Dylan by C H Admirand

truck coughed and died.
    â€œDamn, I should have checked those plugs when I changed the oil.” She got out and slammed the driver’s side door. She didn’t have time for this; she had to get back or she’d be late when Tyler’s brother showed up. She looked under the hood and sighed. She didn’t really know what everything was called but knew, with Vito’s truck, she could wiggle a couple of things and if that didn’t work, she could pull out the hammer… if worse came to worst.
    She tightened a few things and crossed her fingers.
    Hot, tired, and annoyed, she wiggled and shifted until she was upside down beneath the steering wheel again.
    â€œNeed any help?”
    The deep voice had her jolting. The smooth baritone did things to her insides that should be illegal. Digging deep, she ignored the feeling and the offer of help.
    â€œHey, are you all right?”
    The firm grip on her knee had her smacking her head on the base of the steering column.
    â€œOw! What is your problem, buddy?”
    â€œName’s not buddy, ma’am,” the deep voice answered. “You didn’t answer my question so I figured you were hurt and needed help.”
    â€œI didn’t answer your question because I didn’t feel like it,” Ronnie said in her defense.
    She touched the wires together and the ignition turned over purring like a top.
    ***
    Dylan’s heart flipped in his chest and started beating double time. Holy shit! The little lady stuck upside down in the cab of her truck had just hot-wired it!
    â€œHow did you learn to do that?” he asked, amazed that anyone aside from himself had that particular skill.
    â€œMy cousin taught me,” she said maneuvering so she could get out from beneath the wheel. Placing a knee on the slide-over-here-honey seat, she scooted backward until she was out of the cab. She turned around and Dylan watched as shock registered first, recognition second.
    â€œWell, now, isn’t this a surprise?” He couldn’t have planned it better himself if he’d tried.
    He’d tossed and turned all night, and the woman standing in front of him looking up at him had been responsible for that and for keeping him tied up in knots for most of the day. And damned if she wasn’t frowning up at him. Perverse of him though it might be, it really turned him on.
    Glaring at him, she didn’t answer. When the engine coughed and died again, she turned her back on him and reached beneath the seat and found what she was looking for. The claw hammer was worn and dirty—looked like it had been well used over the years. Grabbing the wooden handle, she hefted the hammer and got back out of the cab.
    â€œWhat are you going to do with that?”
    She ignored his question a second time, getting under his skin like a burr under his horse’s saddle. Taking a step back, he leaned against his truck’s fender to watch the show. When the sweet little thing whacked the side of the starter with the hammer, his jaw dropped. When the damned thing started, he laughed.
    â€œWho’d have thought—”
    â€œAre you still here?”
    To say the woman was pissed would be an understatement. When she turned her lethal green gaze on him, his libido shot straight to boil. He had to get his hands on her again. He pushed away from the fender and stalked toward her. She was bent over the fender, fiddling with something under the hood. Her curvy backside was cupped lovingly by the worn denim, making his mouth water.
    Just one taste. Hands clenched at his sides, he tried to hold back, but when she wiggled to get closer to the engine, his heart stopped beating. Light-headed, he smacked his palm against his chest and finally felt the organ kick into overdrive.
    â€œWho’d have thought that a pretty little filly from back East would know how to fix a starter and hot-wire a truck?” Admiration got all mixed up with his roaring libido,