“Morning,” I say, wrapping my arms around her lower back, bringing her close to me. I kiss her forehead, and she moans appreciatively.
“Were you on the phone?”
I nod, my morning scruff tangling in the top of her hair. “Yeah. With a man named Tobias. He’s the Vice President of Wrench Kings.” I pull her closer and inhale her scent, which now fuses withmylaundry andmyskin, making her smell that much sexier.
“I’m getting everything sorted out. I took time off last year, as you know, and now it's time to be a big boy and get my shit together.”
I’ve already told Beck all about my love of being a mechanic. But that was before she knew I owned the whole company. “I like being a mechanic. I’m not cut out for an office and boardroom every day. The role I’m looking to assume will be chiming in on votes. Our corporate office is in Seattle, so instead of flying back and forth, Toby suggested I use a proxy for all the things I want to be part of.” I swallow and pin her with my eyes. “So I can be withmy family.”
“Yeah?” she questions, a little breathless, a lot of shock.
“Of course,” I answer easily, trying desperately to ignore the searing pain at the back of my brain, chantingshe saw Dustin and didn’t tell you. Whatever her reason,I trust her, and she’ll tell me when she’s ready.
“I gotta get to work this morning, baby, but you guys can take your time here. No rush.”
She rocks to her toes and plants a soft kiss on my lips.
“I fed Jett and changed him.”
She rubs her palms up my arms. “Thank you.”
* * *
After getting dressed,I kiss Jett and Beck goodbye, and make my way to Wrench Kings. When I get there, I push open the mirrored doors to find Atticus and Miller in a heated chat. It’s like stepping into theTwilight Zone–which my dad loved–because Miller doesn’t get heated.
Miller is rainbows and smiles and “let’s leave them a big tip just to see their response” type of guy. He isn’t bulging veins and red face, in your space, arguing and shouting.
Atticus, who may be a gruff prick, isn’t a guy who starts shit either. So now I’m really intrigued.
“Whoa, where’s D?” I ask them both as I walk in and loop around the desk to come between them. Delane must not be here or else this wouldn’t be happening. Even with an audiobook playing, she still has one ear in our business at all times. She wouldn’t allow a screaming match.
“He called my girlfriend a bitch,” Miller says through an almost-closed jaw. His face is nearly the color of his flaming red hair, and—
“You have a girlfriend?” I ask because I consider Miller close, but I had no fucking clue.
“Ex,” Atticus supplies, his face his usual scowl.
“He called her a bitch,” Miller states again, still locking eyes with Atti.
“Miller, dude, take a breath.” I put a hand to his chest, and his body softens, and a moment later, his eyes come to mine.
“We’ve been together for a year.” His face turns sad. “You met her a few times, but…” He lets a hand fall on my shoulder. “You had a rough year. I don’t expect you to remember.”
“Fuck, man, I’m sorry,” I say, scrubbing a hand down my sternum. My buddy Miller is not exactly confident. In fact, he’s so shy I wondered if he’d ever get the courage to ask a woman out. But knowing that he has a girl for over a year? Or, had.
“What happened?” I ask.
“He called–”
I stop him. “No, what happened with your girlfriend?”
Miller's eyes go between mine and Atti’s and I can sense his anger is finally subsiding. What it’s leaving behind, though, is hurt. I can see it in the way his shoulders droop.
“I was going to ask her to go on vacation with me. No, I mean, I did ask her to go on vacation with me. Only, she started freaking out, asking me if I was going to propose but I wasn’t. And when I told her I wasn’t… she was relieved.”
“Oof.”
He agrees with my oof, nodding along. “And then she just started saying shit like, she couldn’t be with me long term. She could never marry me or have a future with me.”