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CHAPTER 9
“Thanks for doing this, kid,” I say to Reese as she pulls the Mustang up to the front door of Maxx.
“I just wish you hadn’t lied to me. We could have gotten this taken care of sooner. What if Dean hadn’t been there?” she asks.
“I’d have figured it out.”
Speak of the handsome mechanic, through the windows I can see Dean standing behind the desk with Tony, and a couple of our Maxxers hanging around as they tend to do before and after class.
Groaning, I sink a little.
“What’s wrong?” Reese asks.
“Maybe I should skip work today.”
Reese squints as she looks inside Maxx. “Okay, tell me what happened? Did you guys have a fight?”
I shake my head. “No. It’s all good.”
“In that case, I have to go. The appointment is in twenty minutes,” she says, speaking of the appointment she made to have the Mustang’s gages looked at.
“What am I going to do without you?” I ask with a sad smile.
“Hopefully survive. I’ll see you at six-thirty. Love you!”
She leaves me standing at the curb, gathering the courage to go in and face Dean.
I’m embarrassed. Though I hate to admit it, I completely overreacted. Why couldn’t I have just left it at thank you? Now I have to walk in with my head down, hoping it’s not as awkward as I feel.
“Hey Tone,” I greet the older man, then look to Dean shyly. “Coop.”
“Catherine,” he says.
Tony, a very smart guy who can read between the lines, makes a stifled noise before disappearing down the hall that leads to the offices.
“What, no kitty cat today?” I ask, hesitantly smiling.
“Sure. If you tell me what the hell pissed you off yesterday.”
Rolling my eyes, I mumble, “I can’t.”
“Then Catherine you will be.”
He makes to walk away, but I reach out for his wrist. “Coop. You did nothing wrong. And I can’t tell you what upset me, because I don’t really know myself.”
“Was it because I wanted to follow you to the gas station?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know,” I barely say.
“Did you feel I overstepped some boundary?” he asks, trying to get to the bottom of it.
“No. Maybe.”
Looking frustrated with my unwillingness to answer, he says, “Catherine, you need to figure it out. I don’t like deciphering people.”
“Well then you should probably look to someone else, because I’m an enigma even to myself.”
He stares at me long a hard, making me squirm. Then suddenly a chuckle escapes him and the laughter reaches his eyes, softening them, and making me smile in return. “Fair enough.”
