Slowly, I stepped toward her. Her eyes were wide, watching my every move. The pulse on her neck was pounding.
“You want me to be your experiment?”
She swallowed.
“What do you have in mind for me?” I whispered.
I placed my hand on the soft skin of her neck, gently stroked the side of it with my thumb. “I might say yes if you tell me.”
She closed her eyes, her muscles relaxing and her body swaying softly toward me. I wrapped an arm around her waist to support her.
“How about I make you a deal?” I continued. She smelled of peaches. Ripe, sweet peaches. “You said your brother doesn’t have insurance. See, you shouldn’t have told me that. Now I’ve got an ace.”
Her eyes flew open. She slammed her hands on my chest and pushed me away.
“Get off me!”
I stepped back. “You’re too honest for your own good.”
She scoffed. “Oh, believe me when I say that I’m not!”
“Maybe,” I allowed. “But in my book, you are.”
“What do you want?” she spat it out. Her stance was confrontational, her voice dripped with venom.
If she thought that would turn me away, she was mistaken. I wanted more of it.
I leaned against the counter, reached for the cup of coffee she’d made for me. “If I go to my insurance, my bike will be fixed.”
“But you’re going to have to cough up your deductible—”
“I can pay for my deductible easily. And I can take it to the mechanic who’s been servicing my motorcycle for years. Why should I go to a shop that I have no idea if they’ll do a good job or not?”
If looks could kill, I’d be decapitated by now.
“Have you heard of subrogation? My insurance will go after your brother. It’s also a hit-and-run. The police will be very interested.”
I gave her a moment to absorb that. Then I said, “So now that we know where we both stand, let’s make a deal.”
I took a sip and very nearly choked. It was too strong. When I saw her face, I knew she’d deliberately made it undrinkable.
This girl would cut me off at the knees without batting an eye. Why did that excite me?
Damn. I’m in trouble.
“First, tell me why you’re doing this for your brother.”
She crossed her arms in front of her. “I don’t need to tell you dick.”
My mouth twitched. “Tell me why the hell he isn’t owning up and paying for his mistake.”
“You’re not going after him for this. If you do, I’ll castrate you.”
“You like making threats, don’t you?”
“I like putting them in action too. Try me and you’ll find out.”
“Oh, I think I want to. I’m looking forward to it.” To prove it, I took another sip of her coffee without breaking eye contact with her. “Tell me where he is.”
“I won’t let you—”
“I’m not going to hurt him. Don’t you think he owes me an apology? Or do you think that’s too much to ask?”
She opened her mouth, closed it. Sighed. “No,” she said, capitulating. “It’s not too much to ask. He went fishing with my dad.”
“So…” I looked at her lips. Her bottom lip was fuller than the top. I moved my gaze up and met hers. “You’re alone with me.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Yeah. And no one would know who murdered you when I hide your body in the shed.”
I paused and threw my head back laughing.
“I like you,” I said.
“Listen, I don’t go out with guys. Ever.”
I paused. There was something about her expression that told me she wasn’t feeling as firm on this as she sounded. “Girls?”
“No.”
“Never had a boyfriend?”
“Never met anyone who measured up.”
“To what?”
“My standards.”
“Tell me what they are.”
“You’re playing with me.”
“Am I?”
She let out a huff and walked to the living room. “Let’s talk about this deal so you can leave. I have a very busy day.”
“Sure.” I poured the coffee in the sink and rinsed the cup before following her to the living room. I sprawled on the couch. She leaned against the wall opposite me, eyeing me warily.
“That’s my dad’s bed. Feel free to soil it or anything.”
The house looked like it had two bedrooms and a bathroom. The two rooms must be for her and her brother.
“I like sleeping on the couch too,” I said. I stopped for a moment. I hadn’t meant to tell her that.
She gave me a bored look. “What’s the deal?”
I looked her directly in the eye. “Give me a ride.”
She blinked slowly. “Come again?”
“Until my motorcycle is finished to my satisfaction, you’re going to drive me where I need to be. Not your brother. Not your best friend. You.”
“Have you lost your mind? What, do you think I have all the time in the world?”
“Since I saw you trying to break into my house last night, I’m going to have to say yes.”
“You have a mint truck in your driveway! That’s yours, isn’t it?”
“That’s not mine.”
It was the company truck assigned to me, which would make what I said technically a lie, but I couldn’t let her know that or she would never agree.
“You can get a rental!”
“Are you paying for it?”
“This is blackmail.”
“You make it so easy. Rule number one: don’t expose your weakness to the enemy.”
“Are you my enemy?”
“Wanna find out?” I stood up, walked toward her.
She stood her ground. Unflinchingly.
“If I do this, you’ll let my shop fix your motorcycle? You won’t file a claim with your insurance?”
“Yeah.”
I want to know what your lips taste like.
“No accessories,” she added.
What they feel like.
“And no maintenance,” she finished.
She’d drive me to bankruptcy if she could. And laugh while she was at it. She could shut me down and kick me out if she really didn’t want the deal, but some part of her was thriving on the tension between us. I could feel it in the way her body turned toward me, the way her eyes flashed with excitement, and the hint of a smile on her lips she tried to hide.
“The deal includes maintenance.” Before she could open her mouth to protest, I added, “But you can get out of it. Easily.”
“Why don’t you tell me how, oh wise one?”
I rubbed the stubble on my jaw. It was getting itchy. Time for a shave. I headed to the front door and put on my shoes. I opened the door, then tossed her my keys.
“I’ll let you know.”
Chapter 9
Kara
The most important thing in life is that you have your health. Because once that was gone, nothing else would be the same. Food wouldn’t taste as good. And that would be really bad. Really, really bad. Because food is important. And health is important. As important as food. It’s the most important thing in life. Food.
So why the hell was I melting on the floor, feeling like he just took everything important with him when he went out that door?
All my food was still in the fridge.
Nothing was out of place.
But nothing felt the same.
He was like a black hole. His presence had sucked out all the energy, all the light in the room, so that when he left, the room felt too bright.
Too empty.
I wanted to lock myself in the bathroom. I wanted to think. Stress out and freak out about
what had just happened. Replay everything in my mind, obsess about every detail, every word he’d said, every look he gave me…
Every response I could have said better.
It felt like I just signed a contract with the devil.
I could always say no. I had a choice. I hadn’t signed anything. I hadn’t even agreed to anything.
Who am I kidding?
We both knew that I would. And that was what galled me. He knew that I wouldn’t say no. He had cornered me. Herded me like he was a damn border collie and I was a sheep.
Even though he was being logical like a damn lawyer, pointing out the facts and consequences of Dylan’s actions, every word out of his mouth felt like a threat. And it pissed me right the hell off.
What was disturbing was that I had no idea what his intention was. Why was he doing all this? Was he bored and thought it would be fun to play with me? Or did he just really want payback for his damaged motorcycle? But why did he want me to drive him and not Dylan?
What if I said no deal? Would he actually make good on his threat and file the claim?
Yes, I realized, gripping his key in my hand. Yes, he would.
He looked like someone who would go to great lengths to get what he wanted.
So what if he was get-naked-for-me-baby kind of gorgeous? So what?
He was clever and calculating. Manipulative and threatening. You never knew where he was leading you until he was good and ready to reveal it to you. Although, if I were being honest with myself, I would admit that he was…exciting. Different from anyone I have ever met before.
His sheer size was threat enough. Combined with his electric-blue eyes and sharp tongue, he was lethal.
But I could handle him.
If he was dangerous—and he was—I was danger.
The sound of feet stomping at the front door woke me up from my mental torture. My head jerked up.
“You!” I pointed to Dylan. “We need to talk.”
* * *
Saturdays at the garage were busy. There were already five cars lined up outside the door by the time Dylan and I headed to the shop.
I’d usually have already set up the coffee maker and bought donuts from across the street for our weekend customers, but thanks to a fuckboy showing up too early and scaring the living daylights out of me, I hadn’t had time to do anything.
Hours later, I still hadn’t caught up, but at least I had managed to get the coffee going.
“Here you go,” I told a customer, handing her a set of keys and the receipt for an oil change. “Have a great day, Mrs. Chung.”
“Oh, I would have brought my car in on Tuesday, so your dad could take a look at it. I do think Mike’s the best mechanic in the city,” she said conversationally, folding her receipt. She opened her purse and stashed it there. “The brakes were making weird noises while I was picking up my grandkids, and I was scared something would go wrong with the car. So I went to another garage. The one outside the city, near that soil company. It’s close to where my grandkids live.”
Mrs. Chung had been our loyal customer for years. Her white puff of hair reminded me of cotton candy. She always smelled like cigarettes and the mint candy she chewed on. She pulled out one and offered it to me.
“Thanks, Mrs. Chung.”
“They’re really good. I just don’t like it when they crack my dentures.”
I smiled at her while I unwrapped the candy, popped it in my mouth.
A picture of Cameron biting that red lollipop invaded my mind. The candy made a cracking sound as I bit on it hard, imagining it was his hand.
“Oh dear, be careful. Might crack your teeth. You don’t want dentures, you don’t.”
“Might take a while before I need them, Mrs. Chung. Maybe by then, they’ll have invented uncrackable ones that can bite through metal.”
“Technology, eh. Gotta love it.” She nodded. “I’d have preferred to bring my car here,” she continued. She wasn’t done with the topic. Mrs. Chung sure loved to chat. I smiled at her. “Your dad doesn’t come up with ten other things to repair just to make a quick buck. He’s honest, Mike is. Good-looking too.” She winked at me. “But they have that shuttle service over there. Makes it convenient for me because I had my hair appointment that morning. They picked me up too when my car was ready.”
“That’s great, Mrs. Chung.”
“I do miss those times when you had that shuttle service.”
I didn’t bother sighing. In an effort to increase sales during the weekdays, we had offered the shuttle service twice a week for a while before we kiboshed it.
It increased the number of our weekday customers, but work orders were barely finished on time. Dylan and Ekon, both our maintenance mechanics, had to postpone their work to drive customers around. We simply didn’t have the manpower or a budget to hire a driver. Unless I cloned myself or suddenly shit a million bucks, it was a no-go.
“Say hi to your dad for me, won’t you? Where is he?”
“He went to Lockport this morning to pick up car parts for a friend.”
“Did he go fishing too?”
My dad and Dylan had left at three this morning, so they’d have time to go fishing before picking up the car parts. Dylan told me Dad had to stay there for a few hours to help his friend cut a giant tree on his property that was damaging his house.
“You bet your sexy tush he did.”
She giggled. “Tell him to give me a ring if he has fish to spare. They don’t sell them that fresh at the store anymore.” She tucked her purse in her armpit. “I’ll see you on my next oil change, dear. Bye now.”
I went back to my desk and was just about to sit down when another customer came in. I sighed and put on my sweet-girl smile. “Hi there. Here to pick up your car?”
When she left, I glanced at the clock. It had been a long, tiring day, and it was almost time for my shift at the coffee shop. I gulped my coffee and started closing.
I grabbed my phone, debating whether I should look at it or not.
Had the son of Satan texted yet?
It drove me apeshit wondering, waiting.
“Hey, Kara Koala.” My dad propped his elbow on the counter.
“Hey, Dad. I didn’t know you were back already. You just missed Mrs. Chung. She said give her a call if you got extra fish.”
“Sure thing.”
I tapped my cheek. “Got something there.”
He grabbed the rag from his back pocket—the one with more grease on it—and wiped his cheek. It only added more.
I let out a sigh, reached for the baby wipes I kept in my desk drawer.
“Left cheek, boyfriend,” I said.
He rubbed his eyes and leaned on the counter, turning his cheek to me.
I wiped it off.
“Am I handsome yet?” He looked tired. Really tired and—
“Heartbreakingly handsome. How’s the tree?”
“Stronger than me. You still going to Tala’s tonight?”
“Uh-huh.” My dad usually lingered when he was chewing over something on his mind he wanted to discuss with me. “What’s up?”
He took his time. He went to the water cooler and grabbed a cone paper cup. “Getting colder now. It’ll be winter soon.”
“Dad, spit it out.”
He just gave me a smile, his eyes patient. And worried. “It’s one of our busiest seasons. People wanting to get their vehicles ready for winter.”
“I’m sure they all don’t want to ride their dog sleds to work.”
“Smartass.” He winked at me and took a sip of his drink. “Want some?”
I shook my head. He finished his water and pitched the cup into the wastebasket before he walked back to the counter.
“Your uncle thinks we need to let go of Ekon.”
“What? Why? We nee
d Ekon!” My words came out in a rush, angry and hot. “A lot of our customers come for oil change, brake checks, inspection. Dyl and Ekon are our only maintenance guys. And you and Vlad do the heavy work orders. What’s going to happen if we get bombarded with customers wanting an oil change? Turn them away?”
“I already—”
I was so furious and frustrated I made a fist and slammed it on the counter.
“Just because Andrew comes here twice a week to help, he thinks he can fire people who are more useful and hardworking than he could ever be?”
Andrew’s face was very clear in my head, and so was my fist as it connected with it.
“He doesn’t even stay a full day, Dad. He leaves whenever he pleases. Always complaining about his bunions. Charity said he doesn’t even have them! He thinks he can act like King Kong, king of the jungle, oh-em-gee, raise your hands up in the air! King of the jungle!” I snorted derisively. “More like joke of the jungle.”
My dad snorted out a laugh at that. But I wasn’t done. I was so fired up.
“Dylan won’t be able to do all of it if you let Ekon go, and you or Vlad are going to have to help him. You know both of you are more than busy enough. I’m going to have to give that guy an epiphany and talk to him. He’s dumb as a doorknob, Dad.”
His dumbness was oozing out of every orifice, and I was going to plug every one of them so that he wouldn’t be able to infect us.
“Don’t worry, Kar,” my dad said placidly. “I already told him I don’t agree with him. I just wanted to tell you, so you know what’s happening if he brings it up.”
“Ekon has been working for us for years.” I heard the whine in my voice now. “He’s going to school. He needs this job.”
“I know, sweetheart. He’s not going anywhere.”
I let out a sigh. I could always count on my dad.
He had built a good reputation in the community, both in business and socially. Business was good, but we were only breaking even.
Since the shop was owned by my dad and Andrew, the profits were split fifty-fifty. But instead of putting the profits back into the business, like my dad did, Andrew insisted on keeping his share.
A huge chunk of the savings in my bank account was to buy the leech out, and that money I refused to touch until it was ready. I wouldn’t even use it to pay for my tuition. It was going to buy Andrew’s share of the shop. He’d already told me his price.
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