Kiss and Don't Tell(15)

Hmm, he is in fact correct—Minnie has some pretty deep holes she’s dealing with.

“Well, can’t we just, you know”—I make a motion with my hand—“push Minnie out?”

His brow raises. “Do you have Herculean powers I don’t know about?”

“I can bench the bar. I found that out when I attempted to work out at the gym a few months ago. Does that mean anything?”

His brows flatten. “That’s forty-five pounds.”

“Really?” I ask with pride. “Huh, I thought it was lighter than that. Look at me. How much can you bench?”

“Three hundred.”

Oh wow.

“Okay, yeah, so, uh . . . you’re strong.” I clear my throat, trying not to remember what he looks like with his shirt off, but my mind fails me, and all of a sudden, I visualize those thick pecs. God, he really is strong. “So, with your three hundred and my forty-five, that means together we can push three hundred and fifty pounds. Rounded up to make it easier. So that’s about the same as pushing a car, right?”

He leans against Minnie’s door and laughs. “I would love to live in the world you seem to live in, where a car weighs three hundred and fifty pounds.”

“That’s not accurate?”

“Not even close. Sorry.”

“Well, maybe our adrenaline will kick in and, you know, leverage and all. The wheels should help us. Why don’t we give it a shot? Never know until you try.”

He shakes his head but then lifts off the car and holds out his hand. “Keys.”

“Oh, I left them in the car.”

“You left your keys in the car?”

“I mean, I didn’t think anyone would take it.”

“Unbelievable,” he mutters and opens the car door. He reaches in, turns on the car, and then puts it in neutral. “Okay. Given that we’re on a hill, it would be best if you push from the car door, in case, for some miraculous reason, we’re able to get these wheels out of the holes. Then you can at least stop the car before it rolls down the hill.”

“Oh, smart.” I tap the side of my head. “Looks as though I snagged the hockey player with the brains.”

“There aren’t many of us,” he says with such a cute smile that I can feel my insides churn with butterflies.

God, he really is cute. Well, not just cute, he’s completely and utterly the most handsome man I’ve ever seen. But when he smirks like that, ooh, it’s adorable. Can make anyone weak in the knees.

Not to mention the affinity I seem to have with him. It feels as if I’ve known him in a previous life. I’m so into that. Maybe he was a barkeep and I was the piano-playing whore in an old western town. Best of friends. He keeps telling me I need to get out of the business of spreading my legs, and I keep telling him the bills aren’t going to pay themselves. He wants to take care of me, but he’s barely scraping by with his low wages. That is, until he’s presented with an opportunity of a lifetime when a huge poker tournament comes into town— “I’m going to push. Hello, are you listening?”

“Huh? What?” I ask, blinking a few times. “Are you good at poker?”

“What?” he asks, completely confused.

“Huh?”

“Are you okay?” The dazed look on his face almost makes me laugh out loud, but I keep it together because I’m not looking too sane at the moment.

“Sorry, got confused.”

“What does poker—you know what, never mind.” Probably for the best. “As I was saying, I’m going to push from the hood. I’m hoping pushing down rather than up will give me more leverage.”

“Love that idea. Absolutely brilliant, Pacey.”

He gives me some serious side-eye and then says, “Careful though, it’s slippery over here. With your track record, I don’t see a high success rate of you staying on your feet.”

I start to move past him. “What little faith—whoa.” I slip and he catches me again. I steady myself and let out a deep breath. “That was a horrible coincidence.”

“Okay, keep telling yourself that.” He then slips his hand in mine and I can’t help but give myself a second to memorize what it feels like to have such a large hand in mine, helping me. Guiding me. “Grab the door right here.” He places my hand where he wants it. “That’s it. And try to find some footing in this mess.” We both look down at our shoes. They’re covered in mud.

“Oh gosh, your shoes are so gross. I’m sorry.”

“No biggie. I can hose them off when I get back to the cabin. Just please concentrate on staying on your feet. I would hate for you to fall face first in the mud.”

Yeah, that would not bode well for me.

“I got this. Don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

He moves around me and then heads to the hood, where he gets in place. “On three, we’re going to push. Remember, you’re in charge of hopping into the car to stop it if it rolls down.”

“Yup. Got it. Now bring your best muscles, Lawes. I know you have them.”

“Thanks to the shakedown you gave me with your eyes earlier.”

“No need to embarrass a girl,” I say, trying to play it cool even though I want to bury my head in the mud from humiliation.