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CHAPTER ONE

THE GREAT UNWELCOME TRUTH IS that there are times when a woman needs a man…or at the very least, an unnatural level of upper body strength Unfortunately for Elissa Towers, this was one of those times

“So tells me you won’t be impressed by my to-do list, or the fact that Zoe has a birthday party at noon Birthday parties are very important for the five-year-old set I don’t want her to ht into the lug wrench

She had been la the extra ten pounds she carried for at least three years One would think they would co

“Move!” she yelled at the lug nut on her very flat tire Nothing Not even a whisper of budging

She dropped the lug wrench onto the damp driveway and swore

This was coetting low, she’d driven to Randy’s Brake and Tire center where Randy hily tidy waiting rooazines—a rare treat in her world—not even giving a thought to the fact that he was using so nuts She always asked hihten by hand, so she could take off the flat herself

“Need some help?”

The question caht in a puddle She felt the wet seeping through her jeans and panties Great Nohen she stood up, she would look as if she’d wet herself Why couldn’t her Saturday start with an unexpected tax refund and an anonymous chocolate delivery?

She glanced at the uy approach, but as she looked up and up further still, until their eyes hbor He was a few years older than her, tanned, good-looking and at a first casual glance, physically perfect Not exactly sohtly shabby neighborhood

She scra as she felt the wet spot

“Hi,” she said, s as she carefully took a step back “You’re, um…”

Dauy’s name Also that he had recently left the military, kept to himself and apparently had no job It wasn’t a combination that made Elissa comfy

“Walker Buchanan I live upstairs”

Alone No visitors and he didn’t go out much Oh, yeah Good times Still, she’d been raised to be polite, so she smiled and said, “Hi I’m Elissa Towers”

Under any other circumstances, she would have found another way out of her dile nuts herself and she couldn’t just sit here praying to the tire gods

She pointed “If you could be burly for a second, that would be fabulous”

“Burly?” The corner of his mouth twitched

“You’re a guy, this is a guy thing It’s a natural fit”

He folded his impressive arms over a rather i to be independent and equal in the world?”