that, for no other reason than that they wanted her to.
She needed this time away from them. And Troy Armstrong could give it to her.
And he wasn’t just any stranger, she consoled herself. He’d saved her life, hadn’t he?
“I won’t get in the way,” she said. He was still looking at her as if she’d just beamed down from Mars.
“Of course you’ll get in the way,” Troy contradicted. “You’re already in the way.” He practically had an accident every time he glanced at her. She was definitely in the way! She was sexy as all get out, packing who knew what sort of trouble. “You can’t go with me,” he insisted.
“Why not?” She turned those huge soulful eyes on him, and he felt a part of him melting again.
“Because I’m working.” Troy soldiered on determinedly. He had to stay focused. He couldn’t let some gorgeous woman pop out of the blue and throw his whole life off track. “This is business.”
His personal life had been less than enjoyable the last time Troy had paid any attention to it, and with his brother concentrating on his growing family, it seemed a good idea for Troy to put business first for a while.
“I don’t have time for passengers,” he went on.
“I won’t be any trouble. I’ll, uh, I’ll keep you company.” Andie smiled encouragingly.
“I don’t need company.”
“It must be lonely out on the road all those days by yourself,” she went on, undeterred. “The light is green, by the way.”
Troy hit the accelerator. The truck groaned and hummed as it pulled through its gears. “I have company already,” he said, jerking his head at his canine companion. “I have Dog.”
Dog woofed in response to his name.
“A dog?”
“That’s right. I don’t need anyone else.” At least Troy always knew where he stood with Dog. Dog was faithful and loyal. Unlike some women. “Now tell me where I can drop you off,” he went on firmly. “I need to get on the road. I’ve got a schedule.”
With that last light, they had left the congestion of the city and were nearing the cutoff to the highway. Something had to be settled. Soon.
Andie worried her bottom lip. What now? The man was practically ready to shove her out.
Where would she go? What would she do?
Her mind on her problem, she reached out one hand casually to pat the dog’s head and yanked it back when the animal reared around as if he might bite her. Her whole body trembled. All she needed was to top off her day by getting chewed up by a dog.
“Dog!” Troy thundered. The animal settled back, growling low in his throat. Troy looked at Andie and said flatly, “He doesn’t like women.”
And neither did he. Particularly not the jilting kind. He’d had plenty of experience with that sort of woman already. He didn’t need any more.
He kept thinking about Andie’s fiancé back at that church with a broken heart. Troy knew how that felt.
“Thanks for filling me in after he almost bit my head off,” Andie was grumbling from her now-huddled position in the corner of the truck cab.
Troy glanced sharply at her, then jerked the truck over toward the side of the road. He brought the huge vehicle to a stop on the shoulder and turned his full attention to his unwanted guest. He wasn’t about to be apologetic about anything.
“Look, you’re the one who left some poor slob at the altar—”
“Some poor slob?”
“—and jumped in here—”
“Some poor slob!”
“—without so much as a by-your-leave—”
“Some poor slob?”
“Yes, some poor slob. You just ran out on the guy, didn’t you? Left him standing in the church?”
“You don’t understand the situation. I can’t believe you feel sorry for him. I’m the one who—” She stopped abruptly.
“You’re the one who what?” Troy demanded. He refrained from throwing at her that he understood all too well what it was like to be jilted.
“Nothing. Never mind.” Andie crossed her arms and stared straight ahead, her lips set in a mutinous line.
“All right.” Troy blew out a frustrated breath and tried to sound calm as he proceeded. “Let’s try starting over. You can begin with just what the heck is going on here, and I’ll see what I can do to help.” By help, he really meant how best to get rid of her, but he bit that part back.
He hoped he wasn’t asking for trouble by exploring the situation further, but maybe if he knew what her problem was, he’d be able to figure out what to do with her.
His gaze fastened on her pink rosebud mouth, and that little, traitorous, instinctive part of him that kept rearing up thought of at least one thing he could do with her....
He crushed the thought. Correction, he reminded himself staunchly. That was one thing he absolutely was not going to do with her.
He was going to have to get better control of his thought patterns. Now would be a good time.
“I—I can’t explain,” Andie said, still staring out the window, avoiding his gaze.
“Well, if you want to come to California with me, you’d better start trying,” Troy said tightly.
He should be miles away. Instead, here he was, parked on the side of the road, trying to figure out what to do with a beautiful, errant bride. It was ludicrous, unbelievable...but it was real.
Andie finally returned her gaze to the man beside her.
“I was supposed to get married today,” she offered briefly.
“No kidding.” Troy arched an eyebrow and glanced pointedly at her attire. “What happened?”
Andie twisted her hair. “I changed my mind.”
“Really?” Troy couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
“Yes, really,” Andie said defensively.
“So you came to this momentous conclusion while you were standing at the altar, I take it?”
“No, of course not! It hadn’t gone that far!”
Troy gave a harsh laugh. “Oh, well, thank goodness, it hadn’t gone that far. I’m sure that must be a source of comfort to the groom.”
Andie had had it with the grilling. The whole reason she was running away was so she wouldn’t have to answer all these questions.
