Don't mess with an Agatha Woman

“Rear brakes locked up on me when I came around the curve.” She pointed to the skid marks on the road. “Lucky for me I spun into the shoulder when I slammed on the brakes.”

Damn lucky, Miguel thought and hunkered down to look under the rear of the car. The rear brakes had locked up; he could still smell the smoke. The drop-off at this point in the mountain was high and straight down. If she hadn’t spun sideways into the shoulder—Ten more feet, and the Jeep, with Bella in it, would have gone over the edge.

The image of her at the bottom of the cliff, still in the Jeep, had Miguel’s fists clenching.

Hands on her knees, she bent beside him. He caught her scent, raspberries again, felt the warmth of her skin radiate in velvet waves over his body. When her arm accidentally brushed his shoulder, he felt as if he’d been sucker punched. It took him a moment to catch him breath before he stood.

“I’m going to push it out of the road,” he said more roughly than he intended. “Get in and steer.”

She jumped into the driver’s seat, and he dug his heels into the asphalt and pushed. The Jeep was barely off the road when a black Explorer whipped around the curve and spun directly toward them. He opened his mouth to yell for Bella to jump when the Explorer straightened, then slid to a halt.

Miguel was swearing under his breath as the driver, a stocky, gray-haired man wearing a fishing cap, stepped out of the car.

“Good God, we almost hit you folks.” The driver’s voice held a mixture of apology and fear. “You all right?”

“Fine,” Miguel ground out, watched as the passenger, a twenty-something blond man in sunglasses, came around the car.

“Car trouble babes?” the driver asked.

Bella moved beside Miguel. “Brakes.”

“Name’s Wexler. Bill Wexler.” The driver held out his hand to Miguel. “My son, Paul, and I are renting one of the rooms by the lake. Say—” Bill grinned at Bella“—you were in the reception office the day we got into town. Nice to see you again.”

Bella smiled at Bill, but Miguel’s attention was directed at Paul, who was staring a little too long and a little too hard at Bella.

“Can we give you a lift?” Bill looked at Bella. “We were just going into town for supplies.”

Bella opened her mouth, but Miguel took a step forward and shook his head. “Thanks, but I’ve got the situation under control.”

Miguel felt Bella’s eyes on him, but for once the woman knew when to keep quiet. Even after the two men had returned to their car and driven away, she was still staring in stunned silence.

He turned abruptly and faced her. “What?”

“You had the perfect opportunity to get rid of me just now. But you didn’t.”

When a soft smile touched her tempting lips, he felt his body respond. Grinding his teeth, he turned on his heels and headed for his truck.

“Don’t make me wish I had,” he said and climbed into the cab.

“They’ll have to come in from Dallas, but if I order the parts now—” Walt, the barrel-chested, hulk-size mechanic at Gibson Automotive, wiped his large hands on a rag, then shoved it into his back pocket “—well, I can probably have her ready for you tomorrow afternoon. Day after tomorrow at the latest.”

Tomorrow afternoon? Day after tomorrow? Bella felt her heart sink. Miguel had dropped her off at the repair shop and gone on to meet Victor and Drake over an hour ago, and it had taken that long to tow the car down from the mountain and get an estimate. She’d spent the past twenty minutes arguing with the airport car rental company over the lemon they’d rented her. They’d offered her another car, but because she was out of the area, they couldn’t get it to her for at least two days. The best they could do was to let the auto shop in Wolf River make the repairs, and they’d pick up the bill.

How big of them. Either way, she was without transportation.

"Looks like you’re stuck with me, Rodriguez, whether you like it or not" She couldn’t decide whether to smile or scream.

With a sigh she signed the estimate, then took the copy that Walt handed her. “Is the post office close by, and a place where I can get something to eat?”

“Post office? In this modern day who uses Post office?"

Bella nodded, "Yes I know, but I have to send something"

"Okay it's at the end of this block, and Papa Pete’s is right around the corner. They make the best burgers and fries this side of the Mississippi.” Walt gave her a toothy grin. “Tell Madge that Walt sent you and she’ll throw in a chocolate shake for free. She’s sweet on me.”

The post office was closed for lunch, with a little paper clock on the locked door that gave the time the clerk would return. Bella could only imagine what the customers would do if a post office closed during lunch in Philadelphia. There’d probably be a riot, she thought with a smile, and found herself warming up to the slower pace and charm of small-town living. Not that she could live here, of course. She liked the hustle and bustle of a big city. But the change of pace from Philadelphia was refreshing, and while she was here, she intended to enjoy it.

She was surprised that this place had a post office tho but it's very beautiful just like in the 1900s.