Help Wanted (2 page)

“Should I be jealous that another man has my son?”

Looking over his shoulder, Jim saw Hayward standing next to Clinton and Dave, a huge smile on his face. “No, I think he would rather you burp him than me,” Jim replied.

Hayward came into the living room and took My’kael away from him. He resumed patting his son on the back. “Where’s True?”

“She’s upstairs with Kevan.  He didn’t want to take a nap.”

“Yeah, he’s been having a problem with that lately.  He’s getting a horrible independent streak now. He wants to do a lot more stuff on his own now that he’s turned five. But he isn’t big enough yet and his new personality is driving True crazy.”

“I have to make sure to keep Dylan away from him.” Clinton laughed as he took a seat across from Jim. “I don’t want my little boy acting like that. He’s a good son and I want him to stay that away.”

“I think Dylan is the one who gave it to Kevan. My son was a perfect angel until his cousin came along,” Hayward laughed.

“My son didn’t do anything.  I believe he was taking his nap when we left my house,” Clinton tossed back. “Jenisha would agree with me if she wasn’t at the doctor with the baby.”

“How is Parker doing?” Dave asked touching My’kael’s hand before taking a seat on the sofa.

“He’s amazing.” Clinton bragged like a proud father. “I swear he’s better looking than me, and Dylan loves him to death.  He likes the idea of being a big brother so much. He’s already trying to tell his little brother what to do. It’s so cute.”

“Were you disappointed that Jenisha didn’t have twins?” Jim asked getting back into the conversation. He remembered how excited Clinton was at the thought of the possibility of having twins like his brother and True.

“No, we are just thrilled to have another healthy addition to our family,” Clinton said. “Jenisha never thought she would be a mother and now we have two beautiful kids. I would have loved Jenisha without kids, but our sons bring so much more to our lives. We don’t know what we would do without them.”

“I know what you mean. I’m so glad that Charisma and Dave Jr. are doing better now.  I don’t think I could have gone on without them,” Dave cut in. “Charisma has been trying to get Keira to come and see the baby, but she won’t.”

“That is one woman who needs an attitude adjustment.” A frown crossed Jim’s handsome face “I swear, I believe she’s worse than Kathy.”

“Keira isn’t nastier than your ex-wife,” Hayward interrupted holding his sleeping son against his chest. “She’s very nice. Maybe you just rubbed her the wrong way.  I heard about the disagreement the two of you got into at the airport. I thought it was kind of funny to be honest.”

“I didn’t have an argument with her,” Jim said. “I only told her to stay out of Dave’s relationship with Charisma. It wasn’t any of her business.”

“Are you telling me that you haven’t thought about Keira since then?” Dave asked. “She’s very pretty. You usually like those types. I know she’s single. I could have Charisma put in a good word for you.”

“No, I haven’t thought about Keira. She’s too much drama for me.” Jim wasn’t about to admit that the sexy flight attendant had crossed his mind several times since their brief encounter.

“I think Keira would be a perfect match for Jim,” Clinton said, adding his opinion to the conversation. “I think they would make a good-looking couple.”

“I would never date one of them,” Jim retorted and then quickly realized how his comment may have sounded to the men around him.

“What do you mean by ‘one of them’?” Hayward asked in a dangerously low voice.

“Yeah, what in the hell do you mean?” Dave and Clinton demanded together.

Jim knew that he had to clear this mistake up very quickly or he was going to lose his three best friends along with all the fun and enjoyment they brought into his life with their families.

“I’m not referring to her race. I’m talking about her being a know-it-all. I bet she has an opinion about everything.  I was already involved with one of those types.  I don’t want or need it again.”

“So, you have thought about Keira.” Clinton teased easing the thick tension in the room. “I think she’s cute.”

“Who do you think is cute and should I tell True about this?” Jenisha asked coming into the room carrying a car seat “You know that she has my back.”

“Don’t be jealous.” Clinton got up, kissed his gorgeous wife on the mouth and then took the car seat from her. “How is Parker doing? Did the doctor agree that he’s as perfect as we think he is?”

Jim watched how Clinton looked at Jenisha with such love in his eyes and was a little envious. He was glad that his buddy had found true love, but he was jealous that he was still alone.  The guys didn’t know it but he was tired of going home to an empty house every night unless Trevor was spending some time with him. He would love to walk in his front door and find someone there waiting with open arms.

“The guys are trying to fix me up with Keira, but I’m not interested,” Jim said filling Jenisha in on what was going on.

“Why aren’t you interested?” Jenisha asked. “I’ve always thought you should ask Keira out on a date. She would be so good for you. She could make you get over the way your abusive ex-wife treated you for all of those years.  I swear she’s Satan reincarnated.”

Jim knew that he had to get out of here before things got any worse for him. He wasn’t interested in getting involved with Keira no matter how attractive he found her. He would keep telling everyone that she wasn’t his type until the matchmaking crew left him alone.

“I have to go.” He got up, made his way towards the front door and then hurried out before anyone could stop him.

Outside Jim shook his head at the people inside Clinton’s house and wondered when they were going to give up trying to fix him up. He loved all of them like they were his second family, but they were wrong. He wasn’t interested in Charisma’s attractive best friend.  He would be doing wonderfully if he never had another meeting with Keira ever again.

Chapter Three

Keira stood inside the bike shop glancing around at everything that had been a part of her life of so many years. She hadn’t been in here since her father passed away. It had just been too hard to even think about stepping through the front door.

Plus she was still trying to get over the plane crash and all the bad memories it kept bringing back to her night after night. The airline offered to pay for counseling, but she wasn’t ready.

She wasn’t very open to telling someone about her nightmares. It was still too fresh in her mind. She couldn’t even talk to Charisma about how it felt and she was her best friend. She could still hear the screams and moans of several of the passengers before the plane broke apart ending their lives in a matter of minutes.

There was just too much going on inside of her head for her to handle it all at once. In addition, she had to see this stranger who her father sold his precious business too. He wanted total control over what her father had spent most of his life building up. She didn’t feel right handing over the keys to her father’s long time passion to a man that she wasn’t aware existed in the world until several months ago
.
It just didn’t sit well with her.

She ran a hand over her dad’s prized custom made Harley Davidson. Her father had redone the bike her senior year in college. He adored this particular motorcycle and took it out any chance he got.

How was she going to be able to give this bike away to a new owner? She knew nothing about this man. She wasn’t even sure this guy knew anything about motorcycles.
I can’t do this. I won’t let a stranger take over my father’s business. I’ll learn how to work here. I can do it to honor the memory of my father.
The sound of the bell ringing above the front door drew Keira’s attention back to the entrance of the shop.

“Hello, is there anyone here?”  A masculine voice called out.

Keira took a quick look at her watch frowning at the time.  She hadn’t realized how late it was. It was time for the guy to show up for the keys. She hoped that Jim Russell understood when she gave him the bad news. She just didn’t understand why his name seemed so familiar to her. Oh well…it didn’t matter. He would be a distant memory in a few minutes anyway.

“I’m coming,” Keira yelled, coming back towards the front of the building. She came around the corner and saw a tall, white man with long, dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail looking at a couple of the older Harley Davidson’s that her father had kept proudly on display.

One was a 1979 FXEF that showed the tachometer mounted below the speedometer. Her father had restored it to its original condition. The second bike was a 1980 FXB Sturgis. She recalled seeing him ride that bike about three or four times when she was a little girl. This shop had been her father’s world, but no matter how many long hours he spent in the shop, he always made enough time for her and anything she wanted to do when she was growing up.

Keira stared at the man for a second or two wondering why he looked somewhat familiar.  Maybe he had been a passenger on one of the flights she was on a while back before the crash. Well, she wasn’t going to worry about it because it would come to her soon enough where she knew him from.

“Excuse me sir, may I help you?” she asked.

“I’m here about the bike shop. I’m Jim Russell the new owner,” the guy said as he turned around.

“I can’t believe it!” Keira gasped. “There is no way in hell my father sold our family business to you.” How was it that bad luck seemed to follow her no matter where she went now?

“Well, if it isn’t Miss Butt-into-other-people’s-business.” Jim glared back at her. “You can’t be the daughter Dennis bragged about. She sounded very sweet and understanding. We both know that isn’t you.”

“How dare you assume you know who am I? We only had about a two minute conversation.”

“It was the longest two minutes of my life,” Jim snapped back. “Just give me the keys to the shop and I’ll be on my way, sweetheart.”

Shaking her head, Keira crossed her arms over her breasts. “First, my name isn’t sweetheart. It is Keira Winters, but I rather you call me Ms. Winters. Furthermore, I’m not giving you the keys to my father’s business today or any other day for that matter.”

Keira secretly congratulated herself for not moving when Jim closed the distance between them. His gorgeous hazel eyes, that looked more green than brown, flashed down at her from a truly handsome face. She hated that she was even mildly attracted to the domineering man in front of her.

“What are you talking about?” he demanded. “Why aren’t you giving me the keys? I gave your father a shit load of money for this place and I want those keys.”

“I’m going to run it myself to honor my father.  I’ll give you all your money back and you can be on your way. Let me go and grab my checkbook.” Keira spun around and was about to walk away, but gasped instead when Jim wrapped his large calloused hand around her bare upper arm.

“Not so fast, Keira,” he whispered by her ear sending a tingle of excitement racing through her body. “I never said that I wanted my money back. I bought this place from your father in good faith and I’m not giving it up just because his spoiled daughter wants it now.”

Jerking her arm away, Keira pivoted and stared up into Jim’s face. She hated the smirk she saw plastered there and how it didn’t take away from how appealing he was. “You have to let me buy the shop back from you. I’m sure there’s another business in town you can buy.”

“I agree with you. I’m sure that there is, but why would I want to buy another one when I already own a perfectly good one,” Jim taunted.

She swallowed hard, lifted her head another inch or two and boldly met his gaze. “I’m not going to let you get away with this. I’ll get my dad’s business back from you. You may think you’re so damn smart, but I’m smarter than you and I’m going to prove it.”

“Fine, I’ll let you buy this place back from me if you can answer one question; however, if you get the answer wrong the discussion is over. I own this place and you will accept it.”

 “I’ll take you up on that deal.”  There was no way she wouldn’t be able to answer any question Jim asked her.

“Besides a Harley Davidson, can you name three other types of motorcycles?” Jim asked.

The confident smile Keira had a few seconds ago slowly slipped off her face as she realized the huge hole she had dug herself into. Jim tricked her! He knew that she didn’t have an answer to his question and that’s why he asked it.

She quickly chastised herself for even thinking Jim would be fair or honest with her. She knew nothing about him except that he was Dave’s best friend. “You know that I don’t have a response to that question,” Keira accused. “You tricked me!”

His stare drilled into her as he listened to her rant and rave. “I did nothing of the sort. I thought it was a very easy question for you because your father had this place since you were a little girl. I’m sure you have seen a variety of bikes coming in and out of here.”

Keira hated that Jim was right, but she’d been too busy trying to live her own life instead of becoming more aware of what her father did in here. She knew a few things; however, she didn’t know this.

“I don’t know of any more,” she finally admitted. “I’m not that good when it comes to the other designs of motorcycles. I know they exist but I’m not positive about their names.”

Just thinking about Jim owning this place shattered her as she watched him move away from her over to a table beside them. He picked up a motorcycle helmet that she hadn’t noticed was there until now.

“I guess I’ll be seeing you bright and early tomorrow morning.” Jim strolled towards the front door. “I’m not a horrible person. I’ll give you today to have some more time with your father’s shop.”

Opening the door, Jim was about to walk out before Keira stopped him, “Wait. Aren’t you going to tell me the answer to the question?”

“Sports bike, Trail bike and Custom bike,” Jim told her and then continued on to the door without a second glance in her direction.

Standing there watching the door as it closed behind Jim made Keira more uncertain than ever. She couldn’t believe how irritating Jim Russell was. He had to be the most self-centered man that she had ever met. She wondered how long it would be before they jumped at each other’s throats. What else might happen, she wasn’t in the mood to think about.