“Enjoy your bath.”
She held back her sigh of frustration and walked out the door. It’d been two days since he’d kissed her. Two days of smiling like an idiot and touching and brushing against him by ‘accident’. But it’d gotten her nowhere. Apparently, she wasn’t cut out to act like a woman any more than she could dress like one.
When she reached her truck, she tossed her things on the passenger seat and turned the key in the ignition. Familiar clicking noises greeted her.
“Oh, come on, not now.” She leaned her tired head against the steering wheel.
****
Justin stepped from the building to see Marley leaning underneath the hood of her truck. He headed over and leaned under with her.
“What’s wrong?”
She kept her gaze focused on the engine. “I have absolutely no idea.”
“Marley Wade, I’m shocked.” He held back a grin with effort. “You of all people, I would’ve thought would be able to jiggle a spark plug or re-adjust the carburetor to get this thing running again.”
“That sounds doable.” She cocked an eyebrow. “Where are the spark plugs?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted without apology. “I’ve always been more into building things than fixing them.”
“Me too. Nate’s my mechanic.”
A frown crossed her face with the mention of Nate. Justin guessed she hadn’t heard from him yet. Without giving himself time to think about why he shouldn’t offer, he said, “I’d be glad to give you a ride.”
After a moment of hesitation, she surprised him. “That’d be great, thanks.”
“No problem.” He glanced at his wa
tch, then did a double take and mumbled, “Damn. Let me make a quick call.”
“What’s the matter?”
He pulled out his cell phone and they started for his Jeep. “I just need to reschedule a meeting at a job site.”
“Will it take long?”
He cast her a strange look and held up the phone. “A minute, maybe two.”
She rolled her eyes. “The meeting—will it take long?”
“Oh. Well, no, but I don’t have time to run you home beforehand.”
“That’s okay. I’ll wait in the Jeep.”
He let her convince him she truly didn’t mind because he wanted to spend time with her. The meeting lasted longer than he’d anticipated, and he came out of the trailer to find her in a borrowed hardhat and protective eye gear, drilling holes through the studs to run electrical wire for the electrician.
“I can’t leave you alone for a second,” he half-joked, scowling at the men gathered around her.
Marley stood with a guilty smile. “Don’t be mad at them. I was proving myself.”
“Do I dare ask why?”
“I offered some advice and they looked at me like I was crazy, so I bet them.”
“I’m not even surprised.” He turned to the foreman. “What’d she take you for?”
“Twenty bucks.”