Winning Her Rival's Heart

Chapter One: Stranded

Chapter One: Stranded

Abby Gillis glared at the red Subaru Impreza that had just pulled off the Nepean Highway and parked behind her. Could her day get any worse? She didn't think so. Not when the first person who'd bothered to stop and help her this morning was Justin D'Marco. Actually, there was no way Justin had pulled over to help her. More than likely he'd stopped with the intention of gloating over her misfortune and then leaving her in the dust!

There was a smirk on his lips as he exited his car. "Morning, Gillis."

She was very tempted to tell him to get back in his car and drive off again, but she was already late for work. The nearest petrol station was kilometres away and it was too early for any of the other businesses along the highway to be open yet. And since she'd forgotten her mobile phone for the first time in her life, she couldn't call roadside assist. Which left her on the side of the road and at the mercy of her work rival.

It was a horrible way to start the working week, but she was just going to have to swallow her pride and ask Justin for a lift. It was Monday morning. He was on his way into Kale & Wells, the marketing firm they both worked for. It wouldn't cost him anything to help her. Not that he'd let her off that easy. She would just have to owe him one. The thought made her feel like she'd just ingested acid.

"Flat tyre?" he asked her.

She curbed her immediate instinct to be sarcastic. "I think I ran over a nail."

"No spare?"

"It was punctured a while ago and I forgot to get it patched. And I left my mobile at home."

His expression was far too smug. "Sounds like you need a ride."

"Yes." Then she added through gritted teeth, "Please."

"It's going to cost you," he said to her.

She closed her eyes briefly and prayed for strength. She suspected she knew what he'd ask for, but he had to know the answer would be no. She would rather sit on the side of the road and rot to death than give him the Clover Girl's underwear campaign. "Not that."

"Come on, Gillis. You know I'm amazing at selling underwear."

Yes, she did know that. Which was precisely why she had to make sure he never got his hands on it. She'd had to work her ass off to land that account. He had rocks in his head if he thought she was just going to hand it over. 

"That's probably because you have too much experience at taking it off," she said. "Or perhaps there's another reason. Maybe you have inclinations..."

"Remind me which one of us needs the other's help right now."

She knew she needed to play nice to secure a ride into work, but Justin D'Marco made her feel so...off balance. He always had.

"Forget it," she told him. "I'll walk."

It was better than spending the entire time trying to bite her tongue. So what if she got to work a few hours late?

Except she absolutely loathed to be late.

Justin looked down at her shoes. "Have fun with that."

She followed his gaze down to her red suede high-heels. The diamante buckles on them sparkled in the sunlight. They were wholly unpractical, but she loved them. And walking the few kilometres to the nearest petrol station would ruin them.

Oh, who was she kidding? There was no way she was walking up the highway or rotting to death on the side of the road. Not when there was work to be done.