The Wedding Bargain

Sorting through all the information, Drew said, “Sounds like the battery might be going. How old is it?”

She looked at the car. “I bought it secondhand.”

“When was that?”

“About four years ago. They said all the equipment was original.” She beamed—as if that was a good thing.

Drew grunted some response. Her optimism was beginning to wear thin. “Let’s have a look.” He propped the hood open, then bent over the engine. “The battery terminals look corroded.”

“Hmm.” She got out an umbrella—a yellow flowered one, then tried to hold it steady over his head while he cleaned the terminals. The wind blew, rain lashed in four directions.

Before long, they were both soaked. She sneezed.

Drew glanced at her. “Why don’t you go back inside?”

“You might need my help.” She smiled at him, her eyes wide and gray, as crystal clear and guileless as a mountain stream.

He stared for a long moment. Something about her seemed familiar. “What did you say your name was?”

“Olivia DeAngelis.”

His gaze skimmed over her delicate flower-face, her pale hair. Irrepressible as her, it curled like a gold halo around her head. “You don’t look Italian.”

In her black leather jacket and jeans, she was an intriguing blend of worldliness and innocence. A wayward angel.

“I’m not. I was adopted.” She didn’t add any details.

“You’re not from around here originally.”

She tilted her head. “How did you guess?”

“The accent gave you away.” He’d gone to college and met people from the West Coast. “California breeze.”

She laughed. “I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”

When he remained silent, her smile faded.

So he’d finally burst her bubble of cheer. In a way, Drew regretted it, but perhaps it was just as well. He didn’t need a woman like her cluttering his life. He had no connections; his family had disowned him. Under the circumstances, he didn’t really blame them. His list of transgressions was long.

He’d hurt some innocent people and served time in an out-of-state minimum-security prison—not his idea of a country club by any stretch of the imagination. Society had exacted a price, and he’d paid. Would that satisfy his detractors and earn forgiveness? He was going home to face the same people who judged him guilty and sent him to prison. Beyond that, he had no plans—except to pick up his few belongings, then head out somewhere.

He had no clear destination in mind—as long as it was as far from his past as he could get.

Only one thing was certain—no one would miss him.

Not a soul.

Did he care?

He wasn’t sure. The admission left him empty.

At his deliberate attempt to distance himself, Olivia shivered in the cold autumn night. She tried to shake off Drew’s easy dismissal. People usually liked her; she worked hard to make sure they did.

Unexpectedly hurt and not willing to examine the reason too closely since all six-foot-two of him was standing less than a yard away, she decided to treat his rudeness with silence. That lasted about a minute.

Now he was glowering at the engine!

Alarmed, she leaned over for a closer look—brushing his hard elbow with her own.

“What’s wrong with it?” she asked, confused by the mess of greasy gears and wires.

“Nothing.” He inched his arm away, leaving her feeling colder than before. “I just cleaned and reset the wires. With a jump-start, you can be on your way.”

“Oh.” What had she expected?

Surprisingly he gave her a direct glance. “Look, I’m sorry if I’ve been rude.”

His mouth was set in a rigid line, his brow was furrowed. He didn’t look sorry. His chiseled features looked hard, with deep-set eyes that looked older than the rest of him. Despite that bit of insight, Olivia hardened her sympathetic heart.

She didn’t flinch from the truth. “You think I’m an airhead.” Why did that hurt? Why should she care what this man thought? She’d survived worse.

Drew heard the defensive note in her voice. “I didn’t say that.” All right, so maybe he did think she was a mental lightweight. He couldn’t deny that. But he also thought she was very young—far too young and vulnerable to be out alone, forced to rely on strangers for help.

If she belonged to him, he’d—

He stopped the thought before it went anywhere.

She wasn’t his. There had been many women in his life, but only one had touched his heart and left it permanently scarred. There was no room for another, which was exactly the way he wanted it.

Wasn’t it?

Before they got mired any deeper in this conversation, Drew decided to put an end to it. “Look, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

She lifted her dainty chin. “You didn’t.”

He tried to keep a note of impatience from creeping into his voice. “I don’t know you. I offered to fix your car. That’s it. We’re never going to see each other again, so my opinion hardly matters. Does it?”

Her heart-shaped face, with delicate brows and mouth, remained soft—even though she was visibly annoyed. “No, it doesn’t.”

At her aggrieved tone, he hid a smile.

“Then how about handing me that wrench?” He held out his hand.

“This one?” She slapped the hard metal into his outstretched palm.

The impact stung.

“Thanks,” he said dryly. Despite her diminutive size, Olivia DeAngelis packed a wallop.