While they were eating dinner they talked about her job at the garage, when she would start, and the hours she would be working. Gavin was on the late shift for a few days, so he would be able to take her back and forth to work. Hopefully by the time his shift changed her car would be working.
After Gavin left for work the house was quiet. It was too early to go to bed, so Shelby flipped through the television shows, but not finding anything to hold her interest, she soon shut it off and decided to go to bed and read. She went in her room and looked at the bed. It looked lonely. Grabbing a book, she decided to sleep in Gavin’s bed, sure he wouldn’t mind. She also grabbed a camisole and sweats.
As she left her room, she noticed the door at the end of the hall. When Gavin was showing her around, he hadn’t shown her that room. She tried the knob, and it was locked. She rattled the handle a few times—nope, it wouldn’t open—and she finally walked away, vowing to ask him about it tomorrow or when he called. He had told her before he left that he would call to check on her and not to be surprised if he stopped by during his shift if it was quiet. She hoped he could come home no matter how short the time would be.
Shelby made herself comfortable and started reading. She must have drifted off because before she knew it, she was waking to the ring of her cell phone. Gavin had paid her bill, telling her she needed a phone while he was gone and so he could reach her at work. Unable to come up with an excuse good enough to convince him otherwise, she had let him pay the bill. It was almost one a.m. when her phone rang.
“Hi, baby,” he purred, his deep dusky voice came through the phone. “Were you dreaming of me?”
“Hi, how’s your night going?” she answered him.
“We’re not too busy tonight, just thought I’d check in and see how you were doing. I talked to O’Brien, and he doesn’t want you there until ten a.m., so you and I can sleep a while after I get home. Sound good?”
Shelby didn’t know how much sleep they would get, but it did sound good. They talked a while longer, and then Gavin had to go because he got a call.
Shelby must have fallen asleep because next thing she knew Gavin was crawling in the bed with her. He pulled her against him, spooning her.
“Sleep now, baby. We’ll talk later.” He quickly stripped her camisole and sweats off. “From now on, when you’re in my bed, you sleep naked.”
The next time Shelby woke up Gavin was sitting on the side of the bed with a cup of coffee.
“Time to get up and get ready for work.”
Shelby jumped up and sat beside him on the edge of the bed. What should she wear?
Again reading her mind, Gavin answered, “O’Brien said jeans and a T-shirt would be good. It’s a garage, so it’s not the cleanest environment. After today, you can decide what would work best for clothes.”
Shelby nodded and jumped up to shower and get ready. She was excited to have a job again. She didn’t even know what it paid, but it had to be better than nothing.
Shelby grabbed one of her nicer pairs of jeans and a hot pink T-shirt that said “Hot Mama” across the front. After putting on her socks and tennis shoes, she ran down the stairs to the kitchen to find Gavin. He was cooking breakfast again and had everything ready.
“You’d better eat, then I’ll take you to work.”
Shelby sat and ate hurriedly, and then they headed out. Gavin pointed out various things on the way to the garage. Shelby was a little apprehensive about working, but it was just greeting customers and answering the phone. How hard could it be?
Shelby’s first day at the garage was good. Paperwork and training took the first half of the day. All the guys were very nice to her and explained everything to her. Mike made sure she was comfortable. Gavin came and took her for lunch. It was a good first day.
Shelby and Gavin settled into a routine for the week. He was on the night shift all week, and she worked days, so it worked pretty well. He came home every morning and crawled in bed with her until it was time to take her to the garage. They had made love a few times but hadn’t played again. The only thing he was doing that was close to playing was putting a butt plug in her, to stretch her he said. And she still didn’t know what was in the room at the end of the hall.
The weekend came quickly, and they were both off work. Gavin had promised to show her the room at the end of the hall, and she couldn’t wait.
Friday afternoon at work, Shelby’s cell phone rang, and thinking it was Gavin checking in, she answered it without looking.
“Hello, Shelby. It’s Linda. Don’t hang up. I know what I did to you was not very nice, but I need to tell you something.”
“Okay, what?” Shelby still thought she should hang up, but she and Linda had grown up in the same town and had been friends for years. She should give her old friend a chance.
“Well, I don’t know how to say this other than to just get it out. Your parents and your brother, Elliot, were in a bad car accident. Both your mom and dad were killed instantly, and Elliot is in intensive care at the hospital. He’s been asking for you.”
Shelby’s knees gave out and she sat right there on the floor just staring at the phone in shock. Mike ran up, picked her up, and carried her to one of the seats provided for customers and sitting with her in his lap.
“Somebody call Gavin,” he yelled, holding Shelby closer. She had started shivering and shaking. “Honey, what’s the matter?”
She was mute. She couldn’t answer. She just sat there in shock.
Mike heard a voice coming out of the phone and gently took it out of her hand. He explained who he was, and after a few questions Linda expl
ained who she was and why she had called Shelby. Mike made sure he had her number and told her Gavin would be calling to get all the details. Then he sat holding Shelby, not knowing what else to do. He had one of the mechanics call Gavin and update him on what was going on, and they found a blanket to wrap Shelby in.