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"Yeah, it's cute," Charlie admitted slowly, still staring. She'd never been good at ignoring pretty women and Eve was undoubtedly that. It was everything about her, the light dusting of freckles around her nose, the long lashes framing her grey eyes, the elegant curve of her neck.
Charlie didn't know if she was noticing all these things only now or if she'd forced herself not to notice them earlier because of Jack. In any case, her admiration had to go back into the box because no matter how cute Eve was, Charlie could never act on it. She wasn't just her best friend's sister, this was also her boss' daughter. Nothing good could come from making eyes at her.
She cleared her throat and forced her gaze back on the ground. Almost all the bolts had made their way back into the box, a small mercy.
"That'll do," Charlie announced, eager to get out of the situation. She picked the tower of boxes back up and quickly carried them into the workshop without waiting for Eve.
The more distance she put between them, the better.
In the garage, Jack startled her by appearing from behind a car.
Charlie almost dropped everything in her hands again as guilt lashed out at her. She really shouldn't be getting all chatty with Eve.
“What took you so long?" Jack asked.
"I had a little mishap," Charlie said as she put her load down, not daring to look at him. Jack wasn't the most observant of guys, but she still worried he’d be able to look into her eyes and see the thoughts she just had about Eve.
Unhelpfully, Eve appeared behind her with the box of bolts. "Yeah, she threw them all over the ground. Luckily I was there to help, wasn't I?"
Charlie couldn't help but notice how Jack's expression got unmistakably darker when he saw his sister. It made even more guilt bubble up in her gut and she quickly stepped to the side, as if putting physical distance between them would make it clear that they had nothing to do with each other.
Awkward silence hung between them until Eve set the bolts down and departed with a little wave. She shot a targeted smile towards Charlie, one that made the freckles on her cheeks dance.
To Charlie's horror, her stomach did a little traitorous flip-flop.
"Good riddance. She's so rude for making fun of you," Jack grumbled.
“I don't think—” Charlie was fairly sure Eve's comment had been harmless teasing but she didn't think pointing it out would be well received. Instead, she swallowed hard and nodded weakly. "Yeah, so rude."
Whatever attraction she felt towards Eve, it had to be squashed immediately.
Six
Eve
* * *
Eve scrolled through endless customer transactions, utterly baffled by the disorganised state of them. It seemed like everyone had their own way of constructing itineraries and they were receiving invoices from suppliers at two different email addresses and some via mail. The work logs and schedules were a disaster too. Just looking at it all was giving her a searing headache.
No wonder her dad had jumped on the opportunity to have her sort out their admin. The garage was a small family business and it certainly operated like one.
She emailed the company that sent paper invoices for digitals ones instead, created a master template for itineraries, and started a spreadsheet to keep track of expenses and income. If she worked steadily through the mess, the accounts would be in order just in time to file taxes.
A knock came from the glass door and Charlie popped her head in through the crack. "Am I interrupting something?"
Eve pushed the keyboard away. "No, I need a break. My head is spinning from all the numbers and abbreviations. I can't believe the business has been running like this for years. Anyway, not your problem. What can I do for you?"
"I'm actually looking for your dad. It's about the body modification course I wanted to take," Charlie said, holding up a brochure. "He said he would put it through the business but the sign-up is due and he hasn't brought it up since."
"Can I see?" Eve asked, curious what was going on.
Charlie hesitated for a moment. "Umm, sure. I mean, I can pay for it myself, it's just that your dad said he would."
“Let me see,” Eve insisted as she held her hand out. Her gaze locked with Charlie’s as the brochure landed in her hand and they stared for a moment, lost in each others’ eyes.
She really was gorgeous, Eve thought.
Charlie let go of the brochure like it burned her and the tension shattered as their eye contact lapsed.
