Page 38 of Whispers and Wildfire
“Thank you,” I said with a wide smile.
His forehead creased like he wondered what was wrong with me. “Have a good day.”
I toned down the smile and lowered the pitch of my voice just a little. “Thanks. You too.”
Characters were always a work in progress.
The delivery was for Patrick, one of the mechanics. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with it—if anything—but bringing it to him seemed like a logical choice. It wasn’t large, so I picked it up and took it into the garage.
There were four large bays, and all but one of the doors were open. Industrial fans kept the air moving, cutting down on the worst of the heat. They had several cars undergoing restorations. I’d never been much of a car person, but theconvertible on the far side looked like it would be fun on a summer evening.
I hesitated for a second, trying to remember which one was Patrick. Was he the one with the beard or the guy with the battered baseball cap?
My eyes locked on a pair of jeans. Or rather, the backside in those jeans.
Luke leaned over a black car with the hood up. I blinked, and I wasn’t in the large garage anymore but in the shop behind his parents’ place. I’d come over without calling first, wanting to surprise him. It had been a hot summer day, and I’d been dressed in nothing but a bikini top and denim shorts, hoping he’d get the hint and take me out to the lake.
I’d walked in while he was working on his car. That was nothing new. He was always working on his car. In those days, it had been a 1960s Chevrolet something or other. I’d teased him that he loved that car more than me.
Turned out, he probably had.
But that day, I’d opened the shop door and stopped to take him in. The way his jeans hugged his body. The stretch of his T-shirt across his shoulders and back when he straightened. The way he’d turned, and the smile that had hooked his mouth when he saw me.
The smile that saidthere’s my girl.
There’d been a time when being Luke Haven’s girl had been all I ever wanted. I’d thought I had it all.
Luke straightened, and I looked away so he wouldn’t catch me staring. I quickly checked the rest of the garage to make sure no one noticed me watching him. It had only been for a moment, but it was long enough that it would have been obvious. Thankfully, it didn’t look like anyone was paying attention to me.
I didn’t want to have to ask Luke which mechanic was Patrick—and what I should do with his delivery—but considering I was coming up blank, I probably didn’t have a choice.I was about to suck it up and admit I needed his help—cue the heaviest of sighs—when a car pulled up in front of the open garage bay, and a woman got out.
A very attractive woman.
She wore a fitted tank top and a pair of shorts that made her tanned legs look a mile long. Her dark blond hair was long and thick, styled in the type of loose curls I could never seem to get right. She approached the garage with a smile.
Luke sauntered over to her, all casual confidence, and the way he said, “Hey,” made me wonder if he knew her.
My eyes narrowed. Who was she, and what was she doing there? Was she a customer? Or something else?
Was Luke dating her?
Was Lukedating?
I didn’t know why that thought made me so furious. Our relationship had ended ages ago. We’d both dated other people. I’d married one. I had absolutely no right to be seething with jealousy over Luke talking to another woman.
She wasn’t evenanotherwoman. She was justawoman.
A very beautiful woman. Maybe even the type of woman Luke Haven would want to date, if he wasn’t already.
She smiled and nibbled her lower lip. That was a flirtatious move if I’d ever seen one. How dare she? The audacity! The nerve of her!
I needed to turn around and walk away before I did something extraordinarily stupid. Like interrupt them.
Interrupt them. Now there was an idea.
I needed Luke’s help anyway.
I’m not ashamed to admit I straightened my shoulders to emphasize my boobs and swayed my hips a little more than necessary as I walked over to Luke. Especially once he caught a glimpse of me out of the corner of his eye and turned.
