“It’d only be till the renovations are done on the daycare on Second Avenue. Maybe by then you’ll have a line on a decent job.”
Yeah, somewhere other than here. “You’re serious.”
Rina shrugged. “He’s stuck needing a babysitter, and you’re stuck needing a job. Besides, you’d be babysitting his daughter, not him. What’s the worst that could happen?”
***
It was against Terra’s better judgment to even be standing inside the garage of Radden Automotive. She’d never had an issue with Gray Radden, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have older friends whom he’d screwed over. She remembered him as not only an obnoxious ass, but also a player. If half of her memories were even remotely accurate, he’d made his rounds when it came to the women in their town.
“Can I help you?”
Terra whirled around to find a tall man with a salt-and-pepper beard staring at her from behind the customer service desk. His shirt said Bart in calligraphy, but she knew who he was. Gray’s dad. He was just as well-known for his gruffness and know-it-all attitude. It seems the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
“I’m, uh, looking for Gray?” It came out as a question, and she immediately felt ridiculous. It just showed how uncertain she was in her decision to be standing there, about to do what she was going to do.
Bart Radden eyed her up and down. She saw the moment that recognition shone in his eyes. “You’re the Paytons’ girl, aren’t you?” A small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Haven’t seen you around town in ages.”
She nodded, mustering up the politest smile she could. “Terra.” She held her hand out, and Bart shook it. “I guess it has been a while.”
“Gray is right this way,” he said. “Follow me.”
He led her through the garage bays, and Gray was in the third one at the end, hunched over a steel contraption with bolts and grime and rust. She saw a dark tattoo peeking out from beneath the collar of his t-shirt.
He didn’t have that back when he’d been in high school with her brother.
“Gray, you’ve got company.” There was no mistaking the change in Bart Radden’s voice when he spoke to his son. He’d been polite with Terra, but that formality was gone.
Gray stood and turned, and Terra had to suppress a gasp. It had been more than four years—probably closer to six if she was honest—since she’d seen the likes of Gray Radden, but time had been good to him. Gone was the clean-shaven look he’d once wore, with shaggy hair and the world wrapped around his little finger. Instead, he wore his hair cropped short, and his tanned skin and chiseled features made him look more rugged and manly than she’d expected.
Gray Radden had grown up. Physically, anyway. So had Terra, and judging by the way Gray’s sharp sapphire gaze was roaming her body like a roadmap to heaven, he liked what he saw, too.
“Terra?” So, he remembered her, too.
“Hey.” She gave him a noncommittal smile, shoving her hands in her pockets. “I was just—”
“Dad, you can leave anytime.”
Terra’s gaze flew to Bart, who was still standing there, watching their exchange with more interest than she could comprehend. At the sound of his son’s dismissal, his expression turned hard as he glared at his son, but the older man walked away, sending furtive glances back their way as he headed back to the desk.
“Haven’t seen you in a long time.” Gray wiped his hands with a rag that, to Terra, looked just as dirty as his hands.
“I haven’t been back in town long,” she admitted. “I actually heard from Rina Connell that you might be needing someone to watch your daughter.”
Gray’s eyes narrowed. “Damn.”
“What?”
A slow smirk crossed his face. “A pretty woman walks into my garage. I was hoping you were looking for a little fun, sweetheart. Instead, you want to be my nanny.”
Terra’s jaw clenched, hating the humor alight in his eyes. He thought he was being funny, but all she wanted to do was kick him in the balls and tell him to go fuck himself. Her dwindling bank account wasn’t going to allow her to do that, though. “Not your nanny,” she snapped. “I want to look after your daughter. And get paid for it.” Somehow, she felt she needed to confirm that last part.
“Paid, huh?” He grinned wider, tossing the rag down on a stack of tires behind him. “In money, or sexual favors?”
“Look,” Terra said through gritted teeth. “Do you need—”
“Gray.”
Both Terra and Gray looked up to see his father storming back across the concrete floor. She couldn’t read his face, but she could read Gray’s, and he didn’t look happy for the interruption.