Something Old by Dianne Christner Page A

chuckle erupted in his throat. A flat tire. Just what the woman-stealer deserved. Trying to tamp down his delight, he pulled in behind the stranded vehicle. Maybe he was going to be able to rescue her after all.
    He opened the door and jumped down, leaving his headlights on for Miller. “Hey, got a problem?” David looked up. Even in the dim light, Jake could see the guy’s embarrassment. “Need a hand with that?”
    “Nope.” David jerked the wrench, twisting the lug nuts of the left rear wheel. “Got it under control.”
    Jake stuffed his hands in his pockets and gazed at the car, where he could see Katy’s dark silhouette.
    “Don’t need your help,” David repeated sharply.
    “Think I’ll just say hi to Katy.” Jake strode past his angry opponent and around the back of the car right up to Katy’s door. Her face was looking straight ahead. He knocked on her window and startled her. She hit the window’s inoperative button. He took that as an invitation and opened her door. It hurt to see her inside another man’s car, but he gave her what he hoped looked like a contrite smile. “Hi Katy.”
    Her chin jutted upward. “What do
you
want?”
    Her face was so lovely, flushed and pink, her hair messy under the white knitted beanie. But her gaze smoldered. He’d learned that her gaze could be dark or cool, but one thing it never did was shrink back. Still, he yearned to scoop her into his arms until she no longer despised him. “Need a ride?”
    “Not hardly.”
    “You look kinda lonely and cold.”
    Just then David jerked the driver’s door open and slid in. “Not lonely.” He started the engine.
    “And warm as toast,” Katy added with a shiver.
    Jake gave her a salute and eased the door closed, backing away from the car just before it spit gravel in his face.

CHAPTER 5
    O n Monday morning, Katy took her normal route to work, using routine maneuvers to blend in with the freeway traffic that skirted the west side of Columbus. As she drove, she puzzled over the mystery of Jake’s unexpected appearance at Sunday’s skating party. It didn’t surprise her that he’d come home for the holidays, since like Megan he was probably on break. But why had he come to the river when he hadn’t mingled with church friends for over a year now—ever since the incident between them in the church parking lot?
    She probed at the matter, furious at herself for gawking at Jake like a lovesick fool. In that one weak moment, his features, wind-ruffled hair, and masculine physique had been burned into her memory all anew, more vivid and arresting than ever. She felt as if months of working to get over him had been destroyed in an instant. He’d stood on the icy riverbank and beckoned her with dark, hooded eyes so scorching and brooding and out of place in that winter playground. It had been all she could do to pull her gaze away. No wonder she’d faltered.
    She reached out and flipped the car’s heater off. With a glance at the green, overhead sign, she changed into the exit lane. And when David’s tire had gone flat, the rat had the gall to butt in where he wasn’t wanted. While David had worked on the tire, her nemesis had stepped out of her imagination and appeared in flesh and blood outside her window, wearing a crooked smile and a smug expression.
    David had handled the evening’s humiliation with more grace than she would have imagined possible, coming to her rescue. Twice.
    Leave it to Katy to trip up the best skater at the party. But David had been a great sport—given that Jake had knocked her off her feet, David had played the hero by whisking her away to safety. Only, poor guy, his efforts had backfired.
    With the pride he took in the care of his car, she knew that its flat tire probably embarrassed him the most. The tension that sizzled when David slid into his driver’s side and glared at Jake would have been intense enough to ignite a forest fire in the dead of winter. Thankfully, Jake had backed