When I dialed her number, she answered on the first ring. “Oh my God, you called me back,” she said in that bitingly sarcastic tone she used all the time.

“Hey, darlin’. You miss me?”

She snorted, and it made me smile.

“Grant, I’m stranded.”

“What?” I asked. “Where are you? What happened? Are you okay?”

I probably sounded a bit frantic, but I’d only just met her. I didn’t want anything to happen to her.

“Yes, I’m fine. My car broke down right off campus, and my roommates are in the middle of a movie. I-I don’t know what’s wrong with my car. Do you think you could, um…maybe come help me?”

I stared down at my drenched clothing and shrugged. I was already soaked through. It wouldn’t hurt me any to go check on her.

Who the hell am I kidding? I wanted to see her, and I’d drive through this madness to do it.

“Sure. Where are you?”

Aribel gave me the nearest intersection, and I was happy to hear that she was only a couple of miles from my place. As soon as I hung up, I was out the door and in my truck, but the storm had managed to get even worse since I’d been inside. With the wipers on high and my brights lighting my way, I could still only see a few feet in front of me.

A three-minute drive took me nearly fifteen minutes, but then I saw a black BMW sitting on the side of the road with its flashers on. “Fuck. She drives a Beamer?”

I parked behind her, shaking off the questions of why someone would give a college student a BMW, and then I dashed out of my truck. When I reached the driver’s side, I tapped on the glass. I saw her jump in the front seat, and then she smiled when she recognized me. That smile is going to be the death of me.

I opened the umbrella I’d brought with me as Aribel rolled down the window. “Take the umbrella and go get in my truck.”

“What about my car?” she asked like there was a better plan.

“Pop the hood. I’ll take a look, but you won’t see a tow truck tonight. Not in this mess.”

She sighed and then nodded. She didn’t even argue with me. Miracle of all miracles.

After she exited, she slid the keys in my hand, took the umbrella, and then made a dash for my truck. It only took me a couple of seconds to realize she had a busted radiator. She’d have to leave it until the morning. When I finally made it back to my truck, I didn’t think there was an inch of me that wasn’t sopping wet.

“Thanks,” she said softly once I was settled in the seat.

“No problem,” I said. “I mean, I thought I might have gotten lucky, and you wanted a jump.”

I winked at her, and she just rolled her eyes.

“Seriously, everything is sexual with you.”

“I just saved your hot ass. I think you can handle a joke.”

She sighed and then seemed to agree. “All right. Could you tell what was wrong?”

“Cracked radiator.”

“Great,” she groaned.

“Yeah, but it won’t be too bad. I have a friend I could hook you up with. He does great work for cheap.”

“My parents will probably want me to take it to the dealer.”

“Ah.” I didn’t know what else to say, so I shifted into reverse and backed away from her car. I made a U-turn in the middle of the street and started back the way I had come.

“Wait, my house is that way.” She pointed behind her.

“I know, Princess. It would take an hour to get to your house in this. It takes fifteen to get to my place, so that’s where we’re going.”

“Um…I don’t think so.”

“Look, if we’re driving the hour to your place, then I’m staying there because I’m not driving the hour back.”

Aribel opened her mouth as if she as going to contradict me, but then she didn’t. I glanced in her direction twice, waiting for her to say something, to tell me that I’d fucking drive her to her house and back because she said so, but still nothing came out.

“My parents are going to be so angry,” she whispered.

“Why? It’s not your fault.”

She shrugged her little shoulders and stared determinedly out the window. “I don’t know.”

“Seems like a silly thing to get angry about.”

“Well, you don’t know my parents. What would your parents say?”

“Nothing,” I said, tensing at the question.

“Really? You’re so lucky.” She sank back into the seat and crossed her arms.

She looked really young. I’d never given a thought to her age until that moment.

“How old are you, Princess?”

“Nineteen,” she said without skipping a beat.

Shit! Really young. I mean, I’d fucked girls her age and younger, but shit! Ari wasn’t just some fuck. She seemed so mature. I definitely would have guessed a solid twenty-one at least. Maybe that was just what I’d been hoping for.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-three.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh.”

“What?”

“You’re my brother’s age. He’d kill me right now if he knew what I was doing.”

“What exactly are you doing? Getting a ride home from a guy who just helped you out of a tough position. Yeah, what an asshole!”

“That’s not what I meant,” she said, trying to backtrack. “He’s just…protective.”

“Doesn’t want his little sister to turn out like the girls he’s fucking?”

“Aaron is not like that!”

I cracked up laughing because there was nothing else to do in the situation. I was certain her brother was exactly like that.

“It’s not funny.”

Aribel smacked me on the arm, but I caught her hand before she could yank it back.

“If you’re going to be such a jerk, I’ll reconsider making you drive across town to take me home.”

I turned onto my street just as she said it. After stopping in front of my house, I unbuckled her seat belt and pulled her across the cab to me. “Ari, at this point, you’d have to walk home. You’re not fucking leaving.”

Her eyes found mine, and I saw the anger leaving her body as she stared at me. She still looked a bit like she wanted to slap me around, but I was good with that as long as I could get her inside.

After a minute, she conceded. “You’re right. I’m not.”

Well, damn. This was going way better than I’d thought it would. She had fought me tooth and nail for every second of her time up until this point. When did we turn a corner?

I kissed her softly on the lips. I didn’t want to get too into it before we went inside, but fuck, when she responded to my touch, I had to fight myself not to lay her out in the cab of my truck.

She pulled back first, and her cheeks heated when I looked down at her.

God, I want to fuck her.

“Let’s go,” I said, nodding toward the house before I actually acted on that.

We jogged through the rain until we were inside. I gestured for her to take the stairs, which she did without a single snide remark.

“I like your house,” she said.

“Thanks.”

My eyes were fixed on her body in the light from my bedroom. She was wet, and her clothes were clinging to her in the most tempting way. All I could think about was what it would feel like to peel them off of her, to get my hands on her soft skin again. I felt my body stiffen at the prospect. “I need a shower…if you’re interested.”

She shook her head. “I’m sure you can have enough fun all on your own.”

“But you’re already wet, babe.” I couldn’t hold back my smirk.

She snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. “Is everything sexual with you?”

“Not everything,” I told her. “But you are torturing me with your body right now.”

I watched as she shifted uncomfortably from my compliment. She wouldn’t even meet my eyes. For someone who looked like that, I would have thought that she could take compliments better.

“No, I’m not going to shower with you, but some dry clothes would be appreciated, so I can stop torturing you,” she responded softly.

“Who said I wanted you to stop torturing me?”

She leveled me with an eat-shit-and-die look, and I just laughed.

“All right, all right.”

I found her some clothes before reluctantly retreating to the bathroom. It took a solid ten minutes for the cold to leach out of my skin and another ten until I felt human again. I hated making Aribel wait that long, but I had spent the better part of the last two hours in the rain. I deserved a twenty-minute shower.

Grabbing a white towel off the rack, I wrapped it around my waist and then confidently strode out into my bedroom. This is going to be fun. I was naked from the waist up, and I knew what my body looked like. Even though I wasn’t a gym rat like Vin, I spent time to keep myself in shape. I had defined muscles in my arms and chest, not to mention a six-pack and that V that made sane women crazy.

Aribel’s eyes bulged when she saw me. She hadn’t expected me to walk out like this, and it was clear as her eyes raked my body. They flickered from my abs to the tattoo on my shoulder and stretching across my collarbone. Who would guess Princess Cardigan would be interested in my tattoos? Apparently realizing that she had been gawking, she hastily looked away like she wasn’t supposed to see it.

“Um…sorry,” she whispered.

I wasn’t sorry though. I’d wanted her to see.

All I saw was that she was sitting around in my clothes—my T-shirt and sweats. She looked fucking amazing in them. I liked her wet clothes, but something about seeing her in mine turned me on. I’d never let a girl wear my clothes before.

“I’ll just…yeah,” she said, swiveling in place to completely face away from me.