She had to call Sebastian. Just as she punched in the first two numbers, the cellphone began to ring. She glanced at the screen.
Adam.
Only now she was all frazzled, the planned words swept away.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Adam, it’s me, Natália.”
“I know who it is. Sorry, I was in the shower and didn’t hear the phone right away.”
The image of Adam standing on a bathmat with water streaming down his chest was something that made her brain freeze even further. “I know I said I’d call you when I got home, but I’m...um...kind of stranded.”
“Stranded? What do you mean, stranded?” There was silence for a second or two, then his voice came back. “Meu Deus do céu. I want a name, Nata.”
The low quiet tone held a wealth of menace. How humiliating was this? But she’d called the man. She could hardly pretend she hadn’t said the words. “I’m at the yakisoba place down in Santo Amaro.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes. But I’m still waiting for a name.”
She gulped. “Okay. Palácio de Yakisoba.”
“Not the name of the restaurant. The name of your date.”
The name of her...
Deus!
That’s right, where was that story you thought up?
Not in her head, that was for sure. She did not want to admit that she didn’t have a date after all. For some reason she thought he would be far too pleased with that news. And the last thing she needed was for Adam to turn into Sebastian and go all big brother on her. She didn’t need two of them. So she decided to hedge.
“It doesn’t matter. I just need to be jumped.”
Another pause. Longer this time. “Jumped?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t understand.”
Did she have to spell it out? “My car died at the takeout place. I think it’s the battery.”
A low chuckle came through her phone. “I see. For some reason I thought jumped meant...”
“You thought it meant what?” Natália was thoroughly confused.
“Never mind. So you were the designated driver this evening?”
Well, since she’d designated herself to drive to the restaurant, this question she could answer fairly truthfully. “Yes, yes, I was. It didn’t work out quite like I was hoping.”
“I’m glad he didn’t just leave you without transportation. Not that I approve of him leaving you there with a car that is quebrado. Did he find another way home?”
She gulped. “There is definitely something wrong with that picture, isn’t there?” Mainly because it wasn’t true. Not at all.
“Don’t worry, Nata. I will be there in fifteen minutes. Don’t go anywhere.”
Exactly where was she supposed to go? Her car was stuck here and so was she. “Please don’t say anything to Sebastian about this.”
“Your brother has a right to know.”
“Um, not really. I’m a grown-up, remember?”
“Then you should be grown-up enough to tell him yourself.”
Her brother would freak out if he thought some man had abandoned her at a restaurant. She was going to have to tell Adam the truth, dammit. But it could wait until just before she closed the door of her car and left the parking lot. She didn’t want to have to endure the expression on his face. Or listen to some kind of quippy comment. Yes, that would be the best route. “Don’t worry. I’ll let my brother know you turned into my knight in shining armor.”
A low dark sound tickled her ear. “I’m no knight, Nata. Remember that. I’ll see you soon.”
With that he was gone, and she was left standing next to her useless car with an even more useless sense of longing. Why could Adam never see her as an adult?
Maybe because they’d grown up together. Maybe because she had been someone he’d had to be careful around because of her cancer. Whatever it was, he had never seen her as an equal. Even after coming back to Brazil after furthering his training in orthopedic surgery in the United States. That had been after his marriage had taken a wrong turn.
If anything, Adam was more cynical and guarded now than he’d been as a young adult. Who could blame him? His wife had cheated. None of it could have been easy for him.
Shaking her head, she opened the door to her car and got back in. If she could just get the darned thing started, she wouldn’t have to face him at all. Her momentary thrill at having gotten a reaction out of him in that exam room had changed to flat-out embarrassment. She’d been mistaken about the expression on his face. She had to be. Her conversation a moment ago confirmed that.
She turned the key in the ignition and heard the same sluggish growl the vehicle had given for the last half-hour. Something was definitely wrong with it.
Another car pulled up beside her. It wasn’t Adam, and the young man seated in the passenger seat made her slightly uneasy. Dark hair and hard eyes surveyed what he could see of her, from her hands clenching the steering wheel to the window that was half-open to let in a little cool air. Maybe she should have waited in the restaurant rather than sitting around in the open with her car in obvious trouble. This wasn’t a particularly dangerous part of São Paulo, but there were always people out there who were willing to take advantage of a vulnerable situation. Her parents had been robbed at gunpoint twice while stopping at night at a traffic light. People had learned to just run the lights if it was late at night, rather than risking a problem.
“Precisa ajuda?”
His words were nice enough, asking if she needed help.
“No, I’m good. I have someone coming. They should be here any minute.”
Instead of discouraging the man, his door clicked open and one scrawny leg appeared followed by another as the man stood. “Maybe I should take a look at it.”
“No, I really am okay. I think I’ll just—”
Her words were cut off when another car pulled up between them, the sleek front bumper coming within inches of the intruder’s knees. The man’s head turned so fast that strands of his lank hair fell over his forehead as he shouted, “Oi, cara, quase me atropelou.”
Oh, damn. That was probably the wrong thing to have said to the owner of this particular vehicle, whose occupant emerged, one hand resting on his door, the other on top of his sports car. “You’ll get a lot more than run over, if you take one more step toward her.”
The driver of the original vehicle called to his buddy, who scowled for a second or two before ducking back inside. The two then peeled out of the
