PROLOGUE
5 Years Ago
Chantal drove towards her parents’ house, contemplating how she was going to tell them about her new job. She was sick and tired of just making them happy. She was finally doing it for herself and not them. She hated being the only child, but it had its ups and downs. She received everything she wanted when she was younger, but she wanted to learn for herself, now. She had been living in her own place for the last 6 years. Saving the money she worked hard for from her old job as a secretary, but she hated that job and wanted something new. She only went into it, as her father had found the job for her. She couldn’t tell her father that she quit and started a new one, especially to something that he wouldn’t approve of.
She was going to meet up with Ruth, from the real estate about a property she was looking at, down the main street. It was the perfect spot, a cute little shop that would be perfect for what she wanted to do with it. How the hell was she going to explain to her father that she was going to open up her own shop? He’d be angry, of course, but the worst will be when she tells them what kind. She hadn’t told anyone what she was doing, not even her best friend Skylar, who she missed dearly. If she was with her now, it would be so much easier for her to tell them.
Watching as the cars around her speed by, getting closer to the hell that would hit the roof, she considered telling them something different, but knowing her father, he would find out eventually that she wasn’t working at his best friend’s firm. She never wanted to be there, but only did it to make him happy. But not anymore, it was time for her to stand on her own two feet and do what she wanted to do for a living.
Maybe she should just call them, and say that she was busy doing something other than driving to their place. But she knew that wouldn’t work, as her father or mother would drive to her place, even worse her old workplace.
Changing lanes to pass the car in front, as she passed, a loud bang erupted from the side of the car, unknowing if it was hers or the car beside her. Screaming, she gripped the steering wheel harder and felt it shake in her hands. Unsure as to why it was, she merged off the lane onto the shoulder and pulled to a stop. She didn’t need this now, of all the days for this to happen, it wasn’t today.
Sliding out of her Ford, she walked around to where she heard the noise from. She noticed straight away that her back tire was flat. “Damn it.” She groaned. Looking around her surroundings, she was nowhere near the closest gas station. She wasn’t going to hail down someone to help her; she was brought up better than that. Walking back, she reached for her purse and pulled out her mobile. Bringing up her father’s number, as she hit dial, it cut out, due to no service, great. This was the wrong day for this, she had to meet the agent later that afternoon, to check out the shop, it was the only day left if she was still interested in buying it. Ruth had told her they had several people that wanted to purchase the shop, but was holding it for her.
Chantal held her phone in the air, trying to get any kind of service. Walking back and forth near her car, she really didn’t want to be stuck here, with no way to contact anyone, let alone try and convince someone to help her. Sliding down the side of her car, she needed to think of what to do, since she could get any reception. Leaning her head against her knees, although hard to do, in the skirt she was wearing, but she was facing away from traffic, which was a good thing. She didn’t want to cause an accident, at the view that she would be showing.
After God knows how long she sat there, with still no service, she was ready to stop one of the drivers that sped past her. Not one of them even stopped to offer any help. She was on the verge of screaming out in frustration, when a rumbling of a bike caught her attention. Where the hell was the bike? Looking under her car towards the highway, she saw two wheels on the opposite side, parked. Lowering her body to the ground, after looking further around, she couldn’t see anyone that was with it. A dark shadow fell over her body, and she stiffened.
“Miss, are you alright?”
Oh my God. That voice was sexy as sin. Breathing slowly, please be at least good looking, she thought. Sitting up, as graceful as she could, but it never happened; her skirt pulled higher up her thighs and she felt the stare of the stranger following the rise of it. Blushing, she gripped onto the car door, ready to lift herself up.
“Let me help you up.” The stranger offered.
Raising her hand to him, she was pulled up ever so gently, against his chest. Where did this guy come from? Moving back a little to see what he looked like, Chantal lost her breath at what she did see.
Black hair, light blue eyes the color of the ocean, tanned to perfection from what she could see from his face and arms. He was wearing a pair of jeans that looked sinful on him, a black t-shirt which emphasized his chest and arms. And those boots were huge on his feet. He had the cutest dimple on his left cheek, and she could just make out a light dusting of freckles across his nose. Damn, this guy was fine, where in the world had he been hiding? Shaking all the thoughts of what she wanted to do to this specimen of a man, she moved out of his reach. Brushing her skirt down, she felt a little uncomfortable that she was close to showing what she had on underneath. Looking back at him, she blushed as he watched her straighten her skirt.
Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked over at her car, “Are you having car troubles?” He asked.
“Yeah, my tire blew out, I was trying to get service on my phone and call for a tow truck, but I don’t have any service.” She replied.
“Do you have a spare? I can change it for you so you can get on your way. If you waited for a tow truck you might be here for a while.”
“I don’t want to inconvenience you, I’m sure they won’t take that long.” She whispered.
His phone started ringing; watching as he lifted it up, shaking his head, he placed it back in his pocket.
“It’s no inconvenience at all, darling. My name is Dominic Grayson. I’m here to service you anyway I can.” He said with a smile on his face.
Why did he have to go and say just that? She could think of many ways that he could service her, but nothing to do with the car. Lifting her hand out to him, “I’m Chantal Winters.” She said.
Checking her out from her feet, he lingered his gaze on her body then proceeded to look in her eyes, and grinned, “Well, nice to meet you Chantal, such a pretty name for a gorgeous girl.”
Blushing further, and wrapping her arms around herself, she tried to hide her nipples that had hardened against her top, which was very noticeable. That voice of his sent her a wave of pleasure through her, straight to her core.
Moving closer to her, “Do you have a spare in the boot?”
Unsure that she could reply the right answer in a normal voice, she nodded instead. She watched as Dominic walked over and popped the boot, lifted out her spare tire and jack. Walking over to the side of the car with the tire, he dumped the spare beside the flat one. Kneeling down, he jacked the back end up, and started to loosen the bolts.
He made it look so simple, but she had never in her life changed a tire, let alone anything else to do with her Ford. Leaning against the side, watching the movement of the muscles in his arms work, was sexy as hell. She could stand there all day and watch that view.
“You will have to get a new tire when you get that one fixed.” He said pointing to the one on the ground. “This one is bald, how far do you have to go?”
Glancing towards the road, she whispered “Umm, about 15 klms on the highway, then 4 klms in.”
“You’re heading to Greens View?” He asked.
“Yes, to my parents’ house. Then I need to go over to Glacier.”
“I don’t think you will be able to make it to Glacier on that tire, especially with the cops around.”
“I’ll get a new one before I head over there, but I need to be at my parents’ house soon.” She replied.
“I’ll have it changed for you in no time.” He said with a smile.
Chantal watched as he ripped the old one off and replaced it with the spare, in under five minutes. If she had attempted that, it would have taken her all day to do the exact same job. Placing the old tire and jack in her boot and closing it, he moved toward her wiping his hands on his shirt, giving her a glimpse of what was under that shirt. She could just make out his six packs and he was as tanned there as he was on his face and arms. Damn, it really was getting hot out here, fanning herself against the flush she got viewing his body. He was definitely a walking wet dream.
Dominic lifted his hand to her face and lightly touched her cheek, making her suck in a breath at the contact. “You feeling alright?”
“I’m fine.” Jesus. There was no way she was going to tell him that she got a hot flush just by looking at him. Moving aside, “Thank you for changing it. You really didn’t have to, Dominic.”
“Call me Dom. I do that for a living. I’m a mechanic at my friend’s workshop ten minutes from here.”
Wonder if he fixes all those cars shirtless. Maybe she should pull out a wire, or something just to see if he does, she thought grinning to herself.
Dom pulled out his business card, “If you even need anything to do with your car, give me a call, and we can arrange it.” Reaching for the card he was offering, Chantal slowly pulled her hand away. Dominic reached for her hand and brought it to his mouth and lightly kissed it.
“Thank you.” She panted.
“It was my pleasure, Chantal.” He answered seductively.
What was with this guy? He was a walking, talking sex God.
Dominic walked over, lifted his helmet over his head and started his bike, flicking the stand up, he saluted her, and gunned it up the highway.
Sex on legs and a bloody motorbike. What more could a girl want. If she ever dated someone like him, her parents wouldn’t approve of him, but she didn’t care. She wanted to be with someone that made her happy, not her parents. She jumped back in her car, and pulled out, driving towards her parents’. She never believed in love at first sight, thought it was a load of crap, until she met Dominic. The butterflies in her stomach were one sign, her heartbeat accelerated when he was near; even his voice did that too. Taking the turn off to Greens View, she had never been in love, but she had a feeling this is what it would be like. This was the day that she fell in love with Dominic.
