring it back here? I have to work tomorrow and don’t have any other way to get there.”

“It’ll be a few hours, but sure, I can get it done before end of day.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

She sank into the nearest chair and Miikka sat beside her.

“Sorry if I’m ruining your day,” she said after a moment. “I hope I’m not keeping you from anything.”

“My English bad,” he said after a long hesitation.

“Is it?” She peered at him through big, round tortoiseshell glasses. “It seems okay.”

He shook his head, typing into his translation program and letting her read the result. No, it’s terrible. That’s why I’m using a translating program. Otherwise, it would be impossible to understand me. My teammates tease me about it all the time.

She frowned. “That’s terrible. Why would they tease you? Where are you from?”

“Finland.” He gave her a little shrug. “No time for study with hockey.”

“Do you play for the Blizzard too?”

“Yes. I am Miikka Laasonen.” He held out his hand and she shook it, smiling at him.

“I’m Charli Bartosiewicz.”

“Charlie? Like boy?”

She grinned. “Short for Charlotte. But I go by Charli.”

“Chaaaar-lot…” He drew out the sound of the A and cocked his head. “I like this. Very pretty.”

“Thank you.” There was a faint blush on her cheeks and he wondered why telling her she had a pretty name embarrassed her. She was adorable in a geeky librarian sort of way. Her chestnut hair was pulled to one side in a long braid over her shoulder, but even braided you could see golden highlights shot through it. She was petite, maybe five-feet-two or so, and though it was hard to see her eyes through her glasses, they were definitely blue and everything about her was fairly delicate. Her features, her figure, even her smile, which seemed shy. And though she wasn’t his usual type, he was drawn to her for some reason.

“Okay, the spare is ready to go,” the guy who worked at the shop said, approaching them. “If you want your regular tire done today, you’ll need to get back here soon, though, or I can’t promise anything.”

“It shouldn’t take long. Thank you.” Charli got up and paid him.

Miikka noticed she paid cash, carefully counting out a handful of bills and then stuffing the rest back in her purse. He took the spare tire from the guy and they headed back out to his truck. She got in without a word, lost in thought again, and it occurred to him that maybe she couldn’t afford a new tire. Hell, based on what he’d seen on her car, she needed four of them, but it wasn’t his place to tell her that.

He wanted to help somehow, even though he barely knew her; it was the way he’d been raised. He made a lot of money and had a great life, so if this shy schoolteacher needed new tires, he was happy to do that for her. Except he’d learned early on that many women didn’t like that sort of thing and were instantly suspicious of