A Nanny For The Mechanic

“Whatever you say.” Boom. Just like that, his defences were back up. “Lock the door on your way out. Goodnight, sweetheart.”

“Goodnight, pumpkin.”

Gray stopped, eyed her warily, then disappeared into his own bedroom, the beer still clenched in his hand. She heard the door click shut, successfully shutting her out in the process.

She didn’t know why she cared. He acted like a raging asshole, that was all she needed to know.

Unfortunately, he was a raging asshole she was fake-engaged to.

***

Radden Automotive was a huge garage with a long line of bays and hydraulic hoists. Everything looked the same in each bay unless someone was familiar with it and knew where they were going. Terra, thankfully, knew exactly where she was headed this time.

“Come on, Allie. He should be right over here.” Terra dodged obstacles, hand in hand, until they saw Gray in their sights, then the little girl let go of her hand and sprinted towards him.

“Daddy!”

Gray turned, surprised. There was no mistaking the way his face lit up at seeing Allie. It had been three days since Terra advised Gray that he wasn’t the asshole he pretended to be, but there was still no denying the way his features tightened at the sight of her, too.

“I wanna show you something I made for you!” Allie had been so excited about the heart-shaped card she made for her dad that Terra had relented and said they could walk to the garage and hand-deliver it without having to wait for him to finish work. She figured the pick-me-up would be good for Gray, too.

Terra stayed back, letting the father and daughter have their moment. She was surprised when a voice sounded beside her, startling.

“There’s my future daughter-in-law.”

She looked up into the surprisingly soft eyes of Mr. Radden. “Hello, Mr. Radden. I didn’t see you there.”

“Please, call me Bart.” He smiled, but it looked like it took effort to do so. Terra didn’t think he did it often. “I’ve got to say, I still can’t figure out why Gray kept you from us all this time.” He stood, arms crossed, staring across the room at his son and granddaughter as they jabbered on about the colorful card in Gray’s hands.

“I’m sure he had his reasons.” This was a dangerous line of conversation.

“That’s Gray for you,” Bart said roughly. “Always thinking about himself.”

As if on cue, Gray’s eyes lifted from across the room and he locked them on Terra and his dad, looking suddenly tense. His father wasn’t trying to keep his voice low, so Terra didn’t doubt that Gray could hear him, albeit distantly.

Terra didn’t get the chance to respond.

“Did he even tell you Doreen and I offered to take Allie for the night, so you two kids can have some time to yourselves?”

“What?” Terra felt lightheaded at the thought. “Oh, that’s not necessary, Mr. Rad—Bart.”

Bart waved a hand, dismissing her words. “It’s not a bother at all, Terra. After all, you work so hard with Allie. You deserve a little time off, even if it is with Gray.”

If he meant it as a snide joke, she didn’t take it that way. “So does Gray, though.” Her defensive words were falling from her tongue before she could think them through. “Gray’s a damn hard worker, Mr. Radden, and he does everything he can to provide for his family. He deserves a break every now and then, too.”

She didn’t know where the urge to defend and protect Gray had come from, but it was obvious that Bart Radden hadn’t expected it, either. One look across the room and Terra could see that Gray was just as shocked by her outburst.

Shit. Somehow, something had changed in the way she thought about Gray Radden. The worst part was that she’d just announced it to him, loud and clear.

“Come on, Allie,” she called, trying to sound less skittish than she felt. “We should go and let Daddy finish up his work.”

And before she said something else she should have kept to herself.

Chapter Five

Gray

It was a long three hours after Allie and Terra left until the garage closed for the day. Gray avoided his father like the plague. There was no way in hell he wanted to have to look the man in the eye, knowing he’d let one of his smug little smirks show through because his fake fiancée had just put his own father in his place, and then all hell would break loose.