Corbin (The Theriot Family)

“I’m going to let you watch, and then we’ll see.”

I’d never wanted to learn how to work on cars before, but I soaked up everything Beau wanted to teach me. If somehow my family’s fortune disappeared, it was a damn good skill to have, not that I could really learn much in the next… I froze. I only had two more days of working with Beau to pay off my debt. What was going to happen after that? Would he be done with me?

No way. Last night was…

What? Hot. The best sex of my life. Was it more than that, though? It was for me, but had it been for him?

“Corbin? What are you doing?” I realized I was standing there in the middle of the shop floor. Beau was way ahead of me headed toward the door that would lead us outside.

“Sorry, I was just thinking about something. I…”

“If you’re that tired, maybe—”

“No. I’m not tired. I’m fine.” I rushed to catch up with him.

He started the process of wet sanding a section of the scratches with very fine sandpaper. After wiping it down with a rag, he used a power buffer and something called 10-cut compound to smooth out the micro scratches he’d made with the sanding. Once he’d gone over the area a few times, the scratches had completely disappeared. He turned to me with a huge smile on his face. “Now it’s your turn.”

“What? I can’t…”

“Corbin, you can do anything you want to do. Were you watching me?”

I couldn’t do car magic. “Yeah. You were amazing.”

His smile told me how much that pleased him. “Then go ahead and try it.”

“What if I fuck it up?”

He shrugged. “We’ll try again. It’s not going to kill you to fail on the first try. This process often has to be repeated. It’s taken me a lot of practice to know exactly how much sanding to do. Just start off slow.”

“Remington will kill me if I mess this up.”

“You’re not going to permanently screw up his car. Whatever happens, I can fix it.”

My hand shook as I took the sander from him and began to gently move it along the scratch and then in tiny circles. When it was time to use the buffer, I tried to mimic the motions Beau had used. I wiped the door down when Beau told me to stop. The scratches were much improved. The surface wasn’t as perfect as the section Beau had done on his own, but I hadn’t fucked it up.

“See? You did a great job. Most people would need to do this in two or three passes.”

Warmth spread through my body as I sucked up his praise. “Thank you.”

“I knew you could learn easily.”

“But when we first met, you thought—”

“I thought you were a stubborn brat. I never thought you weren’t intelligent.”

Beau helped me go over my section a second time, and it came out looking as flawless as the area he’d done. We took turns working our way down the length of the car. When we were finished, it looked absolutely perfect and as if the incident had never happened. “Wow. Remington really won’t know.”

“No, I don’t think he will unless he has some kind of sixth sense. He does seem very connected to this car.”

I studied Beau for a moment. “You don’t believe cars actually have spirits or souls or something do you?”

He laughed. “Nothing so woo-woo as that, but a man gets close to his machine. He knows every inch of it so he can detect any new noise or anything that feels different or doesn’t look like it did before.

“I think Remy just thinks it looks good and drives like a dream.”

“So be careful with it.”

“Yeah, I know. I just…”

“You just wanted people to see you in it. I get it. It’s a beautiful car.”

“So is yours. And this one.” I took a few steps toward the Lamborghini that was still in the bay where it had been before.

Beau grabbed my hand. “No touching.”

“Are you really not going to ever let me touch it?”

“Why don’t you just get yourself one? Surely you can have any kind of car you want.”

“Because…” The words stuck in my throat. I’d been vulnerable with him but not that vulnerable.

“Because what, baby?” he asked keeping his voice low and soft.

“You know how you said I needed to earn respect?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, my parents spoiled me growing up, but they think I need to earn my place in the business. Once I do that, I’ll have access to my own money, but right now, I just have what they give me. I guess you were right, and I really am still a kid.”

“No, you’re not. I’ve already seen you change just this week. I think your family might be very surprised the next time they work with you.”