"God, this fucking road! And on top of everything it's raining. I hate driving here".
Joan was carefully looking at the road as her old Fiesta spluttered its way up the hill. She was driving home from work, it was late, and she'd forgotten to fill the tank before setting out.
"I just hope this thing gets me home. It's all I need for it to fail me now. With my luck..."
The car didn't stop, but it wasn't going very well either. She had to keep changing gears, and it seemed to be losing strength. Suddenly, it started hiccupping and she really had to stop. She indicated and stopped on the hard shoulder. It was dark already and the rain hadn't eased up.
"What am I going to do now?" she thought. "No use calling my useless boyfriend. He won't either be home yet; probably having a pint somewhere, or if he is he will be playing his stupid PC game and won't budge his ass to even answer the phone."
She wondered if there was a service station somewhere. But with the rain and the dark? Well, she had at least to put up the warning triangle!
Joan got out of the car and immediately got all wet. She had only a dress and a cardigan, useless in the rain, obviously. She managed to assemble the thing and walk a bit away from the car to set it up and make herself visible.
She got back to the car, completely soaked, and considered her options. Tom, her boyfriend, was out of the question, and she didn't know anyone else. What to do? "I need to call a tow truck service or whatever. Is that what they're called? Or is that in movies?" She remembered Tom saying something about an emergency number somewhere in the car's papers.
She looked for it and found a number. They would be around in no time. The sooner the better, as she was starting to shiver from the cold.
A truck finally came, it was all yellow lights. A man in a high vis jacket got out. She lowered the window and explained what had happened. The man, quite handsome he was, told her not to worry. He would take the car to the next village. Meanwhile, if she wanted, she could move to the truck and get warm. He said she looked chilled.
Joan did as she was told, and the fact was the truck was warm inside. Not only that, but it was also fragrant with men's smells. She felt comfortable and safe instantly. As the minutes passed, she even started to feel sleepy.
The man returned. He was a smiley bloke, very handsome, nice dark hair, warm brown eyes, a full mouth, probably a great kisser. "What am I thinking. I'm falling for this guy, and he didn't even say half a connected sentence. How desperate am I?"
"Are you OK? I'm Steve, by the way. Are you feeling warmer now? You looked a bit on the frozen side a while ago," he said, smiling.
"Yes, well. You know. It never rains but it pours, as they say, and I forgot my umbrella."
"Yeah, you do look soaked. Here, take my jacket." And as he said it, he took off his jacket and handed it over. She barely protested and put on the jacket. It was wet on the outside, but heavy and very warm, and it smelled wonderful.
"Thanks", she whispered. She could barely articulate what she was feeling. Steve was so attractive, she felt so shitty, and Tom really deserved one in the back. If this guy only but said something sexy she would certainly melt all over. "I'm Joan."