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AJ walked over to where Max was standing and repeated his offer.

“Anything I can do to help?”

Max shook her head. “No but thank you. I think the alternator is gone and I can’t get that fixed tonight.”

“Probably not, there’s no one near here to tow it to either.”

Max wiped the tears off her cheek with the back of her hand. AJ felt sorry for her and her tears made him want to help her even more.

“Can I give you a ride somewhere?”

“No thank you, I’m just gonna go and call a cab.”

She walked back to the diner and headed in towards the phone. AJ leaned against the side of her car and waited for her to come back out; it didn’t take long.

“Did they say how long it would be?”

“Apparently forever because there are no drivers on tonight for an area this small. I’m just going to walk back.”

She fished her keys out of her purse and locked her car back up. After putting them back and digging out a mini flashlight, she headed towards the road, stopping only when AJ touched her arm. Jerking it back, she spun around to face him with a look he didn’t understand. He backed up and held his hands up.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Then what do you want?” she asked with an attitude.

AJ sighed; this was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

“I just wanted to offer you a ride home.”

“Thanks but I’m fine.”

She headed back to the sidewalk and AJ got in his car. Refusing to give up so easily, he pulled alongside her as she walked. He followed her for about a hundred feet or so before she stopped and looked through his passenger side window.

“Look, I’m fine, you can head home.”

“I don’t feel comfortable with you walking home alone in the middle of the night.”

“I’m fine and it’s not a long walk.” she lied.

“It’s about two and a half miles Max.”

Of course he’d know how far it is, she thought to herself.

“I’m really fine, it’s a nice night and a quiet area.”

“I know, that’s the problem.”

“I don’t need your help.”

She expected him to back down but she realized that was a mistake when she saw the determination in his eyes.

“Look, I’m not going to let you walk two plus miles home in the dark alone so I figure we can do this a couple of ways. You can let me drive you home, I can follow you like a stalker or I can walk you home personally and come back for my car later.”

Max groaned, he was not about to let this go.

“So what’s it gonna be?”

“Look, you can’t leave your car here in the middle of the street.”

“Then that leaves two options, me acting like a stalker or you letting me drive you home. It’s getting late and you should probably be sleeping soon.”

Max looked at him; it made sense to let him drive her since she had to be up so early. The problem was, she knew nothing about him except that he kept trying to get her attention. What if he was some kind of freak and she got trapped in his car?

As if he was reading her mind, he called out to her again.

“I may look like a freak with all the tattoos but I promise you that I’m completely harmless. I’m not a serial killer and I guarantee I will get you home safe and sound.”

Max blushed and AJ laughed.

“I knew that’s what you were thinking.”

“Fine.” Max finally replied after seriously thinking about it for a few moments. It was getting late and the situation was not going to work out for her so she opened his passenger side door and slid in.

“Make sure you buckle up.” AJ said as he pulled away from the curb. “Do you like a certain type of music? I have one of those XM radio things so I’m sure we can find something.”

Max just shook her head and stared out the window as he drove. It wasn’t very long before they got to her apartment and she was relieved that nothing had happened. She unbuckled her belt as soon as he parked and was shocked when he stepped out.

“What are you doing?”

“Walking you to your door.” he replied as he made his way over to her.

“You drove me home, I can make it up to the apartment just fine.”

“Hey, my mother taught me that you never let a woman walk herself to the door. I can’t have her find out I broke that rule.”

Max shook her head and decided not to argue. They were silent as they made their way to her door and AJ watched as she unlocked it. Once she had it opened, he turned around to head back out.

“I’ll see you.” he called out.

She didn’t say anything and quickly closed the door before he changed his mind about staying. This whole night had been a disaster and she just wanted to go to bed.