DarkestSin Read Free

grabbed her cellphone, but she didn’t have a signal out
here in the middle of nowhere. Surprise, surprise. She got out of the car,
covered her eyes to block the blazing sun as she looked down the road. “That
sign says it’s one mile to town.” She sighed, shaking her head. “C’mon.”
    He got out of the car, walking over to her. “Do you want me
to carry some of our bags?”
    “Nope, lock it. We’ll come back later to get everything.”
    As they started down the road, Xan sighed. This wasn’t a
good way to start their new life in this town. Nope, not good at all.
    * * * * *
    “Oh thank God. There’s an auto shop,” Scott groaned as they
rounded the corner after walking about two miles. They’d entered town about a
mile ago as the sign had indicated but had only encountered a ranch and a farm
as of yet.
    “Watch your mouth, and you shouldn’t be complaining. You’re
young and in shape.” She, on the other hand, was a melting, miserable mess.
    “It’s a million degrees out here, Mom.”
    Try a million and one. Yeah, it was hot as hell. “Quit
your bellyaching.”
    They walked up to an opened fence and Xan silently thanked
the heavens for small favors. The garage looked as if it was open. They walked
through the gate and into the old building with several antique and late-model
cars out front. Walking through the front door, she braced herself for the
blast of cold air to hit her face, relishing the thrill of the artificial air
she was about to gloriously encounter.
    She was sorely disappointed. It was hotter in here than it
was outside. How was that even possible? Her wet clothes clung to her sweaty
body, leaving nothing to the imagination. Didn’t matter. She was past humility
at this point. She’d have a teenage moment and flash her boobs, sweat and all
if necessary, to get someone to help them out.
    “May I help you?” a man with a gravelly voice asked as he
walked into the makeshift lobby next to the bays, wiping his hands on a grease
rag. He looked to be middle-aged, though she wasn’t sure since he was bald. No
gray hair to help her out with that assessment.
    She looked at his nametag sewn into his shirt. “Yes,
Colonel, is it?” At his smile and nod, she said, “Our car broke down a couple
miles down the road.”
    A metal crash and very masculine curses mixed with raucous
taunting and laughter startled her. Scott snickered at the colorful words
coming from the bays. He’d heard them plenty of times, though Xan tried not to
talk like that. Really, she did try to deny her sailor-mouth tendencies. She
just wasn’t very good at restraining herself all the time.
    “Sorry,” Colonel mumbled. “Those are my mechanics, trying to
catch up on some work. I took over this garage after I realized being retired
was boring, and we stay pretty busy. Seems like I’m constantly hiring more
help, but we stay behind.”
    The ruckus from the bays was finding its way into the lobby.
Several guys walked into the room, and Xan felt a slight panic attack coming
on. She not only lacked a love life, but she tended to avoid large groups of
men. She didn’t have anything against the male population, but after marrying
into the mafia at a young age, dodging copious amounts of testosterone seemed
like a good self-preservation tactic to live by. So she did, and when she
wasn’t prepared to interact with schools of men, her stomach took a nosedive
when thrust into that very situation.
    Taking a covert calming breath so she wouldn’t look like
some skittish girl, she tried to pay closer attention to each of the men as
they came near. If she identified them individually, she could pretend she
wasn’t dealing with a mob of men.
    A mob of seemingly beautiful, large, masculine men, looking
to be around her age.
    Oh shit. She so did not need this. Her nerves and sense of
self-preservation took on a whole new meaning. She’d rather deal with certain
fear than possible attraction.
    As she surveyed the crowd, she noticed