Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 118: Take her with him

Chapter 118: Take her with him

Inside the restaurant, Mia finished her meal and a hot coffee and fished inside her purse for money to pay the check. She had eaten enough and was warm enough to head back on her journey. With such terrible weather she couldn’t delay it anymore than she had. Especially when she was traveling alone.

Mia glanced at her wrist watch and saw that it was almost twelve in the afternoon, she quickly picked up her purse and smiled at the mother, who had been trying to have a casual conversation with her the whole time they were eating at the adjoining table, and walked up to the cash register to pay her bill.

As she emerged from the building looking down at her phone, she stopped in surprise as a police car suddenly made a frantic U-turn in front of her, and turned on its siren, then shot out of the parking lot onto the road.

Distracted by that, she failed to notice the dark-haired man crouching next to the back wheel of her car on the driver’s side. It wasn’t until she nearly tripped over him and struggled to maintain her balance that she was aware of his presence. Swiftly, the man rose to his feet and encircled her waist with a firm arm, preventing her from falling forward.

Mia’s eyes had instinctively shut in anticipation of a fall, but upon feeling his arm secure her and draw her close, she slowly opened them. At first she didn’t move, she gazed up at his concealed face, sensing his grip tighten around her. Even though his features were masked, a surge of emotions she hadn’t felt in years stirred within her, jolting her back to reality as she pushed herself away.

He towered over her from a height of about 6’3, and she took a startled, cautious step backward, her voice shaky with alarm and suspicion as she saw how he didn’t move away from his spot and was looking down at her through his black sunglasses. "W-what were you doing there?" she demanded, frowning at her own image as it was reflected back at her from the shinny lenses of his sunglasses.

Neil, who couldn’t believe his eyes, didn’t reply and continued to look at the woman before him. Never in a million years did he expect to find her here or ever see her again. But standing before him was none other than the woman he had struggled hard to forget about during his first years in prison. For years, she had haunted his dreams and made him burn to have her wrapped around his arm like he did the night she lay curled up in his arms five years ago.

Everytime Liam paid him a visit, he would itch to know how she was doing but then he would hold himself back at the thought that it was pointless asking about someone he would never meet or touch again. Through all these years, he had heard news about her on television but he had acted indifferent to everything as he wanted to wipe her out of his mind and life, but here she was, looking different from the girl he’d admired in Ivy Grove. She looked all mature and more beautiful...

"I asked you a question, sir. What were you doing crouching down there?" She repeated herself, her voice laced with annoyance for his lack of reply.

Neil snapped back to his senses burying the emotions that had stirred within him at the sight of her and actually managed to smile behind his mask because his mind had finally started working, and he now knew exactly how he was going to get her to offer him a ride and take him to his destination.

Taking on different identities and pretending to be someone he wasn’t was one of the things he was good at when he was a soldier. Thus, he would put that to use. Neil thought as he cleared his throat to utilize the voice altering technique he’d mastered in the military.

Nodding toward her rear tire, which was very obviously flat, he spoke with a voice that sounded nothing like his normal voice, "I was planning to change your tire for you if you don’t mind. I was waiting right there when I noticed it was flat so I crouched down to take a look at it." He lied.

Mia’s frowned at his words. Her tire had been fine when she stopped here. And why would someone like him be kind enough to change her tire when he didn’t even know her? She thought as she glanced towards the flat tire. Seeing how flat it looked, she glanced back at the man and said, "I’m sorry for being so rude, but you startled me. I wasn’t looking my way and I almost fell."

"Sorry about that. I came here with my police friend when I saw your tire." Neil improvised smoothly, deliberately making it sound as if the police man who had stopped by earlier was a friend of his. "He got another call and had to leave. Do you have the tools so I can change the tire for you?"

Mia, who had noticed the police car earlier, felt her fears completely vanish at the thought that he was friends with a police man, and she smiled kindly at the stranger. "This is very kind of you," she said, opening the trunk of her BMW to look for the tools, but because she wasn’t exactly sure what tool he would need, she stood there tapping her chin.

"Um, I’m not sure what you need here." She murmured, and immediately she felt the man walk up to her from behind. He didn’t even touch her but yet her heart skipped a beat and she quickly moved away to give him access to take what he needed.

Neil noticed how she moved to the side and hugged her midriff but he didn’t think much of her action. He leaned down and took the things he needed from the trunk, he didn’t fail to notice the cameras and mic and other things in her trunk. She must be coming back from her work. He thought to himself.

"This will only take a few minutes," he assured her. He was also in a hurry, but no longer fighting down panic.

Mia already thought he was friendly with the police man so she had naturally thought he was trustworthy, and after he changed her tire, she’d owe him a ride. Once they were on the road, the authorities wouldn’t give them a second glance because they would be looking for a man who was traveling alone.

For now, if anyone noticed him, he would appear to be an ordinary husband changing a tire while his wife looked on. "Where are you heading?" he asked her, while taking off his gloves.

"Um, I am heading to the South, I mean to Mirage mesa," Mia said, admiring the man’s easy skill with the heavy vehicle. He had an unusually nice voice, uncommonly deep and smooth. His hair was dark and very thick, but poorly cut, and she wondered idly what he looked like without the concealing barrier of those reflective sunglasses and face mask.

Very handsome, she decided, but it wasn’t his good looks that kept drawing her eyes back to his concealed profile, it was something else, something about him seemed very familiar to her but she couldn’t pinpoint what. Mia shrugged the feeling off, and cradled the purse in her hand. She didn’t know why but she wanted to hear him speak again, and so she decided to have a polite conversation.

"Do you live around here?" She asked curiously.

"Not any more. I am traveling to another state to start a new job tomorrow, but I have to be there by tomorrow morning or they’ll give it to someone else." He finished jacking the car up and began loosening the bolts on the tire, then he nodded toward the backpack that Mia hadn’t seen before because it had somehow gotten shoved under her car. "A friend of mine was supposed to pick me up here three hours ago and give me a ride part of the way," he lied, "but I guess something happened and he isn’t going to make it."

"You’ve been waiting out here for three hours?!" Mia exclaimed. "You must be freezing cold." She looked at him with pity as she couldn’t imagine herself being out here in the cold for an hour not to mention three hours. Though the man didn’t look like a poor person judging from his attire, she still felt a sense of pity for him.

He kept his face averted, apparently concentrating on his task of changing her tire, and Mia restrained the strong urge to try to bend down and get a longer, closer look at his face. She felt a little ache in her heart as she noticed the snow clutching to his hair.

"Would you like a cup of hot coffee?" She found herself asking.

He nodded his head. "I’d like that."

Mia decided to head back into the restaurant to buy him something hot, but before she left, she turned over her shoulder to ask, "How do you like your coffee?"

"Black," Neil said, fighting to keep his frustration in check. Mia was heading south from Novaria, whereas his destination was north. Though he couldn’t help but wonder if she now lived in Mirage mesa or was just going there to spend her holidays, he didn’t let his damn curiosity wander and instead focused on the task at hand.

Neil stole a glance at his watch and began working even faster. Nearly an hour and a half had passed since he walked away from Kai, and his risk of capture was increasing every moment he stayed around Novaria!

Regardless of which way she was going, he had to go with her. Putting some miles between himself and Novaria was all that mattered now. He could ride with her for some hours and double back via a different route later; or even force her to take him to his destination and keep her with him there until everything settles.