Chapter Six
“What’re you going to do?”
“I don’t know!” Elena hissed, pacing back and forth. She kicked the tire of her roommate’s ancient Honda and growled. It wasn’t the tires fault the engine wouldn’t start but she needed something to take her aggression out on. “I can’t be late on my first day, Sol!”
“Let me think,” her best friend told her over the phone.
“Make it fast.” She checked the time on her watch and tried not to tear up in frustration.
This morning had been a shit show of epic proportions starting with her alarm’s failure to go off when it was supposed to. Waking up an hour later than she’d planned, Elena had been scrambling since then. Her luck was the worst. The outfit she’d set out the night before had a stain she hadn’t noticed, the milk she’d planned on using for her cereal was expired, and now her roommate’s car wouldn’t start.
She was about to fucking lose it.
“I can order you a ride,” Marisol offered. “I don’t know how long the wait is, but it’d be faster than taking the bus.”
“Don’t do that,” she argued, immediately shooting that idea down. Her bestie couldn’t afford the twenty dollars it would take to get to the other side of town in the heavy morning traffic any more than Elena could. “With how far I am out of town, it’ll be a million dollars.”
“I warned you—”
“I know, I know,” she interrupted before her best friend could finish the familiar ‘I told you so’.
Marisol had been against her renting this place from the get-go, but Elena hadn’t cared. Technically, she couldn’t afford to care. The housing market was a goddamn mess and far from renter friendly. With a limited budget, this was the only place that hadn’t made her feel like she needed to shower after looking at it.
The only reason this place was cheap was because of its location. She rented a room in a house on the outskirts of town; surrounded mostly by farmland. Ester and Eloise, the elderly lesbian couple that owned the home, charged her practically nothing to stay in their spare room. In return, Elena ran errands, kept the house clean, and organized their medications every Sunday. Neither one of them had a valid driver’s license so they also let her use their older-than-fuck car— when it was running .
“What’re you going to do?”
She took a deep breath, knowing she really had no other choice but to do the absolute last thing she’d wanted to do.
“I’m going to call Taffy, explain what happened, and hope she doesn’t fire my ass.” She looked back at the car in disappointment. Harold the Honda had let her down bigtime this morning. “I might as well see if the shop can tow Ester’s car in while I’m at it.”
“I’m sure Mrs. Iron will understand,” her bestie rushed to reassure her. “Shit happens, right?”
“Yeah,” she sighed. Shit did happen. It just seemed that she had more than her fair share lately. “I’m just tired of it all happening to me.”
The reminder on her phone beeped, letting her know she only had ten minutes to figure out what she was going to do before she was officially late.
“I’ve got to go.”
“Okay. Text me and let me know what happens. I’m getting ready to go into class.”
After a quick goodbye, Elena pulled up the Iron Seeds Garage contact info. She clicked on the phone number attached to their business page, crossing her fingers that she wasn’t about to get fired before her first shift.
“Iron Seeds, how can I help you?”
She blinked. Whoever it was they had answering phones had such a low voice it sent shivers down her spine.
“Hello?”
“Sorry,” she apologized with a nervous laugh. This was already off to a cringeworthy start. She had to get it together. “Hi! Can I speak to Taffy please?”
“Who’s this?” he asked gruffly.
“Elena.” She swallowed hard. “I’m her new assistant. Today’s actually my first day…if I can ever get there.”
She mumbled the last part but there was no way the man on the other end could miss it.
“What’s goin’ on, honey?”
Elena blinked. His voice had lowered even more if that was possible, mesmerizing her. She wondered if he ever thought about narrating romance novels because he’d be perfect for it. Gruff but still sexy. She could sit and listen to him talk forever.
“What do you need?”
Her insides warmed at the innocent questions, surprising her.
That was weird.
“Elena?”
“Oh,” she said quickly, realizing she hadn’t answered yet like a goober. She rolled her eyes at herself. “My car won’t start…well, actually it’s my roommate’s car but that doesn’t change the fact that it won’t start. I was hoping to let Taffy know I’m going to be late and maybe get it towed?”
“Sure thing, darlin’.” The sound of rustling paper filled the line. “What’s the address? I can come right now.”
“You’ll come?” she repeated, her voice higher than normal. While she was jonesing to know what Mr. Mesmerizing looked like, it also made her nervous. She’d painted a vague picture of him in her head based off his voice and the expectations she had were high. There was no way he was going to live up to them and that was a bummer. With the luck she’d had lately, the guy probably had four teeth and a combover.
“Yep. Right after I let Taffy know what’s going on, I’ll head your way.”
“Wait,” she said, before he could do anything. Her money was so tight, she may not have enough to cover getting the car to the shop. Especially since her rental was considered ‘out of town’, making everything more expensive. She was embarrassed to admit it, but she might have to ask Taffy to take it out of her first paycheck depending on the amount— if she still even had a job. “Can you give me an idea how much it’ll cost?”
The line was silent for a few seconds.
“You work here, right?” he asked after a beat.
“If I can ever get there,” she answered, checking her watch again. She was supposed to be on the clock in three minutes and that obviously wasn’t going to happen. “And if Taffy doesn’t fire me.”
“She’s not going to fire you,” he reassured her with a rumbling chuckle.
“Then yes, I work there.”
“Don’t worry about the cost,” he ordered firmly. “We’re not going to charge you. If I’m wrong, I’ll cover it myself. Now, where am I picking you up?”
Elena wasn’t exactly sure what was happening right now, but she wasn’t about to question it. She rattled off the address and sat down on the front porch to wait. She was so worried she was going to get fired, she was sweating. Fanning her pits anxiously, she tried to distract herself by imagining what her rescuer might look like.
She couldn’t remember many details about the crew from her visit to the garage. Elena had been more focused on paying attention to Taffy than anything else, so she’d only given the guys that were working a glance.
Not that it mattered anyways.
She’d witnessed enough chaos to know that hooking up with a co-worker was a bad idea all around. She needed this job more than she needed any drama that would come with dating an Iron Seeds member.
No matter how hot he was.
Twenty minutes later, an Iron Seeds Garage tow truck was pulling up in front of the house and the second hottest man she’d ever seen in her life climbed out.
“Holyfuck,” she whispered to herself as he approached.
“Elena?” he asked, his smile growing as he scanned her up and down.