Page 71 of Love in Overdrive

Chapter 24

The next Saturday morning, Laney pulled into the Busted Knuckle parking lot. She honked her horn and the twelve-foot bay door opened. Standing in the empty stall was Cade.

Laney couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face at the sight of him—all male power with his hands on his hips.

“Bring it in.” He waved a hand, signaling her to pull forward as he walked backward.

When she had it in the stall, he came around and opened her door for her. She handed him the keys.

“You can leave them in the ignition. Please lower the window first.”

“Okay.” She climbed out and watched as he adjusted the arms of his hoist under her car.

“Let’s see what’s going on. You said you don’t have any heat?” He reached inside and popped the hood release before moving to the front of the car.

His movements were swift as he grabbed tools from the drawers behind him. He shot her a smile, then he leaned into the engine compartment and got to work.

Laney’s gaze traveled the long expanse of denim, from his scuffed boots to the back pockets that held a shop rag. Internally, she purred at how well he filled out those jeans.

“You have a loose hose clamp. Can you hand me a flathead screwdriver?”

“Flat what?” Shoot. She’d totally missed what he said.

“In the second drawer. Flathead.” He glanced over his shoulder and smirked.

Busted.

Grabbing the tool, she handed it to him.

“Thanks. I’ll top off the fluids. Sometimes low coolant will affect the heat output.”

Laney watched the muscles in his forearms flex as he filled the reservoir. His veins roped up and around, pulling her gaze along tanned skin to the edge of his sleeves.

“Okay, jump in and check the heat.”

She climbed in and turned on the engine. Fingers crossed, she cranked the heat to the highest setting. Placing her hand over the vent, she shivered with excitement when warm air touched her palm. “It works!”

“Sweet.” He leaned into her window and held his fingers in front of her vent.

The smell of oil and grease, entwined with Cade’s own musky scent, wrapped around her. Laney inhaled. She’d lock this scent in her memory forever. It was her new favorite cologne.

“It’s better, but not quite right. I’ll order a thermostat for it. Come on out. I’ll check a couple of other things while you are here.” He pulled back and opened the door for her. “Watch your step.”

He guided her around the hoist, palm to palm until she was back at her observation spot. She leaned on the workbench and took in the view again as Cade leaned into the engine compartment. Yup, she could get used to watching him work.

“Can you hand me a thirteen-millimeter wrench?”

“Sure.” She opened another drawer. Bingo. Wrenches. Quarter, three-eighths. Nope, wrong set. She ran a finger down the next row of wrenches. Metric. Yes. She pulled the correct one from the holder and handed it over. She felt like an operating room nurse.

“Thanks.” He fiddled with something for a couple of minutes, then asked, “Sorry, but can you start the car for me again?”

“Sure.” Carefully, she stepped around the hoist and climbed in. She put her foot on the brake out of habit, then started the car.

As he worked, he continued to ask Laney for help. After a few more checks, she got out of the car, and he raised it up on the hoist.

Laney stepped back. She eyed the two metal arms holding her car in the air. The mechanics of how that small amount of steel could hold up her whole car astonished her.

“You have an oil leak as well.” Cade pointed to something under the vehicle.