bucket of cold water. I shouldn’t have stayed to watch. I shouldn’t have peeked in the first place.
But as I walked away, I couldn’t help imagining the impossible. Walking into that bathroom before he’d finished. Stripping off my clothes. Getting in the shower with him, pressing my front to his back. Reaching around to stroke him the way he’d stroked himself—only better. Finishing him while he growled with pleasure.
God, this was the worst. Maybe this was the harm in indulging in sex fantasies about a guy I’d never have. The inability to control myself and act like a decent human when presented with the tiniest bit of temptation.
Okay, a huge, thick, throbbing temptation.
Still.
I darted into his room and grabbed my towel off his bed. In his grumpy, standoffish way, Evan had been nothing but nice to me. He’d gone above and beyond, giving me not only a place to fix my car, but a place to stay. And I was so grateful for that. I needed to stop letting my mind go to that place—the place of the impossible, where Evan and I…
It wasn’t going to happen. And that was okay. Like I’d told myself a million times, I was only passing through.
16
Fiona
I was starting to lose confidence in my plan.
Three days ago, I’d been riding high on success. I’d replaced the clutch—go, me!—and put my car back together. Once I’d double-checked to make sure every bolt was secure, I’d taken it out for a test drive.
First gear felt great. Good job, Fiona!
Second gear like a dream. I was such a badass!
It slid right into third. Hell yes, I did that by myself!
And fourth.
Fourth gear was where it all fell apart. Almost literally.
Slip. Grind. Slip. Grind. No fourth gear.
I’d driven back to Evan’s shop and he’d confirmed the bad news. It wasn’t just the old clutch causing the problem. The transmission was shot, too.
That had left me with no other choice but to stay a few more days so I could replace the entire transmission. And my bank account was not thanking me.
In fact, things were looking rather dire.
So here I sat, in the window booth in the Bigfoot Diner, staring at a little group of squirrels on the sidewalk outside and questioning all my life choices.
I picked at the fries left on my plate. Evan had needed to come into town, so I’d asked if I could join him. I didn’t want to be in his way more than necessary, but I’d also needed to get out of the shop and away from my car. It was almost finished, but it had cost more than I had to spare. So I needed some space to think.
What were my options? I could push on to Iowa. It was roughly a twenty-eight-hour drive from here, more with stops. I didn’t think I could drive that far by myself without stopping somewhere to sleep, which meant another night in a motel. Which meant money. And I had to eat. I had enough cash left that I could make it, but I was one flat tire away from disaster. If anything else went wrong, I’d be screwed.
If I went home, I could go back to my job. Pick up where I left off and start getting a paycheck again, albeit a small one, considering my dad was a cheapskate. But it would mean an immediate source of income.
That didn’t work either. I couldn’t go back, not even temporarily. If I went home, I’d only wind up caught in Dad’s web again. That wasn’t going to happen.
Which left a third possible option. Stay in Tilikum. Get a temporary job. Save a little money. Then continue on to Iowa.
The squirrels outside scattered when a guy came down the sidewalk, distracting me from my thoughts. I recognized him, which was such a funny feeling, considering this wasn’t my town.
It was Luke Haven.
He caught my eye through the window and I looked away quickly. Even without the feud between his family and Evan’s, I doubted Luke liked me very much. I’d taken the Pontiac right out from under him. It hadn’t been personal, of course, but I had a feeling the fact that he’d lost out to Evan Bailey made it worse.
So I had no idea why he veered back to the diner entrance, walked right to my booth, and sat down.
“Hey.” He cast a wary glance around the restaurant, like he wasn’t sure if he should be seen here.