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Arriving at the shop was always my favorite time of the day. I was full of energy and eager to get started on the huge list of projects waiting for me. Not to mention the bonus that my bay was always clean and nicely organized. It was pretty much the only time of the day when everything was tidy and exactly where it belonged in my space.
I tended to put things down wherever I was, and then I moved on to the next thing, always jumping from task to task without worrying about where things belonged in the moment. That was what the end of the day was for, but this feeling of just having everything as it should be and in a controlled environment was the best.
The first car of the day was already on the lift, so I slipped on my coveralls and slid underneath it, digging in to the first of many projects assigned to me for the day.
The familiar sound of a tow truck floated in from out front, but Brayden or Jordan usually dealt with customers, so I ignored it. I liked to let them manage the people aspect of the shop.
After a few minutes, I realized there were voices coming from the front of the garage, but none of them were familiar.
“Where the hell is everybody?” I whispered to myself before I glanced to my right and saw a pair of combat boots beside me.
And then I heard a throat being cleared. “Excuse me. Is there anyone available I can talk to?”
The deep voice rumbled through me as I slid out from underneath the car and reached for a rag to wipe my hands. “Oh, sorry. Usually, there are people around.” I looked back toward the office before realizing no one else was with me in the garage. “What can I do for—” Holy shit, it was him. The hot security guy from last night who manhandled that asshole and kicked him out. Now it was my turn to clear my throat and attempt to compose myself. “I mean, do you need to be serviced?”
He grinned, and I realized what I’d just said.
“I mean, a car. Do you need a car? To be…serviced?”
He chuckled softly and nodded. “Yeah, I had it towed in. It’s just a simple tire replacement, but my buddy borrowed my jack a few weeks ago and never brought it back.” He caught my eyes and held my gaze. “Otherwise, I would’ve taken care of it myself last night on my way home.”
Last night? On his way home? Did that mean he recognized me? He couldn’t…could he?
“Yeah, of course. No problem. We can take care of that today.”
Jordan, my boss, walked out, so I handed the hot security guard Daddy over to him so they could fill out the paperwork.
I turned back to the car I was working on, even though my attention was elsewhere. I was so focused on the backside of the gorgeous man who was talking to my boss that I didn’t even notice when Jordan ran out to the tow truck to write down the VIN and mileage. I was busy watching the sexy customer as he slipped his hands in his pocket and casually turned, looking right at me.
My gaze locked with his, and I knew I should look away, but I just couldn’t. I was caught in his intense curiosity. Even my lungs forgot how to work until I practically choked out a gasp.
After an eternity of just staring like an idiot, Jordan came back inside, and I was forced to look away, attempting to get back to my work.
When the guy finally left, Jordan came by and placed his work order on the hook at my bay. “It’s gonna be a busy day, Max. Brayden has that dental thing today, so he won’t be in, which means you’ll have a full load.” He tapped the paper with the Daddy’s job on it. “You can fit in this tire change anytime this afternoon or tomorrow. We don’t have that size here, so I’ve ordered a replacement that will be in around noon. But there’s no rush. He said he’ll pick it up tomorrow afternoon. I guess he’s got to work late tonight.”
Interesting. Was he working at Primal again? “Sure thing.”
The good thing about having ADHD was that when I wanted to get a lot of stuff done, I could crank shit out.
Of course, without proper motivation, I could also spend an entire day doing absolutely nothing by chasing shiny objects and following distractions until it was time to clock out. But getting to know—I turned and looked at the work order to see the name—James Warren a little bit better was all the motivation I needed to get my ass in gear.
I moved all my other jobs in front of his so I could spend the end of my shift on just James’s truck…and still have some time to poke around inside it too.
My parents used to call me a snoop, but I liked to think I was just your run-of-the-mill voyeur. I liked to peek into people’s lives when they didn’t necessarily know I was looking. And I could only imagine what I might find in James’s glove box if given a few moments of privacy to check it out.
By three fifteen, I had cleared seven cars and finally got James’s truck up on the lift. It was a full-size Toyota. Manly without being obnoxiously so.
And about a million times bigger than my little kit car.
The tire he needed had been delivered around lunchtime, so it didn’t take long to replace the torn-up one and plug three other holes I found in the rest. Judging by the three-inch screws in those, I had to assume he did a lot of driving near City Hall…like most of our other customers who had been coming in with pothole damage or flat tires. The construction they were doing over there was a nightmare for the community and tearing up cars every day.
It was good business for us but terrible for the customers who had to take time out of their day to pay for repairs almost constantly.
4
JAMES
The rideshare driver who was dropping me off at the repair shop didn’t listen when I warned him about the potholes. He was from the burbs and got caught up in a cycle of city rides, so he didn’t know the back roads to take to avoid the construction zone. At least until he heard the familiar thud of his undercarriage smacking against the asphalt after bouncing out of a damn pothole.
