Page 25 of Second Time Around

Eight

Two days after Beck had met Jenna at the park, he spotted her across the parking lot as he was leaving work. She was standing next to her car, hands on hips and scowling.

“Something wrong?” he asked, coming up alongside her. Based on her expression, he was a lot happier to see her than the other way around.

“What are you doing here?” she snapped.

“I work here, remember?”

“How could I forget?” she grumbled.

Since she’d already been frowning before he showed up, he decided not to take it personally. “What’s the problem?”

She pointed to the back tire on the driver’s side with her neatly manicured finger. “Flat tire.”

He’d been so busy admiring her beauty that he hadn’t noticed the tire. “That’s not a problem.”

“What do you call it? A pleasant surprise?” she said sarcastically.

The pleasant surprise is seeing you. “I’ll change it for you.”

“NO!”

“No?”

“I already called for a tow truck.”

“When did they say they’d come?”

She sighed and averted her eyes.

“You didn’t call, did you?”

She slowly shook her head. “But I was about to when you walked up.”

“That’s it,” he said and started unbuttoning his shirt.

Her eyes bulged. “What are you doing?”

“I’m changing your tire.”

“Shirtless?”

“I’m wearing an undershirt.” He’d unbuttoned his plaid shirt to reveal a plain white T-shirt underneath. Luckily, it was a new one he’d just taken out of the package that morning. He would have been embarrassed if it’d been one of his older, rattier ones. He removed his dress shirt and held it out to her.

Instead of reaching for it, she simply stared, her gaze roaming over his shoulders and down his chest.

“Now what’s wrong?” he asked.

“You’re…you’re…”

“What?” The suspense was killing him.

“You’re still ripped!”

Her expression, a mix of admiration and dismay, made him laugh. “And that’s a problem?”

“Yes.”