Chapter 3 Lia
LIA
When I roll into the parking lot at work, there is a truck parked right up front and a huge guy standing in front of Leo’s repair shop.
Ever since Alice’s insane lunatic ex tried to burn this place down, we’ve had a really basic security system in place, motion-activated cameras that take still pics when something moves.
Alice and I both have panic buttons connected to the system too. Even though Alice’s ex-husband is locked up for arson and assault, we work alone out here often enough that all the men in our lives—Morris, Tiny, Leo—feel better with us having panic buttons.
I finger mine, which dangles along with clear pink plastic beads and cartoon character charms on my key chain as I turn off the car.
The truck is nice, big, but nothing special about it, and the guy looks harmless enough.
He’s sipping coffee from a thermal tumbler and checking his watch like he’s waiting for the shop to open.
I get out of my vintage VW van and leave the door open so Pixie, Violet, and Agnes can run out.
They charge from the open back of the van toward the driver’s side door, barking and panting up a storm.
“Morning!” I call out. “We’re not open yet. Can I help you with something?”
The guy shoves a pair of dark sunglasses onto his head and nods. “Morning,” he calls back. “You work here?”
I close the door to the van and lock it up while the girls run in mad circles up to the guy. They surround his ankles, and I grin, thankful the dogs have my back.
“Sure do,” I call back. I flip my own sunglasses back and slow my pace as I approach the stranger.
He is hot. Like freaking, ovary-shattering hot. I can see that even from this distance. Even after a bone-melting orgasm this morning with Leo, I can’t help noticing the thighs on this guy. Despite being hidden beneath his broken-in black jeans, his legs look like he could do squats for days.
“Need the auto repair shop?” I ask. “Cuz you don’t exactly look like you’re interested in doggie day care.” The slightest hint of flirtation comes out in my voice. I can’t help myself.
As I get closer, I can see the guy’s got piercing eyes.
Sort of a hazel-green combination, mostly brown but with a green-gray ring that attracts the light.
He’s clean-shaven, and his arms are covered in colorful tattoos from his wrists to the place where his biceps disappear under his black golf shirt.
He’s not only fit, but he’s big—like, football player big.
“I’m actually looking for the guy who owns the shop,” he says. “He around?”
“Oh,” I say brightly. “Do you know Leo?”
He quirks a brow at me. “Hell yeah, I know Leo. But what about Tim? I thought Leo’s older brother owned this place?”
The fact that he knows Tim’s name makes me feel all right getting a little closer. He does know the Hawk brothers, so the fact that he’s here at this hour and I’m all by myself seems a lot less worrisome.
“Hey, girls… Girls!” My dogs have stopped barking and running, but now they are swarming the guy’s ankles, rolling on their backs in shameless bids for attention.
Kind of like I imagine I might, now that I’m this close to the guy’s bulging arms and twinkling eyes.
“Sorry,” I say. “My girl crew tends to be…social.”
“Girl crew?” He looks down at my dogs and chuckles. “Never had a dog myself.” He twists his lips into a grin that is pure heat. “But they suit you.”
“Yeah?” I ask, picking up on a little bit of a vibe from him. “How so?”
“Pretty, playful…” He bends down and scratches Agnes’s ear, and I know he’s made the right call. He’s got good instincts.
Agnes, despite being one of the two smaller dogs, is totally the alpha of the pack.
If he gets on her good side, the others will follow. That intrigues me about him.
He looks up at me as if he knows I’m assessing his personal worth based on the way he treats my dogs. “I’m Josh, by the way,” he says, holding out a hand to me. “Josh Aronowicz.”
I hold out my hand to him and shake his while he’s still on bended knee. “I’m Lia Dove,” I say. “Two first names. Mom was a total hippie, but you can call me Lia.”
“Never would have guessed,” he says around a grin. “The VW van and your Coachella clothes kind of give it away.” He releases my hand and stands. “Nice to meet you, Lia,” he says. “You Leo’s girlfriend?”
Wow, this one doesn’t waste any time. I like his style.
I shake my head. “Roommate,” I clarify. “I work over here in the doggie day care, and we live together—only as friends.”
“Leo always was a lucky fucker,” Josh says, a grin on his face.
“Well, thank you, handsome stranger,” I say, upping the flirtation factor.
“So, this your girl crew?” he asks, standing up. Although it’s clear Pixie is none too happy the petting is over.
I nod. “Part-time security detail and full-time family.”
“I’m not usually a fan of dogs, but these ladies are pretty damn sweet.”
“Why aren’t you usually a fan of dogs?” That strikes me, of course.
I can’t plant my hopes in a puppy-hater. Not that I’m planting hopes, exactly…more like stirring the pot a bit.
My eyes can’t help tracing the broken-in denim of his jeans.
His tattoos alone are enough to send my body into overdrive.
I’m blinking through the morning sunshine, trying to make out the designs while I drag my eyes away from those crystal-blue eyes.
Most people love when you ask about their tattoos, but for some reason, I want to figure this guy out for myself.
“Occupational hazard,” he explains. “I’m out on calls constantly. Run into a lot of people’s dogs, and most, I can tell you, are not as friendly as your girl crew here.”
“Well, they’re good judges of character,” I say. “And normally, so am I. You don’t seem like someone we should be worried about.”
Josh’s lips curl into a smile, and it’s sinfully sexy. Wicked with a dash of playful. “Who, me?” he teases. “You must be a good judge of character too if you can tell I’m innocent from only a few minutes of conversation.”
“Now, innocence is something totally different,” I say.
It’s getting late and I should open the shops, but this little banter we have going on is worth a few more minutes.
I toss my hair over my shoulder and can’t help noting Josh’s reaction to the way my breasts bounce when I move.
“You definitely don’t strike me as the innocent type,” I say.
As I’m waiting for his reply, Alice pulls up in her SUV and parks next to my van. I can see her checking out who I’m talking to with a look of interest, maybe concern.
I wave and she nods before she turns off the car and climbs out.
“Good morning,” she says, addressing me and the sexy stranger.
“Good morning.” Josh nods.
“This is a friend of Leo and Tim’s,” I explain. “He’s looking for the owner of the building.” I look at Josh with a question in my voice. We never got to why he was here. I got distracted by the volcanic eruption in my ovaries.
“My husband—fiancé—owns the place, and I manage it,” Alice says. “Is there something I can help you with?”
Josh nods at Alice. “Just looking for Tim Hawk, actually. We were high school buddies.”
Alice shakes her head. “I’ve actually never met him.
But Leo should be here any time now. You should talk to him.
” She walks up and extends a hand to Josh, who shakes it, moving his travel mug to his left hand.
Alice pulls the keys to the building from her laptop bag and unlocks her office.
“You’re welcome to come on in and wait.”
I wouldn’t mind a few more minutes with this hunk. “I’m right over there if you’d rather wait with the girls,” I offer, pointing toward the day care.
“The Canine Crashpad?” he asks, a smirk on his lips.
Alice shoots me a look which I ignore. I know everyone suspects something’s going on between Leo and me, but what we do have isn’t anyone’s concern.
“That’s the one,” I confirm. “Doggie day care and play place.”
I can’t help feeling like Alice is sending me some kind of warning with her eyes, a judgment maybe. She doesn’t know anything about the arrangement I have with Leo, but still…she and I have had a little bit of that mom thing going on ever since I moved here.
Josh looks as if he’s about to say something more when Alice disappears into her office.
Even though I’m not doing anything wrong, I can’t help but feel like she thinks I am.
I don’t see what the big deal is. There’s no chance of the Leo thing being more than what it is—some shenanigans and sexy time.
The roommate circle of trust. Some mutual scratching of an itch while we’re under the same roof and conveniently single.
Just because we’ve both stayed single the entire time we’ve lived together…
Well, shit. That doesn’t mean anything.
Being a prospect of the club hasn’t left Leo any time to have a social life or really to do anything that doesn’t have to do with his club brothers, work, or me. And I’ve spent all my free time over the last year trying to get to know my dad again.
Growing up without Tiny was hard. But once my mom retired, I knew there was nothing holding me back. I got in my van, loaded up the pups, and left.
So here I am.
Living my life, getting to know my dad, building a business for myself in a new city, and having some no-strings-attached fun with Leo.
Just because Alice is engaged to Morris, happily coupled up raising her kid, doesn’t mean that happily ever after is in the cards for Leo and me.
I’m young, he’s young, and he is everything my father does not want for me. Even if I did feel more than lust for Leo, it would never, ever work.
That realization makes Josh look all the more interesting.
“So,” I ask him, “you wanna come play with the pups while you wait?”
“The place looks great.” Josh nods as he checks out my space.
“This is only primed,” I tell him, pointing to the walls. “The walls needed some repair after the fire, and now that that’s done, Alice’s daughter is going to help me paint a mural.”