The Relationship Mechanic (Peach Blossom #2)

Eight

J essica ground her teeth at the disturbance. Things had been progressing so nicely. She hadn’t shown up with the intention of being sandwiched between a door and Vini, but she wasn’t about to turn down the gift that was that deliciously petite frame pressed against hers. When the knock came again, she leaned her head back with a silent groan.

“Yeah?”

“Sorry to interrupt boss, but we have a code douche.”

She lifted her head up as a giggle lodged in her throat. Code douche? “What the fuck is a code douche?”

Vini glanced at her before shaking her head and stepping back. Cool air rushed between them, and Jessica had to fight hard against the desire to pull her back in. She didn’t want to seem too pushy, considering she hadn’t even planned for this in the first place. She stared as Vini smoothed her hands over her shirt and pants, hating the fact that she never got to see them come off.

“Means there’s someone asking for the master mechanic and refusing to listen to Aiden.”

“So basically they are asking for the manager.”

Vini glanced up at her lips stretching in a wide smile. “Pretty much. Aiden knows what he’s doing, but occasionally we have people who take one look at that damn baby face of his and try to go above his head. We both usually enjoy their reactions when they see me walk in.”

Jessica let that sink in as she reached down and picked up the borrowed shirt. She shrugged it on, letting it settle over her shoulders. “You mean they weren’t expecting a woman to come in?”

Vini snickered before reaching forward. Her fingers curled around Jessica’s ear, and Jessica froze as a wave of arousal so strong welled up threatening to pull her under. She had never been so thoroughly attuned to someone like this before. A simple touch like that shouldn’t have been enough to almost undo her resolve to not push, but damn did it come close.

“That, and someone shorter and younger than him.” She shrugged like it didn’t bother her. For all Jessica knew, it might not. If Vini had been running this place as long as she said, then she probably had dealt with a lot of bullshit before now. Jessica had seen that kind of bullshit sexism at play so many times when her mother was in the role of director and not just actress. It has always made her bristle at the dismissive attitude, but her mother had always handled it with the type of grace Jessica only reserved for pets and children. Young children. Teenagers could suck it.

“I should get out there,” Vini said gesturing at the door.

The door that Jessica was still standing in front of. With a twisted grin, Jessica stepped away, though her eyes never left Vini as she walked by. Her scent, warm and citrusy, tickled Jessica’s nose, making her draw in a deep breath. For as messy as Vini’s work got, she smelled so refreshingly sweet that Jessica’s teeth hurt with the need to taste.

“Change into those pants and then come on out when you’re ready,” Vini threw out before she left the office and closed the door behind her.

Jessica stared at the closed door wondering how the hell she had gotten herself into this mess. She had spent most of the weekend relaxing in her suite and fielding questions and concerns from her parents and brother, Jason. She felt enough guilt about the whole mess with her mom’s costars, but then the guilt set in from refusing to join her parents in Italy. She knew they just wanted to make sure she was okay. Well, her parents wanted to make sure. Jason probably wanted to hear the whole sordid story as fodder for his addition to drama. Still, Jessica hadn’t been able to stand the thought of hearing firsthand about the increased scrutiny her mom was under. Especially when it wasn’t even her fault.

Things had been all fun and flirty when Jessica first got involved with Jang-Mi. They had kept things quiet and just made it seem like two friends enjoying one another’s company, and despite their nighttime fun, neither had mentioned feelings or going beyond a casual and fulfilling friends-with-benefits situation. When Jang-Mi had fallen off the grid for a couple days, Jessica had chalked it up to the good times coming to an end. She hadn’t even thought twice about her mom’s other costar, Irene, showing up out of nowhere declaring that Jang-Mi had slept with her girlfriend. Said girlfriend being Jessica. The shock had left her frozen until Irene launched into a loud tirade and the cell phone cameras came out.

When the inevitable fallout came, the scrutiny of flashing lights and ruthlessly dedicated paparazzi had become too much. Jessica had felt bad about fleeing, but she hadn’t signed up for that kind of drama when it was all supposed to be no-strings-attached fun. She had sent both of them one last text before blocking both their numbers and going on a social media blackout. It had been Grace who suggested coming to Peach Blossom, and Jessica hadn’t thought twice about it. A small town where people probably didn’t know her mother and definitely didn’t know her was perfect.

Or had been until now.

She didn’t think this thing with Vini would draw in such a crowd of spectators, but she also was happy enough to find someone to help keep her mind off her six-week self-imposed isolation to begin with.

“Just got to keep it from going too deep,” she whispered to herself as she pushed down her wide-legged jeans and slipped on the slacks Vini had left for her. She didn’t want to make it seem like she was just waiting for Vini to get back, so she opened the door and headed back to the front of the shop. When she stepped through the doorway, immediately, something set her on edge.

Vini was standing behind the counter with Aiden a rigid line by her side. Across the counter, another man stood, eyes looking hard as he looked back and forth between the two. Jessica tentatively walked forward but jerked to a stop when the man turned to look at her.

“Oh, great, another chick,” he spit out before stabbing a finger at Vini. “I don’t know what kind of shit you’re trying to pull, but I want to speak to the master mechanic, now.”

“And I told you,” Vini replied, her voice hard in a way that had Jessica standing straighter, “I am the master mechanic and the owner. If you have an issue—”

“My issue is the quality of you people’s work,” he bellowed, cutting her off. A flush rose from his neck sliding up his chin. “I don’t know what kind of town doesn’t have a proper auto shop, but I will not have you fucking up my car.”

Jessica was shocked. It wasn’t the first time she had seen someone act a fool over customer service whether they were justified or not, but she hadn’t expected to see it here. Peach Blossom so far had seemed so wholesome and nice, proving that at least here, the stereotype of Southerners being uber friendly was true. She didn’t know if this guy was a local or what, but his behavior seemed so at odds with what she had experienced so far.

“Fine.”

When Vini spoke, her voice was even with not even a slight rise in volume. If it had been Jessica being yelled at, she would have already been over the damn counter ready to fight the guy, size difference or not. Still, she stayed quiet. This wasn’t her fight, and Vini didn’t need her to begin with. If she needed backup, Aiden no doubt would have jumped in without a moment’s notice. Jessica took her cue from him, hanging back and letting the boss handle it.

Vini’s concession seemed to confuse the man, and his mouth opened and closed a moment with no sound coming out. Clearly, he was just as confused as Jessica about what would come next.

“If you’re concerned with the quality of our work, you’re more than welcome to find an alternate place for your vehicle.” Vini moved then, not waiting for him to respond. She picked up the phone and dialed. Jessica waited like the other two men. She didn’t know what was about to happen, and the sense of anticipation threatened to undo her. “Hey, Tony. I got a guy here looking to get some work done on his 2018 Benz C-Class.”

“It’s a 2019,” the man barked out.

Vini didn’t do much but raise her eyebrow. “Sorry ’bout that. I meant a 2019. He’s real concerned about the quality of the work we do ’round here, so if you would be so kind to tow him to yours, I know he would appreciate it.”

Aiden turned as if to sneeze, but Jessica saw what could only be described as a shit-eating grin on his face. When he saw her looking, he winked before turning back around.

“Thanks, Tony. Tell the wife and kids I said hey.” Vini chuckled before hanging up. When she spoke to the man again, her voice lacked the warmth it had previously had. “Tony is en route and will get you squared away.”

The man nodded sharply. “Good.” He looked around before frowning again. “Where’s the lounge where I can wait?”

Vini’s smile went sharp. “I’m sorry, sir. The lounge is for customers only, and seeing as you aren’t a customer, it is not available for use.”

He frowned, expression falling. “But the—”

“Tony will be here in forty minutes, so if you need a place to sit other than your car, there’s a bench right outside.” Vini turned dismissing him. “Have a wonderful day.”

The man stood there for a moment, fists balled at his sides, but as if realizing there wasn’t much he could do, he turned on his heel and yanked open the door sending the bell clanging wildly as he stomped outside. For a moment, the only sound was his footsteps crunching on the gravel, but slowly it was replaced with a soft giggle. Jessica raised an eyebrow when she saw Aiden lean over and prop himself on the counter as his laughter slowly gained momentum. She saw Vini grin at him and wondered what the hell she was missing.

“What?” she asked, wanting to be in the know. “Why are you laughing?”

Vini thumped Aiden on the back before gesturing for Jessica to follow her into the garage area. Jessica glanced back at Aiden and saw him slowly rise before he gave her a big goofy grin and a thumbs-up. She shook her head with a smile. There was something she was missing, as had the asshole who wasted their time.

When Vini paused beside a car, Jessica stepped up to her side. “Seriously,” she said getting Vini’s attention, “what am I missing here?”

Vini looked more amused than angry as she glanced up at Jessica. “That guy was complaining about a woman being a master mechanic.”

“Yeah, I heard that part. Is that what the douche code is about?”

She nodded. “ Code douche , yeah. We don’t get them too often, thankfully. Apparently, he was on his way to Florida when his car started making some clunky noises, so he stopped here.”

Jessica was relieved then to know the guy wasn’t local. She still didn’t understand why Vini and Aiden were so amused by the guy requesting to be towed to another shop. “So were you laughing because the guy now has to wait outside for almost an hour to get his car towed?”

Vini snorted. “No, although it was nice to tell him to take hike. We were laughing at the thought of him realizing that Tony is short for Antonia .” Her eyes crinkled at the sides when she delivered that bit of news.

It took Jessica a moment to understand what she meant before it hit her. She widened her eyes before letting out a bark of laughter. “Oh, shit. No wonder you were so quick to offer him up to Tony.”

“Yup. And if he thinks he’s going to push her around, he’s got another thing coming,” Vini added. “She and her wife were pro wrestlers at one point, and Tony is still more built than most men. Add to the fact that I interrupted her first cup of coffee, and he better learn to shut up real quick.”

Jessica let her laughter overtake her as she pictured the moment Tony, or Antonia, stepped out of her tow truck. She glanced at the open garage door. “I need to see this go down. Will we be able to see her from here?”

Vini’s smile went wicked. “Absolutely.” That look did something to Jessica that made it damn unfortunate that they were out in public where anyone could just walk by. She would have loved to pull Vini in and taste how spicy that smile was. Instead, she contented herself with the knowledge that she would soon see an asshole get his comeuppance.

“Now,” Vini said grabbing her attention again, “let’s start with your lesson for the day.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to say something about lessons after dark, but Jessica kept it to herself. She would be good...for now.

It was only two hours and a sweaty T-shirt later that Jessica wondered if she might have chosen the wrong plan for getting close to Vini. Her skin felt tacky as she brushed her forehead with the back of her hand. People had always talked about late fall and early winters in the South being pleasant, but right now she felt like she was about to melt into her clothes. The temperature in the garage had started out fine, but gradually it had warmed until not one part of her remained unaffected and her back ached with all the bending over.

“So tell me what is wrong here,” Vini said as she leaned back and observed. Jessica looked down at the car, or more specifically the engine. That was the one thing that she could label so far even with Vini repeating the other parts multiple times. Jessica could memorize dialogue for a script no problem, but when it came to trying to memorize the parts in this car, she continuously drew a blank. It was like Vini was speaking French and Jessica was speaking Korean. They didn’t even have roots in the same language.

She looked down at the stick in her hand and then back up at Vini. “The stick isn’t wet?” Jessica couldn’t help but phrase it like a question. She knew there was something important here that she should have seen, but she wasn’t completely sure. She didn’t want to make it seem like she wasn’t paying attention to what Vini was saying. She totally was. She just didn’t get it.

“Yes, and why is that a bad thing?”

“Because anytime you put a stick in, it shouldn’t come out dry,” she said unable to keep the smirk off her face. To her relief Vini chuckled.

“Well, you’re not wrong. That’s how you check your oil level, and it definitely shouldn’t go in dry and come out dry.” She raised an eyebrow. “And you’re right. That’s not good in just about any situation.”

Jessica nodded and handed the stick over to Vini. She got that much at least, but she wasn’t sure what else she should be getting. The engine looked like every other engine to her, as in it looked like a mass of winding metal that she didn’t know the beginnings of how to make sense of.

“How did you get into cars and things? I mean, it isn’t something that I think most girls grow up with.”

Vini shrugged before turning and placing the stick onto the rolling tray that she had brought over to hold an assortment of other instruments Jessica couldn’t even begin to name. “The shop has been in my family since my grandfather settled here. My dad ran it when I was a kid, and in high school, I took a couple auto-shop classes and loved it.” She shrugged again. “I think I’ve always loved cars.”

“Oh, really?” None of the schools Jessica had gone to had auto-shop classes. At least, she didn’t think they did. She had never really cared about cars, so she hadn’t paid attention.

“Yeah.” Vini paused for a moment before her gaze shifted to the side. “When I was in elementary school, my mom got really sick. Cancer. My older sisters were usually out of the house doing whatever, so my dad would bring me into the shop with him.”

Jessica swallowed against the knot in her throat. It wasn’t pity she felt as she thought about a miniature-sized Vini following her dad around like a little lost kitten. She always found she had to push hard when emotional topics were brought up. Usually, she attempted to avoid them altogether. But she found herself swaying toward Vini, wanting to learn more about what made her tick.

“So you decided then to take the place over?”

Vini shrugged. “Sort of. I would help out here and there, sweeping the floors or organizing the small things. When I was in high school, dad got injured, so I sort of acted as his temporary hands. He had a couple employees then, younger guys that got married and moved away after a while. He taught me more, and when he mentioned potentially having to sell the place, I realized I didn’t want to let it go.”

Vini rubbed a hand over the frame of the car. Jessica’s breath caught when she saw Vini’s lips curve up into a soft smile. It was so content and tranquil in a way Jessica didn’t think she had ever experienced. It made her want to reach out and taste it so she could greedily gather some of that feeling for herself. She had to say something if only to bat away the alien thoughts in her head.

“So you went straight from high school to taking over the shop?”

“No,” Vini said, shaking her head and blinking slowly as if she had just awoken from a deep dream. “I graduated a year early and enrolled in an automotive technology program. Spent a few years observing some of the guys and apprenticed with Tony until I felt ready to take things over. Actually, I met Aiden in school. He was a year behind me, and I promised him a job when he graduated. Thankfully, he took me up on it.”

Vini’s smile was wide and obviously proud. Jessica could understand why. Here Vini was just shy of twenty-three and she already had her shit together better than most thirty-year-olds Jessica knew. Hell, Vini had things better together than Jessica. It was so different from her experience in life, but she couldn’t help but be impressed by the fact that Vini seemed so secure in what she liked and what she wanted to do even at a young age.

At twenty-two, Jessica had still been questioning if her literature major had been a good idea, and that was after she had already graduated. Even now at twenty-seven, she was only just starting to understand what she might want in life.

“That’s impressive, like seriously,” she replied. She leaned against the car and crossed her arms as she observed Vini and tried not to let the lingering tendril of insecurity get to her. Everyone moved through life at their own pace. It was something she always told herself when she got another Facebook message about one of her old classmates getting married or having a baby. Jessica had plenty of time. She didn’t need to have everything figured out before thirty. Thirty was still young.

She caught sight of Vini’s bashful grin and clung to it. The way Vini reacted to praise made her want to do it more. Especially when it was well deserved. “You are absolutely adorable.”

When Vini scowled, Jessica threw her head back and laughed. The expression looked so ridiculous on her face that Jessica knew she didn’t do it often. Vini had lips made for smiling: thick and eye-catching. She found it hard to look away even as Vini crossed her arms over her chest looking like a petulant child.

“Puppies and babies are adorable , not grown-ass women,” she replied. “You could at least call me gorgeous or something.”

Jessica laughed before leaning closer. “But you are adorable,” she replied ignoring the scowl. She took the chance to cup one of Vini’s cheeks. “You’re also gorgeous and sexy and amazingly accomplished for your age. Hell, for any age, really.”

Her words seemed to soothe Vini’s ire, and her hands dropped down until they fit themselves over Jessica’s hips. She pulled her closer, and Jessica willingly went, not even sparing a thought about resisting.

“Well, I guess when you add everything else to it, being called adorable isn’t so bad. You should tell me what else you admire about me.”

“And inflate that ego any more than I already have? I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Jessica teased before leaning in. She brushed the tip of her nose against Vini’s, enjoying the way her eyes fluttered closed. They had been so good for the past couple hours keeping things strictly professional minus the moment when Tony had showed up in all her statuesque goodness and hauled Mr. Grumpy’s Mercedes off with only a head tilt and a smirk in their direction.

They had spent a few minutes laughing hysterically at the man’s face, and Vini had even called out for a celebratory pizza to be delivered. Aiden had come out to eat with them for a bit, enjoying the wayward customer’s just deserts before disappearing again into the back room. Vini and Jessica had eaten and then continued with the lesson. Despite the fact that Jessica still wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a carburetor and a transmission, she found Vini’s way of speaking engaging, and she hadn’t been able to keep herself from staring. It had been clear that she truly loved what she did, which couldn’t be said by everybody.

Now though, the semiprofessional mood had been replaced with the fun, flirty side that Jessica had greedily gobbled up glimpses of. She was quickly growing addicted to the way Vini’s eyes would widen and then go heated. It left her blood singing and the hairs on her arms standing up ready for what would come next.

“I think I’ve complimented you enough after today’s lesson,” Jessica continued. “I should save some of them for next time.”

Vini smirked. “Or maybe you should say all of them every time. Flattery is a powerful motivator.”

“I don’t think motivation is something you lack.”

“You may be right. Especially now,” Vini said, her voice taking on a breathy quality that had Jessica shivering as the feeling of it washed over her. The hands on her waist tightened pulling her in farther, and she found that she didn’t care that the garage door was open, leaving them in plain view of anyone who might happen to walk by.