Time Thief: A Time Thief Novel Read Online Free

brown eyebrow at me. “I wouldn’t risk leaving my car on this road, even if it was”—he glanced over my shoulder to where Eloise sat—“temperamental. It’s not safe.”
    I eyed his sports car. “I don’t suppose if we had a rope, you could tow me into the nearest town? Or maybe just to a pullout spot, if there is one on this road?”
    “No,” he said gently, taking me by the shoulders and pushing me toward his car. “Jaguars do not tow other cars. Get in, and I will take you down the road to the next town. It’s not far, three or four miles at best.”
    “But, Eloise—”
    “It will take us ten minutes at the most to get to town.We must hope that your car will be safe for the time it takes for the tow truck to fetch it.”
    Limply, I allowed him to seat me in his car, all the while mentally chastising myself for not standing up to this handsome Good Samaritan. It wasn’t like me to be a doormat for any man, but here I was sitting silently, guiltily enjoying the mingled (and heady) aroma of leather seats, expensive car, and sexy man as he whisked me away.
    “Were you on your way to your workplace when you had car trouble?” Gregory asked politely a few minutes later. Fir trees that lined the narrow road whipped past us on the right side, leaving the impression of a green blur that was punctuated now and again by sharp, craggy rocks that jutted out of the earth and jabbed pointy fingers to the sky. To the left, off and on through the dense trees I caught a flash of silver light, indicating a stream or perhaps one of the lakes that dotted this area.
    “I wish. I’m unemployed at the moment. I was helping out a friend, but that ended kind of badly; hence I’m on my way home. I live near the coast, so it’s important that I be able to get Eloise started again.” I gnawed my lower lip for a few seconds, not wanting to ask the question uppermost in my mind, but not seeing much of a way out of it. “Do you think a tow for Eloise would be much above fifty bucks? If it’s only a couple of miles, that is?”
    He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “I shouldn’t think so. A bit on your uppers, are you?”
    “Huh?”
    “Sorry, that was a Briticism. I take it that you’re a bit short of ready cash?”
    “And unready cash, and cash that will never have achance to be ready because frankly, it doesn’t exist, and probably never will.” I sighed. “My unemployment ran out a few months ago. The job market is crap for someone who has no marketable skills other than the ability to coax a forty-five-year-old car into running long past its normal life span. You don’t happen to know of anyone who’s looking for a secretary or receptionist or something like that? I can type and answer phones and file if needed.”
    “I’m afraid I don’t, no,” he said, shooting me a sympathetic look as we headed into a tiny little town named, according to the decorative sign by the side of the road, Rose Hill.
    “What do you do?” I asked, grimacing when the question came out somewhat accusatory. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that like I expect you to give me a job.
Are
you a model?”
    “Me?” He laughed again. “Hardly. I’m in acquisitions.”
    “What kind of acquisitions?”
    He shrugged. “Whatever I find profitable at the time. Lately I’ve been working out of Los Angeles exporting artwork to affluent Asian technology companies who wish to make an entrance into the global marketplace.”
    “Sounds cool. What are you doing out here in the boonies of Oregon, if you don’t mind me being nosy?”
    “I don’t mind at all. My family is here, and due to the work I just mentioned, I haven’t been around much. My grandmother has been demanding I visit for the last six months, and this was the first opportunity I’ve had to drive up here. Ah. There is the garage I remember seeing on a visit earlier. Would you be terribly offended if I offered you a small loan to cover the cost of a tow?”
    “Offended? Are