I followed her, discretely watching the sway of her hips and the bounce of her ass the whole way. God, she was built like a fucking temptress. My mind conjured up all kinds of dirty thoughts, such as bending her over the hood of a car while I seated myself inside her tight body. I coughed to cover a groan as my dick went from twitching to hard with my wayward thoughts.
Stop thinking of her that way, I chided myself, even though I was staring at her finger, searching for any type of ring, tattoo, or tan lines. None were present, and I found myself relieved, which was insane because I just met this woman.
We walked back into the main office where she went and washed her hands. The dog was up and by her legs, staring at her with complete adoration in her eyes—a look I could understand completely.
“Do you want any water?”
“Yeah, thanks.” She bent over to pull two bottles of water from the fridge under the counter. I looked away because at this point her ass was going to make me cum in my jeans, which hadn’t happened to me since I was a horny teenager.
She handed me the bottle and led me to a small office in the back of the main one. The dog followed us inside. It was little more than a shoebox, but whatever worked for her.
“Sorry about the mess. I’m a bit behind on paperwork right now.” She shuffled some papers into a folder and pushed it to the corner of her desk. “Have a seat Mr.—”
“Creed,” I responded, taking a seat in the metal fold out chair across from her desk.
“All right, Mr. Creed. What experience do you have with custom cars?” She grabbed a paper and pen to take notes.
“Don’t you want my resume?” I was surprised she didn’t ask for one.
“No. It’s easy to lie on a resume. It’s a lot harder to lie about knowing your shit when we talk about the shit you actually know.”
She had a point. “Fair enough. I’ve been working on cars since I was in high school. When I graduated, I went to take my ASE certification test and got certified. I worked in a garage for a few years, learning everything I could from the other mechanics and from the cars we were working on. My best friend and I opened our own shop after we turned twenty-one. We built it up from nothing for nine years, doing custom work on cars. I sold my half of our very successful shop to him and moved out here.”
“Why did you have to move out here? It sounds like you had a good thing going.”
“I did, but my ex-girlfriend came back home to Georgia and brought my son with her. I moved here because this is where my kid is.” I shrugged. “I loved my life back in San Diego, but I love my son more.”
Chapter 2
Kas
Fuck me. I’m in trouble.
I took notes on Creed as he was talking, but when he started talking about his kid, I felt my insides quiver. He looked hot when I first saw him in the garage. I practically salivated over his dark jeans, bulky boots, and black T-shirt that clung to his ripe, muscled body. God, I certainly noticed every inch of him when we first met, but when he mentioned completely changing his life for his kid, my insides melted.
Around the guys, I have to be a hardass, otherwise, they would never listen to a word I say, or take me seriously. Inside, I was a hopeless romantic that loved rom-coms and happy endings. I was two completely different people at work and at home. Not because I wanted to be, but because I had to be. It’s hard enough holding your own in a man’s world, but doing so while liking the color pink, romantic movies and books, and secretly hiding your addiction toThe Bachelorisn’t easy. The guys would be relentless if they had that knowledge.
If they knew that underneath the grease and sarcasm, I was a mushy romantic. I’d be toast. I grabbed an application from the desk and passed it over to Creed. “Fill this out. Once I’ve checked your references and done a background check on you, I’ll call you one way or the other.”
“Thanks.” He took the application and left my office. I took a moment to collect myself and calm my galloping heart. Damn, he made me nervous and excited. If everything checked out, he would be an amazing asset to the garage. I just had to keep in mind that business and pleasure don’t mix. If he works here, then anything happening between us is off the table. I can’t run the risk of losing everything when it’s taken me so much time to build it.
***
I looked over the paperwork I got back from Officer Maddox. Everything checked out with Lawrence Creed. He was who he said he was. The garage he owned back in San Diego was impressive. Exactly the kind of place I wanted to run here. I looked at the website and saw a picture of him when he was a teenager. He and his friend were both in graduation gowns with big grins on their faces. The man with them in the picture was smiling proudly.
Beneath the photo it said,‘In loving memory of Mr. Walter Bragg.’TheAbout Uspart of their website told the story of how the teacher sent them down another path, one that led to a lifetime of friendship and brotherhood. Thus, Bragg Brothers was born. I would be lying if I said that the story of their garage didn’t hit me right in the feels. It did.
Lawrence Creed.
I sighed, leaning back in my chair and looking at his name and number. If I called him for the job, hot satisfying sex was out. If I called him for the hot, satisfying sex, there was no way I was going to work with him. It came down to what was best for all involved.
I sighed and picked up the phone, dialing his number, knowing exactly what I needed to do. “Hey, Creed,” I said when he answered the phone.
“Yeah?”
“This is Kassandra Storm at KS Customs. You got the job. When can you start?”
Chapter 3