“Pretty simple what you’ve got here, Dagny,” Liam says gruffly, his upper body buried in the hood. I stare at the big eagle tattoo on his back. His body is tinted with rain, giving his muscles a glossy glow. “Your engine overheated. It got hot. Very hot. Although it’s cool now.”

He glances up at me and smirks, his hands and arms black with grease.

“Oh,” I swallow. In New York I don’t know many men who own a car, much less a man who can fix one.

The New York Hipsters these days are more likely to know how to make a soy latté from scratch than work on a car. Damn, my ex couldn’t even change a tire.

Not that there’s anything wrong with a soy latté, but Christ almighty, I can’t stop staring at Liam. Through his torn jeans, it’s impossible not to notice how his muscular legs are like tree trunks. I try to act nonchalant, looking over the hood at him as a misty rain falls over us.

It’s hard to pretend it’s no big deal those same sexy legs that were just pounding into me not moments ago, sending ripples of pleasure through me.

A wave of butterflies overtakes me as I watch Liam tool the engine, clinking and clanking around. I stare inside at the guts of the car and squint, like I have any idea at all how a car engine works.

I sigh and try to process the fact that he just gave me the first two orgasms I’ve had in months. Where did that side of me come from? I’ve never had a one night stand with a strange man. I’ve considered it once or twice, sure, but in reality I never thought it would happen.

And I certainly never thought it would be as hot as tonight is.

“So where you headed, anyway?”

“A wedding,” I choke.

He turns and looks at me funny.

“Where’s the wedding?”

“Lake Okoboji. In Iowa, right close to Nebraska and South Dakota.”

He roars in laughter. “Nebraska, honey? And why exactly are you driving through Blackwell? Ain’t exactly on the way from New York. And you never heard of these nifty things they've got called planes?”

I shrug. “I don’t do planes. And I visited my friend in Florida first, so that’s why I’m cutting through. Dick.”

He smirks and nods. “City girl who can’t ride on planes. Well alright then. You really are full of surprises. Like that good tasting pussy.”

I cough suddenly and my eyes bulge. He says it so casually. “Excuse me? What did you just say?”

He sighs, still working under the hood. “Oh come on now. You gonna act like that fantastic sex didn’t even happen? Don’t pretend like you didn’t just fuck my face in the front seat, Dagny. You’re better ‘n that.”

My blood boils. “I would appreciate it if you called me by my real name.”

He pulls his body out from the hood. He doesn’t seem to mind in the slightest, or even notice the mist falling on him, making his body shiny and slick in the moonlight.

“What’s your name again?” he squints a little. “I forget.”

“Fuck you!” I snap, and I’ve had it. “Are you going to fix my car or not?”

Why is it the biggest assholes always are the sexiest? It’s really not fair.

“Aw, come now Dagny,” he drawls in a sexy low voice. “I’m just having a little fun with you. Now look, it’s overheated. You have a crack in your water pump, and it spilled over to a few of the other parts of the engine too, but if I bring your car into the shop, I can replace it and it’ll be fine. The tow truck is at George’s house, though, so we’re gonna have to bring you to a hotel tonight. We’ll grab your car here in the morning. That sound okay?”

I run a hand through my hair. “Yeah, that’s fine, can you just please take me to a hotel?”

* * *

“What do you mean they are booked up?!” I yell at the hotel clerk of the Best Blackwell Inn. “You’ve got to have a room. An emergency room. Something.”

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I wish there was something I could do. Big horse race tomorrow. Everything’s taken.”

I take a deep breath and look up at the ceiling. Liam walks in with my two suitcases, carrying them like they weigh nothing.

“Hey,” I say to him when he walks in. “This one’s full. We’re going to have to find another spot.”

He shakes his head and chuckles a little. “There’s no other hotel, honey. This is it. This is all Blackwell’s got.”

My eyes damn near pop out of my skull. “You’ve got to help me. Please,” I plead.

She purses her lips. “Look, I really wish I could help. But there’s just nothing I can do. You could try Air BNB?”

I exhale, deflating like a balloon running out of air. “Yeah, because Air BNB is going to book me in the middle of the night.”

Furthermore, this doesn’t seem like the type of town where I’d like to stay at a strange person’s place.

Suddenly, I get a crazy idea.

“Liam,” I say, clearing my throat and turning to him. His muscles bulge as he holds my suitcases in the lobby. He’s civil enough to at least have put on a wifebeater to come inside the hotel. With his clearly visible tattoos, he actually looks scarier than without his shirt. He looks so out of place standing there. He’s so rugged, and the inside of the hotel is pristine and gaudy.

Liam gazes back at me with a slight smirk, like he already knows I’m about to say something nuts.

I know my idea is crazy, but as big of an asshole as Liam is, I trust him in some fucked up way. Hey, someone who fucks that well can’t be all bad, right?

“I know this is a little out of the ordinary, but--”

“You can’t stay with me,” he cuts me off, dropping my suitcases to the ground as he reads my mind.

“How did you...wait, why not?!” I see the

hotel clerk’s eyes widen, as she probably worries she’ll be an observer to a domestic dispute.

I glance at her, then at the storm outside.

Liam follows, leaving my bags behind.

Outside in the parking lot, we stand next to his truck while the drizzle still continues to drip on us.

“I’m sorry Dagny, but the fact that you don’t got a place to stay ain’t my problem.”

I rub my temple with my fingers, my jaw almost on the floor.

“You’re...You’re…”

“An asshole. Yeah, honey. You ain’t the first person to call me that,” he shrugs. “And you sure as hell won’t be the last. I have a rule. Cars can stay overnight. Women, however, ain’t welcome.”

My face flushes with rage. I put my hands on my hips. “Oh wow, this is just precious. So, you’re just going to fuck me and never talk to me again, huh? You’re just gonna take that fifteen minutes of fucking we did in your truck and forget about me forever? Well fuck you, asshole!”

“Nah, it ain’t like that.”

“Ain’t like that? Well, tell me, how it is then?”

“It was more like thirty minutes of fucking,” he smirks. “That wasn’t no fifteen. I guess time moves pretty fast when my mouth is doing it’s thing.”

My brow furrows and I’m about to punch his throat. I lunge at him, but he grabs my wrists, stopping me like I’m a toy plaything. The man is incredibly strong. One of his biceps might be as big as my legs.

“I fucking hate you,” I breathe as our bodies touch. His chest pushes into my breasts as we stare at each other, inches from each others’ faces in the rain.

“That makes two of us.”

I scowl, turn my head and whisper so softly, I doubt he can hear me. “City boys fuck better than you anyway.”

He grips my throat and jaw, spins me around, and slams me against the truck. Another hand travels down my hips. My heart beats like crazy. “The fuck did you say?” he drawls.

“I didn’t think you heard that. Well, let me make it clear. My old city boyfriend fucks better than you!”

He growls like a feral animal and attacks my mouth with his. His huge hands frame my face, and I let my own hand travel down his back and land on his ass.

“Let’s get one thing straight now, Dagny. You ain’t in the city no more.”

“I know,” I whisper. “So let me stay at your place.”

“Fucking fine,” he grunts.

The rain picks up again, steadily pelting us with harder drops every moment, it seems.

He relents from his onslaught of my mouth for a moment, and we glance into each other's eyes from close proximity.

Liam licks his lips and squints at me, and for the faintest moment, I catch a glimpse of an entirely other persona from this tattooed giant in front of me.

It’s in the eyes, and it’s subtle, but I swear to God I see it.

I don’t see an asshole. I don’t see a predator.

I see a damaged, vulnerable soul screaming for connection behind a hard exterior.

I stare for a moment too long, and he kisses me, breaking the spell.

As he runs his hands on my hips and ass I moan again, wondering what that just was.

Was I imagining a gentleman behind this monster?

Or maybe I was just seeing my own reflection.

The rain pours so hard we can’t ignore it any more. Liam pulls off my body and opens the passenger side door.

“Get in,” he grunts. “I’ll get your bags.”

“So, that’s a yes, I can stay with you?” I clarify.

He nods, almost imperceptibly, and opens the passenger side door for me.

I step up into the truck and he shuts the door after me. The rain beats hard on the windows as I stare at Liam while he saunters into the hotel. The man seems impervious to anything the world throws at him.

I’m soaked to the bone from the hot Blackwell rain.

And I don’t just mean my clothes.