“Ahh, honey, your car was on its last legs. I could have kept it going for you but it would have been like putting a plaster on a gaping stomach wound.”
“Oh, right. Well, I’d appreciate if you could get it going for me. I need it to make a delivery to Freestown. It will last that long, right?”
Another pause and she started to wonder what the hell was going on.
“I wish I could but it’s gone,” Matt finally said.
“Gone? Gone where?” No one would want to steal it.
“To the junkyard. Duncan told us to send it there.”
“He what?” she yelled. Her temper surged. She knew her car was headed there but it was up to her to decide when.
“When did he tell you to do that? Why didn’t you call me?”
“I thought you knew. When Duncan got me to tow it he said to take it straight to the junkyard.”
“So you didn’t even try to fix it?” she yelled.
“Sorry, sweetheart, but Duncan was right. It was unsafe to be driving that around,” he told her, his disapproval clear.
“I didn’t have a choice,” she told him. “Sorry, Matt, I didn’t mean to yell at you. It’s not your fault. But you shouldn’t have squashed my car without my permission.”
“Duncan is your man, honey. I just figured his instructions were good enough,” his voice was apologetic. “Want me to start looking around for another car for you?”
Where would she find the money for that? But if she couldn’t deliver some of her creations to the shop that sold them for her in Hamilton then she was in real trouble.
“Yeah, thanks Matt”
Duncan hung up the phone after thanking Matt for giving him a heads up about his conversation with Laken. He better get over there and talk to her. He had meant to bring up her car, but right now it suited him to have her rely on him for transport. He knew that made him seem like a complete control freak, but the threat to her safety was really bringing out the protective Neanderthal in him.
A door slammed, glancing up, he was shocked to see Laken standing there, her eyes shooting flames at him.
Her hair was dishevelled, and she was panting as though she’d run over. Duncan ignored everyone else in the office as he hastily stood and moved over to her.
“Laken? What are you doing here?”
He ran his gaze over her, checking that she was all right.
“You squashed my car!”
“Christ, is that all? You scared me, I thought something had happened.”
Her temper faded slightly as understanding entered her gaze.
“Sorry,” she said, then glanced around her, blushing slightly as she saw everyone staring at them.
Duncan grabbed her arm. “Come with me. Jake worked late last night so we can use his office to talk.”
Duncan steered Laken into Jake’s office, locking the door behind him. By now, Laken’s temper was back in full force. She paced back and forth as Duncan leaned back against the door, folding his arms over his chest.
“How dare you wreck my car!” Her hair flew around as she moved, and he grew hard as he watched her. Damn, he had it bad, this little show of temper really had him rock hard. Not that he could let it continue, nor would she get away with running over here when she had promised she wouldn’t leave her store during the day.
Oh no, her butt was going to be searing when she left this office. But still, he let himself enjoy just watching her for a moment.
“It was a death trap, there was no way I was going to allow you to continue to drive it.”
“Allow? Allow!”