And in return, it broke down, seized up, smoked, and just now, tried to kill her by throwing her into oncoming traffic.
Harper sighed. Well, the tire really was her fault. She was flat broke after helping out her deadbeat ex-boyfriend-which she'd done for a month before she'd realized that he really never was going to try to get another job as long as he had her to mooch off of. So she hadn't had the money to replace her tires even though she knew they were getting bald. Anyway, she didn't want any old cheap tires for her Baby. It deserved only the best. And she couldn't afford the best, yet, so she hadn't gotten any at all.
She just couldn't resist a bad boy, even when the 'boy' in question was her car….
Harper put the parking brake on and killed the engine but left the radio blaring. She leaned across the wide bench seat to crank down the passenger window so she could to listen to the music as she changed the tire, then popped the trunk. She got out of the car, pausing to squint up and down the two-lane county road hopefully, wondering if there might not be some helpful guy in a pickup who might want to lend a hand.
She heard the sound of traffic in the distance. But of course, there was nothing in sight.
Just my luck, she thought. She was perfectly capable of changing a tire herself, but she wouldn't refuse a white knight, if one came along.
Or a black one, for that matter.
She shrugged and set to work pulling out the full-sized spare and dropping it in the grass next to the flat tire, surveying the damage for the first time.
Crap. The old tire was just shredded. Gone. She hoped she wouldn't need a new wheel. She got the jack and lug wrench and tossed them next to the spare. She pulled off the hubcap-an original spoked model that she'd bought to restore the car to its former glory-and slotted the wrench into place. She pushed, but nothing happened.
Damned pneumatic tire-changing tools. They tightened the nuts so hard they locked up sometimes. Well, Harper knew one way to deal with that. She shifted the position so that the wrench was parallel to the ground, then stomped it with all her weight.
The lug nut gave, and she smiled in satisfaction. She was no rail. She was big, just like her personality, and she knew how to use her body-around cars, around horses, around the kitchen, and with pretty much any problem that needed solving. And there were plenty of men who appreciated that about her-the big boobs, full hips and butt. Too bad she kept going for the losers.