Jennifer had left work five minutes ago. Her job as a PA for a small accounting firm didn’t pay well, but it was stable, and the lack of stress enabled her to continue studying for her degree at home. After she needed to leave school when her parents died to take care of Kelsey, her hopes of becoming a teacher had been dashed. Now Kelsey was all grown up, she had the time to think about her future and after working for Miller’s Chartered Accountants, she decided to get her accountancy license. She enjoyed the work and the structure it held, and found she was actually quite good at it. Over the years her boss had gradually begun to let her be more involved with the business and he encouraged her to get her degree.
She’d been about to pull onto the motorway to head out of town when her car started to judder. She managed to cut across the second lane of traffic and guide the car to the side of the road just as it came to a stop.
“I don’t believe this.” She fished her phone out of her handbag and dialed her sister.
“Kelsey? I need help. My crappy car has finally stopped working. Can you come and get me?”
“Why don’t you call your breakdown service?” She sounded tired. Since her funny spell last week, Jennifer had browbeaten Kelsey into taking some time off her job at the restaurant to rest. Jennifer assumed she had been to the doctor because Kelsey had said she had and that everything was fine. She didn’t entirely believe Kelsey, but she had no choice to but to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“I don’t have any. I had to cancel the policy as I couldn’t afford it this month.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I would have paid it.”
“I didn’t want to stress you out any more than you already are.” Jennifer exited the car and bent low, trying to see if anything had fallen off. With the age of her car it wouldn’t surprise her.
“Well, I’m busy sleeping, so you’ll have to call Riley. She’ll come and get you.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” She straightened. As if I’d know if something had broken off. “There’s no way I’m letting her know I couldn’t afford proper breakdown coverage.”
“God, you’re so stubborn,” Kelsey whined.
The line went silent and Jennifer heard the rustle of sheets. She assumed Kelsey was getting out of bed to come get her.
“Where are you?” Kelsey asked.
“Baker Street. Not far from my office.”
“Okay. Someone will be there soon.”
“You better not be calling Riley. Kelsey? Kelsey?”
The line went dead. Exhausted, she threw her phone through the open car window onto the passenger seat. “Damn it.” She leaned on the hood and settled in to wait for help.
Fifteen minutes later Riley’s dark blue tow truck pulled up in front of her, hazard lights flashing as she angled it behind Jennifer’s car. She thought this must have been Riley’s day off for her to be able to arrive so quickly. The other thought, that maybe Riley dropped everything to come help her, didn’t settle well in her mind.
“Riley’s Rescue to the rescue,” Riley said as she swaggered up to Jennifer, her ever-present grin plastered on her face. She looked great in her grease-stained grey jeans, holes ripped in revealing places, and her green polo shirt with the company logo, Riley’s Autos, stitched over her left breast. Jennifer let her gaze roam over her tight body. No matter how much Riley irked her, Jennifer couldn’t help but find her dashingly sexy.
“God, this is so lame.” She shook her head at her own musings. Riley’s eyebrows rose in apparent shock, and Jennifer blew out a breath in frustration for not being able to control her ogling. Not wanting to tell her what she had been thinking, she said, “Sorry. What are you doing here?”
“Kelsey said there was a pretty damsel in distress who needed me to come save her.”
“Normally, I would think you were joking, but knowing how much Kelsey likes to torment me, you’re probably telling the truth.”
“So, what seems to be the problem?” Riley said as she scanned the dilapidated car.
“It just came to a stop. It juddered a few times, then the engine cut out.”
“Is there fuel in the tank?”
“I’m not an idiot!” Her cheeks flamed. “Of course there’s fuel in there. The gauge is halfway.”
Riley opened the hood and peered inside. Jennifer stood at her back, looking over her shoulder. They were so close Jennifer could detect the faint whiff of coffee coming from Riley.
“Um, could you back up a little?”
She hadn’t realised her hand had moved to Riley’s back to help steady herself. She quickly moved out of the way as Riley went to check the tank.
A few minutes later, Riley said, “I hate to tell you this, but you have no petrol. It looks like your fuel gauge sender has broken. I won’t know for sure until I look at it in the garage, but I’d bet my money on it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She looked from Riley’s serious expression to her car and back again. “Well that’s embarrassing.” She covered her face with her hand, trying to hide her mortification.
“Hey, don’t sweat it.” Riley shrugged. “Not your fault. The car is pretty old, and these things happen. I’ve got some spare petrol in the cab.” Riley nodded in the direction of her truck.
“Thank you.”
“So, why didn’t you want Kelsey to call me?” Riley asked a few minutes later as she poured the petrol from her jerrycan into the tank.
“She told you that?”
“Of course she did. You know how she likes to stir things between us.”
“I don’t understand that. She tells us not to bicker, then makes us bicker.”
“I think maybe I’ve rubbed off on her.” Riley put the cap back on the tank and walked over to her truck.
“You do seem to have a way of getting her in trouble.”
Riley’s back stiffened. She breathed deeply a few times before turning around to face Jennifer. “Is this about the baby?”
“No, no, no. I was just trying to make a joke. I’m sorry.”
“We’re a right pair, aren’t we? Do you think we’ll ever see eye to eye?”
“I’d like to think we could. No matter our differences, I’ve always liked you, a little.”
“A little?”
“Yes.” Jennifer smiled.
“I can work with that,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Are you trying to flirt with me?” Jennifer was shocked to feel her pulse quicken at the thought.
“Do you want me to?” Her voice had gone all husky again, and Jennifer had to concentrate hard on not letting her clit twitch. It didn’t work.
“Certainly not.” The flustered quality of her voice didn’t go unnoticed by Riley, who grinned at her. Jennifer avoided looking directly into Riley’s dark eyes. She failed miserably. Riley took two steps forward and got into her personal space. Jennifer’s first reaction was to grab hold of her and kiss those annoyingly smug lips. However, she wouldn’t give Riley the satisfaction of besting her in this game. Because this had to be a game. Riley was never serious about anything.
“Your mouth says one thing, but your blush is telling me something else.”
“You’re impossible. Listen to me carefully. There is no way on earth I would ever consider dating you.”
“Who said anything about dating?”
She waggled those damn eyebrows again, and thoughts of them in bed together flashed through Jennifer’s mind. She always thought Riley sexy and attractive, but this was the first time those kinds of images had ever passed through her head. Jennifer had never really questioned her sexuality before. She’d had a couple of boyfriends over the years, but they were nothing serious. She had been too busy looking after Kelsey. She had never considered her lack of interest in men might be because she was a lesbian. Save for her crush on Riley, she had never given women a thought. But who wouldn’t have a crush on Riley? She was gorgeous, but that didn’t make her a lesbian, did it? Now, though, having Riley’s raw sexuality directed at her, stirred her up so much she thought she was going to combust right where she stood. She needed to put an end to this attraction before it got out of hand.
“You’re a pig,” she said in her most pissed-off voice.
“Yep, that’s me.”
“It’s good to see your ego is intact.”
Riley gave her a reprieve by stepping away. The way Riley was able to turn on her sexy charm and switch it off so quickly prickled Jennifer’s nerves, and was proof this was all a game with Riley.
“I’ve got to get back to the garage. Bring the car in anytime this week and I’ll fix it for you, mates rates obviously. Say hi to Kelsey for me when you get home.”
Jennifer shook her stiff posture loose, trying to dispel the lingering arousal vibrating through her body. “Will do. And thank you for rescuing me.”
Riley opened her truck door, and before stepping in, she winked, “Always.”
Jennifer got back into her car, and after she pumped the accelerator a few times whilst turning over the key, the car sprang to life. She chuckled as she pulled back into the flow of traffic. Thoughts of Riley filled her mind as she headed for home. She needed to talk to someone about this attraction. The best person would be Kelsey, but she knew her sister. The first thing Kelsey would do is tell Riley, and that was something Jennifer wouldn’t be able to face. Riley gloating how she had managed to turn on her best mate’s stuck-up sister.