Chapter 7
seven
T he grease on his hands was comforting. There was something about trying to figure out what was wrong with a beautiful machine like as the bike in front of him. The owner had complained of hearing a dinging noise when he was riding, and Will had been determined to figure out the cause. The bike was a classic, and Will had been honored that the owner had considered bringing his bike to Precision Motors.
Thankfully, it hadn’t taken much for Will to discover the problem and he had the part he’d need and didn’t have to order out. He’d have one of the young techs give the bike a wipe down while he went and place a call to the owner.
The shop was busy today. All of the bays were filled with bikes and mechanics. Will stood up and reached for a rag to wipe his hands on as he glanced around and proudly took the place in. To think that he had been a young sixteen year old when he’d first stepped foot in the doors and practically begged George for a job
George had been like a father to him. He’d learned more about being a man from George then he had from his own father.
Will caught the eye of his brother who was walking toward him. He was sure Nico was still puzzled at his abrupt departure yesterday. There hadn’t been much to it besides the fact that he’d needed a break.
“Hey, Tony,” Will called out. The young kid who worked at the shop on the days he didn’t have school jogged over to him.
“What’s up, Will?” Tony said.
“Would you mind giving this a wipe down and making sure she’s good? I’m going to call the owner and update him.”
“Sure thing, boss,” Tony grinned.
“You’re a good man, Tony.” Will clapped him on the shoulder. The kid reminded him of himself when he was his age and had been anxious to get any mechanics tasks. He headed toward his brother.
“You busy?” Niko asked as Will met him. They stopped and shared a strong brotherly hug. He hadn’t seen his brother all morning. After he had left Imani’s hotel, he had headed home to shower and snag a bite to eat before he came into the shop. It had taken everything he had in him to leave Imani’s side. The sight of her sitting back against the pillows with only a sheet covering the most decadent body he’d ever had the pleasure of tasting had almost made him waver. Her warm brown skin was calling him back. Their last kiss had almost broken him. He would have loved to spend the entire day between her thighs.
But he had a responsibility, and she had an agenda for the day. She was a fancy executive giving presentations at a conference. She wouldn’t want to miss out on the reason she had come to San Francisco to spend the day in bed with him.
Who the hell was he kidding?
But the way she’d returned the kiss had felt like an invite back into her bed. But he’d forced himself to ignore it and left. But why had leaving her been so hard? He’d never experienced anything like that before. Normally, he got his shit and left. No second thoughts at all.
“About to make a phone call, but that’s about it. I think Sam needed me to look at a couple things and Kizzie texted me asking for me to stop in review the payroll.” Now that he thought about it, he had a lot of shit to do around the shop. Not that Niko couldn’t do any of it, but Will would feel guilty for putting everything on his brother. “What’s up?”
They entered Will's office. It wasn’t much. His sister-in-law had tried to spruce up his plain office by purchasing him a large fake plant that sat in the corner gathering dust. Thankfully it wasn’t real or it would be dead. He sat down in his chair and tossed his greased stained rag onto his desk.
“I’m just checking in on you. It’s not like you to just cut out midday. You good?” Niko settled back in the chair across from him.
“I said I was fine.” Will frowned as he searched the pile of papers on his desk for the owner’s contact sheet. Kizzie had offered to come and organize his desk, but he’d waved her off. Maybe he would have to take her up on it… where was that damn contact sheet? “Nothing to worry about. I went and picked up Imani?—”
“Kizzie’s Imani?” Niko’s eyebrows shot up. He folded his hands together and stared at Will.
“Yeah. She texted me to make sure I was still good for the weekend, and I offered to show her around town.” He shrugged. He finally found the order sheet for the bike and placed it on top of the pile of papers near his phone. He narrowed his eyes at his brother. He didn’t know why he was getting quizzed. His brother must have sensed his thoughts and held up his hands.
“I was just worried, man. I came by your place last night when I left here and you weren’t home.”
Will relaxed. Had the roles been reversed, he would have done the same thing. Hell, he might have taken it a step further and called. Had he not spoken with him, he would have gone around to his favorite places until he’d found his brother. It had just been the two of them for years, but now their little family had expanded to include Kizzie and Niko’s son, Kylen.
“I figured it would be cool to meet her ahead of time. We hung out. I took her for a ride around town. We had fun.” His brother stared at him without saying a word. Will ran a hand along his jaw and grimaced at the amount of hair that greeted him. He hadn’t shaved this morning when he’d gotten ready for work. Two days' growth would need to be taken care of. Niko tilted his head to the side and narrowed his gaze on him. “What?”
“And who else did you meet up with last night?” Niko asked. He jerked his head toward Will. He motioned to his own neck. “You’ve got a mark on your neck.”
Will automatically reached up and pressed his hand against his neck. Memories of Imani sinking her teeth into the side of his neck when he’d been deep inside of her re-surfaced.
“No one.” He cleared his throat and dropped his hand. He reached for the piece of paper with the customer’s name and number on it. He needed to give this guy a call real quick.
“You didn’t,” Niko sighed. He leaned back in his chair before leveling Will with his gaze. “Seriously. You slept with my wife’s friend?”
“And?” They were two consenting adults who were attracted to each other and if they decided to have a little fun with each other, then that was no one else’s business. Will met his brother’s gaze unashamedly. His brother didn’t have room to speak. Before he realized that he’d been in love with his best friend, Kizzie, he’d been a serial womanizer. Will wasn’t sure who had been worse. Him or his brother. Neither of them had ever wanted to commit.
“I’m not here to judge,” Niko said, “just don’t hurt her or I’ll have to hear about it.”
“Why on earth would I do that?” Will frowned. It was as if his own brother didn’t know him. Hurting Imani was the last thing he would want to do. Hell, he was already planning on seeing her again.
“Does she know your rule?” Niko asked. “Did you tell her that you have no intention of settling down?”
“Did Kizzie know?” he shot back. He seriously didn’t like the way this conversation was going. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t explained things to Imani as he normally did with his hookups. He usually made sure that all the women he dealt with knew the score. He told them up front that all he was looking for came with no strings, and no expectations.
“Of course she did,” Niko said. “That’s why I refused to cross the line. I didn’t want to hurt her. She’s a good girl and wouldn’t have deserved being hurt.”
“And you didn’t think stringing along all the women you had in front of her wasn’t hurting her?” Will immediately regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. Niko stood from his chair and took a step toward the door.
“Niko—” Will started, but Niko held up a hand. Will stood up and raked his fingers through his hair. He never wanted to cause pain to his brother.
“Don’t. You don’t have to remind me of what I did before me and my wife got together. But the thing is, Kizzie has a big heart and always would have loved me even if I hadn’t realized my feelings for her.” He went over to the door and yanked it open. He glanced over at Will. “Just make sure Imani understands everything up front. That’s all. You owe her that much.”
Niko left the room and shut the door behind him. Will braced his hands on his desk and dropped his head. He blew out a deep breath. Niko was right. He would have to make sure that Imani understood there couldn't be anything between them. It should be easy, though. She lived clear across the country and was only here for a short time. There was nothing wrong with having a little fun while being away on business.
The image of her lying in the bed that morning before he left came to mind. He sat down heavily in his chair. Sleeping with her in his arms had felt right. He’d woken up and just stared at her while she slept. He had felt something in his chest, and he hadn’t wanted to leave when the time came.
What the fuck did that mean?
Will glanced over at his cell phone. He still had a few hours until it would be time to pick Imani up like he’d promised. He hesitated and wondered if he should text her. He’d had an idea of where he could take her. He had promised her the bridge, and then he knew of a great Thai place that would be perfect for dinner. He snagged his phone and figured it would be a good idea to at least text her to see if she liked Thai.
There wouldn't be anything wrong with that. He would hate to take her to a place to eat and she hated the food. He sent off a quick text then set his phone down and lifted up the paper with his customer’s information on it. He’d get back to work and then he would worry about Imani later.