Chapter 4 #2
Instead, I was in a garage with nothing but my flashlight to help me.
What I really should’ve done was bring my entire tool belt. That would’ve been the smart mechanic-thing to do. But no, I’d been immediately distracted the moment Avery had arrived at my shop looking good as hell while my coworkers all shot me knowing looks as we both headed out the front door.
“What I’m predicting is probably going to be expensive.
Like I said, I can’t say for sure but this one is in rough shape just by looking under the hood.
You’d have to get it towed to wherever you’re planning on taking it, which is going to be more money.
Labor will probably cost a lot, too. This is all to say that you may want to cut your losses and sell as-is and let some hobbyist take on the costs. ”
When I turned to look at Avery, I found him staring at me with a strange expression. He didn’t move for what felt like an entire minute of heavy silence. As he finally did so, it was to tilt his head to the side.
“Are you... not interested?” he asked.
“Interested in what?”
“Fixing the car, Brandon.”
My stomach tightened as my name rolled off his tongue. “That’s not what I said.”
A small smile crossed over his lips. “Oh. I see. You’re telling me you’re expensive.”
“No, I—”
Where the hell did he get that from?
He cut me off. “It’s fine. I don’t mind paying.”
Now it was my turn to stare.
Sure, Avery was well off but was sinking close to what the car was probably worth even... well, worth it?
Not many people who didn’t have a passion in car restoration would agree. There were plenty of things that could go wrong during the process, leading to more headaches and cash being burned.
“I don’t think you’re understanding me,” I said.
He laughed. “I’m understanding you perfectly fine, Brandon. I can afford it, trust me. The only hold up would be if you’re willing to work on it for me. If not, then yes, I’ll probably just end up selling it as-is like you suggested.”
“What? Why would I be the only one you’d be willing to have work on it?”
He shrugged. “I trust you. And I trust that you won’t needlessly fuck up because you are looking for a bigger paycheck. Like I said, I can afford whatever you want to charge me. But I hate people wasting my time.”
Well, I guess I couldn’t fault him for that.
I had no idea what Avery did for a living now, but given his expensive looking suit, expensive car, and overall bland attitude when it came to money, led me to believe he was somewhere in the financial world.
Probably running it, no doubt.
Still, wasn’t it kind of sudden to be asking me to help him with this project? After all, we barely knew each other any more. How was he to know I wasn’t some kind of grifter now?
“You’re awfully confident in my skills,” I mumbled.
He leaned closer to me, barely a hair’s breadth between us as he said, “Why won’t you let me trust you?”
My heart slammed in my chest.
Oh god.
Why the hell was this happening?
I was supposed to be over this two fucking decades ago. Hell, I was never supposed to fall for a straight man to begin with. And now here I was, doing the same goddamn thing all over again.
Was my heart content with never learning?
Or was I some kind of closet masochist?
“Uh...” I needed to get away from him. Put some distance between us before I did something monumentally stupid like asking him out on a fucking date. “It’s not...”
“Not what?” He tilted his head, those stupid blue eyes of his that always reminded me of sapphires, staring back at me patiently.
“I have a job. To do.” Even to my own ears, my words were stilted. “At the shop.”
“Do you run it by yourself?”
My head shook mechanically.
“Okay, how about this. I fund whatever your shop’s paycheck would be for the next however long it’ll take you to look at all of these cars, restore them, and then fix them up for me to sell. How’s that sound?”
My jaw dropped to the ground. “My entire shop... Avery, you’re fucking kidding me. I’m not letting you do that.”
He frowned. “Why not?”
“You—I.” What the fuck. “I have customers.”
“Okay?”
Oh my fucking god. This man.
This stupid fucking rich billionaire brat.
Of course that would be his response.
‘Who cares, Brandon. Just send them somewhere else! I’ll pay you to shut down your whole shop.’ is exactly what he would say to me if I let him.
Which wasn’t going to happen. I wasn’t going to let this happen. Paying for my fucking shop to close down so I can fix his goddamn cars... who does that?
“Avery,” I gritted through my teeth.
He sighed. “How many people are working for you?”
“Four.”
“Okay, so have one run the shop with your regular customers and the other three can help you. Or... two. I don’t know. Do you get a lot of business? Edgewood isn’t that populated.”
Using my fingers to massage my aching eyeballs, I let out a long sigh.
I hated that he was tempting me with this. The whole point in agreeing to come out here and assess the cars was to get him a quote, maybe throw in some advice, get him in touch with some of my past clients and then send him off on his merry way.
There was no room in that equation for him to be weaseling his way into my life anymore than he’d been doing already.
But damn, being able to work exclusively on these cars without having to worry about a paycheck, or my employees staying afloat, would be an absolute dream. Honestly, that was my dream before reality gave me a long hard slap across the face once bills began to accumulate.
You couldn’t run a successful business on classics alone—there just wasn’t that big of a market to keep up with the cost of materials for restorations, and maintaining an overhead in the process.
This situation was different, though. Avery was filthy fucking rich and was offering the opportunity of a lifetime. I’d be a damn fool not to take it.
At the same time, I was afraid to.
Not that he would ever be that kind of person to hold money over someone’s head but the possibility that by the end of all of this, he came out unsatisfied would weigh on me more than I cared to admit. I didn’t want that kind of guilt eating away at me. Not with him involved.
I had enough of that living through my twenties.
“Brandon.” Avery reached across the space between us to grab my arm. “Why don’t you think about it?”
Just as I was about to tell him I couldn’t, his phone went off.
He sighed. “Give me a second.”
I tracked him with my gaze as he walked away, pulling his phone out of his pocket to answer it.
I couldn’t do this. Work for Avery, technically, while living the dream I always wanted to. It would be stupid to put my business on hold, even if the bills would still be getting paid.
I’d be a damn fool to accept.
Right?