“Connector’s loose.”
“That’s it?”
“Maybe.”
He removed a small plug, inspected it, cleaned moisture from the edge with a cloth, then reconnected it firmly.
“Try again.”
Claire returned to the car.
Pressed start.
The engine turned over immediately.
She actually gasped.
Daniel listened for several seconds, then lifted one hand.
“Let it idle.”
Claire stepped out smiling before she could stop herself.
“You fixed it.”
“Don’t celebrate yet.”
“You said you don’t overpromise.”
“I also don’t trust coincidences.”
He connected a small scanner from his truck.
Claire watched the screen.
“What does that tell you?”
“Whether the car thinks it’s dying.”
“And?”
“It’s reconsidering.”
She laughed.
He looked up.
For a second they simply stared at each other.
Daniel smiled.
Claire became aware of everything at once.
Snow in his hair.
Her ridiculous white heels sinking slightly into slush.
The open hood.
The warm headlights.
The fact that she had been frightened fifteen minutes earlier and now felt strangely safe beside a man she had never met.
Her phone buzzed.
She looked down.
Message.
From Paige’s blind-date number.
Running late. Stopped to help a stranded woman. I promise this is not an elaborate excuse.
Claire froze.
She read it again.
Then looked at Daniel.
He was putting the scanner away.
Her heartbeat changed.
No.
Impossible.
“Daniel.”
He looked over.
“Yes?”
“What’s your last name?”
He frowned slightly.
“Mercer.”
Claire looked toward the truck.
Of course.
MERCER REPAIR.
She should have noticed.
“Your friend who arranged tonight.”
“What about her?”
“What’s her name?”
Now Daniel looked suspicious.
“Renee.”
Claire’s stomach flipped.
Paige had said the man’s sister arranged his side of the date.
“Your sister?”
“Yes.”
Claire slowly turned her phone toward him.
He read the message.
His expression changed.
Then his own phone buzzed.
He pulled it out.
Read.
Looked back at Claire.
“Okay.”
“What?”
He turned the screen toward her.
Message from his sister:
She says her car broke down. Be nice if she arrives stressed. Her name is Claire. Do not make any mechanic jokes.
Neither spoke.
Snow moved between them.
Finally Claire said:
“Your sister’s advice arrived late.”
Daniel laughed.
A genuine laugh.
The tension broke.
“You’re Claire.”
“You’re Daniel.”
“Apparently.”
She looked toward the road.
“You cannot make this up.”
“I definitely couldn’t.”
Claire folded her arms.
“So my blind date just rescued me on the way to our blind date.”
“Technically I reconnected a plug.”
“Please let me romanticize it for thirty seconds.”
He smiled.
“Go ahead.”
She looked at him again.
The situation should have felt charming.