[Blog Tour - Excerpt Reveal] Crashing Into Him

Crashing Into Him
by Halina Cabrera

Hazel Fernandez, certified workaholic and finance manager, and Luis Cortez, fitness buff and gym owner, meet when he crashes his truck into her car. In the first five minutes, she notices that he is one hot guy. But he immediately starts acting like a jerk. She decides she can’t stand him. And she guesses he can’t stand her either. Except that she catches him checking her out.

Then Luis wants to meet about car insurance issues. Will all discussions end with what will be done with their cars or will there be more crashing into each other? Hazel is about to find out one rainy night.

EXCERPT

Gruet corner Wilson Streets “Oh my God!” is all Hazel can think when she feels the impact of the car crashing into the passenger side of her Kia Picanto. Her mind temporarily goes blank. Then all she can hear is her own panicked breathing. Now, she can’t move. She’s never been in an accident before. The glass on the passenger side has shattered. Through the window frame she can see a guy coming up to her. 

 “Okay ka lang, miss?” she hears him say.

Breathe, Hazel, breathe. Get out of the car. Three deep breaths, and she climbs out of the car, a little shaky on her feet. 

 “I’m okay.” She hears him breathe a sigh of relief. She looks up at him and sees that he is really good looking. He has chinito features, a strong jaw…and those shoulders! Talk about broad. Is she dreaming? Is this an accident-induced hallucination? 

 “Alam mo, miss, you were driving too fast,” he states. It doesn’t register right away because she’s still distracted by his gorgeousness. 

 Wait! What an asshole! “I was driving too fast? Look, I think it was the other way around,” she says, her voice rising. She never drives fast. Never. 

 “Miss, let’s just get to the police station. Magpaliwanag ka na lang doon,” he says curtly. So now that he’s established that she’s not hurt, he switches to jerk mode? 

 She sees red. What a waste of good looks! “What do you think I am, a reckless driver? Dapat ikaw ang nag-slow down.” 

 “Nasa main road ako!” 

 It’s a good thing that a traffic cop arrives at the scene before Hazel explodes. They get busy taking photos of their respective vehicles and exchanging calling cards. 

 “Punta na lang po tayo sa San Juan precinct. Pakisunod na lang sa police car.” 

 Hazel’s blood is boiling. Calm down, calm down. She can’t think when she’s this angry. And to think she was psyching herself up for a nice relaxing Friday evening just an hour ago. She was going home after putting in some overtime, having closed up shop at the software firm where she works as the finance manager. And now this. She’s bound to be stuck here for hours. Goodbye, relaxing evening. And welcome to a stressful weekend. 

 She’s particularly angry about her car getting smashed up because she knows it will be in the casa for at least a week or two. What is she supposed to do in the meantime? Commute? She thought those days were over. Hasn’t she worked her way up already? Doesn’t she deserve a break? 

 And who is this jerk who bumped her car, anyway? She turns over his card. Luis Cortez, owner, Red Door Gym, 119 Domingo St., San Juan, Metro Manila. No wonder he’s so fit. Focus, Hazel, focus. He’s a jerk, remember?

- x o O o x - 

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