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Lilah put her hand on the duck’s face and gently pressed her back inside “Stay”

“Quack—”

“Stay” Wanting to an the task of either looking for the truck’s owner or leaving a note, Lilah hopped behind the wheel She never should have turned off the engine because her starter had been trying to die for several weeks now She’d be lucky to get it running again Beside her, the puppies and piglet riggling like crazy, whi as they scra to escape their box She took athe Please start, she turned the ignition key

And got only an ominous click

“Coain “There’s no New Transportation budget, so please come on”

Nothing

“Pretty sure you killed it”

With a gasp, she turned her head A man stood there Tall, broad-shouldered, with dark brown hair that was cut short and slightly spiky, like maybe he hadn’t bothered to do ers through it His clothes were si a leanly muscled body so completely devoid of body fat that it would have h—if she hadn’t just rear-ended a truck

Probably his truck

Having clearly just coe coffee and what se and cheese breakfast wrap

Be still, her hungry heart

“Quack-quack”

“Hush, Abigail,” Lilah lance in the rearviewback to the man

His eyes were hidden behind reflective sunglasses, but she had no doubt they were on her She could feel thee said ood or bad He was a stranger to her, and there weren’t that many of them in Sunshine Or anywhere in Idaho for that ers crossed that he’d say no

“Yep” He popped the last of the breakfast wrap in his ood ten feet away Chewing thoughtfully, he sed and then sucked down some coffee

Just the scent of it had her sighing in jealousy Probably, she shouldn’t have skipped breakfast And just as probably, she’d give a body part up for that coffee Hell, she’d give up two for the candy bar sticking out of his shirt pocket Just thinking about it had her sto loud as thunder She looked upward to see if she could bla storm, but for the first time in teeks there wasn’t a cloud in the sky “I’m sorry,” she said “About this”

He pushed the sunglasses to the top of his head, further disheveling his hair—not that he appeared to care

“Luckily the dae seems to be mostly to my Jeep,” she went on

Sharp blue eyes held hers “Karma?”

“Actually, I don’t believe in kar one’s own fate—which she’d done by once again studying too late into the night, not getting enough sleep, andcrashing into his truck

“Hmm” He sipped so out of the Jeep to snatch it from his hands would be bad form

“How about felony hit-and-run?” he asked conversationally “You believe in that?”

“I wasn’t running off”

“Because you can’t,” he ever so helpfully pointed out “The Jeep’s dead”

“Yes, but” She broke off, realizing how ither vehicle for not starting He couldn’t know that she’d never just leave the scene of an accident Most likely he’d taken one look at the panic surely all over her face and assumed the worst about her

The panic doubled And also, her pity party was back, and for a beat, she let the despair rise frout and block her throat, where it threatened to choke her With a bone-deep weary sigh, she dropped her head to the steering wheel

“Hey Hey” Suddenly he was at her side “Did you hit your head?”

“No, I—”

But before she could finish that sentence, he opened the Jeep door and crouched at her side, looking her over

“I’m fine Really,” she pro into her eyes,her squirm like the babies in the box next to her

“Howup?” A quiet de His eyes were cal she noted inanely, maybe not the day before either, but the scruff only made him seem all the moremale

“Two,” she whispered

Nodding, he dropped his gaze to run over her body She had dressed for work thisout the kennels, so she wore a deniy Carhartts, boots, and a knit cap to cover her hair

To say she wasn’t looking ready for her close-up was the understatement of the year “Do you think you can close the door before—”

Too late

Sensing a s, atte to fly out past Lilah’s face

She nearly made it, too, but the ht the duck

By the neck

“Gak,” said a strangled Abigail

“Don’t hurt her!” Lilah cried

With whatat the corners of his mouth, the er floorboard

“Stay,” he said in a low-pitched, authoritative voice that brooked no argument

Lilah opened her mouth to tell hiail totally did She not only stayed, she shut up Probably afraid she’d be roasted duck if she didn’t Staring at the brown-headed, orange-footed duck in shock, she said, “I really aive you es”