11. Beau
BEAU
C orbin arrived five minutes early the next day, dressed in an old t-shirt and sweats. I intended to send him home with his dirty coveralls and make him wash them himself, but after he’d pitched a fit, I’d forgotten, so I handed him a fresh pair.
“Leave on your t-shirt and underwear and you’ll be more comfortable, but lose the sweats, even though it’s chilly today.”
“It was hot as fuck in here yesterday.”
“It tends to be like that.” And with Corbin near me, I’d be hot even if I was working in a freezer.
The boy just did something to me. As much as I hated it, I was getting damn tired of fighting it. Why the hell did I have to want someone who could bring me so much fucking trouble?
As I watched Corbin throughout the day, I could see that his attitude had already improved a lot. I could tell he was sore, and I saw the cuts and scrapes on his hands. The day before, those hands had been perfectly smooth and probably slathered in hundred-dollar moisturizer.
I wanted them on my body. I wanted to feel every bit of work he’d done for me. He needed this. He needed someone to expect something from him, to demand he do it and do it right instead of just letting him run wild.
I’d started this as a challenge to distract myself. I thought it would be fun to play with him, to tease and torment him a little, but now I was way too fucking invested. I wanted him to learn something, not as a punishment, but so he could have what he wanted—his family’s respect.
In the late afternoon, after watching him eat a piece of king cake like it was going to make him come, I called him over to an Escalade I was working on. “You ready to learn something?”
“Um… sure.” I’d never seen him look so nervous.
“You might be a brat, you might not have worked as hard in your entire life as you have these last two days, but never have I thought you weren’t smart. If I teach you something, you can learn it.”
He looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language.
“Corbin?”
He shook his head. “I’m not… I don’t catch on all that quick, not like…”
“You need to stop comparing yourself to your brothers. Decide you want to do something, and just do it.”
“Okay. Whatever. Just show me.”
I wanted to bitch at him and demand he rephrase that to show himself and me some respect, but I didn’t. I bent and popped the hood. “Tell me what you know.”
Corbin stared at the inner workings of the car.
“I’ve never…” He blushed and looked away.
“Someone’s always taken care of my cars for me.
I mean, I know one of these things checks the oil.
I guess it’s this.” He pointed to the handle labeled Engine Oil.
“I know there’s someplace you can put water in a radiator and…
Look, if you want to humiliate me, just?—”
“Corbin, look at me.”
He did, and for the first time, I saw pain in his eyes instead of anger or arrogance. “I’m not trying to humiliate you. I genuinely want to know what you know so I can teach you what you don’t.”
“Just assume I don’t know anything.”
I shook my head. “What kind of car is this?”
“It’s a Cadillac Escalade. Probably 2018 or 2019.”
“See? You do know something.”
“All I know is aesthetics. I know what I like when I see it or sit inside it. But that’s nothing.”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing wrong with appreciating cars for their aesthetics, but it’s also good for everyone to know some basic maintenance.”
“Okay.” Corbin braced his hands on the front of the car and leaned in to look more closely. I stepped beside him and despite knowing I shouldn’t, laid my hand flat against the middle of his back. He sucked in his breath, and I swear I could feel his heat through the thick fabric of the coveralls.
I leaned in close. There was no need to whisper, but I found myself keeping my voice low, talking right by his ear.
He shivered under my touch, which only made me press against him more.
I laid my hand over his and guided it. Sure, I could’ve just pointed things out to him, but I needed to touch him, and I wanted him to touch the car and not be afraid of it.
He needed to recognize he could learn new things, and putting your hands on something was one of the best ways to learn.
I guided his hand over to the radiator overflow tank. “This holds coolant used by the radiator.”
“The radiator keeps the car from overheating, right?” He turned to look at me as he said it, and suddenly our lips were inches apart.
I wanted to kiss him so badly. My heart pounded.
He licked his lips, and it was all I could do not to go after his tongue, suck it into my mouth, and bite his plump lower lip.
His eyes widened as I moved my hand slowly up his back to cup his neck.
I felt him tremble. “B-Beau.”
“Beau!”
It took me a moment to realize it wasn’t Corbin saying my name the second time; it was Sam. She was shouting, and I heard other people yelling. There was some kind of commotion outside. Reluctantly, I let go of Corbin. “I need to go see?—”
More shouting interrupted me. I heard the word fire and took off running. Corbin was right behind me.
“What the fuck is going on?” I yelled when I reached Sam. She was walking around the side of the secondary garage.
Before she could answer, Leland came running up. “He’s gone. We lost him.”
“How the fuck did he get in?” Sam asked.
“He cut a hole in the fence.”
“Somebody better tell me what happened right fucking now,” I demanded. Whatever it was, I knew it was bad. I realized Corbin was right behind me, and somehow that helped the tension leave my body.
Joey joined us then, and he spoke first. “I went out to see if I could use a part off that old Corvette near the back fence and saw someone I didn’t recognize. At first, I thought it must be a customer that had wandered back here, then I saw he had a gas can.”
Oh fuck. We’d come close to a complete disaster.
“When he approached the building and started pouring it on the ground, I ran to stop him as I yelled for Sam. The guy took off, but he was fucking fast. I thought I had him trapped because he was heading for the back fence, but he slipped right through. He must have cut a hole earlier. That was probably how he got in.”
And, of course, because it was the middle of the day the alarm was turned off. I wondered how long the hole had been there. Could it have been there for days and none of us fucking noticed?
I’d been sure someone was out there the night before.
I’d seen the shadows move in a way that wasn’t natural when I’d looked out my bedroom window.
I went to investigate, but I couldn’t find anyone or any evidence that someone had been there.
Now, I was even more certain of what I’d seen.
I must’ve scared whoever it had been off.
What the hell would make them come back before the shop closed for the day?
Was Guidry or whoever the hell was after me trying to kill me now rather than just trying to run me off or send me back to prison?
“Leland and Joey, I want that fence fixed before you leave today.” I was going to have to figure out how to prevent anyone else from getting in, but I knew until I figured out who was behind this, things were only going to get worse.
“Sure, boss,” Joey said. Leland nodded in agreement.
“If you see anyone else that doesn’t belong here, don’t hesitate to take them out. Based on what’s been happening, we need to assume they intend us harm.”
“Hesitating is a good way to get killed,” Sam said. “I think we all know that.”
“I’m taking Corbin home. I’ll be back in a while, and I’ll keep watch tonight.”
“I could stay with you,” Joey offered.
Company would be nice, but I wasn’t going to put any of my employees in more danger than they were already in. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine on my own.”
When I looked back at Corbin, he was frowning. “I have my car today. You don’t need to give me a ride.”
He was wrong about that. If someone had been watching us, waiting for an opportunity to burn the place down, they’d likely seen Corbin.
If they knew who he was and they chose to follow him, there could be a hell of a lot of trouble.
I had no doubt he was skilled with weapons.
His brothers wouldn’t have let him be that soft, but this was my fight. I wasn’t going to let it touch him.
“Yes, I do. Someone is going after me and things I care about, and if they hurt you, I’ll have to answer to your brother.” The hurt look on his face let me know right away that I’d said the wrong thing.
“Tell Remy I refused to listen. That’s what he would expect of me anyway.”
This was not up for debate. “I won’t let you get hurt because of me.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“This isn’t the first thing that’s happened at the shop.”
“What? You knew someone was after you, but you still thought it would be a good idea to have me work here? Maybe that’s what Remy needs to hear.”
“Maybe we need to work this out between us and forget about your brother.”
“Fine. I’m going home, and you can stay here and get this shit figured out.
Let me know when you think it’s safe for a helpless child like me to return.
” He walked away, and I stood there for a moment caught between the desire to strangle him, my cock’s insistence that a good hard fuck would teach him a lesson, and a deep need to protect him.
“Corbin!” The little brat didn’t turn around.
I caught up to him easily and moved between him and his car door. He slammed his hands against my chest. “Move.”
“No. I want to know you’re safe.”
“I’m not your responsibility.
“The fuck you’re not. Like you pointed out, I’m the one who demanded you work here when I knew there was shit going down. I’m taking you home. We can take your car or mine.”
“If I’m fucking stuck with you, then I at least want another ride in the Miata.”
I rolled my eyes, but I was more thrilled than I’d admit that he liked my car. “Get your ass over there.”
“Are you always this impossible?”
“Yes. Are you always this stubborn?”
“Since birth.”
I wanted to kiss the smirk right off his face. “And no one’s ever disciplined you?”
I saw him shiver as he walked in front of me.
“Corbin?”
“I don’t need you or anyone else. I can take care of myself.”
The whole ride to Remington’s house I couldn’t think about anything but how badly I wanted to see and feel and hear Corbin’s reactions to my hand slapping his ass again and again and how close I’d come to kissing him.
Corbin spent most of the time staring out the window and pouting, but occasionally he glanced over at me. I hoped his thoughts were as filthy as mine. I had no business wanting that, not when being around me could get him killed and not when the nature of his family’s business made him off-limits.
I should tell him our deal was over. He could pay me a rush fee to take care of Remington’s car, and our business would be done. I’d have the car dropped off, and I wouldn’t have to see him again.