Chapter 3 #2
“Sorry,” she murmured and gave him the cutest apologetic smile he’d ever seen. There was a small spot of chocolate on her cheek and, without thinking, he reached over and gently wiped it away.
And immediately pulled his hand back as if he’d been burned.
Her skin was soft.
Incredibly soft.
And so warm that he wanted to keep on touching her, but…that would be incredibly awkward.
And presumptuous.
She gave him an odd look before grabbing a napkin and wiping the spot he had just touched. He wasn’t sure if he was offended or not and decided not to harp on it. “Would you like milk and sugar for your coffee?”
“Sure.”
If it were possible to strangle a carton of milk to death, Devin was pretty sure he would have.
He wasn’t sure if MacKenzie wasn’t a morning person or if she was just pissed off about the car, but her one-word answers were really making him crazy now.
Turning toward her, he slammed the milk down and felt a twinge of satisfaction when she jumped.
“Okay, I get it,” he began levelly. “You’re upset about the car, but that’s not my fault.
I came here so we could talk about it privately and figure out all your options.
I’m not looking to rob you or do unnecessary work, MacKenzie.
I’m seriously just trying to help here.” He paused for a moment.
“The car has been seriously neglected and this is what happens.”
The eye roll was small and she looked away kind of fast, but it was definitely there, and he’d had enough.
Stalking around the island, he stopped next to her and spun the stool so she was forced to face him. “What’s going on here?” Her eyes were huge as she looked up at him and suddenly Devin felt like a complete jackass for snapping. “MacKenzie…I’m…”
“Do you have any idea how many offers I get for that car?” she asked, cutting him off.
“On any given week, I get at least three offers to ‘take it off my hands.’” She jumped off the stool, forcing Devin to take a step back.
“And you know what? I’m sick of it! The offer comes in all different varieties–flat-out offers of cash, snarky comments on how it’s not a car for a woman, and my favorite,” she added sarcastically, “comes from shady mechanics who try to convince me it’s not worth fixing.
Well newsflash, buddy,” she went on, stabbing him in the chest with her finger, “I love that car and I don’t care how much it costs or if I have to camp out in the damn bushes for a month to pay for it, I’m fixing it and I’m keeping it! ”
Ah…now they were getting somewhere. No matter how nice he was being, she still didn’t trust him. Well, not him personally, but pretty much people in general.
Okay. That he could work with.
Gently, he took her by the shoulders and guided her back into her seat. Then, reaching for a muffin, he stepped back around to his side of the island. Devin saw the confusion on her face and almost found it comical–but now that he knew what he was up against, he figured he could relax for a minute.
MacKenzie stared at him, and he could see the impatience just radiating off of her. She was cute as hell when she was mad–bordering on sexy–but he wasn’t going to think about that right now. She already didn’t trust him, so he had to tread carefully.
“Devin…”
“Sorry. I’m starving, and Billie makes amazing muffins. We’ll work this all out, but…after I eat my breakfast.”
A snort was her only response while she put her attention on finishing all the chocolate chips that dropped on her plate.
Once he was finished with the muffin, he took a sip of his coffee and put it back down and looked calmly at her.
“It seems to me you think I’m looking to take the Mustang from you.
I’m not.” When she made to argue, he simply held up a hand to stop her.
“I’m not going to lie to you–I’ve always wanted to restore a classic car.
But not to the point I’m willing to lie, cheat, and steal one away from someone.
You love that car? Good. You should. It’s amazing.
But if you want it to get you to Oregon and keep it running for a while, there are some things that have to be done. ”
She was visibly relaxing and Devin almost smiled when she reached over and broke off a piece of the lemon pound cake. Gotta love a woman who wasn’t afraid to eat.
Clearing his throat, he went on. “The head gasket is a must. No way around that. Or the radiator. And the tires? We can probably find you some used ones to help you get by. Considering how far you’re looking to drive, they’re kind of important.
But I think once those are done, you should be okay. Just don’t wait too long on the hoses.”
“And the exhaust?”
He shrugged. “I can patch the worst spots and make sure everything’s secure until you’re ready to do it.” If it were him, he’d do it all just so the damn car would be safe, but he understood there was the cost to consider. He gave her the figures and then felt bad when she paled.
Looking up at him, she sighed. “I…I don’t know, but I guess I’ll put it on a credit card–or twenty,” she mumbled.
Devin was nothing if not fair. “Okay, let’s make a deal.”
She eyed him warily and he realized how creepy that probably sounded.
“It’s going to take me at least a week to do all the work. Between the labor and getting the parts in, that’s the soonest it will be done. If I had to guess, I’d say you’d best plan for that, but it could take longer.”
“Longer than a week?” she cried. “For real? How is that even possible?”
He shrugged. “Sweetbriar Ridge is a small town. I have to order the stuff from Richmond and–again–we’re not dealing with a run-of-the-mill car. It’s a classic and the parts are harder to come by.”
“Which is another word for ka-ching !” she mocked.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Devin mentally counted to ten. “I can’t help the cost of the parts, MacKenzie. But we can certainly work something out on the labor.”
Once again, she jumped up from her seat, but rather than saying anything to him, she stormed from the room.
Curious, Devin followed her. He found her in the guest room stuffing her belongings into her duffel bag as she muttered under her breath about men being pigs and not trading sex for car repairs.
“Hey!” he said, leaning in the doorway and feeling more than a little annoyed. “I get that you think all guys are scum, but I resent being lumped in with that.”
“Oh really? Well, too bad!” She never even broke stride and kept shoving stuff in her bag.
“I was going to offer you a job at the shop!” he shouted and then wanted to kick himself. His mother would have slapped him upside the head for raising his voice to a woman–even a woman who was getting on his every last nerve.
MacKenzie stopped and stared at him. “What?”
Pushing off the wall, he slowly walked into the room, crowding her into a corner. “That’s right–a job at the shop. Business has been a little crazy and we really need someone manning the phones and the desk. It’s not a great job, but it’s something.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah…oh,” he mimicked. “And I figured you’d be able to keep an eye on things so you’d be comfortable in knowing I wasn’t trying to rip you off.”
“Oh.”
He was starting to feel a little smug. “Look, I’m sorry some guy hurt you or that some guy took advantage of you. But that’s not me, okay? All I’m looking to do is help you out and send you on your way.”
“Oh.”
She was sorely testing his patience again with her one-word answers. His mouth was set in a grim line as he forced himself to not say anything else to upset her.
“I…I still don’t have a place to stay. Between the reunion this weekend and the festival thing the week after, and…”
“You can stay here.”
She rolled her eyes and this time she didn’t try to hide it. “Seriously? And I’m not supposed to lump you in with all the creeps of the world?” With a snort, she shook her head. “I knew you were too good to be true.”
In that moment, Devin had no idea how to respond, but ultimately went with his go-to.
The truth.
“You might not believe this, but there are no strings attached to this deal. We can go to the shop and I’ll make some calls and find you someone else to stay with.
A female someone,” he added for emphasis.
“I can’t guarantee that you’ll find anyone, but we’ll go knocking door to door if that’s what it takes to make you feel better.
I realize you don’t know me, but you can trust me. There are no ulterior motives here.”
Fortunately, that seemed to give her pause, and she looked like she was considering it.
“Devin…I really appreciate all that you’re doing, but I can’t do that.
Staying here with you last night–a stranger–was way beyond my comfort zone and probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
As for calling your friends and neighbors?
I’m not overly comfortable with that either.
All I know is that I can’t stay here. It’s…
it’s just not right. I’m going to have to call some of the hotels that are a little farther away and… ”
“And then what? How are you going to get back and forth into town? I’ll admit, I don’t mind giving you a job and a place to stay, but I don’t have the time to be driving an hour back and forth every day.
” Raking a hand through his hair, he paced a few feet away.
“And do you really want to add the cost of calling a cab or one of those ride-share services every day, twice a day?”
“I hadn’t thought about that.”
Nodding, he carefully argued his case one more time.
“If everything goes the way I think it will, you’ll be here for a week to ten days, tops.
Obviously I have the room, you’ll have your privacy, and a job.
By staying here, you won’t have to spend money on a hotel and rides.
I know you need the money for the car repairs and to get yourself all the way across the country. ”