Unexpected Mate

The Flat Tire

Monday afternoon, when Alex went to get in her car to do some grocery shopping after work only to discover her car had a flat tire, she wanted to scream.

She was tired. Exhausted. The dreams last night had been relentless, causing her to wake sweating and moaning, her muscles tensed and ready for climax, more than once. She wasn’t sure she’d gotten more than an hour’s sleep, though she’d gone to bed early.

So coming out to her car and seeing she had a flat tire was more than frustrating, more than maddening. Giving in to the exhaustion and frustration and fear, she let out a high shriek.

Luckily, no one heard her and came to investigate the woman screaming at the sight of a flat tire.

Alex took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself. She was a grown woman, and this wasn’t even her first flat tire. It was the first on this car, though, and she remembered that she’d never gotten around to buying a spare.

No problem, Alex thought. I’ll run upstairs and get changed, then walk over to the auto place a few blocks down. Maybe they sell spares so I don’t need to call a tow truck.

She headed upstairs and took off her work clothes, changing into her most comfortable leggings and a loose-fitting t-shirt that she usually reserved for sleeping.

Sloppy, Alex admitted when she briefly glanced in the mirror. But it had been a long day, and she was going to try and hopefully buy a spare tire, which meant she’d have to carry or roll the damn thing home before putting it on her car so she could drive back to the shop to get the tires balanced.

The whole situation was a b***h, but damned if she’d pay hundreds for a tow if she could help it, and she wanted it taken care of now, not when Staci got home.

Was she being stubborn and stupid?

Almost certainly.

Was that going to stop her?

No.

She put on her running shoes and headed out the door.

Fifteen minutes later, she walked into the small garage and looked around.

She’d never been here before, usually choosing the larger shop across town, but a tire was a tire, she was sure, and if she ran into problems here, she could always call that shop and have Staci drive her there when she got home from her shift.

There was no one at the desk, and after waiting a minute more, she finally crossed what she supposed would pass as a lobby and rang the scratched up service bell.

Moments later, a girl who looked no more than fifteen came up to the counter. “Can I help ya?” she asked brightly.

Did mechanics allow children to work at their shops? Did everyone who wasn’t sleep deprived to the point of mental torture look bright and young?

“Maybe,” Alex said. “I’ve got a flat tire.”

The girl peered around Alex. “Where’s your car?” she asked, maybe looking for it in the near-empty lot revealed by big bay windows and glass-fronted doors.

“At home.”

The girl gave her a look that was pure are-you-stupid? “Let me go get my brother.”

Alex let out a sigh. Depending on how the girl conveyed the situation, she wasn’t getting off to a great start here.

The man who came out of the back room—no girl in sight—was short and stocky with dark auburn hair and sea green eyes. He smiled the same kind of smile that she gave some of the pet owners at the clinic. Professional and faux-friendly.

“Sorry about Kitty,” he said. “I’m Brian.”

“Alex.”

Brian waited a few seconds, and just as Alex realized she should have told him why she was here, he said. “Kitty said you have a flat tire, but you didn’t bring your car? Did you bring the tire with you?”

Alex sighed. “Sorry, I must seem like an idiot.” She certainly felt like one. “I live within walking distance, but I don’t have a spare tire for my car and was hoping I could just buy one. I know how to change them,” she said. “And I’d bring it in to get balanced, I just don’t…” she trailed off.

“Don’t want to pay for a tow company when you live so close?”

“Yeah.” She sighed again, and despite feeling like an i***t and suffering a rare bout of social anxiety, she was so tired it was a struggle to keep her eyes open. “Do you sell tires? Like, individually as spares?”

Brian leaned his side against the counter, maybe intending to put her at ease with the casual pose. “Sure. What size tire are you looking for?”

Alex froze. “I’m not sure. I know the make and model,” she offered.

Brian pulled a face. “There’s usually a couple of different sizes that can go with that,” he said. “I don’t want to sell you the wrong one.”

“I can walk home and find out,” she said. “Just…what do I look for?”

The door behind Alex opened and closed before Brian could give his answer. “What’s going on?” a deep, strong male voice asked.

Alex couldn’t move, couldn’t make herself perform the simple motion of turning her head to see who was standing behind her.

“Alex here needs a new tire, but doesn’t know the kind she’s got on her car already. Car’s at home.”

The man made some indecipherable sound. “Where’s home?” he asked.

Alex finally turned, finally saw the man who had just come in.

Caleb.

“What?” the man asked. Alex hadn’t realized she’d spoken aloud. Wasn’t even sure if she was asleep or awake. Was she having some sort of psychotic break? Maybe a temporal seizure or something.

“I, uh—” I dream about you every night. Your hands and lips have roamed over every part of me.

You’ve made me moan more times than I can count.

Her body went hot from embarrassment and arousal. She wanted to run, even as she felt her breasts grow heavy and n*****s peak in invitation to the man who stood in front of her.

Tall, as tall as he’d been in her dreams. And strong. She knew the strength of those arms as they lifted her against the wall and—

His face sharpened, all trace of lazy curiosity leaving it, and she could have sworn his nostrils flared as he took a step toward her.

Then he, too, froze, as she had when she’d heard his voice.

“Caleb?” Brian asked, oblivious to whatever was going on between the two in his shop. “Do you know Alex?”

“No,” Caleb said, his voice gruff. He wrenched his eyes from hers to look over at the other man. “No,” he repeated, his tone seeming less strained. “But I’m sure we can figure out a way to help.”

He looked back at Alex, his eyes banked and unreadable. “Where do you live?”

“Just a few blocks from here,” Alex said, her voice small even as her heart raced. “About a fifteen-minute walk.” She looked at her watch, then back up, her mind too frazzled to read the time. “I could walk back and take pictures of my tires if it would help,” she said.

“That won’t be necessary,” Caleb said. “I’ll give you a ride back to your car and we’ll look at it together.” At Alex’s hesitation, Caleb added. “We can take my sister, Kitty, with us, if you’d feel safer.”

Safer? Alex felt like she was going crazy. The wisdom of getting into a car with a stranger seemed like the least of her problems.

“Sure,” she heard herself say, as though she was no longer in her own body. She felt like she was looking down on all of them. Brian still looked confused, but in a polite-professional way.

Caleb quickly crossed the room to the employee-only area that Kitty had disappeared into earlier to get Brian, and left Alex standing in place, quite likely going insane.

“Can I get you anything?” Brian asked.

Was that concern in his voice? Was her faltering insanity so obvious? Alex shook her head. “I’m fine,” she assured him. “Thank you.”

He nodded, and Alex was almost pitifully grateful when Kitty came out of the back room, Caleb nowhere in sight.

“Caleb told me to tell you that you should drive us over to her place,” Kitty said, tipping her head toward Alex.

“Why?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t ask. He said he’d listen for the bell.”

“Caleb is s**t at listening for the bell.” Brian winced. “Sorry,” he said to Alex. “I don’t usually swear in front of customers.”

Alex exhaled deeply before forcing herself to smile. “Just when we’re gone then?” she asked, pleased that her voice sounded relaxed enough to joke.

Brian laughed in response. “Just let me grab my keys. Got everything, Kitty?”

The teen shrugged again. “Sure. It’s not going to take long, is it?”