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At least he didn’t lose a tire.
The shop closed at five on Fridays, so if I didn’t get there within the next twenty minutes, I had to wait until Monday morning to pick up my truck. That wasn’t the end of the world, but I wanted to see Ducky again. Maybe I could find out what kind of weekend plans he had.
Fuck, he was a cute little thing.
Small but not delicate. A little scruffy when I saw him…but in the sexiest way. And those eyes. Brown like chocolate when they stared right at me.
I didn’t catch his name and only said a few words to the boy before his boss interrupted us, but the way he seemed to beg for attention with just a glance had me hard for the past two days.
More than ready to get there, I slipped out of the car in front of the shop and realized I was too late. There weren’t any cars in the parking lot, and the bay doors were all closed. I was about to call to find out if anyone was around when the roll-up door to the last stall began to slowly lift, revealing my awaiting Tundra.
My truck looked cleaner than it had in a long time, but my line of vision was homed in on the sweet boy in a pair of black overalls with a smudge of grease on his cheek. He was standing next to the opening door, holding down the button until the door was fully raised, and then he stepped back and clasped his hands together in front of his waist.
“Hey, there.” I walked right up to him and then took a cursory look around. “Is she all ready for me?”
“Yep.” He swallowed and took a step back before reaching for the plastic pouch hanging on the wall. “Jordan said you’ve already paid, so if I can just get your signature, you’re all set.”
“Thanks.” I kicked the tire that had been replaced and noticed the pinstriping along the length of my truck was different. New. I ran my finger along it and looked at the boy. “Did you replace the stripe?”
“Um, yeah.” He looked at me for just a moment before ducking his chin to his chest and turning toward the driver’s side door. “I had some time last night, so I threw in a few extras.”
What’s that now? “Extras?” I raised an eyebrow and waited for him to look back at me.
When he did, his breath hitched, and he reached for the buckle holding his left strap to the panel on his chest. “Um, yeah. I hope that’s okay?”
I smiled and gave his shoulder a quick squeeze. I wanted to reassure him that I wasn’t mad, but I didn’t want to come across like the asshole at Primal the other night by crowding him. “Of course it is. What did you do?”
“Um, well, I changed the oil, rotated the tires, adjusted a rattle I heard in your tailgate, checked the timing belt, topped off your fluids, and…replaced your brakes.”
My jaw dropped. I thought he was going to say he washed it and tossed in a branded air freshener…not a full maintenance visit. “Damn. That’s a lot of extras.”
The boy's shoulders relaxed about two inches, and I got a peek at his glowing smile. “Well, I…” He cleared his throat and let his hands hang by his sides. “I wanted to thank you for handling that guy at Primal the other night.”
Oh, so we weren’t pretending that never happened. Good. That made the rest of my evening a helluva lot easier. “No thanks necessary, boy. But I appreciate all the work you put into my truck. Did Jordan bill for everything or should I pay you directly?”
His eyes slowly closed, and it looked like a full-body shiver rolled through him. “No, nothing. It’s on me. I mean, mostly it was just some of my time, and that’s free.” He smiled, and his gaze bounced from my eyes to my mouth…and then down to my hands. “I mean, I did it after hours last night, so it was really just a bit of labor.”
Now I was the one who was nervous and tense. People didn’t usually go out of their way to do stuff for me…especially not boys I’d never officially met before. A lot of emotions were at war within me, but I settled on gratitude, hoping that was what he needed to receive most. “Thank you—” I cocked my head. “I don’t think I caught your name yet.”
“Max.” He wiped his hand on his pant leg and then extended it to me. “Max Thorne.”
“Nice to meet you, Max. I’m James.” I reached for his hand and gave it a shake, and instead of immediately letting go, I held on. “May I give you a hug?”
He swallowed hard and then nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Fuck, I liked the sound of that. So much so that I was afraid if I ever heard the name Daddy roll off that tongue, I’d cream myself from the sweetness. I tugged him just hard enough that he fell against my chest and closed my arms around him. “Thank you for being such a generous boy. It was kind and thoughtful to do the extra work for me. Not at all necessary, but I appreciate it.”
His arms wrapped around my back and curled up so he was clinging to my shoulders. “You’re welcome.”
I breathed in his slightly sweaty scent, willing myself not to swipe my tongue across his neck, and then finally pulled back. “Can I buy you dinner tonight?”
Max’s eyebrows furrowed, and he frowned. “You don’t have to work tonight?”
“No, I just got off work.”
“At Primal?” He glanced over at the clock on the wall. “They’re open during the day?”
Oh, right. He probably thought that was my full-time gig. “No, I work in private security during the day. I just help out the owners of Primal now and then.” I shrugged and reached for the paperwork he’d left on the bench so I could sign off on picking up my truck. “I was just there for the auction.”
