Roadside Service

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations and events are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © B.L. Wilde 2013

The right of B.L. Wilde to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, nor stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission from the author.

Cover Design Copyright © Jo Matthews 2013

Cover Artwork ©
Matusciac
|
Dreamstime.com

Interior Formatting by Written Elegance 2013

Interior Artwork ©
Rosanna Cunico

Acknowledgments  

Firstly, I need to thank my girl, Jo Matthews, not only for her amazing editing skills, but for making this novella everything that it is. From the front cover, to the formatting—I seriously couldn’t have done this without you. I’ll never be able to explain how blessed I feel to have you in my life.

Thank you to my husband for putting up with my mood swings and allowing me to dedicate a lot of my time to my writing. I love you.

Liz, I want to thank you for your never ending belief in me and your amazing pre-reading skills. You are amazing and a dear friend to me.

NeeNee, your faith in me gave me so much confidence and opened many doors for me. I’m sure I wouldn’t be here right now if you hadn’t stumbled upon my online stories all those years ago. Thank you!

My ‘Hive’ ladies, you all brighten up my day. You know who you are. Thank you all for your love and support.   

Mandy, thank you for helping with the final read-thru to catch those little things we may have missed. It means a lot that you were so willing.

Lastly, thank you to my readers for joining me on this little tale. Now it’s time to ‘discover your
Wilde
side.’

Enjoy!

Much Love,

For Jo—

My editor, my light in this crazy world of publishing, and my dearest friend.

R
OADSIDE
S
ERVICE

God dammit!

I tried to turn over the engine one last time but it was no use. My car was dead.

Great!
Allie was going to kill me; I was already an hour late for my meeting, and engine troubles were going to make me even later. I pulled out my iPhone and groaned when I saw I had no damn signal. My day just kept getting worse.

I stepped out of my car, thinking I’d seen a garage a few blocks back. Not that I knew Omaha very well, but I couldn’t stand around all day. I was Violet Weathers, the supermodel.
Yay, lucky me!
Yes, that was sarcasm if you were wondering.

I had a major photo shoot to do with a skincare company over the next two weeks. Why they chose Nebraska, I had no idea. It appeared to be the dullest place I had ever been to, and I’d travelled a lot in my career so far.

Allie was going to strangle me once she found out I was stranded. I had insisted on driving myself, even if it had taken me an hour to get from the airport to here. There was only so much of the modeling lifestyle I could stomach at once. I needed some time alone to think before I put my ‘mask’
back on.

The flight from Paris had been unbearable. I had been there getting ready for Fashion Week, which was coming up in less than a month. Fashion Week was quite possibly the event that most made me want to go hide under a rock somewhere. I hated every minute of it.  My time in Paris had been all go, go, go, as we tried to make sure all my outfits were perfect. In the only spare time had, Allie had gone through all my outfit changes for Nebraska, and the script I would need to follow for the commercial we were filming later in the week. It was only six lines—how hard did she think that would be for me?

I began walking down the street, trying to find the shop I had passed.
Why did I wear these damn heels today?
Almost tripping and falling over twice because of how dark it was, I finally saw the garage; I just prayed that it was open.

There was music blaring from a stereo as I walked in the door. The stench of oil filled my nostrils right away, but I didn’t cringe. I had always loved the smell of oil and gas. Weird, I know, but hey, that was the real me.

“Um…hello?” I called, trying to compete with the volume of the music. I stretched when I noticed a car hood up, trying to see around it. It was then that I saw a lean, muscular body leaning over the engine. “Hello!” I called again a little louder, determined to get the mechanic’s attention. It still didn’t work! Damn it, how loud was this guy’s music? Was he deaf?

I finally tapped him on the shoulder, which was the wrong thing to do because he jumped and hit his head on the hood of the car he was fixing.

“Oh, shit!” I screeched. “I’m so sorry.”

“Fuck that hurt,” the guy cursed, rubbing his head as I finally got a glimpse of him.

Holy hell! He was gorgeous, with a mass of dark brown hair and these deep blue eyes that had a depth to them that seemed surreal. I had never seen a shade of blue like them before. As if his body wasn’t hot enough, I had to hold my legs together as I took in the oil smudge on his tight white V-neck T-shirt, which was left exposed because his coveralls were tied around his waist. This guy was hotter than any model I’d ever posed with or even met. And he was just a mechanic?

“I’m sorry. I did shout…twice.” He looked me up and down, and I sighed to myself as I waited for his reaction. I was what most would call a ‘natural beauty.’ Standing at five foot four, I had long, golden blonde hair and baby blue eyes. My skin was pale and my lips were full and pouty. I was a picture perfect pin-up, and the fresh new look that the industry had been seeking. I had been at the top of the modeling world for the last three years now, and my popularity and demand had only continued to grow. Yes, I was a supermodel, but did it have to control my whole damn life?

“Sorry, I like my music loud. Can I help you?” he smirked, moving to wash and dry his hands in the sink nearby. That was it? He wasn’t going to try to hit on me? I mean, this guy had an
actual
chance with me; I was incredibly horny and he was gorgeous.

“My car broke down and I’m kind of stranded,” I replied, watching his sexy back until he turned around.

“Well, we can’t have that. It’s not safe for a beautiful woman to be wandering around alone in the dark.”
Here we go! Game on!

“My phone sort of died, too. I don’t suppose…”

“Go ahead. It’s just over there by my desk,” the mechanic smiled, gesturing with his hand. Christ, he was charming, too.
Maybe I should take him back to my hotel room once he sorts out the issue with my car?
What was I thinking? It was obvious that I needed some coffee or maybe even something stronger. I was crushing on a mechanic for Christ’s sake! In my defense, though, he was
really
hot.

I dialed Allie’s number and she answered on the second ring. “Violet, where the hell are you?!” she shrieked.

“My car broke down. I’m at a repair shop now.”

“This is why you should have listened to me, Violet. We are all here waiting for you. The main directors were hoping to meet you before they flew back to New York this evening.” Wow, maybe my car breaking down was a good thing, after all. I definitely didn’t want to sit in a meeting with middle-aged men fawning all over me.

“Look, I’ll get there as soon as I can. My cell has no signal so I’m calling you from the garage.”

“Do you want me to send a driver to come and get you?”

“No,” I stressed, “I’m fine.”

“Violet, I…”

“Please, Allie. I have it covered,” I moaned, glancing over at Mr. Gorgeous, the mechanic. Did he have any idea who I was? With the way he was watching me, I had no clue.

“Do you have someone helping you out?”

“Yeah, I’ve just spoken to the mechanic at the garage. I’ll get to the hotel as quick as I can, I promise.”

“Okay, but call me if you need me.”

“I will,” I sighed, hanging up.

“We’ll take my truck in case I need to tow your car,” the mechanic informed me as I followed him outside.

We were both silent as he drove us to my car, but I couldn’t ignore the sexual tension that was radiating off my body. Or was that him?

“Nice car,” he smirked as we pulled up beside my vehicle. Yeah, the guy at the car rental place had told me to take the black Porsche. I wasn’t going to argue, even if it had broken down on me. I loved that car. I was even considering buying myself one later when I got home. “What did you do, rob a bank to buy this?” he asked as he climbed out of the truck. Wow, this guy really had no idea who I was, which was refreshing.

“I have a good job, actually, but this is just a rental,” I answered as I smiled smugly once he opened my door for me.

“Open her up then. I’d like to take a good look under her hood.” Was it me, or did I see a glint in his eyes that suggested a different hood? Not to mention he’d referred to my car as a ‘her.’
Yes, Mr. Mechanic, you can check under my hood anytime.
Good God, I was losing my mind!

My car still wouldn’t start so we ended up towing it back to his garage.

“Do you think I should call the rental company?” I asked once we arrived back.

“I can do that if you want. Is it Rent-a-Car?” I nodded. That was the only rental place at the airport. “I deal with their contracts all the time. I didn’t realize they had Porsches, though. You must be a special client of theirs,” he smirked. Was he flirting with me? “How long are you in town for?”

“Two weeks,” I replied.

“I can give you a ride to wherever you need to be tonight, and let you know what Rent-a-Car says when I call them in the morning.”