Dashing Through the Snow (5 page)

Her heart shot to her throat as she stared at the open trunk. Dash had thrown down the gauntlet and called her bluff. With her head held high and swallowing hard, Ashley walked around the vehicle and with some difficulty lifted her heavy suitcase out of the trunk and set it down on the asphalt. With exaggerated care she closed the trunk again, all the while praying Dash would back down.

Wheeling her suitcase behind her, she made her way across the parking lot and looked back at Dash, her heart in her eyes. He held her gaze for a couple of seconds and then put the car in reverse.

Ashley's spirits sank. Without a backward glance, Dash headed toward the side road that would lead him back to the freeway.

Ashley watched as Dash and the rental car disappeared from sight. Her heart was in her throat. It was all she could do not to slap her forehead for being so stubborn. But she wasn't the only one. Dash had been stubborn, too. They'd both behaved irrationally, butting heads, letting pride get in their way. Either one of them could have put an end to this stupidity at any time, but they hadn't.

Now it was too late and she was stuck.

Ashley had assumed they were getting along just fine—in fact, better than fine. Until Dash realized he'd lost his phone he'd been a great traveling companion. She'd actually felt a connection to him and had enjoyed herself, which made it all the more difficult to understand why he would be so hardheaded when it came to letting her take the puppy. Even now she was convinced that if he'd done as she suggested and looked at the sweet dog, he'd have given in and changed his mind.

Now here she was, stuck miles from anywhere, alone, desperate, and with a limited amount of cash and no ATM in sight. To make matters worse, all she'd had to eat since the night before was a squished protein bar. Any boost it'd given her had long since worn off. The only food available at the rest stop were stale cookies and a soda machine.

“Miss?” the veteran called out to her from the coffee stand.

Time to put on her big-girl pants, Ashley decided. She straightened and wheeled her suitcase toward the small structure. Seeing that this puppy had already cost her the free ride to Seattle, she wasn't about to let him go now.

“What happened?” the vet asked, eyeing her suitcase.

“Well…it turns out my ride wasn't keen on taking the puppy.”

“Oh my.” The older man's eyes widened when he saw her suitcase. “Is there anyone you can call?”

Ashley shook her head. “No.” Her voice wobbled with her answer. “How far are we to the closest town?”

“A ways…about thirty miles. My replacement will arrive in a couple of hours and I'd be happy to drive you into town, but the fact is there isn't much there.”

“Could I rent a car?” she asked, her eyes full of hope. Then she remembered that was impossible because she wasn't twenty-five.

He scratched his chin and shook his head. “Nothing like that for another hundred, maybe two hundred, miles.”

“Oh.” Her one hope was to find someone willing to offer her a ride, but the prospect of getting in a car with another stranger intimidated her. A trucker might be willing to help. They were said to be friendly and helpful…perhaps a little too friendly, though. Her mother would go ballistic if she learned that Ashley had considered taking such a risk.

“What about a bus stop?” Greyhound made stops in out-of-the-way locations; she just might be in luck.

“Nope.”

“Train?” She was getting more desperate by the minute.

He sadly shook his head. “Nothing like that, either. No passenger trains to speak of. Freight trains run regularly, but nowhere close to us.”

“Oh.” She couldn't hide the defeat in her voice.

“Sorry,” he murmured.

She exhaled a deep sigh. “It's not your fault. I brought this on myself.”

Ashley collected the puppy and held him close to her chin as she reassessed her options, which seemed to be shockingly few. She didn't know why she'd been so insistent and stubborn. Normally she was far more reasonable. Dash hadn't been any better. The bottom line, she realized, was that she'd wanted Dash to like her, to enjoy her company because she'd enjoyed his. She took it personally that he hadn't felt the same way about her.

Using her suitcase for a chair, she sat on it and waited, although she wasn't exactly sure what she expected would happen. She hadn't been sitting for more than five or ten minutes when she heard the distant rumble of motorcycles. A lot of motorcycles.

Sure enough, ten to fifteen bikes roared into the rest area with the sound equivalent of jet engines.

Ashley's heart started to pound at the sight of the heavily tattooed, muscular men in their leather jackets and helmets. Not one of them seemed to be under six feet tall. They looked rough and mean, exposed to the elements as if the wind and cold couldn't touch them. They backed into the parking spaces and cut their engines. Climbing off their bikes, they looked directly at Ashley. Her mouth went dry. Glancing over her shoulder, she looked toward the war vet and the coffee stand, wondering how much help he'd be if she ran into trouble.

Instead of walking toward the men's restroom, one of the bikers strolled directly toward her. Not knowing what else to do, Ashley pasted on a smile that trembled at the corners of her mouth and said, “Merry Christmas.” Although in her nervousness it came out sounding like “Ferry Just Miss.”

“You lost, little girl?” the tattooed biker asked. He had a deep red scar that ran down the left side of his face. He wasn't the kind of man you'd look forward to meeting in a dark alley. The name on his cut said he was called Blade. Ashley didn't need to guess how he'd gotten the name.

“No…I'm not lost,” she insisted.

“What are you doing sitting here in the cold, then?”

She thought fast. “I'm waiting for my father, the sheriff.”

He laughed outright, the sound rusty and gravelly. “Good one. The sheriff here is Elaine Pitman.”

“Oh.” Ashley offered a weak, apologetic smile. Apparently, he was well acquainted with law enforcement, and she didn't assume it was on a social basis.

A woman with spiky bleached-blond hair stepped up next to Blade and leaned against him. Her body language said she'd look forward to clawing Ashley's eyes out if she even thought about making a move to steal her man. Ashley released an involuntary gasp of fear, wanting to reassure the other woman that she had no intention of flirting with Blade. The blonde's eyes were hard and humorless as she studied Ashley as if she were a piece of litter dirtying the landscape.

The woman nodded toward the restroom and headed in that direction. For half a second Ashley thought she was gesturing for her to follow. She didn't, and it was a good thing, because she soon realized this was the biker chick's way of letting Blade know where she was headed. Ashley looked over her shoulder and saw
PROPERTY OF BLADE
written across the back of the woman's leather jacket.

“That your puppy?” Blade asked.

Ashley tightened her grip on the dog and nodded, glancing over to see a white car pull into the rest area. She stood. “I think that's my ride now,” she said, hoping that would be enough to send the biker on his way.

It wasn't.

The rental car was white, but the world was full of white vehicles, so she didn't dare hope that it was Dash returning. As the car came closer her heart did a little jog of joy.

It
was
Dash. He didn't look happy about it, either. His gaze captured hers and narrowed as he pulled into the empty parking space directly in front of her. She watched as he shifted his attention from her to Blade and the long row of Harleys.

Blade crossed his bulging muscular arms over his equally muscular chest as Dash climbed out of the car. The two men eyed each other warily.

“She your woman?” Blade asked.

Dash snorted as if the very idea was laughable. “No way.”

Stung by his denial, Ashley's mouth fell open. She stiffened, and by the sheer force of her will looked away. “He's nothing to me, either,” she snapped.

They were at a standoff until Dash finally said, “You coming or not?”

Ashley leaped up so fast her suitcase toppled over.

He smiled and it was all she could do to throw a one-armed hug around him while holding the puppy in the other. “I am so happy to see you.”

“Yeah, that was pretty stupid on both our parts.”

“You ready to take it back?” she asked, teasing him. “Because if you will, I will.”

“I will if you will first,” he joked back.

The biker looked from one to the other and glared at them as though they'd spoken a foreign language. “What's with you two? Grow up. You sound like you're in grade school.”

Ashley and Dash both laughed. Basically, that was the way they'd behaved.

Dash carried her suitcase to the car and was putting it in the trunk when she asked, “Can I bring Little Blade?”

“Little Blade?”

The biker leveled his chin toward Dash. “Good name for a dog.” He petted the puppy and then opened the passenger door for Ashley, who slipped inside.

“Yes, I named him after my friend here. Blade, meet Dash.” Dash looked from her to the biker and then back again.

“Very clever, Ash,” he said and rolled his eyes, but he didn't look upset. He just got into the car beside her and turned on the ignition.

Then he did something completely unexpected. He laughed. “You're a devious one.” Shaking his head, he put the car in gear and backed out of the space, heading toward the freeway.

“I can't tell you how relieved I am to see you. Thank you.”

“I didn't go far before I realized what I'd done. You were right. I was upset about my phone and I took my frustration out on you. As soon as I could find a spot on the freeway to turn around, I did. I'm sorry it took so long.”

With the heater blowing, it didn't take Ashley long to warm up. “I noticed you had no problem telling Blade I wasn't your woman,” she said, half teasing.

Grinning, he glanced at her. “Count your blessings. For half a second there I was tempted to tell your biker friend that I'd never seen you before in my life.”

“But you didn't.”

“No, but I probably should have.”

Ashley knew he was teasing and the easy banter continued. Little Blade snuggled up in her lap and placed his chin on her thigh and promptly went to sleep. Ashley continued to pet him and was pleased when Dash leaned over and stroked his head, too.

“Are you sure your mom wants another dog?”

“Yeah. She mentioned it recently. It's been a while since she's had a puppy, and knowing my mother, she'll probably spoil him.”

“That's what mothers do.”

“Speaking of mothers, I really like yours.”

“You've never met her,” Dash countered.

“I've talked to her, though, and I liked her.”

In response he did that thing with his eyes again where he looked toward the heavens.

“Do you know you roll your eyes a lot?” she asked.

“I didn't before I met you.”

“Are you trying to say that I frustrate you?” She stopped short of reminding him of what happened the last time he made a derogatory comment about her.

“I'm not trying to say it; I am saying it.” He took his eyes off the road long enough to glance her way. “Are you insulted enough to demand that I drop you off at the closest exit?” he asked with a laugh.

“No.” The warm feeling continued, and it didn't have anything to do with the inside car temperature. She liked Dash, and her feelings for him had risen several levels since he came back for her.

“Good thing, because I'd like to reach Seattle some time this year and we won't if we continue with this craziness.”

Ashley studied him for a couple of minutes. “You're hungry again, aren't you?”

“What?”

“Like I said earlier, you get cranky when you're hungry.”

“I. Am. Not. Cranky.” He put emphasis on each word.

She noticed that he didn't deny that he was hungry. “I'm hungry, too, and so is Little Blade. Let's grab a bite to eat.”

“Ashley,” he complained, exhaling. “I'd like to get as far as we can before the storm hits. We've already wasted an hour.”

“We need to eat,” she argued. “Okay, I'll tell you what. When we gas up, make sure it's someplace where we can buy sandwiches. We can eat those in the car. I'll buy, just so you know how much I appreciate you coming back for me.”

He nodded. “Fair enough.”