AllRevvedUp

by Crystal Jordan

  The hours until the end of the workday ground by in slow, agonizing procession. He sat in his office, forcing himself to close the books for the month, but his mind kept straying to Andi. This was it. This was the end. A band of emotion he couldn’t begin to name wrapped tight around his chest. The garage had cleared out, but he knew she was still here. He’d explode out of his skin if he sat and waited for her, so he shoved to his feet and went to hunt her down.

  He found her standing next to the VW, her head down.

  “We did good on this one. It’s almost done.” She ran a reverent hand over the side of the car, and he stared, wishing like hell it was his skin her fingers stroked.

  “Yeah, the car’s going to be great.” The car was the only thing that would be great. Dread pressed down on him, an ugly darkness that seeped into his flesh.

  “Okay.” She finally met his gaze, sadness and determination swimming in their hazel depths. Her mouth set in a firm line. “I need to talk to you about some stuff.”

  He didn’t want to hear it, couldn’t stand the thought of her walking away from him. Crowding her against the side of the car, he slammed his mouth over hers, cutting off anything she might have said. One last taste. He had to have it, her. Just one last time. She didn’t resist, twined her arms around his neck and threw herself into the kiss with a ferocity that stunned him. She bit his lower lip, then thrust her tongue between his lips. They fought for control, biting, sucking, and licking.

  His fingers fumbled for the buttons on her shirtdress, but after a few seconds, he gave up and just ripped the top open. He heard the clatter of buttons hitting the concrete floor, but he ignored it and slid his hand in to cup her pert breast. Scraping his thumbnail over her nipple through her bra made her moan into his mouth, made his blood race in his veins. Her hands moved down to his fly, working open the tab and zipper. His cock lengthened, throbbed with the need to be inside her warm, welcoming cunt. Urgency screamed through him, as if any second might be his last, as if he needed to brand her essence into his mind while he still had the chance.

  Dropping his palms to her thighs, he slid up to the curve of her ass under her dress. Cotton panties, as usual. He tried to chuckle, but it almost emerged a rough sob. He shoved back the emotion that roiled within him, focusing on the physical as he‘d done for the last two weeks. Hooking his thumbs in the tops of her underwear, he dragged them down and let them fall to the floor. She pulled his cock free of his jeans, and he had to be inside her. Reaching blindly for his wallet and the condom inside it, he mated his tongue with hers, unwilling to lose the taste of her for even a second. Then the foil packet was in his hand, but she took it from him, tore it open and sheathed his cock. Jesus, she was perfect, the closest to heaven he’d ever know.

  Grasping her smooth backside, he jerked her off her feet and her legs cinched around his hips. The head of his cock bumped against her clit. So close to where he wanted to be. Lifting her higher, he pushed her back against the car and used her position for leverage to impale her on his dick. A whimper burst from her throat, and he couldn’t stop a groan. She bit his lip, but it only drove him onward, the slight pain accentuating his pleasure. This was good. So good. The slickness of her on his cock made him burn, pushed him to the edge of madness. He pulled out, the drag of her flesh around his erection pure eroticism.

  She broke her mouth away from him and threw her head back. “Hurry, Dean.”

  Her voice was as desperate as he felt, driven by the need to push away the inevitable for just a few more minutes. One swift thrust and he was back inside her, riding her hard against the side of the VW, her head bowed backward over the top of the vehicle. He opened his mouth on her exposed throat, sucking and biting as he thrust into her pussy. She clenched her channel around his cock, squeezed his waist with her legs as she moved with him, took him deeper. His muscles drew tighter as he fought back the need to come. His hips bucked as he rammed into her as hard as he could, needing more, but knowing he’d never have more than this.

  That band of emotion closed around his chest again, and he moved faster, tried to outrun it. Sweat slid down his face, his lungs heaving as he fought for air, but each breath brought the scent of her and him and sex. The echo of skin slapping against skin ricocheted through the garage along with their gasps and moans. The carnal cacophony just excited him, and he groaned against her throat. “Andi, Andi, Andi…”

  Just her name, it was the only thought he had left. She arched in his arms, twisting as she exploded into climax. Her fingers bit into his shoulders, her legs tightening around his thrusting hips. The sweet feel of her cunt spasming on his dick shoved him into orgasm. He stopped fighting, just let it roll over him in one hot wave as he jetted into her. Shudders racked his body, and he held her closer, buried his face in her neck, and continued rocking into her until his cock began to soften. Anything to hold off reality for just a little bit longer.

  Andi sobbed on a breath, pushing at his shoulders. “I’m done, Dean. I can’t do this anymore.”

  He staggered back, letting her feet slide to the floor. “W-what?”

  Even though some part of him had known it was coming, his belly heaved, bile burned the back of his throat, and he had to fight the need to bend over and vomit when she said the words that would end it all.

  “No more of this. No more showing my bellybutton to the world, no more being afraid to bend over and do my job because I might fall out of my top, no more breaking my ankles in high heels, no more shorts that ride up my ass or skirts that could pass as belts. No more of this. This is not what I signed on for. This is not who I am.” She curled her fingers into the torn fabric of her shirt and blinked back tears, her voice giving a betraying crack that made his heart clench in his chest. “I can’t play this part anymore. I can’t be the girl you want, all slutty sex kitten who only wants a quick fuck. I thought I could, but…I can’t.” Her breathing hitched on a sob she struggled to quell. “I give up. I quit. I’ll bring in a resignation letter in the morning so it’s official and the networks can start looking for someone else.”

  He reached for her, hating the pain in her eyes, hating everything about this, wishing he could stop it and make it better for her, but knowing he couldn’t. “Andi—”

  She cut him off, planting her lips on his and wrapping her arms tight around his neck for a short, hard kiss. Then she tore herself out of his embrace and ran for the door, slamming it behind her, the sound echoing in the empty garage.

  As empty as Dean felt.

  * * * * *

  “You’re an idiot.”

  Dean rubbed a hand over tired eyes, not even bothering to look up as his cousin stomped into the office and parked himself behind his desk. It had been two days since Andi had been in to the garage. She’d had her friend Taylor drop off her letter of resignation. Dean didn’t even want to consider the pathetic part of himself that had been hoping to see Andi one last time. But it was over, just as he’d known it would be. Instead of his no harm, no foul plan of them going on as they had before, she was just gone.

  Gone.

  The word punched him in the gut, pain exploding through every inch of his body. He hurt, deep down to his very soul. He’d never known anything could hurt like this, could rip into him and leaving him bleeding.

  “You’re not even going to try to fix this, are you?” Jesse snorted.

  Dean just sat there, unable to move, to think, to even breathe past the agony. She was gone. It was over. Now he just had to…live with it. Jesus Christ, he wasn’t sure he could. Even before he’d touched her, Andi had been part of his life for years. He’d watched her work, seen her smile, heard her laugh and swear and just be Andi. But there would be no more of that, not anymore. Not ever again.

  His cousin’s chair squeaked as he swiveled around. “You know, I knew you were going to sleep with her the moment I asked her to be the show’s host.”

  “What?” Dean dropped his hand, looking at the other man, dragging his mind away from hi
s own misery.

  “I knew you were going to sleep with her.” For once, there was no teasing or laughter in Jesse’s expression. “I knew the moment you had to be around her every day, all day, with no excuses to back off, you’d lose control.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “You’ve wanted her from the second she stepped in this shop. Before Uncle Gary even interviewed her, you were itching to have her naked. I could see it on your face. Why do you think I’ve never made a move on one of the sexiest women I know? Why do you think none of the other guys have? You’d have killed us.”

  “She’s an employee of the garage.” As his father had pointed out on more than one occasion. Had Jesse gotten the same warnings, or had his dad seen how Dean was drawn to her and cautioned only him?

  “Not anymore. She quit, remember?”

  He closed his eyes for a moment as that truth burned its way through him. “Lola’s trying to talk her into coming back. Wardrobe changes.”

  “Ah, yeah. Lola, producer extraordinaire. Of course she’d be all over this.” There was a bite to Jesse’s tone. When Dean looked at his cousin again, there was a flash of some emotion on his face that Dean couldn’t pinpoint. He opened his mouth to ask about what was going on there, but Jesse beat him to speech. “Andi thinks you only wanted her because of the wardrobe changes we made on her, right?”

  “Yeah.” Dean rubbed a hand over his nape.

  “Because that’s what you let her think.”

  “Yeah.” He closed his eyes, hating that it was true, but knowing he’d done what he could to keep it the simple affair it should have been. It was better for everyone, though it sure as hell didn’t feel better now.

  His cousin sighed, his fingers drumming a staccato beat on his desk. “I get Lola scrambling to get Andi back on the show, but here’s my question—do you want Andi to come back?”

  Opening his eyes, Dean tried to find the right answer. “She’s one of our best mechanics, she’s got a gift with cars, and her ideas have been great the last couple of weeks. Why wouldn’t I want her to work here?”

  “Because you’d be her boss again.”

  “I—”

  “Yeah, exactly.” Jesse stabbed a finger in his direction. “Look, you’re the only one who has a problem with sleeping with an employee.”

  “I’m sure if the guys knew, they’d think less of me. And her, which is a bigger problem.” Which his dad had drilled into his head about Andi. She was a woman. She could get away with less and would have a lot tougher fight on her hands to get respect from the other men who worked in any garage. The best thing Dean could do for her was stay the hell away from her. He had. For years, he’d done exactly as his father told him, because he knew the older man was right. The last thing he’d ever want to do was hurt her.

  Jesse huffed out a breath. “The guys do know. The guys also noticed her goods on display for the show. She can handle them. She has handled them. Do you think she’d let them get away with any kind of disrespect? No, and they know it. You don’t have to save her from them.”

  Dean opened his mouth and closed it again, not sure what to say.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” His cousin arched an eyebrow. “Look, we don’t run things exactly the same way our dads did. We have the show, right? You don’t have to do everything the way your dad would have wanted. I get that workplace hookups aren’t always good, but I know this isn’t some game for you. You’ve wanted her way too long for that. Unless I miss my guess—and I haven’t—you’re in love with her.”

  In love with her. Shock reverberated through Dean, left him reeling. Yes. God, yes. He loved her. How had he missed something so huge, so right in front of his face? All the air seeped out of his lungs. “Shit.”

  The word sounded as stunned as he felt. What the hell was he going to do now? He hadn’t lifted a finger to stop Andi from leaving, just waved her off as if all he wanted was some slutty show host. Jesus, he’d made a mess of this, and he had no one to blame but himself. He shook his head and cursed under his breath.

  “Uh-huh.” Jesse’s grin was ripe with smugness. “So get in that pretty little Mustang of yours and haul your sorry ass over to her house and tell her you like her for more than how big her tits are. Beg her to give you a chance.”

  “You’re a pain, you know that, right?”

  “You’ll thank me for this in the morning. Go.” His grin grew into a wicked smile. “The guys have a pool going on how long it takes you to pull your head out of your ass and get her back. I want to win, so hop to it.”

  Dean swallowed, ignoring the teasing. “She could turn me down flat.”

  “Change her mind. Convince her she loves you back.”

  He only wished it was as simple as his cousin made it sound. But what choice did he have? The last couple of days had been hell compared to the weeks of bliss he’d had with her in his arms. He wanted her back, he needed her back. At the very least, he needed to give her the truth about how he felt, which had jack shit to do with sexy clothes and hair and makeup. He missed her, and it might go against everything his father had taught him about how to run a business, but he wanted a chance at a real relationship and he wanted her back in the garage. He’d figure out how to make the balance work. It was too important to fail now. Everything depended on it. A life without Andi was a bleak existence.

  Chapter Five

  “Listen, Andi, if the wardrobe is really an issue, we can work that out. We can go for a cute tomboy look, with way more coverage. I think you’re an amazing addition to the show and your chemistry with the rest of the crew is fun to watch. I’d hate to see you go because of clothing.” Lola’s husky voice was almost pleading, but it didn’t do much to sway Andi. She deleted the voicemail message and tossed her cell phone on the couch cushion beside her.

  Her phone rang, playing Fire and Ice by Pat Benatar. The ring tone she’d picked for Taylor. Snagging the cell, Andi flipped it open. “Yeah?”

  “You still wallowing in ugly clothes and sloppy hair on your couch?” The other woman’s tone was wry.

  Andi poked a finger through the hole in one knee of her faded yoga pants. “Yep.”

  “I’m giving you until Monday and then I’m coming over with a hazmat team.”

  “Hey, I showered today. It’s not that bad.” Not physically anyway. Emotionally, she was a total wreck. She didn’t need to say it though. Her best friend knew. She’d seen it when she’d come over for the sobfest after Andi left Kasen’s Kustom. Taylor had insisted on taking the resignation notice in, but Andi hadn’t fought that hard. There were too many memories there, too many people who might sway her resolve to leave. Not that Dean had called or tried to keep her around. He was the only one who might change her mind and he hadn’t even attempted it. The realization broke her heart all over again. She swallowed hard, blinking to hold back tears. She cleared her throat. “I’ll start job hunting on Monday, so no need to send in a rescue squad or stage an intervention or whatever.”

  Hard knocking sounded on her front door and she jolted. A prickle went down her skin. The knocking came again, but still she didn’t move. She didn’t need to look through the peephole to know who was there.

  “Uh…Dean is at my door,” she whispered.

  “What? No way. That jackass has some serious balls to come around now.” Fierce protectiveness rang in her friend’s tone. “Do you want me to come over there?”

  “No, I can handle this.” She thought. Maybe.

  “I can hear you talking, so I know you’re in there.” Dean’s words were clear and so was the determination in his voice. “Open up, please. I don’t want to have to air our dirty laundry where your neighbors can hear.”

  Shit. She didn’t even want to consider what might come out of the man’s mouth. “Taylor, let me call you back.”

  Closing and dropping the phone on the coffee table, she walked over and pulled the door open. It hurt to see him again, stirred everything inside her into frothing madness. Her hand
went white-knuckled on the doorknob.

  “Can I come in? I’d rather not do this in the hall.” He looked like hell, his eyes red-rimmed, the skin pinched tight around his eyes and mouth. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides and he shifted from foot to foot. She’d never seen him like this. He was always the calm one, the one in control.

  She stepped back, holding the door wide enough that they wouldn’t brush against each other when he entered. It was one thing to see him for a few minutes, it was another to touch him again. She couldn’t do it. Whatever fragile sense of peace she’d come to would shatter like glass. She shut the door and leaned back against it, her arms crossed over her chest. “What are you doing here?”

  “I needed to talk to you, and since you quit Kasen’s and Revved Up, that meant I had to come find you.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, looking around at her apartment. “Nice place.”

  “You weren’t very interested in seeing it before now.” He’d rejected the very idea of being in her space when she’d brought it up during their two weeks together. Hell, he hadn’t even wanted to hang out with her at the local bar and watch a NASCAR race. That smacked a little too much of an actual date, didn’t it? It had shattered the meager hope she’d had left. Hope she’d told herself she didn’t feel, but it was a lie. A lie that had grown bigger and bigger as the days had gone on until it threatened to crush her. She’d gotten to the point where she didn’t even recognize herself anymore when she looked in the mirror. Who was this woman having a meaningless sexual fling, who dressed like a skank and acted like one too? It wasn’t her. She’d been hiding from herself, hiding how she really felt about everything. She was a mechanic, not a paid bimbo. She had real relationships, not shady affairs that she hid from the world. That wasn’t what she wanted—not how she had to dress to be on the show, not how she had to act to be with Dean.

  Dean drew in a breath and hunched his shoulders. “I was interested. I just didn’t let myself act on it.”