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A familiar-looking man, with the sleeves of his plaid shirt rolled up and his cheek smeared with grease exits the car and pulls out a tire from the back. “This what you wanted, boss?”
“Yeah,” I jerk my head towards the car and Rudy gets to work.
From the frown on Eve’s face, she doesn’t seem to like the idea of being forced into accepting my assistance.
My lips curve.
She has to get used to more than that.
I plan to insert myself into her life completely. If I wiggle my way through her defenses to find her weakest spots, I have no qualms about that.
“Uh, boss?”
I look over my shoulder at my mechanic, who looks a little worried. “What?”
“When was the last time this car had a tune up? The battery’s near to dead, and the oil needs to be changed.”
Rudy is leaning into the hood of the car, tinkering around.
The man has a love affair with cars. It isn’t a shocker that he casually just checked the car over.
“I haven’t had time to get it to the garage,” Eve mutters. “It costs money.”
The last part hisses under her breath, but I hear it nonetheless.
Rudy looks over at us. “I can do it for yo
u. I’ll need to take this with me.” He leans back and appraises the battered blue vehicle. “Could do with a wash, a paint job. Some thorough cleaning. I could have the car to you in a week, good as new.”
He gives Eve a hopeful look, and I wonder if I am not giving Rudy enough work to do that he wants to sink his teeth into this old Camaro.
Eve grits her teeth. “I don’t have a spare car just lying around. When I get the time, I’ll get Paul to take a look.”
“Take the car,” I order, looking Eve in the eye.
“Excuse me?” She shoots daggers my way. “That’s not your car that you’re telling him to take.”
I am not going to let her intimidate me, and my voice is calm. “You drive Mila around in that. If it breaks down somewhere, well, I don’t want to take that risk. I can drive you around wherever you need to go till you get this car back.”
Eve tucks her tongue in her cheek. “You’re going to drive me around?” She looks almost scornful. “You’re going to be my chauffeur?”
“I’ll be at your beck and call,” I tell her, amused by the desperate look in her eyes, one that closely resembles that of a cornered animal. “Or do you think if you spend enough time with me, you might start considering my offer?”
She bristles, immediately insulted. “Oh, get off your high horse.”
I give her an innocent smile. “So, it’s not a problem then. Have at it, Rudy.”
Eve glowers at me.
Maybe this is payback, I muse, as I push around the shopping cart for Eve. I usually don’t do the grocery shopping at home, but since Eve decided to make full use of my services, I am now helping her with her shopping.
I watch her pick up a packet of raw chicken from a discount rack, and as she checks the expiration date on the back of the packet, I point towards the meat section. “Wouldn’t getting the chicken from there be better? Seems fresher over there.”
She tosses the packet into the shopping cart. “No. It’s more expensive. This is cheaper, and I can use it quickly.”
Her words strike me that while she is doing well for herself, money might not be as easy as I thought it was. To see her scrimping and saving, picking up items on discount, I feel a hint of discomfort in my stomach, a gnawing that I can’t quite identify and one I find could very likely be guilt.
Misplaced as it may be.
