Kiwi Nathaniel Dunn is in a fighting mood, but how does a man fight Wellington’s famous fog? In the last year, Nate’s lost his longtime lover to boredom and his ten-year job to the economy. Now he’s found a golden opportunity for employment where he can even use his artistic talent, but to get the job, he has to get to Christchurch today. Heavy fog means no flight, and the ticket agent is ignoring him to fawn over a beautiful but annoying, overly polite American man.<br><br>Rusty Beaumont can deal with a canceled flight, but the pushy Kiwi at the ticket counter is making it difficult for him to stay cool. The guy rubs him all the wrong ways despite his sexy working-man look, which Rusty notices even though he’s not looking for a man to replace the fiancé who died two years ago. Yet when they’re forced to share a table at the crowded airport café, Nate reveals the kind heart behind his grumpy fa?ade. An earthquake, sex in the bush, and visits from Nate’s belligerent ex turn a day of sightseeing into a slippery slope that just might land them in love.

Sunset at Pencarrow

By the time they made it to the gas station, Rusty had made a decision, and he wasted no time setting things in motion according to his plan. “Listen, Nate,” he said as he got out of the car. “I’ll take the tire to the attendant and see if they can fix it for us.” He could sense Nate preparing an argument, but he didn’t stop to hear it, and he had the tire out of the car and on the way to the garage before Nate could get a word in edgewise.


“I don’t know,” the attendant said. “I could patch it up, but it’s not going to last. The tire’s munted.”


Rusty was about to ask her what “munted” was, but gathered from the look on her face that it was more or less equivalent to “shot to hell,” so he agreed with her and took care of the problem by simply buying a new tire. He told Nate what he’d done after the fact—the bill was paid, and the new tire was already being mounted—so any objections would serve no purpose.


Chapter 18