Addicted

d." I gave her a smile before getting out and jogging back to my car. It was beyond freezing inside it, but I was bundled up properly. I'd survive.

I put the key in the ignition and much to my surprise, the car started. I texted Katelyn that I was good to go, but she wasn't going to leave me there.

She followed me all the way to Tate's garage and rolled down her window as I got out of my car.

"This the place with the hot biker guy that Lucinda said you were talking about last night?" She lifted her eyebrows and smirked.

"I sure hope so. Seeing him again would make my day – or better yet, my week." I tucked my keys into my purse and waved at her. "I'll see you in a little while."

"Okay. Call if you need me to come get you, and if biker-boy has a friend, don't forget Lucinda. She needs a good lay." The sound of her laughter left my lips turning up into a smile. She was a good friend, but all of my close friends were. Where my family treated me like shit, all three of my girlfriends made up for it.

I walked up to the run-down garage and opened the door to a small office. A friendly redhead glanced up before standing and smiling.

"Hi, hun. What can I do for you?"

"Hi, I had the beginnings of a flat tire last night, and one of your mechanics stopped and helped me. His name was Tate. He's not here by chance, is he?" I slipped my hands into my jacket pockets, feeling nervous all over again.

"Of course. You called earlier, right?" She turned as an older man walked from the back room.

"Yes, I did." I glanced around as butterflies started to dance in my stomach. It was silly and made no sense at all, but I couldn't help it. I'd started to build this sexy stranger into some kind of hero that was going to come sweep me off my feet. It wasn't fair to him or me. He was a friendly guy who worked on cars. Nothing more.

Except that he's incredibly hot.

"Jerry, go grab Tate for me," the woman said to the older man as I walked to the waiting room, which consisted of two chairs and a small table overflowing with magazines.

"Can I get you a drink or something, miss?" she asked.

"No, thank you. I'm good." I sat down and pulled out my phone, flipping through my messages before checking my e-mail. There was nothing new, but there never was. My life was simple and as uncomplicated as I could get it outside of family drama.

Not dating Paul was just going to make things easier for me. I could get back to hanging out with my girlfriends and reading good books. No more dates where we did something Paul loved to do and I had to pretend to be interested. Just back to being me.

"Hi, there. I almost thought you'd fixed the tire yourself." Tate's voice was deep and a little scratchy. The sound of it drove a tendril of desire through me.

I glanced up casually and shrugged. "It's not every day a girl gets the offer for a free tire."

"I said I'd give you the work for free. You're on your own paying for the tire." He slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans, drawing my attention to the long line of his body.

"This is true." I jerked my eyes back up to focus on his face and the fluttering in my stomach only intensified.

His warm brown eyes moved around my face, as if working to uncover something about me I wasn't willing to share.

"Let me get the car back there, and we'll get started on it. You wanna learn how to change a tire?" His lip lifted in a sexy smirk.

I almost missed the five o'clock shadow that wasn't there anymore.

"Not in the slightest." I lifted my eyebrow at him. "That's what I'm paying you to do, right?"

He extended his hand. "Give me the keys, hottie-tottie, and let's get this date started."

I handed him the keys and almost wished I'd put on makeup that morning. He was too cute not to work to impress, but then again, I wasn't quite sure what guys like him liked in a woman. Probably someone in leather and willing to play with chains and whips in the bedroom. The thought didn't disturb me, which very much disturbed me.

I followed him back out of the office into the late afternoon. My eyes moved down to the lovely way his jeans hugged his hips and accentuated the swell of his rear. It'd been a really long time since my body had reacted to anyone; this guy wasn't trying at all, and yet my pulse spiked.

"So, you work here?" I almost kicked myself for asking the question, but in my need to move past the chains and whips, I'd blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Nope. I just show up and start the fire for the guys every morning. They like roasting marshmallows at lunch from time to time. We're having s’mores today. You want one?" He winked at me before squatting by my car. He was being cheeky about my comment the night before.

I chuckled and nodded. "I deserved that."