On top of my destroyed car and dead cell, I obviously still had no shoes; it was some ungodly hour of the morning, and the last form of civilization I passed was about twenty miles back down the road.

The cow I almost hit stood motionless in the middle of the road. Seeing the stupid thing standing there like nothing had happened made me see red. I stomped over to the senseless creature and shoved at its side. Its tail swished but other than that it made no signs of moving.

“You stupid, fat, piece of meat! I hope you’re happy! Look what you’ve done! You just had to screw everything up, didn’t you! Didn’t you! You dumb shit! I was about to start my goddamn life! Gahhhhh!” My throat protested as I screamed loudly and stomped my foot.

Energy expended, I dropped my forehead onto the cow’s side. My eyes shut tight; I continued to yell at the top of my lungs.

“S’cuse me, ma’am. You mind not givin’ my cattle a hidin’?” A smooth male voice asked from behind me.

Jumping a solid foot in the air, I screamed long and loud. My hand flew to my heaving chest and I spun around, stepped back quickly, and bumped into the idiotic beast behind me. “Shit, sorry! It was in the middle of the road and I almost hit it.” I paused a moment. “Wait, it’s yours? Why is it in the middle of the road?” I asked, placing my hands on my hips in annoyance.

The headlights from his truck shined softly up from the side of the road, backlighting his silhouette and leaving his face concealed in shadow. I must have been in a state to not have heard his truck or seen the lights. Another bout of hysterical laughter bubbled up from my chest. Today couldn’t get any worse.

I was barefoot, standing in the middle of the road trying to beat up a cow, probably looking deranged and homeless while some tall, built cowboy came along to witness my meltdown.

Of course.

Why the hell not?

“You all right there, ma’am? Are you hurt?” The cowboy moved forward a step, one hand palm up as he approached me, as if he thought I might turn tail and run.

Not likely, considering I was trapped between an eight-hundred pound animal and a solid wall of muscled man. “You’ve gone and banged your head good there,” he drawled, gesturing to my head.

I’d forgotten about the cut on my brow. I imagined I looked like a busted can of biscuits. Sobering up quickly, I straightened, putting my hand up to stop his rather intimidating approach.

“I’m fine really, but your stupid animal was in the middle of the damn road and I swerved so as not to hit the ginormous thing and crashed my car.” I took a second to assess the man in front of me. I didn’t know if I should be worried or not. A female out on a deserted road with a stranger. I mean, he could be some sort of weird-ass serial killer for all I knew. He didn’t act or look like one, but then again, what did I know about criminal profiling?

I rolled my eyes at myself, and the excessive rambling I was doing inside my head. “Have you got a cell phone so I can call for a tow truck please?” I asked as politely as possible. If I could get my car towed back to the closest town, I could find a hotel for the night and figure out what to do from there.

I was answered by a short husky laugh that had my stomach fluttering. “Darlin’, you ain’t gonna get a tow out here at this time of night. Damn, you ain’t gonna get one out here for another three days, at the least. Tommy’s visitin’ family.”

Oh, hell no. What was I supposed to do now?

“I really don’t care who this Tommy guy is, but I’m sure there has to be a tow truck somewhere in town. Can you help me or not?” I snapped.

The day’s festivities had finally caught up with me. I was fed up, tired and had just suffered through the worst day ever. I also didn’t appreciate the condescending tone his voice carried.

Another cocky cowboy. No surprises there. I’d met a few of them over the years and they were always the same. Arrogant assholes.

“You ain’t from round here, are ya?” he asked.

“No, I’m not. I’ve had a horrible day. I’ve driven for hours and your shit-for-brains animal made me crash my damn car. I’m tired, sore and not at all in the mood to sleep on the side of the road. So can you or can you not call me a tow truck?”

Nice Amelia had left the building.

His voice turned hard as he instructed, “Get in the truck. You can stay at the ranch tonight and call somebody to come get you in the mornin’.”

Get in his truck?

I had no idea who he was. Why the hell would I get in his truck? I stood there, rooted to the spot, contemplating my choices. Get in the car with an annoying stranger or wait out on the side of the road?

Damn it!

I didn’t like my options, but it was becoming clear I would have to get in his truck and pray to God he wasn’t an ax murderer because a woman waiting on the side of the road, all alone…that was just asking for trouble.

“If you need anything outta the car, you best be gettin' it. I won’t be long. Gotta take care of this ‘shit-for-brains animal’, and then we’ll get going.”

I didn’t like the snark in his voice and I was done being told what to do; rude or not, I wasn’t about to let him boss me around. I stood my ground, arms crossed over my chest, chin up, playing the defiant girl I had never been allowed to be.

Lord only knows why I chose that moment to practice being stubborn, but to hell with men and their stupid cowboy hats.

“You fixin’ to be stubborn? Knock ya socks off, darlin’,” Cocky cowboy called me out on my stunt.