He shakes his head, his eyes never leaving mine. “No. Why? You worried about where I’ve been all afternoon?”
“No,” I scoff as a beaming smile rips across my face. “You wish you had that kind of hold over me. Sorry to break the news, heartbreaker, but you’re not that cool.”
His eyes fill with fire as he slowly nods his head. “Yeah, I am.”
I kiss him once again. “You’re helping my dad,” I comment, absolutely loving how the sight of them working on this old truck together defrosts my cold heart just that little bit more.
His eyes search me out for a brief moment, making my stomach squirm with butterflies. “Is that alright?”
I press myself harder into him, running my lips across his once again. “More than alright,” I murmur with a soft smile. “You know, your sister was trying to help me see the light. She thinks I’ve made a grave mistake dating you.”
“Oh, really?” he questions with those green eyes sparkling. “Dare I ask how the hell she thought she could do that?”
Trying my hardest to keep a seriousness about me and struggling not to break, I run my fingers up his wide chest. “She filled me in on your bathroom habits.”
He grins down at me, not even the slightest bit fazed at what Tully and I were discussing. “Did she just?” he laughs. “Maybe I need to be filling you in on the things that she does when she thinks no one is home.”
“Trust me,” I groan. “I think I have a pretty good idea.”
His arms circle my waist, his thumb still moving back and forth over my heated skin. “Did it work? Have you seen the light?”
I shake my head. “Nope, still covered in darkness.”
“Good,” he murmurs. “Keep it that way.”
With that, he presses another kiss to my lips and releases his hold on me before taking my hand and leading me back over to the open hood of dad’s old pick up. He gets straight back to work and wastes no time using me as his little slave woman, fetching tools and grabbing things as he passes them back.
Usually, I’d have an issue with being ordered around, but I’m more than happy to stand here, doing exactly what he asks as it means watching the way his body moves in a way that gets me so damn hot.
Noah hands me a few bolts before holding his hand out expectantly for something else, grunting as though I’m supposed to know what he’s after. I look at the selection before me and assume he’s not holding his hand out for a high five.
I grab a screwdriver and hand it down to him, hoping it was the right thing. “So, did I hear that right?” Noah murmurs from within the hood. “Did your dad just call you ‘Squish’?”
“Yeah,” I laugh as he practically throws the screwdriver back at me.
“No, I need the adjustable wrench.”
The fuck?
“So… Squish?”
“Oh, yeah,” I say, looking around at the tools once again, completely lost. “I don’t really know. He’s always called me Squish. I just assumed it was because I came out all squishy.”
Noah laughs and pulls himself out of the hood before grabbing the tool he needs with an amused smirk and disappearing once again. “So, you’re saying you were a little fatty? A pork chop?”
“Like you can talk,” I laugh, kicking playfully at his ankle. “Your mom has shown me your baby pictures. You were like a little baby budda. No, a baby sumo wrestler. I hardly recognized you without the tatts.”
He looks back at me with narrowed eyes as we hear the front door slamming open. “Got bad news, Squish,” Dad says walking over. “I’ve got another job.”
Dread fills me. Dad never refers to ‘another job’ as bad news. “Spit it out, old man,” I tell him, the tone in my voice making Noah straighten out and pay a little more attention.
Dad cringes as he sucks in a deep breath with nothing but regret shining through his eyes, letting me know that whatever he’s about to say is not exactly easy for him. “I’ll be gone for upwards of two weeks. It’s a big one.”
My world begins to crumble. “Two weeks?” I gasp. Dad has never been gone for that long before. I mean, I’m more than capable of looking after myself for two weeks, but anything could happen to him out there. That’s two weeks of nonstop driving. What if a storm ripped through or his health took a turn? There would be no one there to help him. Noah reaches out and threads his greased up fingers through mine. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
Dad shrugs. “Money is money, kid. You know that.”
“I know, but…”
“Save me the lecture, Squish,” he says. “I’ll check in with you every day, eat the good shit you like, and I’ll even get the truck checked over before I go.”