Bound by Brenda Rothert Page B

expressway. A middle-aged guy was scratching his head as he looked under the raised hood of the car.
    “Uh . . . well, it’s not smoking anymore,” he said. He didn’t have a fucking clue about cars.
    “We’re just gonna have it towed,” I said when I got a look at the old engine. This car needed major work; probably more than it was even worth.
    “Jason Ryker?” The middle-aged guy’s eyes bulged.
    “Yeah,” I said. It was hot and I wasn’t in the mood to talk hockey, but I offered my hand.
    “I’m a big fan,” he said.
    “Thanks, I appreciate it. And thanks for stopping to help . . . my assistant. How about some tickets to our home opener?”
    The man grinned at me and made a whooping sound. “Yeah!”
    I scrawled a name and number for the front office on a scrap of paper he handed to me and told him how to get the tickets. He snapped a quick photo of me with his camera phone and scrambled away.
    Kate was leaning against the short concrete wall on the side of the road. “You have any stuff in the car I need to grab?” I asked.
    She shook her head. “I’ve got my purse.”
    “Okay, let’s go,” I said loudly so she could hear me over the noise of the cars. “You can drop me off at the rink and take the Jeep.”
    “You can just drop me off at your place,” she said. When she climbed into the door-free Jeep and sat down, I reached up to grip the roll bar and leaned in to her. It was the closest we’d been in a long time, and it got my blood flowing. The sheen of sweat on her face made her glow.
    “Take the Jeep,” I said, letting myse lf get close enough to smell her. The subtle scents of freshly fallen rain and vanilla had the same effect on me they’d had at the dinner event we went to. One word from her, and I’d blow off practice to spend the day in bed with Kate. Damn the consequences.
    “Alright, thanks,” she said with a small smile. I forced myself to lean back and walk around the Jeep to drive to the rink.
    “I’ll call a tow truck when I get to practice,” I said.
    “I can do it. You’ll be busy.” Her long hair whipped up in the wind and she tried to hold it down.
    “I’ve got it, Kate. Let me rescue you properly.”
    She smiled and happiness swelled in my chest. “Can we ride to the meeting together tonight?”
    I was trying to be Prince Charming and she was thinking about the grief support group?
    “Sure. Let’s get dinner after. Tell Mimi not to worry about making anything.”
    She nodded, and hope surged through me for the first time since that night several weeks ago. Maybe something could happen with us. I’d go as slow as she needed me to. This beautiful, vulnerable woman was winding her way to a place in my heart no one had ever been before.
     
    ***
     
    Kate
     
    The whiny beep of a car horn behind me caught my attention. I pushed my foot onto the Jeep’s gas pedal, feeling pain in the lip I’d been unconsciously biting down hard on. When I pulled up to the door Ryke had told me to pick him up at, I shoved the gear shift into park and gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles burned. I had no right to be pissed, none at all, but I was. I had been all damn day, and now I was about to boil over.
    Ryke’s perfect white grin when he strolled out a few minutes later just incited more anger. Damn him. Even though it was my own stupid fault.
    “Hey,” he said as he got in.
    “Did you want to drive?” I looked straight ahead, knowing I’d blow if I let him turn those caramel eyes on me. Or worse, melt and forget how mad I was.
    “No, go ahead. How was your day?”
    “Fine.” I focused my attention on traffic in the parking lot. “I dropped off the stuff you’re donating to that auction, did your shopping and worked on your schedule.”
    “Is everything okay?” he asked. I must not have been masking my hostility very well. I’d never been a good liar.
    “Yep. Oh, and you got an email from a Krista Grayson. She sent the address for your date this