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already made her change her own tire once, just so she d know the process, but he also
kept their Triple A membership up to date, too. He didn t much like the idea of her trying
to change her tire on a busy highway he d much rather have her call the service than
ever risk her life. But he felt she ought to know how to do it what the process was, at
least.
But back then they were still somewhat new and he hadn t realized just how completely
she ignored everything but the most basic condition of her vehicle. She was home one
day in the summer and he was beginning to realize that he had a huge chauvinistic
streak, because he really, really, really liked having her home during the day . . . His car
was in the shop, so he was taking hers to work for the day. Hunt d kissed her goodbye
while she was still sleepy in their bed, got ready for work, and climbed into her sporty
little Celica and turned the key.
The engine shuddered and groaned to life, very reluctantly. Every idiot light in the car
blared at him check engine, service engine soon, the oil and battery lights everything.
And almost immediately, the temperature of the engine pegged incredibly hot.
Hunt sat in the driver s seat for a moment after shutting off the engine and ground his
teeth.
How could she have driven this car in this condition? She d never even hinted at him that
there was anything wrong with it in the least heck, he was a fair shade tree mechanic
he could probably at least diagnose most problems with cars, and maybe even fix some of
them satisfactorily.
Granted, they d used his car a lot more than hers lately hers barely got any kind of a
workout. They went everywhere together, and he drove them in his car. But this poor car
seemed to have every possible problem in the book, and he highly doubted that they had
just cropped up when he got into it. He looked for a sticker in the corner of the
windshield so that he could get some idea of when the oil was changed last, or when the
car was serviced last in any way and there was nothing. Nada. Zippo. Grumbling quietly
to himself, he got out of the car and, with a huge amount of fear and trepidation, he
actually checked the oil, which looked like some sort of black sludge, and was at least a
quart and a half low.
Sighing as he let the hood slam shut, Hunt wiped off his hands meticulously as he tried
unsuccessfully to control his anger. Well, he didn t have time for it right now. He
needed to get to work but not in this car.
As he stalked back into the house, he flipped open his cell phone, called his boss and said
he might be a little late. Lee was fine with that Hunt was never late and there wasn t
anything pressing going on this morning. Then he called a taxi service that said it would
be about half an hour to get to him. That was the right amount of time to thoroughly scold
the Princess who was sleeping peacefully and obliviously in his bed. Hunt tromped down
the short hall into the bedroom and flopped onto the side of the bed, unceremoniously
using her shoulders to turn her over onto her back and rudely awaken her from a sound
sleep.
Once he had her pinned under him, he began the interrogation. "How long has your car
been flashing multiple warning lights at you?"
Gemma was barely cognizant first thing in the morning. And having him climb into bed
with her with what was obviously not a nefarious intention didn t make her any more
receptive. "Mumph." She didn t even open her eyes. She couldn t open her eyes. It was
illegal, immoral, and fattening to open one s eyes before eight A.M. on a vacation day, as
far as she was concerned.
That was her story, anyway, and she was sticking to it.
Until he said, "Don t make me ask you again, Gemma. I am not in the mood this
morning."
At that, her eyes flew open, colliding with his. And he was, quite obviously, not a happy
camper. She was instantly more awake than she might have been, but still somewhat
clouded by sleep. "I m sorry. What was the question again?"
The muscle in his jaw was going a mile a minute. That was never a good sign. Gemma
struggled to wipe the cobwebs of sleep out of her mind as he repeated himself through
tightly clenched teeth. "How long have those warning lights been on in your car?"
"Car?" She knew she sounded like a complete idiot, but he looked like he was literally
seconds away from flipping her over his lap, and she wanted to forestall that incident as
long as she could.
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