Accidentally in Love by Laura Drewry Read Free Book Online Page A

so…
    “We can take a crack at getting the chain out when we get to your place, but it’s jammed in there pretty good and we’ll probably bend up your gears.”
    “It’s fine; I’ll take it to the bike shop tomorrow and have Tim fix it.”
    “Uh-huh.” Brett glanced over at her, waiting for her to work through the logistics of what she’d said. Wasn’t happening. “So, what, you’re just gonna walk it the five clicks between your place and there?”
    “No, I’ve got a bike rack on my…” It only took a second before she grunted low in her throat.
“Right.”
    Turning onto her street, he took a mental inventory of the vehicles parked on either side of the road. After she’d been hit by that truck last year, Brett couldn’t shake the feeling it had been more than just an everyday hit-and-run. Ordinarily, the suspect driver would be in such a hurry to get away, he’d leave all sorts of evidence behind, but not in this case. Whoever had driven the truck had made damn good and sure he hadn’t left a trace, which made Brett wonder right from the start if she hadn’t been targeted.
    When he’d broached the idea with her friends, they couldn’t come up with a single person who might want to hurt Ellie.
    “I mean, sure,” Maya had said. “There’ve been a couple times I’ve wanted to clock her a good one myself, but that’s because I made the mistake of asking her opinion on something, and we all know we’re in for some harsh truths when we do that.”
    As part of Brett’s investigation, he’d driven down her street at various times of the day and night, both in his patrol car and in his truck, keeping an eye out for any vehicles that seemed out of place or the least bit suspicious, but he’d never found a single vehicle that didn’t have a reason for being there. Tonight was no different.
    “Leave the bike with me,” he said. “And I’ll drop it off at Tim’s in the morning.”
    Ellie was already shaking her head.
    “That’s okay, I’ll ask—” Using the tip of her pinkie finger, she tried to push the button on her seat belt, but it was at a weird angle and she couldn’t get enough pressure from her one finger. “I’ll ask Nick.”
    “Sure, okay.” Brett unclicked both their buckles, then got out of the truck and rounded the front to open her door. “I’m sure Nick can make room for it between the ball equipment, sawhorses, and boxed-up fixtures he’s hauling around for the Jacobssens’ house. That toilet alone probably only weighs about a hundred pounds, so it shouldn’t be too much of a pain in the ass to move. And sure, my truck’s empty and I have to drive right by Tim’s to get to work tomorr—”
    “Stop!” Ellie cried, her plea laced with a resigned, choked laugh. Rain-soaked, spattered in mud, and with her backpack hanging from her bent elbow, she continued to hold her hands up like she was prepping for surgery. “I get it, okay? You’re right.”
    With the bike lifted half out of the truck, Brett froze for a second before turning a disbelieving eye her way. “I’m sorry…I’m
what
?”
    “Don’t be an ass.” The tiny gold fleck in her right eye sparkled for a second before she narrowed her gaze at him. “I said you’re right. And…
thank you
. I appreciate your help.”
    Brett lowered the bike back down, slumped his hip against the side of the truck, and nodded.
    “Whew.” He whistled slowly. “I bet that hurt.”
    “You have no idea.” She could roll her eyes all she wanted, he saw the way she chewed the corner of her mouth like she was trying not to smile.
    He was pretty sure his own smile almost made it to his face that time, but before it did, the front door of the house opened and out stepped an older, gray-haired Ellie.
    “Shiiit,” Ellie muttered, her eyes closed tight for a second. “Thanks for the ride and for dropping my bike off—now go,
run,
save yourself. I’m not kidding.”
    Try as she did to hurry into the house, the other woman