Romantic Acquisition by Elizabeth Lennox Read Free Book Online Page B

nothing happened when she turned the key . 
     
    “Oh no!” she groaned .  She looked at her gauges and none of them moved when she turned the key.
     
    She noticed her headlight switch at that point.  “No!  Please tell me I didn’t forget to turn off my lights this morning,” she said to the dashboard.
     
    Obviously it didn’t reply but she was able to push the button and it moved to the ‘off’ position.  “Shoot!” she said and opened her car door again. 
     
    “Car trouble?” a deep voice said from behind her. 
     
    Kate jumped and turned around to face Carlo .
     
    “No.  Nothing’s wrong,” she said immediately as Carlo stopped a foot away from her. 
     
    “Forget something?” he asked.
     
    Kate latched onto that excuse.  “Yes.  I forgot my purse,” she said, it was the first thing that came to mind.
     
    Carlo looked past her and raised his eyebrow.  “Isn’t that it sitting on your passenger seat?”
     
    Kate sighed.  “Yes.”
     
    “What’s wrong, Kate?” he asked, putting his hands into his pockets.
     
    Defeated, she admitted her problem.  “I left my lights on this morning.  Now my battery is dead.”
     
    Carlo nodded.  “Do you have jumper cables?”
     
    She shook her head.  “No.  I have a car service though.  I’ll call them and wait for them to jump the car.’
     
    Carlo shook his head.  “I’m not letting you stay here alone tonight.”  He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.  “Hey, Jim.  I have a dead battery.  Can you come over and fix it?”  He listened for a moment and nodded his head.  “We’ll leave the address in the passenger seat.  Thanks for your help.”
     
    He hung up the phone and pulled out a card.  “I’ll drive you home.  Write your address down on this and someone will deliver it to you once the battery is replaced.”
     
    “There’s no need…”
     
    “Yes there is.  Write,” he said firmly.
     
    Kate took out a pen from her purse and wrote down her address.  She left the card in the passenger seat, then turned to speak to him again. 
     
    “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”
     
    “You don’t need to drive me home, I’ll get a cab .”
     
    “Now what would my mother say if I left a lady stranded on the side of the road?”
     
    Kate laughed at his serious expression.  “You told me the other night that your parents passed away several years ago .”
     
    “She’d still be furious with me.  Come on,” he said and put a hand in the small of her back.  “I’m driving you home.”
     
    Kate hesitated but the firm hand only pushed her gently along.  Before she knew it, Carlo was tucking her into his car and they were driving away. 
     
    At the exit of the parking lot, he turned to her, silently asking her which way to go.  Kate gave him directions and within fifteen minutes, they were pulling up outside her small house.  It was completely dark which wasn’t unusual.  She usually drove into the garage which had an automatic light. 
     
    “I’ll walk you to the door,” he said and got out of the car.   He walked around to the passenger side and held her door for her. 
     
    She stepped out of the car and he closed it behind her.  “Carlo, rea lly there’s no need to do this,” she said, terrified of being alone with him more than of a burglar inside her home.   She wasn’t sure which was more dangerous. 
     
    He ignored her and walked in front of her to the darkened front door.  When they reached the porch, he waited for her to find her key.  “Thank you for the ride,” she said, digging through her purse and finally locating her keys.  Her fingers were shaking and she dropped them three times before he took them out of her hands.
     
    “Do I make you nervous?” he asked as he opened the door. 
     
    Kate shook her head. 
     
    Carlo chuckled.  “You’re not a very good liar, Kate.”
     
    She smiled slightly.  “Your mother should have told you a gentle man