Chapter Eight
Aries
I had to tear myself away from watching her all the time. We tried all kinds of conversation starters, but she never spoke about anything deeper than customers, machines, and her schedule for the next day.
She offered us nothing more than the surface-level knowledge, and I wondered why.
What was going on in that pretty head of hers?
I’d turned to leave when my wolf picked up the fainted hint of smoke. Busting through the doors, I let him lead me to the source. A dryer whose cord was on fire. About to burn the place down if I hadn’t been there.
Josie had gone to the alleyway to take out the trash.
I darted to the breaker box and flipped the switch on that wall of the room. The other dryers weren’t in use, and the place was empty, so when Josie came back, I locked the door behind her and flipped the sign to closed.
“What’s going on, Aries?” The way she said my name made me damned near feral.
“The dryer was smoking. I think it’s the cord. A lot of these machines are older, as you found out when the washer went, but we fix what we can. Carver’s got a sore spot for the nostalgia of this place. We’ll keep it closed until we fix it.”
“We?” she asked, smiling.
“What?” I felt myself smile back. “You don’t think I can fix a dryer?”
She shrugged one shoulder. Goddess, how sexy. “The black-on-black suit doesn’t really scream fixer-upper handyman.”
I liked the suit. “What are you saying, Josie? You don’t like the suit? It lets me blend into the shadows.”
Josie snorted and shook her head. “Aries, I don’t think you could blend in if you tried. And I do like the suit.” Her cheeks turned the most beautiful shade of rose. She caught me staring and that blush drifted down to her neck. “What can I do to help?”
I took off the suit jacket and rolled up my sleeves. “I’m gonna pull it out so we can see what’s really going on. First, I have to unplug it so I don’t get electrocuted.”
“I know… I mean…” She spoke in a soft whisper, “That would be a damned shame.”
Ah-ha! She did like me. At least that was something. I pulled the dryer out, unplugged it, and examined the damage. Sure enough, the plug was the issue.
“I think we have some more in the back. Would you mind checking?”
Nodding, she walked away, and I couldn’t tear my eyes from the way her hips swayed. It was mesmerizing. One day, I would get my hands on those hips, and that day couldn’t come quickly enough.
She came back, plug in hand, and, stupid me, I forgot the screwdriver. I retrieved one and got to work. Josie held all the little screws and eventually sat next to me on the floor. “Where did you learn to do all this?”
“My father. He wanted our pack to be as self-sufficient as possible. He learned how to do everything. Encouraged the pack members to go out and become electricians and plumbers and then they would come back and teach the rest of us. We had to work hard every day. He wasn’t the hands-off kind of alpha. ”
She squirmed. “Your father was the alpha?”
“Yes. But not one of the mean ones. He was a good man. When he died, he took a part of me with him.”
Her soft hand landed on my forearm, and my brain clouded. If I had any doubt in my mind that Josie was my mate, they were all dispelled with her touch. “I’m sorry. My mother is dead and…I never knew my father. He is dead as well.”
I covered my hand with hers. “I’m sorry for you too. Do you want to learn how to do this?”
She nodded and I chuckled. Always eager to learn. “Good girl. Get closer and I’ll show you everything. You’ll be fixing these machines in no time.”
We worked side by side, walking through each step until the dryer was ready to plug in. I asked her to step back. Not because I didn’t trust myself but because I wanted to protect her if I hadn’t done everything right.
She stood behind me as I flipped the switch on the breaker box and then plugged it in. “Here we go,” I said.
The dryer came on and worked as though nothing had gone wrong. She clapped, and damn it all if my chest didn’t inflate at her indirect praise.
I was a complete goner.
“You did well!” I told her.
“You did most of the work, Aries.”
I nodded. “At least I didn’t have to do it alone. Thanks for the help.”
She blushed again and my wolf pushed me to do something I swore to myself I wouldn’t until she was ready.
“Josie, would you go out on a date with me? I’d love to get to know you better.”
She reached out and braced herself on the nearest wall. A good sign? A bad sign? “Yes. I’ll go out with you, Aries.”