Sooty is in the office area that sits just inside the entrance.
“Well, look who it is,” he says when he sees us. Sooty walks over to us and holds his hand out for Brent. “Haven’t seen you around in a while, son.”
Brent smiles. “Just been busy with work, Sooty. How you been?”
“I’m still kickin’.”
A throaty motor starts up at the back of the stable. We all turn in that direction just in time to see Trick pulling away in a badass classic Mustang. Probably something like a Boss or a Cobra, definitely something my dad would like.
As he passes the open side door of the stable, I see him look in. His eyes meet mine. Even across the distance, I feel the…turbulence. That’s the best way I can describe it. It takes my breath for a second.
When he drives on, I turn back to Sooty, hoping Brent didn’t recognize Trick. Sooty is watching me closely. Very closely. The edges of his thin lips turn up the tiniest bit.
“Well, well, well,” he says.
I look away from him, too, back at Brent. His eyes are darting between me and Sooty.
“Well what?”
Sooty clears his throat. “Well, I guess we’d better get you two saddled up and out the door before dinner time. You came to ride, right?”
Sooty winks at me.
What’s that old man up to?
Sooty acts perfectly normal after that, leaving me to wonder if I had just imagined his strange behavior.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN- Trick
If a car could be a soul mate, my Mustang would be mine. Nothing in the world can soothe me like doing fifty-five on a curvy road, the wind pouring in and the music pouring out. She responds quickly to my slightest touch—I’ve tweaked the steering to near-perfection—and she hugs the turns as we snake our way through the country.
I don’t really have a destination in mind. I just want to drive for a while and clear my head. It’s not a matter of not being able to have Cami. Not really. I’m pretty sure if I pursued her, I could have her. At least I think so.
No girl is worth you losing this job, though. No girl! You’re the only thing standing between Mom and Grace and destitution. And they’ve lost enough already. We all have.
After almost two hours of reiterating my priorities, which keep getting high-jacked when Cami comes around, I find myself at Rusty’s garage. The lights are on and his car’s out front. Rusty’s always working. Well, to Rusty, it’s more like playing. Kind of like me working with horses. When you’re doing something you love, you can’t really call it “work.”
“What up, man?” He rolls out from under the front of a T-Bird and greets me with a cock-eyed grin.
“Just…out.” I sit in a chair that he’d obviously been resting in at some point, drinking a beer.
“Uh-oh. Don’t want to go home. Can’t stay at work. You’re homeless for the moment. That it?”
I shrug even though Rusty’s already wheeled back under the car. He rolls back out and frowns up at me.
“What are you doing here so late?” I ask.
“Got a guy coming in with his ‘Vette in about a half hour or so.”
“The guy from the field party?”
“Yep.”
I nod.
Rusty narrows his eyes on me. “All right. What is it?”
I lean back and exhale. Rusty knows me too well.
“I’m just still getting adjusted to the way things are now. That’s all.”
“Is it about the money?”
I close my eyes. It seems that everything boils down to the money. My entire life has been reduced to the singular pursuit of money above all else.
“That must be a ‘yes.’ And she still won’t let you sell the car?”
“Nope. And it would solve everything.”
“Well, you can’t really blame her in a way, though.”
“Yeah, but there’s a time when sentimentality has to take a back seat to practicality.”
“Nice! Spoken like a true college kid.”
I can’t help but wonder if I’d ever get to finish.
So close…
“Well, it is what it is. I just need to see us through the next year or so until I can get some things worked out. Maybe then…”
“I hope so, bro,” Rusty says. We sit in silence for a minute, something Rus is rarely ever comfortable with, before he casually slides back under the car without another word. He’s already overextended himself.
As usual, he has music on while he works. I close my eyes and listen for a few minutes before my thoughts start crowding in on me again. I’m just not the type to be idle with my musings unless they’re about some sort of trouble I can fix. Right now, there is no fix. This
is
the fix.
I get up and pull my shirt over my head. No sense risking getting grease stains all over yet another shirt.
“What can I help with, man? I’m tired of thinking.”
“Why don’t you get under the hood and loosen the bolts from those brackets.”
Grabbing a socket set from the workbench, I pop the hood and get to work.
After about five minutes, Rus and I start talking shop and my mind is adequately occupied. The garage bay doors are open and the slightly cooler night air is coming in, the music is still playing and my troubles are, for the time being, somewhere else.
Until the breeze carries in the faint scent of strawberry. I rise up from under the hood and there, standing in the garage entrance, is Cami.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN- Cami
I can’t decide whether I’m thrilled or frustrated when I walk into the garage with Brent and I see Trick come out from underneath the hood of the car he’s working on. I
am
a little frustrated; constantly running into him is making it harder to concentrate on Brent. And it’s certainly not helping me to
not
think about Trick, which is what I really need to do. But mostly, I’m thrilled. Excited. I hate to admit it, but I am.
He’s shirtless. Again. He’s not sweaty or dirty or anything. He’s just all bare skin and well-defined muscles. And there’s something so sexy about the way his jeans hang on his hips. I can even see those little dents at the bottom of his stomach. If I’m being honest, I really just want to walk right over to him and touch them. With my tongue.
Cue the blush.
I feel the heat working its way up my neck and into my face.
You idiot! What did you think would happen if you thought about things like that?
But it’s not like I intentionally thought about doing that. It was almost involuntary. Most of my reactions to Trick have been. It’s like something else takes over and I’m sort of helpless to stop it.
I see his eyes flash and a grin pulls at one side of his mouth. That’s how I know he noticed my blush.
I turn and look at Jenna. She’s always a lifesaver in situations like these. Only Jenna isn’t paying any attention to me. She looks kind of stunned herself.
I look back toward Trick and I see that another guy has emerged from beneath the car.
That’s
what caught Jenna’s eye. Or, rather, that’s
who
caught her eye
.
And boy, did he ever!
“What’s he doing here?” Brent asks of Trick’s friend.
“He’s a friend of mine. And he’s great with cars. Is that a problem?”
I think I see Trick cringe a little. Obviously his friend doesn’t know about his run-in with Brent.
Brent doesn’t answer at first. I can almost see him weighing his options, weighing his pride. “I guess not, if he keeps his hands and his comments to himself.”
“He won’t be a problem.”
Brent nods. “Trevor wanted to bring his car out to let you look at it. He’ll be driving us back.”
Brent had talked to Trick’s friend (was his name Rusty?) about doing some work on the Corvette. He’d heard Rusty does some of the best work around when it comes to the classics. Trevor had then talked to him about doing some work on
his
car. When Jenna had called and asked me to ride out with Brent and then us ride back with her and Trevor, I’d agreed. I didn’t want too much time to think. Besides, I have to spend more time with Brent if I’m ever to be crazy about him. So I agreed.
Well, that plan’s shot to hell!
I make a point not to glance at Trick, standing a few feet away. I try to pretend I don’t know him, that he doesn’t work for my father, and that I haven’t given him a second thought since that night.
But I have! Ohmigod, he’s practically all I can think about! It’s ridiculous.
I search immediately for something else to concentrate on. Thoughts like that will only make me blush. And he’ll notice. And he’ll smile that sexy smile. And Brent might notice. And that won’t turn out well for anyone.
I turn again to Jenna. She’s standing at Trevor’s side, trying her best not to stare at the garage owner. I look at him again.
He’s tallish and lean with dark reddish-brown hair. His eyes are bright, bright blue and they continually flicker to Jenna. Looks like she’s not the only one with an interest.
Who wouldn’t be interested in Jenna, though? With her Greek heritage, she’s very striking with her shiny black hair and bronzy skin. Very exotic. And her personality? Psssh, forget about it!
Ohmigod! You know you’re off your rocker when your thoughts sound like a 60s mobster’s.
Trevor, Brent and Trick’s friend head out of the garage to go look at Trevor’s car. As they pass, the owner stops and sticks out his hand, which is surprisingly clean considering what he was doing when we arrived.
“Jeff Catron,” he says, nodding at me. His voice is nice. Deep and gruff. I shake his hand. I notice his eyes have already moved on to Jenna, long before his hand does. And they stay there. “My friends call me Rusty.” He shakes her hand, too, holding onto it a little longer than he should, but not long enough to alert Trevor. I don’t think it matters. In my opinion,
anyone
would have to be an idiot not to see the sparks flying!
“I’m Jenna. And this is Cami.” He casts a quick smile in my direction and then turns all that heat back on Jenna.
Might have to take a step back from that! Wow!
I look up, between them, and Trick is watching me.
That
heat, I know I need to stay away from.
Rusty moves on and the three men exit the garage, leaving me and Jenna alone with Trick. He walks to the door, no doubt to make Brent feel better about being
out
there
when he’s
in here
with me.
Trick is watching the guys out in the lot. Jenna is itching to go over there and watch them, too. Well, watch Rusty I should say. That’s the only one she’s interested in at this point.
And then there’s me. I’m left…floundering in the silence.
I walk to the car Trick was working on when we came in. Although my father collects the very high dollar classic cars now, it hasn’t always been that way. I can remember when things started to change, when money was much more plentiful, that Daddy started buying mostly restored vintage cars to work on. He graduated from partially-restored Mach I Mustangs, Camaros, and GTOs to fully-restored Shelby’s, Jaguars and Ferraris. And, being the Daddy’s girl that I was back then, I learned some of the ins and outs with him. That’s why I can walk up to a car like this and be somewhat familiar with it.
I’m looking under the hood at the engine they’re rebuilding when a shadow falls across the car.
“That’s the part that makes the car run,” Trick says dryly. I start to take offense until I look up and see his pale, twinkling eyes. I smile.
“Is that what it is? Because it looks to me like a V8 Thunderbird Special for this...” I walk around to the side of the car and take a step back, appraising it from front to back. “What? ’57 T-bird?”
I look back at him. His expression shows disbelief. I arch one brow. A slow smile curves his chiseled lips.
My heart picks up when he walks over to me and grabs my hands. He curls my fingers over the backs of his and examines them, rubbing his thumbs over the nails.
“I wouldn’t have taken you for a grease monkey. What gives?”
I’m having trouble breathing with him standing so close. I glance nervously at the garage doors behind him, knowing Brent is out there and I shouldn’t even be talking to Trick, much less…this.
He gently lowers my hands and lets them go. I wiggle my fingers. I can still feel him touching them, even though he’s not.
“My father. He’s a collector. Has been for a long time. I used to like hanging out in the garage with him back when he liked to work on them.”
Trick smiles at me. “All girl with a little bit of tomboy. Just when I thought you couldn’t get any sexier.” He says it quietly, almost like he’s thinking to himself. I see his eyes flicker to my lips.
I want him to kiss me. So badly. Brent is the furthest thing from my mind.