10. Melanie
CHAPTER 10
Melanie
So far, the job was not the worst decision ever.
Granted, I’d only been working at Haven Auto Restoration for a few days, but I was already getting the hang of things. Luke was back doing whatever it was he did in the garage or sometimes in his office—not that I was keeping track—and we hadn’t fought once.
Okay, so there had been some snide comments here and there. But we’d poked at each other like that when we’d been dating. A little sarcastic banter was how we’d always communicated.
I’d toned down my outfit from the suit I’d worn to my so-called interview. It was a garage, not a corporate office. When I asked Luke if there were expectations regarding dress, he shrugged and said he didn’t care. That made me want to wear either a suit and heels every day or dress like the mechanics in old jeans and faded T-shirts.
Instead of using my wardrobe to provoke Luke, however, I’d decided on a business casual vibe. It was hot out, so I was wearing a lightweight blouse and linen pants, and my hair was up to get it off my neck .
The phone rang, and I answered with exaggerated cheerfulness. “Haven Auto. How can I help you?”
Luke had told me to be myself, but I’d taken some liberties with what that meant and came up with a character to play while I worked. I called her Receptionist Melanie. She essentially had my natural voice—no accent at least—but she was a lot friendlier than the real me. One might even call her bubbly.
It made the job a lot more entertaining.
“Uh, yeah, do you guys fix mufflers?” a male voice on the other end asked.
“Hmm, that depends. What kind of car?”
“It’s a 2017 Honda Civic.”
“Oh my goodness, no. We only deal with cool cars here. But you can try Dusty’s Auto. They work on the nerd mobiles.”
“What?”
“Thank you for calling!” I hung up and smiled. “I’m good at this.”
The UPS guy came in the front door with a small box. He set it on the counter in front of me and tipped his chin.
“Thank you,” I said with a wide smile.
His forehead creased like he wondered what was wrong with me. “Have a good day.”
I toned down the smile and lowered the pitch of my voice just a little. “Thanks. You too.”
Characters were always a work in progress.
The delivery was for Patrick, one of the mechanics. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with it—if anything—but bringing it to him seemed like a logical choice. It wasn’t large, so I picked it up and took it into the garage.
There were four large bays, and all but one of the doors were open. Industrial fans kept the air moving, cutting down on the worst of the heat. They had several cars undergoing restorations. I’d never been much of a car person, but the convertible on the far side looked like it would be fun on a summer evening.
I hesitated for a second, trying to remember which one was Patrick. Was he the one with the beard or the guy with the battered baseball cap?
My eyes locked on a pair of jeans. Or rather, the backside in those jeans.
Luke leaned over a black car with the hood up. I blinked, and I wasn’t in the large garage anymore but in the shop behind his parents’ place. I’d come over without calling first, wanting to surprise him. It had been a hot summer day, and I’d been dressed in nothing but a bikini top and denim shorts, hoping he’d get the hint and take me out to the lake.
I’d walked in while he was working on his car. That was nothing new. He was always working on his car. In those days, it had been a 1960s Chevrolet something or other. I’d teased him that he loved that car more than me.
Turned out, he probably had.
But that day, I’d opened the shop door and stopped to take him in. The way his jeans hugged his body. The stretch of his T-shirt across his shoulders and back when he straightened. The way he’d turned, and the smile that had hooked his mouth when he saw me.
The smile that said there’s my girl .
There’d been a time when being Luke Haven’s girl had been all I ever wanted. I’d thought I had it all.
Luke straightened, and I looked away so he wouldn’t catch me staring. I quickly checked the rest of the garage to make sure no one noticed me watching him. It had only been for a moment, but it was long enough that it would have been obvious. Thankfully, it didn’t look like anyone was paying attention to me.
I didn’t want to have to ask Luke which mechanic was Patrick—and what I should do with his delivery—but considering I was coming up blank, I probably didn’t have a choice. I was about to suck it up and admit I needed his help—cue the heaviest of sighs—when a car pulled up in front of the open garage bay, and a woman got out.
A very attractive woman.
She wore a fitted tank top and a pair of shorts that made her tanned legs look a mile long. Her dark blond hair was long and thick, styled in the type of loose curls I could never seem to get right. She approached the garage with a smile.
Luke sauntered over to her, all casual confidence, and the way he said, “Hey,” made me wonder if he knew her.
My eyes narrowed. Who was she, and what was she doing there? Was she a customer? Or something else?
Was Luke dating her?
Was Luke dating ?
I didn’t know why that thought made me so furious. Our relationship had ended ages ago. We’d both dated other people. I’d married one. I had absolutely no right to be seething with jealousy over Luke talking to another woman.
She wasn’t even another woman. She was just a woman.
A very beautiful woman. Maybe even the type of woman Luke Haven would want to date, if he wasn’t already.
She smiled and nibbled her lower lip. That was a flirtatious move if I’d ever seen one. How dare she? The audacity! The nerve of her!
I needed to turn around and walk away before I did something extraordinarily stupid. Like interrupt them.
Interrupt them. Now there was an idea.
I needed Luke’s help anyway.
I’m not ashamed to admit I straightened my shoulders to emphasize my boobs and swayed my hips a little more than necessary as I walked over to Luke. Especially once he caught a glimpse of me out of the corner of his eye and turned.
“So sorry to bother you,” I said with a smile. “Are you with a customer?”
“Um…” Luke hesitated. “Jenna just had a few questions. ”
“If it’s about scheduling, don’t bother Luke with it. He’s hopeless with the calendar. But I can help if you’d like.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” Jenna said. “I was just asking about an old car my grandpa has.”
I wanted to tell her that maybe her grandpa should be the one to talk to Luke, if it was his car. But jealous ex-girlfriend isn’t a good look, so I bit back my reply.
Besides, I wasn’t jealous. Not even a little bit.
“Sounds good. Luke, when you have a second, I have a question.”
“Sure, Mel.”
I turned and walked back into the garage, willing my ass to look amazing. And wishing I’d worn something sexier than linen pants.
But why? I wasn’t trying to impress Luke Haven. That was just silly.
So what was I doing, swaying my hips as I walked, hoping he was watching?
By the time I got back to my desk, I was livid. At myself. At Luke. At Jenna. At my pants for not making my butt look good. I dropped into my seat with a huff and set the box down.
A few minutes later, the door opened and Luke poked his head in. “Hopeless with the calendar?”
“I wasn’t making that up. Annika forewarned me.”
He rolled his eyes. “Did you really have a question?”
I swiveled the chair so I was facing him. “Of course I had a question. Why else would I have said that?”
He stepped into the lobby, and the door swung shut behind him. The little smirk on his lips made me want to smack it off him.
Or kiss it off him. Once upon a time, that’s exactly what I would have done.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I thought maybe you were… ”
I raised my eyebrows and blinked a few times. “Yes?”
His smirk grew, as did my annoyance. “Never mind. What do you need?”
“I…” I glanced away, suddenly reluctant to admit I needed anything from him. The irrational, jealous part of me wanted to cross my arms and tell him, ‘ Nothing, go talk to your hot new customer.’
But that would have been immature, and I knew it. If I was going to get mad at Luke, I ought to at least wait until he did something that deserved my sass.
I took a quick breath. “Patrick got a package, but I wasn’t sure what I’m supposed to do with it. Or which one is Patrick.”
“Oh,” he said, as if that surprised him. Apparently, he’d been expecting to get my sass. “No worries. It usually takes me a while to remember names, too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. No big deal. Patrick is the one with the beard. Or you can always just open the door and shout. They’ll answer.”
My lips turned up in a small smile. “Thanks.”
“Sure.” He pointed at the box. “Is that the package? I can take it.”
I picked it up and handed it to him. “Great. Thank you. Again.”
“You’re welcome.”
Although I’d gone from ready to spit fire to perfectly calm in the space of our short conversation, I didn’t have emotional whiplash. He hadn’t taken the wind out of my sails so much as lowered them, so the wind wasn’t buffeting me so badly.
A pleasant feeling filled my chest, and my cheeks warmed under his gaze. His voice echoed in my mind, saying those words I’d loved hearing so long ago.
There’s my girl.
I spun the chair back to the desk and coughed a little to clear the lump in my throat. I could still see him from the corner of my eye as he opened the door, the brown box tucked beneath one arm.
“Mel?” His voice was soft.
“Yeah?” I didn’t turn to look at him.
“Her, um… her grandpa really does have an old car.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s what she said.”
“I just mean, I’m not… there wasn’t anything…”
Old wounds that should have healed a long time ago flared with pain. As did my instinct to protect myself. I swallowed hard and put on a smile. “It’s fine. I just work here.”
He let out a frustrated breath. “Right. Yeah. Never mind.”
With my eyes on the desk, I bit the inside of my lip as he walked out into the garage.
A confusing tangle of feelings ate at me from the inside. That was what I got for reminiscing about the good times with him. A stark reminder that he might have been my first love, but he’d also broken my heart.
Maybe he was single now, but living in Tilikum meant I was going to have a front-row seat when that changed. It shouldn’t have mattered. I should have been able to handle it.
But I wasn’t so sure that I could.