Step-Lover

by Bella Jewel

  When I reach the large, blue, open garage, I stop. There are cars everywhere. Dammit. I slide past them until I find the door that says reception. I go in and there’s a young, pretty woman sitting at the counter. She smiles at me when I enter. “How may I help you today?”

  “Hi, I was wondering if I could talk to one of your mechanics? My car is broken down just a few blocks from here.”

  “Of course. One moment.”

  She stands and walks out into the workshop. I shift nervously as I wait. I hate waiting. The door opens and I spin around to see the receptionist coming back in. “Someone will be right in.”

  “Thanks,” I mutter.

  I turn and start studying the posters on the wall, giving information on ‘good car health’. I snort.

  “Something funny?”

  I spin around so quickly I lose my balance. A hand lashes out and catches me before I land flat on my face. I look up as I steady myself and curse to the high heavens. This is a fucking joke, right? Blade is standing, holding onto my arm. He’s wearing, oh boy, oh boy oh boy, a pair of greased-up jeans and a white sleeveless shirt that hugs his body in ways that should just be illegal.

  “Ah, Blade,” I stammer.

  He lets me go and steps back. No. Stay close. I can’t help it now. My eyes travel over him. His shirt is sweaty and stuck to his body, showing clearly that the man has an impressive six-pack. Damn his goodness. I finally look to his face, which is smeared in grease, but it only makes him look better. His hair is tucked into a baseball cap, which he has on backwards.

  Hot.

  Super hot.

  “What’re you doin’ here, Aria?”

  “I, ah . . .” God, I’m going to stammer. “My car broke down.”

  His brow shoots up. “Your car broke down.”

  “Yes,” I say, crossing my arms. “Just down the road. I was heading to school. This was the closest garage.”

  He studies me, but must see I’m flustered enough for this not to be a lie and he nods. “Where is it?”

  “Down the road . . .”

  He gives me an impatient stare. “Babe, left, right, forward, backwards . . . there are plenty of down the roads.”

  Right.

  “Ah, I can show you.”

  He nods and turns to the receptionist. “I’ll be back.”

  She’s studying us, but nods and smiles sweetly. I rush outside and begin rushing down the sidewalk, as if I have fire up my ass. Blade is behind me, but I haven’t once stopped to see how close he is. I’m halfway there when I trip on my heel. I go down slowly, hands out, and hit the sidewalk with a thump and a cry.

  Someone hates me today.

  Blade is there before I even push up to my knees, and he puts his hand under my armpits and hauls me up. Could this get any worse?

  “Jesus, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I splutter.

  He turns me towards him and looks down. “Your knees are all fucked up.”

  I look down and curse at the blood running down my shins. It hurts too.

  “Far out,” I huff.

  “If you weren’t runnin’ like a loon towards the car, you might have stayed upright.”

  I snap my eyes to his and he smiles.

  Bastard.

  “Do I make you that nervous, Tulip?”

  “Bite me, Blade.”

  He grins now, big and wolfish. “Already have.”

  I turn and tuck my purse back under my arm, then I keep walking towards my car.

  “You goin’ to let me clean those knees?”

  “No.”

  “Darlin’ . . .”

  He’s amused. The shit.

  We reach my car and I point to it. He takes one look and bursts out laughing. “Well no fuckin’ wonder it broke. How old is that thing? Fuck, it looks like it should be hitched to the back of a horse.”

  I cross my arms and glare at him. “I’ll have you know Suzie is quite faithful.”

  “You named your car Suzie?”

  I shrug.

  “And heaven only knows how Suzie has remained faithful, because she looks like she’s about to explode herself just to get out of the agony she’s in.”

  “Ha ha,” I say blandly. “Can you fix her?”

  “I can burn her, does that count?”

  I turn to him, and his body is shaking with laughter. “I don’t know what’s so funny. This is the only car I have, Blade.”

  “Has my dad seen this junk heap?”

  I nod lamely. “He too thinks Suzie should have a burning death.”

  Blade snorts. “It’s not a wonder. Why are you driving this thing?”

  My face falls. “It was my dad’s.”

  His face goes soft. “Aw shit, I’m sorry.”

  I shrug and look away. “I know it’s time to move on, but . . .”

  “I get it,” he says. “I’ll get the guys to grab it, see what we can do. In the meantime, have you got anywhere you need to be?”

  I shake my head. “Nope. I’m free all day.”

  “Good. I’m cleaning your knees.”

  “Ah, I can do it myself, thanks.”

  He gives me an impatient stare and then nods back towards the garage. “Come on, let’s go.”

  I follow him without much protest. When we get back to the garage he leads me into a large office. He closes the door and points to a chair. “Sit.”

  “You have your own office?” I say, sitting on the chair.

  He digs through a filing cabinet. “Yeah, I’m the manager so it makes sense.”

  “You . . . you’re the manager?” I gasp.

  He nods. “Yeah, they needed one and I have experience. I’m running the entire show.”

  “On your own?”

  He nods.

  “Wow, Blade, that’s amazing.”

  “It’s hard work, especially when it comes to all this.” He waves his arms around at the office. “I’m not that savvy with paperwork.”

  “Don’t you have an accountant or something like that to do it?”

  He shakes his head. “Nah, I haven’t even thought of it.”

  “What is it you need done? Can’t your receptionist do it?”

  He finds what he’s looking for and turns to me, waving a first-aid kit about. Then he walks towards me. “She answers phones, books appointments, things like that. Not sure she can do the hard stuff.”

  I frown. “You should have someone who can.”

  “Yeah,” he says, kneeling in front of me. “I can.”

  “Blade, you’re working so hard.”

  He looks up at me after sliding my skirt up my thigh. “You wanna do it for me?”

  I blink. “Ha ha.”

  His eyes aren’t joking. “I’m serious. I could use the help.”

  “Can’t Peyton do it?” I squeak as he slides my skirt up higher to expose my knees better.

  “Peyton is a hairdresser.”

  Of course she is.

  “Ah, I study.”

  “And you don’t need money in the meantime?”

  I do. I really, really do. Working nights is killing me and I’d love to be able to stop.

  “Well yes, but . . .”

  He looks back to me. “Then help me out here.”

  “You want me to work for you? With you? Here?”

  He snorts. “You make that sound like the worst thing anyone has ever suggested to you.”

  “Blade,” I say softly as he tears an alcohol wipe open with his teeth and wipes my knee gently. I flinch. “You have a lady. I thought we were going to avoid doing . . . this.”

  “Yeah,” he says, still wiping my knee. “I do have a lady and I love her. Stop fretting. You told me it was done so we need to move on. I’m not going to go there, but if you’re not comfortable say no.”

  He loves her.

  He. Loves. Her.

  That hurts. I do my best not to let it show. Thankfully he’s studying my knee.

  “Okay,” I finally say. “But I go to sc
hool at different times. If you’re cool with me coming in when I’m not there, I’ll do it.”

  He looks up now, narrows his eyes, and says nothing but, “Great.”

  Great. That’s it? That was easy.

  “And you want me to start . . . when?”

  “Tomorrow. Eight. I’ll pay you good money, enough for you live on.”

  Oh. Great. I hadn’t even thought of that.

  “Okay, and what do you want me to do?”

  He drops the bloody wipe and gets another one. “Paperwork, filing, accounts . . . things like that.”

  I don’t know a mass amount about those things, but it sounds easy enough. I did do some classes in school so I think I can pull it off. Google will help me.

  “Okay.”

  He nods and wipes my knee until it’s clean. “Jesus, you really took some skin off.”

  I laugh. “That’s what happens when you’re running like a stick has been poked right up your ass.”

  He chuckles. “Yeah, you were like a bat out of hell.”

  “What’s the verdict, doctor?” I say, watching his fingers moving over my skin. “Will I need to amputate?”

  He looks up at me with a grin that stops my heart. I can’t wipe my own smile, so he can’t see the pain that causes. “There’s a good chance. How will you ever live without this baby?” He wiggles my leg in his hands.

  “It’ll be a long, hard journey.”

  He shakes his head with a smile and gets back to work. I sit back, watching his fingers work, and I can’t help but love how amazing they feel on my legs. His touch is gentle and he moves with grace. He quickly patches my left knee up and moves to the right. He takes my skirt and slides it up higher, and my breath hitches. He looks up at me from under those thick lashes and I have to look away in order to avoid eye contact.

  “This is a nice skirt.”

  Oh boy.

  “Ah, thanks.”

  He runs, yes runs, his fingers down until he reaches my knee again. He starts cleaning it up. My heart is pounding so hard I can hardly breathe, but I keep it together as best I can. When he’s done, he leans back and cleans up. I watch as he puts the first-aid kit away. I let my eyes slide down over his ass in those ripped jeans. Yum. The door opening causes me to jump and I turn around to see Peyton standing in the doorway, holding bags of Chinese food. Her eyes flick to me, then to my knees and her eyes widen. “What happened Aria?”

  I look down. “I fell on the road. My car broke down just a few blocks down.”

  “Oh, that looks like it hurts. Lucky Blade’s garage is so close.”

  “Yeah,” I murmur. “Lucky.”

  “Hey baby,” she croons to Blade.

  Yuck. I need to leave.

  “Hey honey.”

  Honey. Stab me.

  “I brought Chinese.”

  Exit left, Aria.

  “I’m going to go,” I say, standing and stumbling forward before catching my footing. “Thanks Blade.”

  I rush out the door like, well, a bat out of hell. I rush out the front and realize that I have no way to get home. Fuck my life. I guess a cab it is. I shuffle through my purse to find my phone when a hand touches my shoulder. I squeal and spin around to see Blade. He’s staring at me with an amused expression on his face.

  “You want me to give you a ride?”

  I’d like very much for him to ride me.

  Snap out of it, Aria.

  “Um,” I say. “No, that’s okay. I’ll call a cab.”

  “It’s fine, it’ll take me five minutes. Peyton has an hour.”

  “Oh, okay well thanks.”

  “Give me a minute, I’ll grab my keys.”

  He turns and jogs off and I wait like a tool on the sidewalk. When he gets back, he leads me to his truck and we climb in. He starts the drive home.

  “How’s school going?”

  I shrug. “It’s fine.”

  “Fine?”

  I look to him. “Yeah, fine. Studying is never cool.”

  He laughs. “Nah, you’re right about that.”

  We sit in silence, and when he pulls up at my house I turn and smile. “Thanks, and I’ll, ah, see you tomorrow?”

  He looks at me. “Yeah. Later darlin’.”

  Darlin’. This man is killing me.

  “Okay, well, bye.”

  I climb out of the truck and rush off.

  What did I just get myself into?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  One week later

  “Do your services come with free coffee ordering?”

  I look up from the pile of paperwork I’m sorting through to see Blade at the door, leaning against the frame. He’s shirtless and has a towel thrown over his shoulder. Holy hot damn.

  “Ah, no, I’m not your secretary.”

  I glare back down at the paperwork. Blade doesn’t get the hint because he just stands there, staring at me.

  “What’s wrong?”

  What’s wrong? What’s freaking wrong? Let me start. I went on a date, yes a date, with some guy from school. He seemed nice. He asked me out. I decided hey, why not, Blade has moved on so should I. He was a jerk who tried to go for a boob grab letting me in the damned car. Then halfway through dinner, I got my period. So now I’m cranky and violated.

  “Nothing,” I mutter.

  “Hey,” he says and I look up. “What’s wrong?”

  He is not going to leave until I tell him, and I really need to get back to work. I sigh. “I went on a shitty date. That’s all.”

  Silence.

  I glance over to see he’s staring at the wall with a tight jaw. Oh boy.

  “And?” he grunts, not looking at me.

  “And nothing. It was shit.”

  “You’re in a bad mood because it was shit? I doubt it.”

  “I have my period.”

  He turns back to me and his eyes soften some. “So? What happened on the date?”

  “He boob grabbed me,” I huff, dropping the papers. “Before we even got into the car.”

  Blade’s face goes hard again. “Boob grabbed?”

  “Yeah,” I say, putting my hands over my boobs. “Boob grab. Went in for the ladies and gave them a wake up call.”

  Now Blade’s jaw looks as if it’s going to explode.

  “And did this prick do anything else?”

  “He was just a jerk.” I sigh, slumping. “I seem to attract them.”

  Silence.

  I jerk my head up. “I didn’t mean . . .”

  “No,” he says. “You’re right to say that. And you’re right to want someone who can take care of you properly. He’s out there.”

  Then he turns and storms out.

  Well, good morning Captain Broody. It should be a long day.

  ~*~*~*~

  I drag my feet out of Chemistry, so damned brain-fucked. This is proving to be mentally challenging. Add working for Blade in and it’s just a jumble of torture. I’ve been at it two weeks now, and mixing the two isn’t as easy as it sounds. I go to class, then I go to work, or the other way around. I’ve finally started making a dint in Blade’s paperwork, and it’s been hell. The money has been worth it though.

  I ignore everyone as I walk down the halls towards the exit. Home. Shower. Sleep. I’m just about across the lot when I hear my name being called. I turn slowly to see Yates running towards me. I have managed to avoid him, but clearly he’s finally caught up to me. I think he was away for a week or two—who knows? Who freaking cares? I want my bed.

  “Hey, Aria,” he says, coming to a stop. “How’re you doing?”

  “Great,” I mutter.

  “Listen, I’ve been trying to talk to you a while now but haven’t had the chance. I wanted to know if we could have a coffee and just clear the air.”

  “Maybe some other time,” I say. “I’m exhausted.”

  “Oh, right, of course.”

  God, he’s giving me puppy-dog eyes.

  “How about tomorrow?”

  His e
yes light up. “Great.”

  I nod. “See you, Yates.”

  I walk off without hearing his reply. I climb into my newly fixed car and drive home. When I arrive, Melanie is still out, so I run myself a bath and drop my clothes faster than anything else I’ve done today. Then I slide into the hot water and moan. Oh, yes. I close my eyes and let my stress slip away. That’s when I hear my phone ringing.

  Go. Away.

  It stops and I smile with relief, until it rings again. I’m not getting out of my bath. You can’t make me. I close my eyes, drowning out the sound. I must drift off, because suddenly I’m being woken to the bathroom door being swung open and Blade storms in. I squeal and leap up, forgetting that I’m naked and wet. I slip and go backwards, but he lunges forward and catches me before I hit my head.

  “Shit, sorry,” he says.

  “Jesus, Blade,” I cry snatching a towel he hands me after adjusting us both so he’s no longer so . . . close. “What the fuck?”

  I study him and . . . oh boy. Blade’s angry. Really angry. Super freaking angry. His face is tight and red, and he’s clenching his fists.

  “Hey,” I say, stepping out of the bath and moving towards him. “What’s going on?”

  He turns and storms out of the bathroom and I follow him into my room. When he gets in, he slams the door behind us both and starts punching things.

  “Blade!” I yell, rushing over and placing a hand on his back. “Stop it.”

  He turns around, panting. “She fuckin’ cheated on me.”

  Oh. Dear.

  “Blade . . .”

  “Went home early to surprise her and found her in fuckin’ bed with another man. In my fuckin’ bed!” he roars.

  Oh no.

  “Stupid plastic fuckin’ slut,” he screams. “I should have known she would do this. She was never going to stick with one dick.”

  I flinch and step back. “Sit down, calm down, and we’ll talk.”

  He spins to me. “I’ve been fightin’ it, been doin’ the right thing. I pushed you away. I made sure I did everything that was required of me to make things right with Peyton. I let myself feel for her, and she fuckin’ does this.”