8. Chapter 8
Chapter 8
S triding into the breakroom, Ezra dropped the bakery box of cinnamon rolls onto the Formica table and headed straight for the coffee maker. He grunted in appreciation as he followed the instructions taped to the cupboard, measuring out fresh grounds into the reusable basket Jorie had insisted was healthier for them and more eco-friendly than paper filters.
The girl was a coffee tyrant, downright sassy — something he secretly got a kick out of. Heaven forbid one of them didn’t follow the instructions. He was more inclined to acknowledge her process now that the glass carafe sparkled as he filled it to the appropriate line with fresh water. No matter who made it, each and every pot was fan-fucking-tastic. The guys had all made favorable comments.
Things had definitely changed, and for the better, since Jorie had come to work for them. There were little things he’d never have noticed otherwise because he’d never had anything to compare it with. Like a stellar cup of coffee. When Kirsty had worked here, she never cared what anyone else drank because she had one of those individual cup machines with those fancy flavored pods set up near her desk.
Yeah, Jorie had made their lives more enjoyable in so many ways. Even if he was currently suffering from blue balls, and she seemed to be delighting in that just a little too much over the last few weeks, he knew she was an asset to the garage and, more importantly, a blessing to him.
Christmas and the New Year had come and gone, and so had Jorie’s sister and father. Not even eighteen hours after Rooster and his friends had jumped them, Grizzly had arrived — without warning, of course — and he hadn’t come alone. He’d brought three of his brothers with him. His club brothers. They all wanted to make sure their princess was really okay. Ezra couldn’t help but curl his lip in amusement. Jorie hated being called “Princess,” Ezra would be sure to use it when she was being difficult.
She’d seemed surprised but cautiously pleased at her family’s arrival. She was even more relieved when the overprotective brutes finally went home. I don’t think she realized they’d come to take my measure; I’d gotten plenty of warnings about how I would suffer if I hurt her, and God help me if she stubbed so much as a cute little toe.
As for Rooster, shortly after Jorie hung up with her dad, he got his own phone call. The ass-chewing he received could be heard by all of us, even though the phone wasn’t on speaker. He and his buddies disappeared soon after, with only a few sulky glances from Rooster toward my woman, but he didn’t say another Goddamn word.
With her family visiting and a mother of all snowstorms complicating things further, work had piled up, pulling Ezra away. He and Jorie hadn’t gotten any time alone to explore things between them, but that was about to change.
Ezra and Aaron were finally ready to reveal their plans for Curtis Garage and the future. About ten minutes after the morning’s meeting wrapped up, Ezra would be revealing his plans to nail down his relationship with his enticing little woman too, with "nail" being the key word. Ezra could hardly wait. He couldn’t remember the last time he anticipated something so much…and it wasn’t because of the meeting.
Tobias was the first to arrive, with Manny and Jorie soon following. Ezra kept his expression contained, but he winked at Jorie as she breezed through the door. She flashed him a cheeky grin and made a beeline for the coffee pot.
When Aaron escorted the Mayor, along with the producer and attorney for the reality show, through the door, the mechanics gave them their full attention. Ezra figured they were eager to find out what all the secrecy was about over the last few months, so he gestured to Aaron to make the introductions and lay it all out for them.
Ezra stood back and observed, but mostly, he kept his eyes on his woman. At first, he could tell by the tilt of her chin that she was curious. When she peeked up at him, he saw the excitement in her gaze. Somewhere toward the end of the presentation, he stopped daydreaming about how the two of them were going to spend the evening and frowned when he noticed the changes in Jorie’s body language. What the fuck was going on?
When the attorney finished outlining the contracts and the steps each employee should take moving forward, the producer practically tripped over himself to reach Jorie’s side. I didn’t like what I knew of the guy since we started negotiations. Thank God he was the executive producer and not one of the field producers on-site during filming. When Jorie took a step away from him, I moved closer to hear what he was saying.
“…thank me for your position. I told ‘em to hire a sexy broad to boost the ratings. Damn, these boys didn’t fool around. They’ve got the other two garages beat hands down. They’re gonna have to scramble if they want to compete. Had the meeting the same day they discovered you. Stroke of luck it was. Probably stroking something else too, by the look of you. How these guys get any work done is a miracle, am I right?”
“I told ‘em, it wouldn’t matter if you can tie your shoes, let alone turn a wrench, as long as you can cause drama–and lookin’ at you, baby, I bet you’re causing a lot of drama already with these boys, am I right, or am I right? Keep this aesthetic.” He waved his hand as his eyes traveled over her body, then frowned. “You might wanna consider a boob job before we start filming though. Big tits equal big ratings. I have a card, one of my golf buddies could do it for half price. Just tell him I…”
“Could you excuse me?” Jorie lifted her phone and glanced at the screen. “I’ve…uh, I have to take this.”
“Sure, sure. You think about what I said, baby doll.”
Jorie grimaced as she turned, but she held her head high and her shoulders straight as she walked out of the breakroom.
Ah, fuck. This was not good.
I started to follow her, but Mr. Big Fucking Mouth Executive Producer blocked my way and started spouting the same shit.
“Fuck!” Aaron practically leapt over the table to reach us. He cast a worried glance out the door toward the garage bays. “Go after her, man. I’ll handle this. Sit on Jorie if you have to and make her understand that’s not really how it happened. I know it looks bad, Ezra, and sounded even worse coming from this jackass, but you have to make this right. We can’t lose her.”
He was right, but there was no “we” about it. Ezra couldn’t lose her.