He could feel all her curves. Her lush breasts. Her warmth. He could—
She jerked back. “The ring was the only thing of value I had on me. I-I can’t offer you anything else as payment.” Her hands twisted in front of her.
“Sure, the ring was the only thing. Totally makes sense to me.” He headed past her but paused long enough to reach out to capture her hand once again. Remy had discovered something rather odd. He liked touching her. His fingers threaded with hers as if it was the most natural act in the world. It wasn’t. He wasn’t normally big on touching. But, well, he needed to pull her along, didn’t he? If he was being the big hero of the night, they should get moving.
Before whoever was chasing the lost bride came running in after her.
They were almost at the door—Rodney still hadn’t glanced their way—when she suddenly dug in her bare heels. “Wait!”
Sighing, he swung his head toward her. “Wait for what?”
Jacqueline bit her lower lip. Released it. Bit it again. Didn’t speak.
“Ahem.” He gave an encouraging nod. “There something you need to say?”
“I’m not going to sleep with you in order to pay for a ride.” The words were so low that he almost missed them.
Almost, but not quite, and laughter erupted from Remy.
Red flashed in her cheeks.
Because the laughter was ever so booming, it even caught Rodney’s attention. He spun toward them. “Hey!” Rodney called. “What’s going on over there?”
She shuddered and pushed close to Remy once more. He realized that her back was to Rodney, and Jacqueline had just positioned herself so that her face was tucked toward Remy’s body. Other than seeing the white dress and dark hair, Rodney wouldn’t be able to say much about the woman if he were to be questioned by someone later.
Remy rolled one shoulder in a shrug. “My lady came to get me tonight. Made a joke about me being late for our date.” It was close to midnight, so, yeah, that had to count as late. “See you around, Rodney.”
Grunting, Rodney focused on his screen once more.
Remy took a still-blushing Jacqueline outside. He unlocked the truck and hoisted her up into the high seat because the vehicle had some very big-ass tires. Big-ass everything, come to think of it.
Perched in the passenger seat, she looked down at him as the vehicle’s interior light illuminated the scene. “I’m sorry if I assumed the wrong thing inside.” Now she sounded miserable. “You’re obviously a good guy—”
More laughter. Damn. She was cracking him up. Very unusual. He had some acquaintances who would swear he never laughed. “Watch the foot. Don’t want those toes getting banged when I close the door.”
Her foot whipped away from the door. He slammed it, and, whistling, made his way around the vehicle. But before he climbed inside…Remy paused to glance around the area. The road appeared deserted. No other vehicles. No people at all. The main street in Halfway seemed as deserted as always.
But appearances could be deceiving. Remy knew that. So he took a moment. Looked for anything out of the ordinary.
The night was still, tinted with a hint of a growing fall chill. The cold came faster in the mountains. You could always hear better in these quiet spaces. Sound could travel for miles and—
A growling engine. Coming closer. His head tilted as Remy tried to decide just what was approaching. Nodding, he opened his door. Jumped inside. “Did you marry him?”
Jacqueline stopped tugging on the seatbelt that she’d been positioning across her chest. “Excuse me?”
He sighed once more and hooked the belt for her.
“Thank you.” A breath from Jacqueline as he leaned over her. The breath blew lightly over the shell of his ear, and once more, Remy felt a flood of awareness course through him. His head lifted, and he stared at her. The interior light had gone dark since he hadn’t cranked the vehicle but had shut all the doors.
“Did you marry him?” Remy repeated. “Is that why he’s chasing you? You said yes and then cut out on the bastard?”
“No.”
“Good to know.” He eased back into his seat. “You ran before the ‘I do’ part, huh?”
“I don’t know why you think I was marrying…” Her words trailed off. “It was an engagement. Sort of.”
How did one have a “sort of” engagement?
“Everything was a total mistake. I never wanted to marry him. You don’t know what was involved.”
Nope. He didn’t know. They were strangers. He was just giving her a lift. Playing his hand at being a Good Samaritan. Trying to understand why some people enjoyed doing random good deeds. So far, the good deed bit seemed like a pain in the ass. “Most people don’t run from an ex—at least, not as fast and as desperately as you seem to be running.” His hand moved toward the ignition.
Her fingers touched his. “Most people don’t have the trouble after them that I do.”
When she touched him, his skin heated. A definite attraction burned between them. Or at least, it burned on his end. Did she feel it, too? He’d be finding out. “Where am I taking you?”
“I…” Jacqueline stopped.
Nothing.
He started the engine. “We’ve got a motorcycle heading this way. Probably want to be moving soon because something tells me the rider is searching for your sweet ass.”
“OhGod.” She immediately started looking all around for a motorcycle.
“So…about that destination?” There had to be some sort of karmic gold stars coming his way for this night. But then, considering his past, he could probably do a million good deeds and never balance the scales.
And that is why sweet beauties like her shouldn’t walk up to me in a bar and ask me for a ride…
“Please drive. Please. Like, drive super, super fast.”
He reversed the vehicle. “Driving ‘super, super fast’ isn’t safe on these narrow mountain roads.” Someone should probably tell that to the motorcycle driver. “You don’t have a destination in mind, do you?”
She peered through the passenger side window. “No.”
“Didn’t think so. There’s a motel at the edge of Halfway. It looks like a hole in the wall, but it’s got clean rooms, so don’t be fooled by its exterior.”
“He’ll look there. I-I can’t stay in a motel.” Jacqueline swung toward him.
Oh, no. Nope. “Don’t say it.” He began driving. Slowly. “My newfound goodwill only goes so far.”
“Do you…happen to have a spare room?”
She’d said it.
His hands tightened around the steering wheel. “Do you have any self-preservation instincts at all? Like, a single one?”
“Yes.”
A fast slant her way showed that Jacqueline had lifted her chin.
“It’s why I got away from him and why I’m with you now,” she continued as a determined edge entered her husky voice.
He hated to shatter her illusions but… “Yeah, sweetness, for all you know, I could be a serial killer. One who has lured you into my ride. I could have fixed the locks so you can’t get out, and now that you’re trapped, I’ll take you away to my home in the woods where you will never, ever be seen again.”