20
Angelo
New Beginnings
Now that the car is done and I’ve run out of legitimate reasons to drop by Kane’s house without looking like a total idiot, I don’t close my garage early and race out. Instead, I work my Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday right until the five o’clock buzzer, and after letting my guys go, I stay back another hour or two to work in the silence and think.
Thursday – today – I finalize a parts order for a Chevy and write up a messy Post-It note for my apprentice to see to while I’m away.
Chuck – whose name isn’t Chuck at all – is the youngest man I employ, but he has a gift with his hands, and a sense of responsibility most of the older guys don’t possess. Kids that have had a rough life tend to move one way or the other; stupid and reckless, or the most dependable person you’ll ever meet.
I don’t know Chuck’s story, but he’s the latter kind, and his twenty and thirty-year-old counterparts aren’t even half as respected in my mind as he is.
It pisses my guys off that I’m taking leave and putting a teen in charge, but fuck them if they think they can dictate how I run my place.
Jess and Laine have planned for us to leave as soon as Alex and Jules’ baby is out and safe, and seeing as Alex started the text tree about an hour ago –it’s happening, it’s happening, it’s happening!! –and continues to send updates every three and a half minutes, I figure we’ll be setting off in a matter of days.
So I finalize orders, delegate jobs, and make sure my business won’t burn to the ground in my absence.
Nerves have sat low in my belly since the moment Laine announced this road trip was going ahead. I was scared to have her so far away, then fucking terrified when she asked me to come.
Color me fucking surprised when she invited me along.
Never in a million years did I suspect she’d ask. I was so sure it wastoo much, but here we are. I spent this week cleaning my filthy house while searching for boardshorts and flip flops, and now we just need to wait out Jules’ timebomb.
Shit’s about to get real for a lot of people.
Gravel crunches outside my garage bay doors, but without standing and walking out of my office, I can’t see my visitors. I should’ve closed the doors already, because I have places to be and zero intention to help anyone tonight.
Maybe I can get to my appointment, then wrangle an invitation for dinner with Kane and the girls.
I might even try the hand clapping thing.
Tossing my pen down, I stand with a grunt and stretch my back until joints pop with a satisfying click. Fuck this office stuff – I’m not made for desk work.
Taking a long swallow of the cola on my desk and tossing the empty can in the trash, I walk out of my office with my keys in hand and a plan to shuffle this person aside with a fast ‘come back tomorrow.’
“Ang?”Or not.“Hey, where are you?”
“Office.” I brush a hand through my hair and glance down at my grease-stained clothes. She’s seen me at work a billion times before, and yet, I worry she’ll think I’m a hick that needs to shower. “Laine?” I close the door and smile when I catch sight of her walking forward and studying my garage – or more accurately, the classic car in the third slip. Not watching where she’s going, I’m ashamed of myself when I stop right in her path and wait her out.
Ashamed… but unwilling to step aside.
“Oh, shit!” Slamming against my chest and jumping back, she clutches at my arms and blows hair out of her eyes. “Jesus, Ang. I almost wet myself.”
Chuckling, I study her as she takes a step back and looks me up and down the way I hoped she wouldn’t.
She grins at the grease stains on my belly where I leaned over the hood of a car, then she stops on my eyes and flashes a fantastic fucking smile. “You’re all sweaty after a big day.” She casts a glance around my tidied garage. “It’s stinkin’ hot in here, even with the bays open.”
“I better buy those fans before we go away.”
“Uh-huh.” Wandering away, she gives me a fine view of tight, white jean shorts and long tan legs ready for the beach. “You’ve got a smudge of grease on your nose, by the way.”
Fuck.
I drag my stained shirt up and scrub my nose while she stops to lean against the Chev. She rests her arms on the open hood and grins. “Now I can see your belly button. You’re killing me with the teasing material, Alesi.”
“Fuck.” I drop my shirt and throw my head back to stare at the ceiling. “It’s been a long ass day. Are you here specifically to torment me, or…?”