Chapter 11
SHELBY
“You expect me to believe you know how to fix a dryer?” I asked. “I call bullshit.”
Carter laughed at that. “Maybe you don’t know everything about me like you think you do.”
“I’m pretty sure you’ve never been an appliance repairman,” I said. “Or is that your side hustle?”
“I’m not a professional, but I dabble.”
“So you’re an amateur appliance repairman? No, thank you. I’ll pass. Go dabble with someone else’s dryer.”
“I don’t want to dabble with someone else’s dryer. I want to dabble with yours.” He smiled. “Look, my uncle is a repairman. I used to work with him in the summers when I was a kid. He showed me a lot.”
“That’s a heartwarming story, but how long ago was that? Like twenty years ago?”
Carter nodded and smiled. “Something like that, but lucky for you, your dryer is like thirty years old.”
“You’re hilarious. Was your uncle a comedian too?” I was trying my best to play it cool, but Carter had been intensely shirtless this entire time.
He had gotten some color from being in the sun, and I was captivated by the hard ridges of muscle on his chest and back. They flexed with every little movement he made, making it difficult to concentrate on anything aside from his body.
Carter wore nothing but his plaid boxers, so he was basically in shorts, which wasn’t technically inappropriate, but I kept noticing the outline of his dick, thick and appearing to have some heft to it.
My hands itched to feel it and I shoved them in my pockets to keep from doing something I would regret.
“Now, don’t get too excited,” he said, holding up his palms. “I don’t want to give you unrealistic expectations.”
I froze. Was he reading my thoughts? Had I been super obvious about how turned on I was getting?
What unrealistic expectations did he think I had?
Because I could see with my own eyes what kind of equipment the man was working with.
Hell, if he didn’t know what to do with that lead pipe in his shorts, I could just lay him down on his back and handle the rest.
“I can’t fix a faulty circuit or anything with a computer,” Carter continued. “But if the drum’s imbalanced or there’s a mechanical issue, I can probably get it running smoothly again.”
I shook my head, trying to clear it. Right. The dryer. Stop being a pervert and focus, Shelby.
To my surprise, a voice in my head responded. We’re already focused on exactly what we need to be.
“If you want to take a look, be my guest,” I said, fighting through the urges and thoughts trying to derail this situation.
“Great,” Carter said and turned the dryer off. He unplugged it, pulled it away from the wall like it weighed nothing, and knelt to inspect something.
I was wet enough to raise the humidity in the laundry room, but if he had noticed, he made no indication. The muscles in his strong back rippled as he poked around, not helping the hot ache between my legs.
Sure, he was the enemy and his company was a soulless vampire feeding off human misery, but counterpoint, Carter was also crazy hot. I wanted him to wreck my pussy like he’d wrecked my life. Was that so wrong?
Yes! I shouted silently to myself.
Carter continued to be oblivious to the filthy urges running through my traitorous body. “I’ve actually worked on one of these,” he said, sounding genuinely excited. “I mean, it’s been a while but I have a feeling I know what’s wrong.”
He turned to look at me, green eyes alight, making him look younger. It felt like a window into the past and I was seeing young Carter the way he was way back when he was helping his uncle out in the summers. I liked what I saw, and not just because he was half-naked.
Or half-clothed, my mind added. Perfectly normal.
“If you can fix it, that would be amazing,” I said. “I still can’t believe you know how to do this. I’ve seen you with a shovel. It didn’t inspire confidence that you’re good with your hands.”
“I’ve never had any complaints,” he said, his eyes meeting mine for what felt like forever. Then he shrugged, making all kinds of muscles dance under my greedy gaze. “Believe it or not, I never wanted to work at Allory Enterprises.”
I frowned. “I don’t believe it.”
“I know,” he said, leaning on the dryer.
“I grew up fascinated by my uncle, who rejected the idea of going into real estate and finance like my father. He was kind of my hero. I worked with him for a few summers when I was in high school. My father wanted me to intern for Allory, but Uncle Jack convinced him working with my hands and sweating would be good for me.”
I nodded. “I mean, knowing how to fix a dryer is a useful skill. And it is way less destructive than anything Allory’s done in the past.”
“I won’t argue with you on that,” Carter said, looking down. “Now you can see why I would have preferred working with my uncle. But that wasn’t the future my father had planned for me.”
“If it’s any consolation, my parents also envisioned a different future for me,” I said with a little smile. “But they didn’t want me to join the family business like your father. They chose to sell out my future so they could move to Georgia to get fat on peaches and barbecue.”
“Is that really why they moved there?” Carter asked, eyebrows rising with curiosity.
“Well, no, I don’t think that’s why they moved there, but that’s what they’re doing.”
His eyes softened. “I know it doesn’t help, but I’m truly sorry they did that to you.”
Warmth pulsed through my chest at his kind words. “And I’m sorry your father forced you to give up your repairman dreams.”
“Thank you,” he said, smiling. “Speaking of which, do you have a toolbox? I need to get under the hood, so to speak.”
I went out to the garage and grabbed the smaller toolbox, the one I could drag around the farm with me. Half of being a farmer was fixing things around the property. I couldn’t fix anything inside the house, but I had learned from experience how to keep everything else running enough to get by.
On the way back to the laundry room, I stopped in my bedroom to run a brush through my hair and put a little powder on. Maybe just a touch of lipstick.
When I got back to the laundry room, I stopped in shock. Mrs. Presley was chatting with Carter, still in just his underwear. She saw me and shot me a smirk, like she knew what I was up to and she approved.
“Mrs. Presley,” I said, trying to wrap my head around what was happening. “I didn’t hear you ring the bell.”
The older woman smiled. “I saw Carter’s truck here, and since you already had company, I figured it would be all right to let myself in. I didn’t know I was interrupting something.”
Carter grinned, doing nothing to dispel the notion we had been getting up to no good. “You’re just in time, Mrs. Presley. I’m about to prove to Shelby I can fix her dryer.”
“Is that what we’re calling it these days?” she murmured.
My face flushed. “His clothes are in the dryer, Mrs. Presley. Carter took a dip in the duck pond.”
That threw some cold water on the woman. “Oh, honey, no. You’ll end up with the consumption.”
“Is that a real disease?” he asked, looking concerned.
“You showered,” I told him. “You’ll be fine.”
“Anyway,” she said. “I’m here to ask for a favor. You two already agreed to go to the bake-off, and I just lost two judges. Mrs. Corrigan just caught Mr. Corrigan fixing Eileen Vaughn’s dryer, and now they’re getting divorced. I’d like you two to fill in for them.”
Dread filled me. I tried to avoid big local gatherings like that, where I might draw attention from some of the less kind townspeople.
Just showing up at the bake-off was a big deal for me.
But being a judge? Standing up there in front of everyone, their eyes on me, judging me right back? I shuddered at the thought.
“I don’t know, Mrs. Presley,” I said. “I’m not the most popular person in town. You might not want me as a judge.”
“Nonsense,” she said, waving my concerns away like an annoying fly. “No one will bother you, and if anyone raises a stink, you tell me and I’ll swat some sense into them.” She pointed at Carter. “And you. You’re a big, strong boy. You have to know your way around a piece of cake.”
“Dessert is a weakness of mine,” he said. “Sign me up, Mrs. Presley.”
She nodded. “Excellent.”
I shook my head, feeling bad but unable to help myself. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Presley. I’ll go to the bake-off but I can’t be a judge. That’s too much attention for me.”
The older woman looked like she wanted to say something, but she just nodded, not pressing the issue further.
“Understood. I can find one other judge. I’ll expect you both to attend, though.
No excuses.” She turned to leave. “And, Carter, you have to wear pants. Non-negotiable. Now have fun, you two!”
Mrs. Presley was gone before we could get another word in. I wanted to set her straight about the situation with Carter, but the damage was done. There would be no convincing her there was nothing going on.
I put the toolbox down by Carter. “Let me get you something to put on.”
Carter smiled and looked me up and down. “I like your style, Shelby, but I don’t think your clothes will fit me.”
I shook my head at him and left him in the laundry room. As I dug into the back of my bedroom closet, I was tempted to grab something cute and girly just to mess with him, but I had a feeling he would put it on anyway, and I didn’t want him stretching out my clothes.
“Here.” I handed him a pair of jeans and a gray T-shirt. “They’re my brother’s.”
He put down the screwdriver he’d been using and got dressed. “Your brother runs the mechanic shop, right?”
“Yeah, Shane.”
“Is he ever coming back from vacation?” Carter shook his head, annoyed. “My car can’t get fixed until he gets back, and Tyler is starting to get pissy about me using his truck.”
“Shane was supposed to come back already, but he told me he was going to stay a little longer.” I shrugged. “He said my folks needed some help around their house and they’ve been putting him to work.”
“He’s probably also getting fat on peaches and barbecue,” Carter said with a grin. “I might have to visit Georgia.”
“Tell them I said hello. I’m sure they’d welcome you with open arms. Allory was good for them. They’re not holding any grudges.”
“Unlike some people,” he said with a chuckle.
Carter kept tinkering with the dryer. He took the back of it off and leaned it against the wall. I could see into the guts of the machine and I wasn’t sure what any of it was. He dove right in without hesitation.
I had been relying on myself for years, and the fact he was doing this for me filled my soul with sunlight.
I still didn’t trust him. I had only known him for just over a week.
Anyone could pretend to be nice for eight days.
But still, everything I had seen from him pointed toward him being honest about his desire to right the wrongs of the past.
As he worked, it felt like his CEO mask had fallen off and he was just himself. And apparently, Carter was way more excited about judging the bake-off than I was.
“So, what should I expect, judging these cakes?” he asked. “Like, how big is this event? How many cakes will I be eating?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I never go. I don’t think I’ll go this time, either.”
“Why not?” His brow furrowed. “I think we’ll have fun.”
I huffed out a scoff. “You’ll have fun. I will just be uncomfortable.”
Carter stopped working and walked over to grab my hand. My heart leapt wildly in my chest. I wanted to pull my hand away, but his touch was actually comforting.
“I had no idea how deeply my father’s choices have hurt you,” he said, eyes on mine. “I’m sorry it happened and I wish I could have done something to stop it back then.”
“I know it’s not your fault,” I told him quietly, as if the words didn’t want to come out. “It’s just difficult to separate you from the company you work for.”
He nodded sympathetically. “Kind of like how the people in Ferris can’t separate you from what your parents did.”
I stopped breathing. The son of a bitch was right. I had been judging him the way people in town judged me. It wasn’t a fun realization.
“Listen,” he continued. “I can’t fix what Allory and my father did to your family business but I might be able to help with the bake-off, and not just as a judge. I’ll be right there with you, and that’s one more person on your side who sees you for who you are, not for what your parents did.”
I looked him right in the eyes and he gave my hand a squeeze. I wanted to kiss him so badly, it hurt. With great effort, I pulled away and he let my hand fall from his grip.
“It’s lunchtime,” I said. “Let me get that going. The least I can do is feed you for fixing this.”
He smiled at me. “It’s not fixed yet, but I would love some lunch.”
I was cooking us up some pork chops when he called me over. Walking in, at first I didn’t understand why he’d summoned me. Then I realized the dryer was running and it was almost silent. Now it hummed instead of bellowing.
“Holy hell, Carter, it works.”
He preened proudly. “Was there ever any doubt?”
“I mean, yeah. Lots of them. I literally still can’t believe it.”
He laughed. “Well, shows what you know.”
I liked this side of Carter. The rough, boyish, laid-back side. Maybe he really should have been a repairman. He seemed happier doing this than I had ever seen him. Which made him even more attractive somehow.
I was considering sleeping with the enemy when his phone rang, shattering the bubble we’d been in.
He answered and left the laundry room, like he wanted privacy. I went back to the kitchen to keep my pork chops from burning up like I was.