Chapter 9
Anika
“You don’t have to do that.”
Hog sits back in the booth and wipes his mouth with a paper napkin.
“It’s not a big deal. I’ll call Brick on my way home, see if he has time to pick it up from the lab. Then after I grab some sleep, I’ll head up to the Arrow’s Edge shop to see what he says. I’ll get him to do up a quote and you can send it through to your insurance company when I come pick you up.”
Bill Evans left me a message last night I could retrieve my car. I already have the police report for the insurance adjustor, but I need to know what repairs would cost.
“I’m just afraid they’re going to decide a twenty-plus-year-old car isn’t worth the repairs, when it’s worth much more than its book value to me.”
“To be honest, I don’t think repairs are going to come close to what remains of the value of that car, but why not let Brick tell you. I think your biggest concern would be whether he can guarantee that smell can come out.”
I scrunch my nose, the memory of that god-awful stench still fresh in my mind.
“More coffee?” The waitress passes by the booth holding up a thermos.
“Not for me.” I crave my own coffee.
“We’re good,” Hog rumbles. “Just the bill, please.”
Normally I might have insisted paying my own way, but I get the sense I would’ve lost. Plus, Hog looks tired, and considering what he’s already done for me, I don’t have the heart to argue with him.
Without going quite as far as admitting it out loud, it is sort of nice to let someone help carry the load for a bit. It’s funny, I don’t feel that constant need to prove myself with this man.
I’ll always be my dad’s little girl, there won’t be a time where Mom will let me live down the gray hairs I’ve caused her, and I’ll be forever the annoying little sister to Bodhi. But Hog sees me as I am now.
The waitress gets hung up when a table of six shows up and it takes a while for her to bring our bill, apologizing profusely for the delay. As a result, I’m already a few minutes late when Hog pulls up in front of the Chop Shop.
“You said five thirty?” he asks, turning to face me.
“Please. If I run late, I’ll message you. I’ve gotta go, I’m late,” I add, already grabbing for the door handle.
But Hog has other ideas.
“Not so fast,” he mumbles, hooking a hand around my neck and leaning his body over. “Been wanting to do this all damn morning, and I don’t think I can wait ’til tonight.”
Then he’s kissing me, and I momentarily forget where I am as I immediately allow him entry. His mouth is magic, his lips firm and his tongue demanding. I’m almost defenseless, especially when he groans softly down my throat. The sound has shivers running down my back, invoking images of skin sliding against skin, naked bodies lost to pleasure.
The man hasn’t even had his hands on me and yet my body is craving his touch.
I have to blink a few times when he abruptly ends the kiss.
“Jesus, Anika, that mouth of yours should come with a warning,” he grumbles. “I was this close to hauling you clear across the center console. Gonna need a cold shower before I’ll get any sleep.”
Wow. Who knew all this simmering heat was under that easy, laid-back exterior? There’s a lot to Hog I could never have guessed at, and now I have another visual I’m sure will stick with me all day.
“I’ve gotta go,” I manage.
“Yeah, that’s probably best,” he rumbles, his blue-gray eyes smoldering with a heat I can feel.
I exit the car, my legs a little shaky as I make my way to the door. The moment I walk inside, I’m hit in the face with a mist of cold water. Landon is standing before me, a spray bottle we use to wet down hair aimed at me.
“Need another hit?” he asks before I can find words to blast him with. “’Cause, girl, that kiss was so hot you’ve got steam coming off you.”
I snap my mouth shut because the words on my lips are not suitable for public consumption, and my first customer is already waiting for me.
Ignoring Landon, I focus on my client.
“Morning, Stephanie. Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long? Why don’t you follow me.”
If I recall correctly, we’re doing roots and a trim today. As I pass Kim on the way to my station, she tosses me a small towel to mop my face. I do so, grateful for a decent waterproof mascara, which stays true to its claim and doesn’t smudge.
“Can I get you a coffee?” I ask my client when she sits down in my chair.
“Please. A vanilla oat milk latte, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.”
I’ll quickly make myself one too. I’m going to need the extra hit of caffeine to clear my post-kiss haze. Although the wet greeting I received went a long way to shaking me out of my fog.
“He’s right, you know,” I hear Monique’s voice behind me as I stand at the espresso machine, grinding my beans. “That looked intense.”
I peek over my shoulder to find her smiling at me while stirring a plastic bowl of hair dye.
“You’re not kidding,” I return, mumbling.
“So, it looks like things have progressed?”
I shrug and dive into the small fridge to grab the vanilla syrup and the oat milk.
“I guess? I’m trying not to overthink everything and go with the flow,” I admit.
She pats my back. “In that case, enjoy the ride, my friend. The only thing I’m pissed about is losing my wingwoman on girls’ nights out.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I call after her as she returns to her station.
I finish Stephanie’s latte and deliver it to her.
“Let me just get your color ready.”
Walking into the supply room, I bump into Landon, who immediately apologizes.
“Sorry, about the spray. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Landon can be like a young puppy, happily boisterous and sometimes lacking in good judgment.
I brush it off. “It’s fine.”
“My misguided attempt to lighten the atmosphere,” he continues. “This place has been pretty gloomy the past few days.”
He’s not wrong. The tension has been palpable in the salon, with Kim on edge and the rest of us on eggshells around her. Out of consideration for her, we’ve avoided talking about what happened Monday, but it wasn’t easy when Evans showed up at lunchtime yesterday, wanting to question Monique and Landon about what they might have seen. Which ended up being nothing.
“I know. I’m supposed to get my car back today, and hopefully the police have some more answers soon so things can settle down.”
“I still say it was him,” Landon comments, as he lingers in the doorway. “Kim’s ex. I bet he hired some idiot who didn’t know the difference between a Toyota and a Mazda.”
Then he disappears down the hallway.
It’s one possible scenario, and I’m ashamed to admit I hope he’s right.
Because otherwise someone out there has it in for me.
Hog
It turned out to be a really nice day, despite the unseasonable chill this morning.
I was able to get a decent stretch of sleep, even with the persistent hard-on that followed me home. When I woke up, I had a quick visit with Petunia and her brood, talked to Franco about making an appointment with the lawyer to finalize the transfer, and put a call in to the realtor to let her know I’m ready to move on that house in town.
It’s been a productive afternoon already. I even made it into the GMC dealership in Farmington and took the new Suburban for a test drive before heading into Durango. There I stopped in at the real estate office and signed the lease on the house, and now I’m on my way up to the Arrow’s Edge compound to check in with Brick, who runs the auto shop.
I park the truck and get out, and as I walk to the auto shop, Wapi comes out of the clubhouse. I change direction and meet him at the bottom of the steps to shake his hand.
“Congratulations. A girl, I hear. Good luck with that.”
He grins a little sheepishly. “Yeah, I’m sure I’ll need it. Lindsey is already threatening me she’s gonna lock up my guns.”
I chuckle. “Right. Guess sleep is at a premium with all these added responsibilities,” I offer, noting he looks a little the worse for wear.
“No shit,” he reacts, wiping a hand down his face. “Worth it though. It’s all worth it.”
“I bet.”
“Anyway, sorry to rush off on you, but Linds just took the baby over to her mother and the house is empty. I’m going to try and catch a few z’s.”
“Grab it while you can.”
He throws me one of those tough-guy chin lifts I’ve never been able to master, and heads for his bike. I watch him drive off, the look of a man who knows he has it all on his face, and I feel a pang of something close to envy.
I notice Anika’s Miata parked on the far side of the shop as I walk up.
“I had it in the shop for about five seconds,” Brick says, standing in the open bay door, wiping his hands on a rag. “Damn smell is brutal; it sticks to everything.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s pretty bad.”
“Tires I can order, the replacement for the soft top as well, but I don’t know about that smell, man. The car is a mess. Whatever it was leaked into the passenger seat, the inside panel of the door, all the carpeting around the center console, so that all probably has to be replaced. That’s as far as I got without a fuckin’ gas mask, but I’m guessing with fabric covering all the seats, the best thing to do is gut the thing down to the frame.”
That doesn’t sound very promising. I was afraid the smell might be the most challenging.
“For the purposes of her insurance, I’ve done up a quote for what I think it will take,” he continues. “And if the insurance people want to come and have a look—or rather, have a sniff—they’re welcome to.”
“You think it’s gonna end up a write-off?”
He nods. “Yeah. They’ll probably pay out.” He gestures at the car. “If she decides she wants to keep it, I suggest she hold off on the new tires and roof until we know we can get the interior taken care of. Either way, this isn’t a project of a few days.”
Which means she’ll need something to drive. Sharing the truck is fine for a couple of days, but she’s going to want her own wheels.
Unless…
“Sorry about that,”Anika mutters, buckling up.
She’s referring to her staff giving me a hard time when I walked in. They can yap all they want, I don’t give a rat’s ass, but that doesn’t mean I won’t shut it down in a heartbeat if it makes her uncomfortable.
“It doesn’t faze me. Wait until the guys at Station 3 get wind of it. They can be brutal, but even for them, it’s not fun for long if I ignore them.”
She looks surprised.
“They don’t know?”
I shake my head. “Nope. I’m sure it’ll come up sooner than later.”
Mostly because Bodhi is still pissed and refuses to speak to me, but I don’t want to bring that up and make her feel in any way responsible. His silence did not go unnoticed in the firehouse, and Cap called me aside at the end of the shift to ask me what was up. I told him it would sort itself out and he warned me it better or he’d step in.
Whenever there’s an issue that might impact the safe and effective functioning of the crew, our captain forces a group talk. Akin to a family meeting, and they’re about as annoying now as they used to be at home. I get the purpose though; we need to be a cohesive unit at all times. The work is dangerous and all it takes is one of us with a bug up their ass to put the entire crew at risk.
I’m hoping Bodhi will get his head straight before it gets that far.
Looking over, I catch her staring outside.
“I thought I’d give your brother a chance to get used to the idea first.”
She slowly turns her head, and one look in those dark eyes tells me I jumped to the wrong conclusion. She’s not pissed, she’s in pain.
“Okay, I was going to suggest going out for dinner, but how about I run into the May Palace for takeout?”
She nods and flashes me a hint of a smile.
The restaurant is right down the block and as I drive up, an SUV is just pulling away from the curb. I ease into the spot and turn off the engine.
“Anything in particular?”
“Chow mein with tofu for me, please. And extra vegetables.”
“That’s it? Tofu? That’s your protein of choice?”
She snickers. “Judging by that expression, I’m guessing you’re not a fan?”
I feign a shudder and am rewarded with the melodic sound of her laughter. Then she digs through her purse and comes up with a credit card she hands to me.
“Please? You took care of breakfast…and everything else. The least I can do is buy dinner.”
“Fine.”
I take her card with no intention whatsoever to use, but she won’t know until her statement comes in and, by then, she’ll probably have forgotten.
“Hang tight. I’ll be right back,” I tell her, leaning over for a quick kiss.
It’s Wednesday, the restaurant isn’t crazy busy despite the dinner hour. I put in my order and double Anika’s order for chow mein, figuring she have some leftovers for tomorrow night.
By the time I get back to the truck, she’s asleep in the passenger seat.