Chapter 3 – Kira
KIRA
W ay past the point of feeling awkward or embarrassed, I gather up the skirts of my gown and flounce back into the main area of the auto shop.
The stupid, fancy getaway car is up on a lift of sorts while West, the hot mechanic, stands beneath it, his body angled in a position that looks none-too-comfortable although he doesn’t seem to be bothered as he cranes his neck back, searching and tinkering around in the undercarriage.
Lucky car.
A toothpick protrudes from between his lips, and his eyes are cast hard in concentration until he hears the door shut behind me. He gives me a quick, cursory look before his eyes go back to his task.
“Hey, you doing okay?” he asks, while still focusing on the car and I can’t help but notice that he’s very in his element right now.
Like the scruff of his jaw, the corded muscles in his forearms as he twists and wrenches at something, the mechanic shirt, the worn and dirty jeans; it’s all coming together with the smell of gas and oil, the clang of metal.
“Yeah,” I start, my voice a dreamy sigh before I jolt and straighten up, clearing my throat. “I was able to make one call, and then my phone went dead. Do you have a charger I could borrow?”
“You bet, just a minute,” he nods, still watching what he’s doing.
God, even his voice is sweet but thick with dirty promises.
“Were you able to get ahold of anyone?” He asks, this time bringing his arms down and regarding me as he tosses a soiled wrench onto a nearby tool cart and exchanges it for a just as dirty cloth that he starts wiping his hands on.
They are covered in all kinds of dirt and soot, as well as those sinfully tanned forearms that flex with every movement.
I falter a little, bringing my shoulder up in an uncomfortable shrug.
“I only really wanted to talk to one person, and he’s got a date tomorrow morning with a guy he’s been crushing on forever, so…
yeah? I kind of told him not to hurry down to get me.
So I was hoping you could point me in the direction of a hotel? ”
He sighs heavily as he looks off to the side and I wonder what that’s about. Hopefully I’m not annoying, or burdening the guy. “The closest one is in Westbridge, the next town over,” he murmurs.
“Okaaay…” I respond, feeling a little nervous. “Is there something wrong? I sense a ‘but’ coming.”
“Oh,” his eyebrows relax and he shakes his head. “No there’s no problem, I’m happy to take you there.” He takes the toothpick out of his mouth and licks his lips.
Kegel!
“Let me grab you that charger, and you can use the office phone in the meantime to call the hotel.”
“Okay great,” I gather my dress up once again to follow him.
He clears his throat, looking nervous as he slows and moves beside me, taking hold of the part of my dress that’s still dragging.
It’s a gesture I wouldn’t expect from the men in my world, and coming from this mechanic, who doesn’t even know me, it sends a glowing flicker through my body.
There’s something sweet but sensual about it .
He must catch my look of dumbfounded wonder. “This place is filthy, not the best place for a …” he trails off as I continue to look between him, and his grease- and soot-covered hand holding my dress.
“Fuck,” he grinds out when he sees what he’s doing.
“It’s okay,” I tell him on a breath, as I’m still taken aback by this dangerously attractive man helping me carry my dress. “Not like I need it to stay pretty now,” I try to joke, lifting a shoulder.
“No, fuck. I’m sorry just - here …” he shuffles past, squeezing between me and a stack of tires and dammit he smells good. Like motor oil and bad decisions got together for a cool splash in a crystal lake.
“Do you have anything to change into?” He asks as he moves towards a door with a narrow window on it and pushes it open, sweeping a hand for me to pass.
“Yeah I’ve got my honeymoon suitcase in the trunk,” I mention and we both look up over our shoulder to regard the dumbass snooty car that’s up on the lift.
“Oh,” his chest rumbles with a lighthearted chuckle. “I’ll get that down as soon as I can, hopefully while you’re on the phone.”
The office is about what you’d expect, with fluorescent lighting, a metal desk and a very basic rolling chair.
Although it is surprisingly organized, with a place for everything, and a cordless phone sits atop it on a charging dock.
I hand my phone over to West, who plugs it into a charger that sits on top of a filing cabinet before pulling his own from his pocket.
He makes a few taps on the screen as I sit on the chair and try not to admire his filthy, manly fingers.
Preston’s hands were always nicely manicured and now the idea of them makes me sick because all of a sudden, all I want are this man’s hands all over me, dirt and all.
I get a whiff of his rugged scent once again as he leans over me to scribble a number on a yellow Post-it note.
God, universe, mother nature, whoever is out there… please, either ki ll me right now or give me an orgasm. I think it’s the least you could do. Thanks.
“That’s the number of the hotel,” he explains in a low grumble as he—sadly—leans away and heads towards the door. “I’ll check back in a few minutes,” he assures before ducking out of the room.
I look down at the black smudge his hand left on my dress and then back at the door he just exited through and then shake my head. I’m really losing it if I’m lusting after a total stranger.
A few minutes later, I find myself without a place to stay as the hotel is all booked up for some event this weekend. I hang the phone up with a sigh, unsure what to do next. I didn’t exactly have a plan B for tonight - hell, that was my plan B. What the hell do I do now? Pitch a tent?
I’d say I’ve been a pretty damn good trooper through this whole debacle, but now, I think it might be catching up to me.
I’m sitting alone in a wedding dress in the middle of nowhere.
Dammit Kira… do not make breaking down and bawling in your wedding dress the cherry on the crap sundae that is your day.…Change into other clothes first.
Fanning away tears with my hands, I take a couple of deep breaths and stand.
With my dress - which is now becoming obnoxious - swishing through the door, I enter the work area to be immediately greeted by West’s ass.
And more filthy thoughts are invading my brain, like how I want to work those jeans down and take a bite out of that sculpted, manly ass; or grip onto it while he rails me on the hood of that stupid car.
“Hey,” I gently announce my return and he does that sexy thing, tossing his hair out of his eyes to look over his shoulder at me.
“Hey, any luck?” He seems about to look back down at his work but does a double take at me. Lines of what looks like worry etch his forehead as he straightens up. “Whoa, hey… are you okay?” He asks, tossing his wrench aside once again and striding over to me with a determination that overwhelms me.
“I’m great,” I lie, opening my eyes wider both to get the point across and hoping it will dry them out so they don’t look misty.
“Yeah, just, there’s no vacancies at that hotel so I’m not sure what to do next, but hey!
” I wave a hand, trying to convince us both of my non-chalance. “I’ll figure it out.”
His hands find a resting place on his hips and I see him look away, his jaw set hard. I notice a few beads of sweat dotting his temples and my vagina sobs.
Please… after today … can’t you listen to Toby and just let us have this one thing?
Fuck off, you rebellious, traitorous, horny BITCH!
West decides to further taunt me by pushing a hand through his hair and muttering a curse under his breath.
“Seriously, I’ll be fine. I’m nothing if not resourceful!” I continue, starting to get a little offended by his demeanor. “You don’t have to act so put out.”
Speaking of putting out –
Great, there she goes again.
Shut up, you pitiful whore!
“It’s not that,” he holds his hands up in gentle defense before pushing both through his hair in frustration. “Shit,” he mutters.
“What?” I hold my hands out. “Go ahead and tell me. Believe me, I can take it.”
“You’ve done nothing wrong.” He plants a hand back on his hip and holds the other up in explanation. “That’s just it. You’ve done nothing wrong, and yet here you are, this whole situation is fucked up and it’s pissing me off.”
I’m truly mystified. Other than Toby, no one has ever acted like they give this much of a fuck about how I’m doing.
“I may have just met you, but you deserve better.” He fixes his eyes on me adamantly.
I let out a sigh and shake my head uncomfortably. “Like you said, you just met me. You don’t know what I deserve. All you know is that I’m a black sheep that was trying not to be by doing just one thing that was expected of me, and lo and behold, I ran away from that.”
“Because you deserve better,” he says again with even more weight behind it.
“You tried to please your parents by tying yourself to someone you barely tolerated—for the rest of your life. When the one person who cared enough offered to come and get you, you let him off the hook so he wouldn’t have to cancel plans you knew were important to him.
” His voice gets more emphatic as he steps closer.
“So you ran out on your wedding?” He shakes his head with a scoff.
“You deserve to be surrounded by people that support you for not handing your life over to a fucking piece of scum-shit who cheated on your fucking wedding day. You deserve a fiancé that respects you, and he’s a motherfucking moron for not being adventurous with you in the bedroom. I mean, if I -”
Oh… that’s right. The word-vomit in the truck ride over here. But I can’t be bothered with that right now. He just said ‘I’ . “You what?” I ask, urging him with my eyes to please continue. My curiosity over where he was going with that way trumps standing on ceremony now.
“Fuck,” he groans out and drops his head back to look at the ceiling. “Shit, I’m sorry. I’ve crossed a serious line here. I just… you’re beautiful.”
Wow.
“You’re so. Fucking. Beautiful,” he spells out, leveling me with that piercing stare again. “You’re beautiful and breathtaking. You’re alluring, and if I were your fiancé…”
“What?” I demand as my pussy throws a tantrum in my panties. “What would you do?”
“Everything you wanted!” He finally explodes.
“I’d take you in every savage, dirty way possible!
I would ravage the fuck out of you like I might never get another chance!
Fuck!” He steps away as if he’s afraid being too close to my space will bring along the world exploding.
Clearly, he’s feeling like he’s just made an epic fuckup as a professional and is probably terrified I’m going to give him a shitty Yelp review stating sexual harassment, but that couldn’t be the farthest thing from my mind right now as I dash over to him, closing the few feet of distance to not even a hair.
Throwing my arms around his neck, I crash my lips down on his.
He makes a surprised grunt that vibrates against my lips, and it quickly turns to a sensual groan.
His arms go around me as his lips attack mine in return.
His mouth mauls and works at mine, devouring and dominating as much as he can and the thrill that barrels through my body tells me this is already worth whatever shame I might feel later.
He pulls away only enough to speak. “What the fuck is happening?”
I don’t think he really cares about the answer, as he crushes his mouth against mine again. He pulls me in tighter, lifting me off the floor and taking my breath away.
“Do it,” I murmur against his lips.
“What?”
“Do everything you just said.”