Chapter 1
A bead of perspiration formed at my hairline as I waited for the infinitely red light to show mercy and turn green. Sighing, I gingerly pulled down the sun visor, careful not to put too much pressure on it. It seemed liable to fall off any day now. Looking in the mirror, I gently dabbed at the sweat with a tissue from my purse.
The August heat was at full blaze, and I was double damned since the air conditioning in the ancient car I’d bought used a year ago probably hadn’t functioned right since before I was born. My manager at the restaurant had thankfully let me leave an hour before my shift ended, but there was no point in being early to the most important interview of my life if I was going to be a sweaty mess when I got there.
God, what about my life wasn’t a mess?
Mercifully, the light finally turned green and I shifted my foot from the brake to the gas pedal, thankful for the breeze coming in through the rolled-down windows. I’d barely made it through the intersection when an insistent beeping started blaring repeatedly from the dashboard, but I brushed it off. This happened every so often, but nothing had ever come out of it. The car hadn’t exploded and it wasn’t like I had the money to take it to a mechanic, so I had just accepted it as one of the quirks of a junk car.
But when the car sputtered loudly, emitting a noise somewhere between a grind and a choke, I didn’t have the option to ignore it, since the engine just turned itself off.
Panic hit me, sliding through my body and leaving prickly dread in its wake. I darted my eyes from left to right as my dead car coasted along, looking for an escape.
This turn of events was not only inconvenient, but dangerous, as traffic was heavy and cars continued to zip by mine, making it difficult for me to change lanes. The driver behind me laid on his horn as my car slowed to several miles below the speed limit, making me even more nervous. My hands were clammy as they gripped the steering wheel.
A narrow opening finally presented itself and I seized it, praying I’d make it through the gap before the black SUV that was quickly closing in slammed into my car and blasted it to bits.
I made it through to the shoulder of the road and braked quickly. My body shook and I let out a shuddering breath. This car was a death trap, but I wasn’t dead yet and I needed to make it to my interview or I was pretty much as good as dead. I turned the key in the ignition, trying to see if I could get it to come back on.
Nothing.
“Great.” I slammed my fist against the dashboard and the needle on the speedometer fell off. My mouth dropped open and a choked, humorless noise came out, more a bark than a laugh. Gritting my teeth, I dropped my forehead to the steering wheel and wondered what else could possibly go wrong.
There wasn’t time to sit around feeling sorry for myself. I needed to go to the interview whether my car was going to get me there or not. And since it was clear that ‘or not’ was what my car had decided on, it was time for me to get moving.
I turned to open my door and screamed, my heartbeat quickly elevating to the same racing heights it reached when I was stuck in the middle of speeding traffic in a dead car.
“Sorry,” the guy on the other side of my door said, holding his hands up. He looked to be around my age, with blonde hair that fell into his eyes. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just saw you slumped over the wheel and wanted to make sure….”
“Oh no. It’s fine. I’m fine.” I buried my face in my hands briefly before looking up at him again. “My car broke down, but I’m not hurt or anything. I just have somewhere I really need to be and it looks like my car doesn’t care about getting me there.”
“Looks like it.” He smiled, his hazel eyes glittering as the sunlight caught them.
Cursing my stupid tendency to startle easily, I opened the door and stepped out of the car. “Sorry about the scream. It
A bead of perspiration formed at my hairline as I waited for the infinitely red light to show mercy and turn green. Sighing, I gingerly pulled down the sun visor, careful not to put too much pressure on it. It seemed liable to fall off any day now. Looking in the mirror, I gently dabbed at the sweat with a tissue from my purse.
The August heat was at full blaze, and I was double damned since the air conditioning in the ancient car I’d bought used a year ago probably hadn’t functioned right since before I was born. My manager at the restaurant had thankfully let me leave an hour before my shift ended, but there was no point in being early to the most important interview of my life if I was going to be a sweaty mess when I got there.
God, what about my life wasn’t a mess?
Mercifully, the light finally turned green and I shifted my foot from the brake to the gas pedal, thankful for the breeze coming in through the rolled-down windows. I’d barely made it through the intersection when an insistent beeping started blaring repeatedly from the dashboard, but I brushed it off. This happened every so often, but nothing had ever come out of it. The car hadn’t exploded and it wasn’t like I had the money to take it to a mechanic, so I had just accepted it as one of the quirks of a junk car.
But when the car sputtered loudly, emitting a noise somewhere between a grind and a choke, I didn’t have the option to ignore it, since the engine just turned itself off.
Panic hit me, sliding through my body and leaving prickly dread in its wake. I darted my eyes from left to right as my dead car coasted along, looking for an escape.
This turn of events was not only inconvenient, but dangerous, as traffic was heavy and cars continued to zip by mine, making it difficult for me to change lanes. The driver behind me laid on his horn as my car slowed to several miles below the speed limit, making me even more nervous. My hands were clammy as they gripped the steering wheel.
A narrow opening finally presented itself and I seized it, praying I’d make it through the gap before the black SUV that was quickly closing in slammed into my car and blasted it to bits.
I made it through to the shoulder of the road and braked quickly. My body shook and I let out a shuddering breath. This car was a death trap, but I wasn’t dead yet and I needed to make it to my interview or I was pretty much as good as dead. I turned the key in the ignition, trying to see if I could get it to come back on.
Nothing.
“Great.” I slammed my fist against the dashboard and the needle on the speedometer fell off. My mouth dropped open and a choked, humorless noise came out, more a bark than a laugh. Gritting my teeth, I dropped my forehead to the steering wheel and wondered what else could possibly go wrong.
There wasn’t time to sit around feeling sorry for myself. I needed to go to the interview whether my car was going to get me there or not. And since it was clear that ‘or not’ was what my car had decided on, it was time for me to get moving.
I turned to open my door and screamed, my heartbeat quickly elevating to the same racing heights it reached when I was stuck in the middle of speeding traffic in a dead car.
“Sorry,” the guy on the other side of my door said, holding his hands up. He looked to be around my age, with blonde hair that fell into his eyes. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just saw you slumped over the wheel and wanted to make sure….”
“Oh no. It’s fine. I’m fine.” I buried my face in my hands briefly before looking up at him again. “My car broke down, but I’m not hurt or anything. I just have somewhere I really need to be and it looks like my car doesn’t care about getting me there.”
“Looks like it.” He smiled, his hazel eyes glittering as the sunlight caught them.
Cursing my stupid tendency to startle easily, I opened the door and stepped out of the car. “Sorry about the scream. It
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