AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Warmth spreads through me as I think about how I’d run my hands through the waves as he kissed me.
I purse my lips to stop the tingling. It’s been more than ten years since he last kissed me. Why does it feel like it was just yesterday?
“Thank you. You look…like you.”
Seriously? That’s what I came up with to say?
He tilts his head to the side, a playful smile tugging up one side of his mouth. “Good to know I look like…me.”
I clear my throat and gesture toward Mom’s car, trying to keep the conversation to the task at hand. “She said it needs—”
“Tire rotation, oil change, and fuel injection cleaning.”
My brow furrows. “How did you know that?”
He tosses the wrench onto the tool bench along the wall and wipes his hands on the towel. “I always know what my customers need.”
With a smirk, he taps the side of his head. “I got it all up here, babe.”
I ignore the other endearment that used to make me melt. “Right, well, I’ll just be going then.”
“Well, hold on now. It’s been a while since we talked. How’ve you been?”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Just peachy keen.”
“Glad to hear it.” He pauses, brows raised, as though waiting for me to continue the conversation. When I don’t say anything further, he says, “I’m doing well, thanks for asking.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“But you wanted to.”
“If I wanted to know, I would’ve asked.”
His dimples appear and he widens his legs as he mimics my stance. Except he’s the epitome of the hot, sexy mechanic when he crosses his arms and the sleeve slides up, revealing a toned, tanned, inked forearm. “You know you missed me.”
I drag my gaze from where I’m studying to see what the tattoo is. “What? I didn’t miss you.”
He tilts his head. “Never known you to be a liar, Lia.”
“That was always your department.”
His chuckle is deep and those damn dimples deepen as he widens his smile, his gaze telling me he caught me staring. He moves close enough to me that I can smell his cologne. “Yeah, I didn’t miss you either.”
His voice drops low in that way that always made me crazy, but I focus on the words and don’t try to read between the lines.
I stare back up at him with all the venom I can muster. “Still a liar.”
When it comes to this man, I can’t have hope. He broke my heart, rejected me when I wanted to give him everything. Even though it took me a while to get over him, when I did, I vowed no other man would ever see me vulnerable or would make me feel second best.
After the summer that changed my life was over, I left Madison Ridge and put myself first.
I spent years trying to please people. My parents, my older brother, teachers, friends.
Jake.
But all that got me was learning a lesson that I’d never be good enough to be anyone’s number one.
That’s why relationships are secondary. It keeps my heart all in one piece. My career is the top priority in my life. It’s where I excel.
