Free Meeting Mr. Right by Deb Kastner Page B

you here. I didn’t know you drove the tow truck,” Vee commented as she watched him fasten the chains from one vehicle to the other.
    “I don’t,” he replied, flashing his generous smile. “Not usually, anyway. My uncle has a kid who generally handles tow jobs. But as it happened, I was the one who picked up the phone when your father called, and once I found out it was you...” His sentence drifted to an awkward halt.
    Once he’d found out it was her...
    What?
    He’d made a special trip just to come to her rescue?
    “You—uh—have a smudge of grease on your...” He cleared his throat. “Here. Just let me get it.” Before she could react, he’d reached forward, gently brushing at her forehead with the pad of his thumb. She held her breath.
    “There, then. That’s better.” Ben swiftly returned his attention to attaching her truck to the towline. His face was flushed a deep copper color, and Vee wondered if the shade was a mark of exertion or uneasiness. His curly brown hair brushed haphazardly across his forehead, as if he’d been running in the wind, giving him an appealing boyish charm. She couldn’t help but notice that those enormous biceps of his were straining against his black T-shirt as he worked, only this time he wasn’t showing off for her.
    At least, she didn’t think he was.
    Either way, she had to appreciate him as a man. There was no doubt he was strong and attractive, whether he was wearing his paramedic uniform or, as he was now, in blue jeans and a T-shirt. With those amazing green-bronze eyes of his, he was beyond a doubt the best-looking man she’d ever known. She suspected he’d stand out anywhere, but especially in a small town like Serendipity. Certainly he had no shortage of women to date in town.
    Which was exactly why she didn’t like him. He went through women like bunny rabbits went through carrots, using his razor-sharp teeth to chomp them up and then spit them out. For the first time, she wondered if maybe it wasn’t entirely his fault. She was willing to give him at least the hint of the benefit of the doubt, since the women in question practically fell all over themselves to be with him. Of course, that was no excuse for treating them badly, but it had to be a little overwhelming to have so many people want to be with you.
    Not that she would know what that felt like.
    She apparently scared men silly. Either they didn’t like her looks or her attitude. Or both. And she wasn’t about to apologize for either, even if she was considering making a few changes. In any case, she certainly hadn’t been overwhelmed with potential suitors.
    Not now. Not ever. So why was Ben paying special attention to her?
    That was the question of the hour.
    He abruptly raised his head and cocked a brow. He’d obviously realized that she’d been staring at him, a fact that she hadn’t been aware of until the moment their eyes met. He didn’t comment on it, though that adorable half-grin of his snuck up one side of his lips, accentuating the dimple in his right cheek and the cleft in his chin. He managed to look both boyishly charming and utterly masculine at the same time.
    “I do appreciate this.” She had trouble finding the right words to express her gratitude. Maybe because so many other emotions were skirmishing for prominence inside her mind and heart.
    “My pleasure,” he responded, opening the passenger-side door of the tow truck. “Okay, tough guys. Scoot to the back and buckle up,” he ordered his nephews, whom he introduced as nine-year-old Felix and seven-year-old Nigel. It took a moment for him to rein in the squirrelly boys and make sure they were safely buckled into their seats, but then he turned his attention back to Vee. “I hope you don’t mind that I brought the kids along for the ride. They wanted to see what their uncle Ben does all day.”
    Vee didn’t mind. Not at all.
    The ride back into town was definitely interesting—and informative. For one