World's Worst Boyfriend: A Romantic Comedy Adventure (Fake It Book 3), Carina Taylor [ebook reader online txt] 📗

I unlocked my phone, ready to call 9-1-1.

The car slowed to a stop next to mine. The passenger window rolled down, revealing a man in a dress shirt and loosened tie. I lowered my window a couple inches.

“Are you all right?” He smiled warmly at me. He was somewhere in his thirties and looked like I imagined a CEO of a big company would look. A large watch on his wrist. A dark suit—although the jacket hung over the seat behind him.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn’t about to be murdered. CEOs weren’t murderers, right?

“No, actually, I can’t seem to get my car started.” I frowned.

The man nodded and started to pull forward. So much for my knight in shining armor. Apparently, he knew as much about cars as I did if he was leaving me here. To my surprise, he pulled his SUV over in front of my car, then climbed out.

He was not a desk jockey. Or if he was, he used one of those walking desks because he was a fit guy.

“You know, I’m not sure I’ll be any help,” he admitted as he rolled up his sleeves. “I’m not much of a mechanic.”

I unlocked my door and climbed out. “That makes two of us.”

“Is there anyone you could call?”

I shook my head. “No one is answering.”

He nodded and grinned. “Not exactly an all-night town, is it?”

I laughed. His humor putting me at ease. “You’ve got that right,” I agreed as I glanced at the city lights just half a mile from us. And by city lights it was only the gas stations and the grocery stores that were still open.

The man lifted the hood and leaned his arms on the frame. His well-muscled forearms even stood out in the moonlight.

Fletcher had been the first one to challenge my stereotype of a person’s career, specifically that of what an IT guy looked like. Honestly, I still wasn’t even sure what an IT person did. When he tried to explain it to me, it made me think he was a jack of all trades.

And if this man was a plain old businessman, he did not look like what I had pictured.

He chuckled and said, “You know. I don’t actually know what I’m looking at.”

I stepped next to him and looked at the engine. “Well, at least nothing’s on fire…that has to mean something good, right?”

He quirked his lips to the side and sniffed the air. “Not even a hint of smoke.”

I sighed. “Do you know how refreshing it is to be around someone who can admit he doesn’t know everything?”

“Just so long as you keep my secret. I’m part of a car club in the summer and don’t want my membership revoked.” He winked and I couldn’t help but feel the pull toward him. His charisma was palpable. Older than me by almost ten years, but he wasn’t afraid to flirt—politely. I liked that in a man.

If I were honest with myself, having the attention felt nice at the moment. When you couldn’t hold your own boyfriend’s attention, you began to wonder if something was wrong with you.

I turned my attention back to the car. “Honestly, I’m not sure what I can do until the morning.”

He rubbed one hand against his chin. “You know, I know a guy who owns a tow truck.”

“Oh, I already called the tow company. They’re not open until the morning.” I shook my head and closed the hood of my car. “I’ll try and call someone to pick me up.”

“How about I call that friend of mine? It’s a side hobby he has. He’s not with the tow company here in town. He would do it as a favor to me.”

“But why would you do that for me?”

He ducked his head before slowly lifting his gaze to meet my eyes. “It’s not every day I can help a beautiful lady stranded on the side of the road.”

I felt myself blushing, even though I recognized his humility as false. Funny how when someone flatters you, you’ll let them get away with anything.

“Well, okay, sure. That would be great.”

He nodded and pulled out his phone. “I’ll be just a minute.”

He walked back toward his car as he spoke on the phone. I unlocked my own phone and tried Fletcher one more time. No one answered. Where the hell was he?

The man walked back. “He’ll be here in an hour.”

“Thank you so much. I don’t know how I can repay you.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged abashedly. “At the risk of sounding crazy, I’d love to ask you out.”

I tugged absentmindedly on the hem of my jacket. “Well, the truth is, I have a boyfriend.”

“You do?”

“Hey, no need to sound so surprised.” I laughed, embarrassed by my outburst.

He smiled and raised his eyebrows. “It’s not serious, is it? I don’t see him rushing to your rescue or anything.”

I felt a strange urge to defend Fletcher, even though this was a complete stranger who had an incredibly valid point. “He works a lot.”

“What’s he do?”

“He owns an IT company. He’s dealing with a lot of clients and their IT emergencies and such.”

“He must talk about his clients a lot then.” He pressed, seeming oddly curious about my boyfriend’s work.

The mental alarms were buzzing in my head. That strange feeling I got in the pit of my stomach that I couldn’t explain. It was my very own sixth sense that warned me when something wasn’t right with someone. I groaned inwardly. I’d been enjoying the man’s casual flirting, and now my crazy-weird, inexplicable gut feeling was telling me something wasn’t right.

I slipped my hand into my pocket with my phone. Prepared to hit the emergency SOS at a moment’s notice. His questions now had more to do with Fletcher than any interest in me.

“It seems strange that a man could choose a computer over you.” He smiled again, causing me to relax, but not completely ignore the warning bell in my