Free Hired Bride by Jackie Merritt

Vanessa. Gwen and I broke up. I won’t be seeing her again. Instead, he’d dug himself into a deeper hole by letting Vanessa continue to believe that he and Gwen were a couple.
    Obviously he hadn’t wanted to “break up” with Gwen.
    Zane rubbed the back of his neck while he tried to find some sense in his own thoughts. He was behaving as though he and Gwen really were a couple. This was getting weird.
    Well, it seemed the only way for him to talk to her was to sit and wait until she got home.
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    Gwen was heading for home. Her work schedule for Help-Mate was finished for the day, and she wasgoing to pick up a delightful little spindly-legged table she had refurbished, then deliver it to its new owner. She was thinking of a dozen different things as she approached her driveway, which was blocked from view by her neighbor’s high hedge, and she made the turn on automatic pilot.
    The sight of Zane’s car parked in her driveway came as a shock, and she slammed on the brakes and spun the steering wheel to the right. But she’d known the second she’d seen the car that she was going to crash into it, and she did. The left front end of her van connected with the right rear section of Zane’s car, bounced off it, then hit it again. The van’s engine died, and Gwen groaned in utter disbelief and laid her head on the steering wheel. Dammit! Why had Zane been parked in her driveway, anyway?
    Zane unhooked his seat belt, leaped out of his car and ran over to the van. Seeing Gwen’s head on the steering wheel made his pulse go wild. She must be injured!
    He couldn’t open the driver’s door because that side of the van was up against the back of his car, so he ran around to the passenger door, yanked it open and climbed in. “Gwen, my God, can you hear me?” he asked frantically.
    She raised her head and gave him a murderous look. “Of course I can hear you. What are you doing here? Dammit, now I have an accident to contend with. Why were you parked in my driveway?”
    Her anger was so completely unfair that Zane felt a rising anger himself. “Do you always turn in to your driveway at fifty miles an hour?”
    â€œI wasn’t going fifty! Good grief,” she said scornfully, “a professional driver couldn’t make that turn at fifty miles an hour.”
    â€œAll right, so I exaggerated, but didn’t you see my car before you turned?” Silently Gwen pointed, and Zane looked to see what she was pointing at. “Oh, the hedge. Well, since neither of us was injured, I guess no real damage was done.”
    â€œI can see the damage to your car from here. A few more dents in this old van will hardly be noticed, but I doubt if you’re going to ignore your dents.” There goes your two-thousand. Good thing you didn’t spend it today. “I’ll pay for the repairs, of course,” she added dully.
    â€œYour auto insurance should cover it.”
    â€œI don’t have any auto insurance.”
    â€œBut you have to carry vehicle insurance. It’s the law.”
    â€œIs it really?” she drawled.
    â€œYou told me you were bonded and licensed to do business as Help-Mate. Now you’re saying that you drive this uninsured van onto your clients’ property? That’s taking a mighty big chance, Gwen. I recommend that you get some vehicle insurance immediately.”
    â€œYou think you have all the answers and the truth is that you have no idea what you’re even talking about.” Gwen reached for the ignition key and turned it. When the engine started, she breathed a sigh of relief. The van might be a little more bruised than it had been, but as long as it ran she could deal with its disreputable appearance. She backed it into the street and parked at the curb.
    â€œWhat do you mean, I don’t know what I’m talking about?”
    â€œLeave it alone, Zane,” she said wearily. “You