Behind the Wheel (Hearts & Horsepower Book 2)

by A. K. Evans

  Truthfully, if I took the time to really think about it all, the whole thing pissed me off. Not Knox wanting me to file the report. I appreciated his concern. What upset me was the fact that I couldn’t confidently press charges. Never had I been the kind of woman who would allow a man to get away with doing something like that to me. Never. But my concern for Knox wouldn’t allow me to take that step.

  On the bright side, the only time I’d ever see Ricky was if we were at the track. And since he had been kicked out on Saturday and wasn’t permitted to come back for the rest of the season, I took that as a win and believed that would serve as enough punishment. Knowing Ricky, that was going to piss him off even more than if I pressed charges anyway.

  So, I took it as a win.

  But apparently, the good news wasn’t stopping there.

  Because in arriving at work thirty minutes early today, I took some time to do some searching. I ended up finding a car for sale that checked all my boxes and had already emailed the owner to see if it was still available.

  Nothing was ruining my mood today. Nothing. Not even a response that the car had been sold if that should happen.

  That’s when the day got even better because Knox walked in the front door. His eyes immediately came to mine.

  “Good morning, Avery,” he greeted me.

  “Yes, it is,” I replied, using the words he’d said to me on Sunday morning.

  Knox let out a laugh and moved toward the counter that sat in front of me as Nash walked in right behind him. Looking back at him, Knox jerked his chin up and said, “Hey, Nash.”

  “Hey,” he returned before looking to me. “Morning, Avery.”

  “Morning.”

  The smile was still plastered on my face, and both men noticed.

  “What’s going on?” Knox asked. “You’re exceptionally happy this morning.”

  “I’m so glad you guys are here,” I started. “I’d like your opinion on something.”

  “Sure,” they replied in unison.

  Just then, the office phone rang. I held one finger up in front of my face and stated, “Give me one second please.”

  Answering the phone, I said, “LT Motorsports.”

  The customer replied, “Good morning, I was calling to schedule an appointment to get my car tuned, and I was wondering how far out you’re booking appointments right now.”

  “Well, it depends on the specifics of your set up, but within two weeks I can get most cars in,” I explained.

  “Okay, that’s awesome,” the customer replied. “I want to get something set up right away, but I was curious if I could talk to Logan about some tech-related questions.”

  “Logan’s actually not in yet this morning, but maybe I can help you out,” I offered. “What’s your question?”

  After a moment of hesitation, the customer shared, “I’ve got a 2009 Corvette that’s got twin turbos on it. I’m hoping to make anywhere from fourteen hundred to fifteen hundred horsepower, and I wanted to see if it’s possible to run that on pump gas.”

  “No,” I told him.

  “I had a feeling that would be the case,” he said. “So, my next question was going to be what fuel Logan recommends for my set up.”

  “Well, in order to answer that he’s going to need to know a bit more about your fuel system,” I stated. “Can you give me a brief rundown of what you have installed on the car?”

  The customer rattled off a list of fuel system modifications, which quickly narrowed down his options for fuel choices. Of course, even though I hadn’t asked for them he went on to give me details that didn’t matter. But I listened patiently while rolling my eyes at Knox and Nash.

  They both chuckled quietly.

  Once the customer finished giving me all the details, I explained, “Well, your fuel pump and injectors won’t flow enough to support ethanol, so race gas would be your only option.”

  “Are you sure? I mean, it’d be a lot better if I could run ethanol.”

  “I’m positive. And I know there are benefits to running alcohol-based fuels, but you’ll be limited because your fuel system can’t support it,” I insisted.

  There was another pause before he started speaking again. “Okay, but I’m not sure about that. I saw a couple guys online,” he started his debate. I stopped listening closely at that point. It was an argument I heard frequently, and it almost never held any merit. He ended his argument by asking, “If you could just take down my number and have Logan give me a call when he gets in, I’d like to just ask him.”

  “Okay, sure. Oh, you know what, he just pulled in,” I started. “Can I put you on hold a minute, and I’ll confirm this with him.”

  Suddenly, the customer’s mood changed and he joyously replied, “Yeah, that would be awesome. Take your time.”

  I pulled the phone away from my ear and tapped on the hold button. Setting the phone down, I redirected my attention to Knox and Nash. “Okay, so I found a 2003 Z06 for sale from a private seller,” I shared. Completely ignoring the confused looks on their faces, I turned my computer around to face them and continued, “Can you take a look at this listing? The guy is asking fifteen thousand, which is a little more than I wanted to spend on another chassis, but I’m thinking that with the low mileage on the engine, I can look at having Kieran eventually build a backup motor.”

  Knox and Nash looked over the listing, and after a minute, Knox said, “It looks good in the pictures. And with one owner, being garage kept, and having low mileage, it’s probably a deal at that price. I mean, you’ve got to go over it when you go to look at it, but if everything is as this guy lists it for, I’d say it’s worth it.”

  “Yeah, I agree,” Nash said.

  I beamed a big smile at them and turned my computer around again. Logan walked in at that moment.

  “Morning, Logan,” I greeted him.

  “Good morning,” he returned.

  I didn’t say anything else.

  That’s when Knox asked, “Didn’t you need to ask him something?”

  I shook my head, lifted the phone, and took the customer off hold. Putting the phone to my ear again, I asked, “Are you still there?”

  Logan had stopped at the counter and shot a curious look between the guys and me.

  Once the customer confirmed he was still there, I declared, “Okay, so I just talked to Logan about everything, and he confirmed race gas is your only option. In fact, he added that ethanol requires thirty to forty percent more fuel flow than gas.”

  “That much? Really? Wow, I hadn’t realized that,” the customer responded. I rolled my eyes again. “Alright, well, thanks for checking that. I think I’d like to schedule your soonest available appointment then.”

  I took another couple minutes to get the customer scheduled for a tuning appointment two weeks later and disconnected the call.

  Logan didn’t hesitate and asked, “What did I just walk into?”

  “You told him you were going to talk to Logan,” Nash said, his tone accusatory but not angry.

  “I know what I told him,” I began before directing my attention to Logan. Then I said, “Logan, I hope you don’t mind that I’ve taken the liberty to tell some clients I’ve talked to you to get their questions answered when I’ve really only put them on hold for two or three minutes and come back giving them the same information I already told them in the first place.”

  “I’m not saying I’m angry about it, but why are you doing that?” he wondered.

  My eyes widened. “Are you serious?” I asked.

  His eyes darted back and forth between the guys and me several times before he answered, “Um, yes.”

  “Because I’m a girl,” I stated bluntly. “And for that reason, there are a few guys who refuse to believe I know what I’m talking about. This particular guy didn’t think I was right in telling him his fuel system wouldn’t support ethanol at the power level the rest of his setup could support. So, I told him I was going to talk to you. The minute he got the sa
me information but believed it came from you, he suddenly didn’t doubt its accuracy.”

  All three guys stared at me.

  I continued, “And in the interest of full disclosure I should tell you that I’ve done this at least five times a week since I’ve started working here.”

  A collective silence surrounded us before all three men burst out laughing. It wasn’t just a couple of chuckles either. It was doubled-over, tears-in-their-eyes, trying-to-catch-their-breath laughter.

  When they managed to settle themselves down a minute or so later, Knox was the first to speak. “This is one of the greatest things I’ve ever heard,” he declared.

  “Agreed,” Nash said. “Man, I wish they could somehow figure it out after the fact, though. I’d love to see the look on their faces when they come in for their appointments and thank Logan for his advice only for Logan to tell them he has no idea what they’re talking about.”

  “Well, now that I know you’re doing this, Avery,” Logan began. I tensed up, wondering if maybe I’d gone too far and was about to be reprimanded. “I’m going to be sure to tell them the truth if they bring it up. I want them to see how wrong it is to assume you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Relief swept through me. Then after thinking on it a moment, I asked, “Is there any way we can set up a camera out there? I’d love to see their reactions.”

  “You want to set one up, I’m more than happy to capture the footage,” Logan offered.

  Feeling proud of myself and relieved I hadn’t received my first official warning not even a month on the job, I directed my attention back to the computer.

  “Okay, time to get to work,” I declared.

  Logan and Nash walked off and pushed through the steel door to head out into the shop. Knox stayed standing in front of me.

  I looked up at him and asked, “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, I was just wondering when you were going to look at it?” he returned.

  “Look at what?” I wondered.

  “The Corvette. Have you worked out a time with the seller for you to go and check it out?” he pressed.

  I shook my head. “No, not yet. I did send him an email first thing this morning just to check and make sure it’s still available,” I started. “If so, I’m hoping he’ll be able to meet me tomorrow or Thursday after work.”

  “Will you let me know when you figure it out?” he asked.

  “Sure. But why?”

  He gave me a dubious look before he answered, “Because if you’re cool with it, I’d like to go with you.”

  I cocked an eyebrow.

  “I figure it can’t hurt to have some security detail with you,” he shared.

  He was worried. He wouldn’t come out and say it, but that’s what this was. Knox was either afraid that something would happen to me or that someone would try to take advantage of me, which wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities considering what I knew about the industry. All too often people assumed that I didn’t know anything because I was a girl. And on the off chance that there was something wrong with the car that hadn’t been disclosed in the ad and would lead me to not purchasing it, I didn’t think it would be a bad idea to have someone with me, especially someone who looked like Knox.

  Making up my mind, I replied, “Okay. That sounds great. I’ll let you know when I hear from him. And if it works for you, I’d be happy to have you come along.”

  “It’ll work for me,” he promised.

  “But if it doesn’t, it’s okay,” I assured him.

  “It will,” he said in a tone not to be challenged.

  At that, I decided it was best to take him at his word.

  Knox must have realized I’d acquiesced because he said, “I’m going to get to work now. Are you taking lunch at the usual time?”

  “Unless another customer plans to put me through the ridiculous hassle of needing to put him on hold because he doesn’t want to listen to me, I will be,” I told him.

  He chuckled and replied, “Do you want some company?”

  “Are you asking me to go on a date with you in the break room?” I asked, clearly flirting with him.

  “Maybe.”

  “I’ll look forward to having lunch with you, Knox.”

  Satisfied with my response, he started to walk to the steel door. When he got there, he stopped, looked back, and said, “I’m happy to see the cheek is looking a lot better, babe.”

  Babe.

  The sentiment caught me off guard. Knox knew it, too. And then he gave me another one of his killer winks before he strode through the door and out of the office.

  When the door closed, I let out a moan.

  God, I wanted that man.

  I was standing in front of Avery’s truck watching her as she walked from the office toward me, and I couldn’t remember ever feeling so enthusiastic about anything. The feeling was almost bordering on desperation. I didn’t view my desperation as a bad thing. I saw it only as a measure of how badly I wanted Avery, or more specifically, how badly I’d been looking forward to this time I was about to have with her.

  It was just a few minutes past five o’clock on Thursday evening, and the two of us were going to check out the car she’d found for sale. When she made the plans with the owner of the car on Tuesday afternoon, she did as she said she would and let me know about them.

  I immediately let Logan know that I’d be heading out of work an hour early today in order to accompany Avery on the forty-five-minute trip. Logan, knowing everything Avery and I had been through over the last few weeks, didn’t have the slightest problem with it. The truth was, he knew I’d always get my work done on time to meet any deadlines we had, so there was really no reason for him to have an issue with it. Besides, considering all that happened to Avery over the weekend with Ricky, I think Logan felt the same as I did.

  Avery was a tough cookie; there was no denying that. But the bias she experienced in a predominantly male industry, even though she could very easily hold her own, was enough that neither of us wanted to see her put in a bad situation again.

  So, now I was here leaning against the front of her truck, watching her walk toward me with the most beautiful smile on her face. And with each step she took toward me, I felt the excitement and anticipation growing.

  Ever since we got past our initial hang up—which was mostly just stupidity on my part—and started mending things between us, I’d been experiencing a lot of things for the first time.

  My job has always been something that’s made me happy, and other than the occasional project that was a headache to deal with, I never really had any complaints about coming into work. I enjoyed working with my hands, building and fabricating. But somehow, over the course of the last several days, I’d been finding myself even more excited about going to work. There was no longer a need to wait for the alarm to go off. I was awake, thinking about Avery, sometimes up to a half hour before I’d normally wake up.

  Knowing I’d see her just made the day better. In fact, walking through the front door of the shop and into the office, I felt something swell in my chest when I saw her. It made my whole day better, even if I had a particularly frustrating project to deal with that day.

  Those little scraps of time with her—in the morning, at lunch, and at the end of the work day—were something I always found myself looking forward to.

  And that was why this moment right now was so special. Avery and I were going to have nearly an hour of time together uninterrupted, just the two of us, each way. Hours. I was getting hours alone with her. Though I’d had them over the weekend, it was different. There had been too much we needed to talk about, resolve, and apologize for to get us where we were now. I had wanted to give us time to get used to one another.

  But now it was going to change. I had every intention of using this time with her to get to know her better. I wanted her to get to know me better.

  When Avery came to a stop in front of me, she looked up and asked
, “Are you ready?”

  “That’s why I’m here,” I told her. “Do you have your keys?”

  Holding them up between us, she said, “Right here.”

  I curled my fingers around them and took them from her. Then I turned to the side and put one hand behind her back to usher her toward the passenger’s side. The moment I opened the door for her, she asked, “What’s going on?”

  “I’m being a gentleman and opening the door for you,” I replied.

  “That’s not what I meant,” she shot back. “Why do you have my keys and why am I sitting here?”

  “Because I’m driving you,” I answered. “I would have taken us in my truck, but your trailer is already hitched up to the back of this, so here we are.”

  Avery considered this a moment, and I thought she was going to argue, but she ultimately climbed in and got herself buckled up. After I got in and did the same, Avery put the address to our destination in her phone, and we took off.

  For the first few minutes of our drive, I sat and listened while Avery talked about her day. Yes, we worked at the same shop, but I didn’t know all the ins and outs of what she dealt with each day. And since I was experiencing this for the first time, I was taking it all in and enjoying every minute of it.

  “So, how was your day?” Avery asked after she’d finished telling me about hers.

  “Not as eventful as yours, which I likely would have preferred,” I answered.

  “Why is that?” she wondered.

  I stole a quick glance at her, smiled, and returned my eyes to the road. “Because I was looking forward to going with you tonight, and it felt like the day was dragging.”

  There was a momentary pause before she said, “You’re being sweet.”

  “It’s the truth,” I assured her. “Normally, I feel like I’m racing the clock to get something done before the end of the day, but today I was done well in advance. I think the promise of spending time with you is good for my productivity.”