The Mechanic and The Princess: a bad boy new adult romance novel
Page 4
I couldn’t argue that. “What do you have in mind?”
“I also know you got a little twisted up with Parker the other night. With pictures. Are you two dating or something?”
“No,” I said. “Please. No. I…” I sighed. “I slept with him. I didn’t mean to. It just happened. There is nothing there though. I have no interest in him.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Whitney said with a grin. “Or else you’d have to be a really bad girl tonight.”
“Oh yeah?”
Whitney nudged the shot glass at me. “We’re going into town. No cameras. No people following us. Just show up at a little dive bar and enjoy ourselves a little.”
“That’s your big plan for tonight?”
“Hell yeah. Let’s get changed and go.”
“Get changed…”
“You’re in fancy leggings,” Whitney said. “Dress like a… I don’t know, a poor person or something.”
I shook my head. Whitney could really be a crude bitch sometimes. Like, it wasn’t even funny. She could be so offensive and the sad part was that she didn’t realize it.
She threw back her shot of vodka.
I pushed mine back to her and she threw that one back too.
Then she snapped her fingers.
While I wasn’t in the mood for whatever trouble she wanted to get in to, I had to admit… wearing jeans and a hoodie sounded like a great idea. And going to a bar where you could get a drink and not worry about people judging you on how you sipped it… it was almost like heaven to me. Not to mention not sitting home thinking about stuff I couldn’t control in my life.
So I got changed and got ready.
Whitney said she’d get changed in the car. Which she did. She also had no shame in her body or willingness to get naked.
But there was one thing about Whitney…
Nothing was ever simple – there was always a secret plan behind things.
“Dibs,” Whitney whispered to me before the door shut.
I smelled dust and grease. The bar was packed with everyone talking. The instant vibe I got was like a home type thing. That this was where everyone came to chill after a long day. Which also meant we probably stuck out.
A few people looked, looked again, and a couple then began to stare.
“We’re made,” I said.
Last thing I wanted was people to call me out for being a princess.
“Did you hear me?”
“Huh?”
“I call dibs.”
“Dibs? On…”
“Straight ahead. Big shoulders. Bigger arms. Tattoos on one arm. Wicked dark eyes that are already begging to fuck me.”
I looked forward and felt like someone had sucked the air out of my lungs.
He was just staring at me.
Not at Whitney.
Staring at me.
A big distance between us, people between us, but our eyes were locked.
“Oh, never mind,” Whitney said. “He’s locked on you, Liv. Go get that dirty guy.”
“Stop it,” I said.
Whitney then just walked forward and nestled her way between two guys. She flipped her hair to one side and began to talk as though she had been there every night for five years. She was so smooth. Not to mention confident in her beauty. And that was only fed into by the way guys looked at her.
So there I just stood, almost shy, looking around, taking the entire place in. I had grown up with the idea that people who weren’t rich did nothing but work and struggle and hate their lives. But here there were people talking and laughing. Playing pool. Flirting with each other. Guys throwing darts, cheering for each other, teasing each other. It looked really fun. Much better than the nights I was used to. Sitting in a chair a certain way. Letting a waiter put a napkin on my lap. Wearing a dress and lipstick that matched. Sitting next to a window that looked at the city. Sitting across from a dweeb like Parker or business professionals where I’d either have to sell them something for my father’s empire or get information out of them to give to my father so he could destroy them.
But this was the extreme opposite.
I glanced across the bar again and saw the rough looking man but he was no longer looking at me. Instead he had his arm around a woman. She leaned in and planted a kiss to his cheek. Call me crazy but for a split second I was jealous.
She then stood up and walked toward another woman.
The rough guy stood up too and began his move.
Right toward me.
I side stepped a little and looked around. I was so awkward. People were still looking at me. A few of them were on their phones. I just knew they were looking up pictures of me. Trying to make sure that I was who they thought. It was kind of easy to find me. When you’re known as the princess… my name and pictures would pop up in any online search.
I looked at Whitney and knew she was done for the night.
Lucky for me, we agreed that if anything happened, someone would take the car and have the driver call for a second one.
I wasn’t paying attention as I turned to make my move for the door.
This was a good idea gone quickly bad. I didn’t have Whitney’s social skills. And I was tired. I should have just stayed…
“Let me get that for you, darling,” a rough voice said.
I looked up and there he was. Opening the door. A smirk on his face.
He held the door with one big hand spread open.
I was forced to squeeze by, my front to his front. My knees a little wobbly.
But the best part?
The way he stared… it was like he had no idea who I was.
I watched him light up a cigarette and put his foot against the building like he owned the place. The car we came in was around back but I caught myself just standing there. I could have been in the car and on my way back to my apartment by then.
“I think the term is third wheel,” the rough guy said.
“Excuse me?”
“That’s what you are tonight, right? A third wheel.”
“I don’t follow…”
He smiled.
I counted dimples showing against a half dead light at the corner of the bar. I was staring at him in a way I never stared at guys.
“Your friend is in there doing it up. You’re not. You look half scared to be here.”
“I’m not scared.”
“You ran out of the bar.”
“You held the door.”
“I didn’t push you out, darling. You were going for the door anyway.”
I crossed my arms. “Whatever, dude.”
“Dude? Oh, you must be a city chick, huh?”
“Chick?”
“What? You call me dude and I can’t call you chick?”
He took another drag of his cigarette and then flicked it away.
I hated myself that this guy looked cool smoking. Especially after what happened to my mother. And what happened at the hospital. I hated that I was falling for whatever Whitney wanted me to fall for.
“I’m Gavin,” he said. He pushed from the building and stuck his hand out.
“Olivia,” I said as I gave him my hand.
“Olivia. I like that. How about a drink?”
“I don’t know…”
“You came from the city for what?”
“A drink,” I said with a smile. And to escape a life you couldn’t imagine, Gavin.
His name was as sexy as he was. He towered over me. The roughness of him seemed to have a gentler side, but one I’d probably have to earn to see.
“A drink,” Gavin said. “So why don’t we check on your friend and then get you that drink.”
My heart spoke before my head could figure out something reasonable.
“Fine. I’ll take a drink. If you’re buying.”
The truth was that I could buy the bar and not blink at it. But I wanted someone to buy me a drink because they wanted to and not because they had to to show face for the cameras or for
my father.
Gavin grinned. “You got it, darling.”
He opened the door to the bar (which strangely had no name) and winked at me.
I stepped into the bar and stepped into a night that wouldn’t end until morning.
Three
Night into Morning
(Gavin)
“Who’s your friend here?”
Rich laughed as he reached for a fresh beer that Dinky poured for him. Dinky worked with Finn to keep the bar afloat. Hell, Dinky literally lived in the bar, upstairs, in a glorified closet that he considered to be an apartment.
I noticed the way Olivia sat at the bar. All prim and proper. Her back perfectly straight. Her hands on her lap. Her eyes forever searching left to right, as though she was scouting the damn place.
Rich threw a fist to my shoulder. He spilled beer on himself.
“Huh?” he asked. “She’s pretty.”
“Jesus Christ, Rich,” I snapped. “What’s wrong with you?”
Rich then stumbled and I put my hand out and around the barstool where Olivia sat.
“Don’t mind him,” I whispered to her.
Olivia glanced over her shoulder.
“Hey there,” Rich said.
“Are you here to pour me a drink?” Olivia asked Rich.
I laughed. I pointed at Rich. “You know that means you look worse than Dinky does.”
“What the hell is wrong with me?” Dinky asked. He threw a towel to the bar. He pointed a crooked, yellow stained finger at me. “Your boys bought you round one. I let round two slip for what you did to my truck. And a woman this pretty doesn’t pay for a drink in my bar.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Olivia cut in.
“Now, to be fair, darling, Dinky is out of his mind, but he has a point,” I said. “A pretty girl like you isn’t paying for a drink.”
“I know that,” Olivia said.
Rich snorted, still standing behind us. He was fucking third wheeling me. Not that I had any intentions of anything, to be honest. I threw an offer out there to a pretty stranger and she took it. Well, goddamn me, huh?
She was pretty and cocky, trying to keep her guard up.
“You know that?” I asked.
“Yes,” Olivia said. She reached across the bar for Dinky’s hand. “Make sure you tack everything on his tab. Okay?”
Dinky smiled. “Ain’t that the truth… huh, Gav?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said. I reached into my pocket and took out a twenty. I slapped it to the bar. “Here. Keep things moving along now.”
Dinky plucked the twenty off the bar and winked at Olivia.
“No tab?” she asked.
“This guy? Not a chance.”
“Thanks, Dinky,” I said.
Olivia raised an eyebrow when she looked at me again.
“So, where are you from?” Rich asked.
I threw my left elbow and hit Rich in the gut. He made a dramatic oomph sound and spilled even more beer. Some of it splashed on Olivia’s shoulder.
“Goddammit, Rich,” I snapped.
I grabbed for the towel Dinky left on the bar and stood up. I realized just how fucking tall I was over Olivia. More so now because she was sitting. I was like a monster hovering over her. She was in a hoodie, but still, I was sure she didn’t come to the bar to get doused in beer by some drunk moron like Rich.
I wiped her shoulder. “Sorry about that.”
“No worry,” she said. Then she smirked. “What are you going to do about it though?”
I leaned down much closer than I needed to be. “You want me to fight Rich? Defend your honor, darling?”
Her cheeks blushed. “Maybe I do.”
“Be careful what you wish for…”
I tossed the towel to the bar and turned, making a fist. I grabbed Rich by the back of his shirt and wound up for a punch. Rich’s eyes went wide. I grinned. A quick punch to the gut wouldn’t kill the guy, right?
“No,” a voice said.
Olivia grabbed my arm. Her tiny hands against my arm. Barely able to get a firm grip as I had my arm flexed, my bicep throbbing thick, hard as a boulder.
I glanced to my right and she was standing, jaw dropped. “Are you kidding?”
“What?” I asked. “Never been to a small town bar, huh?”
She swallowed hard. From across the bar I saw her friend flirting with the same two guys. Mackey and Ace. Two fucking morons who would do anything to get a woman into bed. Their obsession with the whole two-on-one thing made me wonder if they really didn’t have a thing for each other and just used a woman to make it seem not so obvious.
“Jesus, Gavin,” Olivia said. “I was just joking.”
“She was just joking,” Rich said.
I let Rich go. “Fine. But you’re fired.”
“What?” Rich asked.
“Fired,” I said. “Find a new job.”
I shoved him back.
He stood there, shocked.
“Gavin…”
I shook my head. “See you tomorrow. Asshole.”
I turned and sat down on my barstool.
Olivia was in shock. I patted her barstool. “Sit down, darling.”
She slowly sat. “You fired him…?”
“I own an auto garage around the corner. Rich works for me. The guy he’s shooting darts with? That’s Donny. He works for me too. I have another guy, Hank, but he’s not here tonight.”
“So you own your own business?”
“Yeah, if that’s what you want to call it.”
“I think that’s pretty cool,” Olivia said.
“Really?” I asked. “All the things you could ask and find cool about me, you think it’s cool I run a piece of shit garage that can barely keep the lights on?”
“Oh,” Olivia said.
“Now, tell me about you. And your friend.”
“Whitney?” Olivia asked. “There’s too much to tell and not enough time.”
I looked at my wrist. I had no watch on. “I have no place to go, darling.”
Olivia laughed. “We’re not from around here.”
“Newsflash,” I said.
“Thanks,” she said. “This was actually her idea. To find a new place to come to. For fun.”
I looked across the bar and Whitney was sitting on Mackey’s lap.
“Hmm… fun. Hope she has a good doctor.”
“What? Why?”
I laughed. “I’m kidding. We don’t get many new people in this town.”
“Newsflash,” Olivia said, wide eyed, teasing me.
“Cute,” I said. “Real cute.”
“Is it wrong to want to go out and do something different?”
“No. Not at all. But sitting here… is that really fun?”
“You tell me, Gavin.”
I looked at her. I looked at her friend. I looked around the bar.
I took a drink of my beer and rubbed my chin.
What an interesting night this could become…
“Who’s your friend here?” another voice asked.
It was Stacey.
She was a little more wobbly than before.
Shit.
“Stacey,” I said. “This is Olivia. Olivia, this is my good friend, Stacey.”
“Oh, I’m just a good friend now?” Stacey asked with a drunk smile. “I bet if she didn’t show up, I’d be more than that.”
“Wow,” I said. I looked at Olivia. “Me and Stacey go way back.”
Stacey slipped an arm around me, jealousy oozing from her.
I gently nudged her away. “Hey. You okay?”
“Fine,” Stacey said.
She wasn’t okay.
“I’ll tell Nikki to call you, okay? I know things are bad for everyone.”
“So fucking bad,” Stacey said. Her eyes filled with tears.
I stood and hugged her.
I looked at Olivia and mouthed sorry…
Olivia then rose up. She pointed to the door and mouthed I better go…<
br />
She made one step and I grabbed her hand. Soft, smooth skin. Something about her hand like I had never felt before. Like she hadn’t worked a day in her life or something, you know? Her hands so clean. So perfect. Even her nails, it was like she just got them done ten minutes ago or something. My interest was heightened by Olivia. Something told me that under that hoodie and those old jeans, there was another version of Olivia. Even the jeans… old… but they almost looked like those stupid pairs of jeans that were made to look old… and cost a fortune because of that.
Just wait a second I mouthed to her.
She nodded.
I broke away from Stacey. “Hey, look at me.”
Stacey sucked in a breath. “What?”
“It’s going to be okay, Stace. Whatever you’re going through. Just try to keep breathing here, okay? No more drinking tonight. Get some water. Get a soda.”
“Maybe I should get something to eat.”
“Not here,” I said. “Jesus, please don’t get food here.”
Stacey laughed. “I’m not that drunk.”
“There’s that smile.” I wiped a tear off her cheek. “You’re going to be okay, Stace. I know it’s all hard. It’s all fucked up. Okay? Deep breaths.”
“Thanks, Gav,” she said. “Sorry for cock blocking you.”
“Oh, you’re not…”
I looked at Olivia.
She was taking a drink from her mug. Watching her small hands grab the mug. From the side, her features were beautiful and even cute. Cute? Why’d that fucking word come to mind? Just the way her hair was tucked behind her ear and fell to her shoulder. The side outline of her face, her nose.
I shook my head.
“Get out of here,” I said to Stacey.
She then turned and touched Olivia’s shoulder. “He’s a good guy. A really good guy. Like the best guy ever.”
“Okay now,” I said and turned Stacey around.
I put a hand out for Olivia to take. She looked at my hand and then up at me. She had this sexy cocky look to her. Like I was experiencing the jealous bitchy side of her now. Which was interesting since we met all of an hour ago. But that was fine with me. Sometimes it was better to have a little animosity between people. So nothing was confused and nobody dared to linger longer than wanted or needed.