Miss Mechanic

“Damn fucking right I ordered the lobster,” she continued. “But we’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you and your idiocy.”

“Can I remind you this job is still your fault?”

“No, you can’t. Because, if you do, I lose the moral high ground, and I look good sitting up here.”

“This job is still your fault.”

“Motherfuh.” She jabbed the button to slow it down since she was huffing in earnest now.

Anger? Exhaustion? Who could tell? Flip a coin and you’d still never know.

She sucked at the bottle with the vigor of a two-dollar hooker until she’d calmed down. Towel in hand, she wiped her face. “Look, I was all for it, until I met the guy.”

I was sensing a theme here…

“He’s an ass, James. And now you’re attracted to him?”

I refrained from pointing out she was like a panting puppy with a dog treat when she first laid eyes on him.

“And yes, I appreciate I was a little googly-eyed when I met him,” she added, one finger lifted in my direction. “But this is not good. You cannot be attracted to someone who undervalues you that much.”

“I know tha—”

“He’s a self-righteous little prick who needs to be taught a lesson.”

“That’s wha—”

“How do you work with him? Just thinking about him is making me angry.”

“Can I speak now?” I forced out, getting off the treadmill.

She blinked at me. “Sure. Sorry. I got carried away.”

No shit, Sherlock.

“I know he undervalues me. I know he’s a self-righteous little prick. But I’m not saying I’m going to bonk his brains out for the next six months.” I pushed the door to the hall open and let her pass. “I was actually asking your advice on how to deal with working with him and being attracted to him before you went off on your tirade.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh.”

“Well, this is awkward.” Haley pushed open the door to the dressing room and held it for me. I thanked her and passed. “I don’t know, if I’m honest. I would say just avoid any situations where it might get a little bit heated—”

“So, don’t speak to him at all.”

She paused. “Mm, yeah. That was a bit of a turn on the other night at dinner. Is that how you’d foreplay?”

“Haley. Not helping.”

“Sure, sure.” We grabbed our bags from the lockers and headed for the showers. “But still, watch out for that.”

“Thanks. Observant of you.”

She grinned. “Just remember that no matter how hot he is or how tingly he makes your lady bits, he’s a sexist asshole who doesn’t have the capacity to give you the respect a badass chick such as yourself deserves.”

I paused outside my shower room. “Wow. They should hire you to give motivational speeches to college students.”

She glared at me. “Go fuck yourself,” she said, then slammed the door.

“Not a bad idea!”

Chapter Eight – Dex

I kicked the fridge shut and glanced at the clock. I had one hour of peace left before the red-lipped pain in my ass showed up to start work, and I was going to relish every second of it.

Mostly because it was seconds where I wasn’t thinking about what she’d taste like if I kissed her.

I hadn’t meant to get so close to her yesterday. In fact, I didn’t want to be anywhere near her, but when she’d stood up against me and dropped the bombshell that this was the garage her family used to own, I couldn’t stop.

She’d been too close.

Too tempting.

I could have walked away, but she had a terrible habit of making some of the things she said sound like a challenge. If there was one thing I couldn’t walk away from, it was a challenge.

The biggest problem?

Jamie was a challenge.

A loud-mouthed, confident, damn tempting challenge who didn’t wear pants unless they were sassy.

I wanted to see it—see her—through. Figure it out. Figure her out. Figure out why she was so damn headstrong and confident and determined to prove me wrong.

Nothing could or would make me believe she needed to be in my garage. Nothing would make me change my mind on that.

She was a liability. It was harsh, but it was the way I felt. And as long as I was in control of hiring in this place, that’s the way it would be.

Maybe that made me an asshole.

I never pretended I wasn’t one.

I stirred the sugar into my coffee. The spoon clinked against the countertop when I dropped it down, and I picked up the steaming hot mug.

My foot tapped against the floor.

How the fuck was I going to get through the next three weeks? She’d worked for me for all of two days, and already, I was thinking about all the ways I wanted to flip her over and fuck her senseless.

I was attracted to her beyond belief. There wasn’t a time I glanced over at her working that her red lips or blue eyes didn’t make me think things I had no place thinking.