Revved To The Maxx

I sipped the coffee. “Everyone seems like a kid to me these days.”

She laughed. “Wait until you get to be my age. Keep going.”

“So, Charly is short for Charlynn. He is a she.”

“Oh. So, your Girl Friday turned out to be exactly that. A girl. You never checked?”

“Her resume said C.L. Hooper. Her username was Charly. I never even thought.”

“A natural assumption, I suppose,” Mary murmured, her tone telling me she thought I was full of bullshit.

“When I found out, I almost left her at the bus stop. But she begged me for a trial.”

“I assume she needs the job.”

“Yeah.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Anyway, she’s a pain in the ass.”

“Oh, pot meet kettle sort of thing?”

I glared at her. “She’s a redheaded, back-talking little snippet. She keeps forgetting I’m the boss.”

Mary’s lips quirked. “I see. And she’s doing a lousy job in the twenty-four hours she’s been here?”

I leaned back in the chair, looking at the ceiling. “No. Hell, she did the grocery shopping, organized the kitchen, and I found her neck-deep in paperwork this morning.”

“Wow. What a slacker. You should fire her.”

I chuckled at her dry comment.

“So, you’re angry that she’s a woman?”

I scrubbed my face. “Not really. I had thought I would be hiring one, so him being a her isn’t a bad thing.”

“And she is trying?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t understand. It’s a personality thing? You dislike her?”

I drained my coffee. “Not exactly.”

She studied me. “What aren’t you telling me, Maxx?”

I met her frank gaze. Mary and I had a solid, if slightly odd, friendship. She was older, widowed, and moved here about ten years ago. She and my mother had become friends, and when I lost my parents, she became almost a surrogate mother to me. I helped her around this place, fixing things. I kept her small truck in perfect running order. She fussed over me, and I allowed it.

We were also brutally honest with each other.

“We met Friday night. She came to town early, and I was in the bar having a bite, and we, ah, connected…”

“Oh, my god. You slept with her.”

“Yes.”

“And then you found out the he you thought you hired was a she, and you had already bedded her.”

“In a nutshell.”

Mary stared at me, tilting her head. Then she began to laugh. Long peals of laughter that echoed in the kitchen. I glowered at her, not finding this situation funny at all.

She calmed down, wiping her eyes. “I should have known,” she muttered. “As soon as I saw that asinine ad you placed, it was asking for trouble.”

“Trouble with a head full of red curls and a smart mouth,” I agreed.

She studied me. “You like her,” she stated.

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. That’s why you’re reacting this way. You actually like her.”

“I’m not in the market for a relationship.”

She reached across the table and clasped my hand. “Maxx, I know what happened shook you. Destroyed your trust. But not everyone is them. Not everyone is out to take from you.”

“Leave it alone, Mary.”

She sat back, crossing her legs. “I’m going to come and meet this girl that has you tied up in knots.”

“No, she doesn’t. She’s just a pain.”

“Then send her away.”

“She has nowhere to go. She just got out of a bad situation. I can’t do that to her.”

She smirked. “Good thing you don’t like her. You might care about her welfare, then.”

“Okay, fine. I liked Charlynn. She was funny and droll. Sexy. I wouldn’t have slept with her if I didn’t like her.”

“Aren’t Charlynn and Charly the same person?”

“No. Charly chaps my ass. She does all these crazy things, and she has the weirdest little expressions.” I waved my hands, fluttering them in the air, raising my voice. “Easy peasy. Holy moly. Chap my…” I let my voice trail off when I realized I had used one of her expressions. Dammit.

Mary bit her lip to stop from laughing again. “She gets under your skin.”

“She annoys me.”

“So, how do you solve it?”

“I ignore her. She can do her job, I’ll do mine.”

“How is that working for you so far?”

“It will be fine.”

“What room is she in?”

I squirmed a little in my seat. “She told me to treat her like the guy I thought I hired. So, I’m doing exactly that.”

Aside from wanting to kiss her all the time. I didn’t share that piece of information. It was a passing phase. Once we put aside the night we shared, I’d be able to ignore her and only see her as Charly. I was convinced of that.

Mary narrowed her eyes at me, waiting for my response.

“She’s in the room behind the garage.”

“You put her in the garage?”

“That’s where I planned on putting Charly, so that’s where she stays.”

Mary struggled to keep her amusement in but failed. “This is better than reality TV. You hire a stranger you thought was a guy, sleep with a pretty girl who turns out to be said guy, and you stick her in the garage to avoid temptation. You refuse to admit you like her, regardless of her name, and she’s been here less than twenty-four hours and has you tied up in knots and running from your own place.” She wiped her eyes. “Yep. I definitely need to come and meet this girl. Soon.”