Fuck it. I should just find something to do with my hands.
I walk back out into the garage and sit down at a workstation to work on a transmission I’ve been rebuilding. Last time I left it, I’d just finished tearing it apart for inspection and had taken a mental note of all the shit that needed to be fixed and replaced.
I know the parts of a transmission like I know my own name. But right now, as I stare at the pieces laid out on the table, it’s like I’ve never even seen half of them before.
Millie’s all I can think about.
I can’t believe that beauty has been over on the other side of the wall for…well, shit. How long has she been there? Can’t be long if she hasn’t complained until now.
However long she was over there stewing over the noise, though, it was too long.
I blink at the parts on the table and heft out a breath. If I try to do any work on this right now, I’m just going to fuck it up.
I get up again and silently walk out of the shop. As I pass by the guys, they don’t say anything to me. They don’t even risk a glance at me, well aware that if they say or do the wrong thing right now I’ll just yell at them.
They’re lucky I don’t fire their asses for the way they talked to Millie. Believe me, they’re going to get a serious talking-to as soon as I break out of this stupor. But right now I just need to get out of here.
The fresh air outside the shop feels good in my lungs. I can’t even remember the last time I took a break like this. Admittedly, I probably should make a point of taking them. But it’s tough to remember to do things like that after so many years of working my ass off nonstop.
I built up this business from nothing. I literally only had a few hundred dollars to my name. But I knew cars, and I understood the basics of running a business. I got a loan, found the space, pieced together the equipment, hired a crew. I put everything into the shop. Everything. Failing wasn’t an option.
I look up and realize I’ve walked a big loop around the shopping center. I’m almost back to the auto shop. But instead of continuing on the path I’m on, I turn and go around the building.
I want to see Millie’s shop.
At first, as her shop comes into view, all I see is a rainbow of colors. It’s the most vibrant damn window display I’ve ever seen.
As I get closer, though, I start to make out what’s actually in the window. It’s those fizzy bath things.
Bath bombs, right?
I’ve never used one in my life. Never even spent a moment thinking about them. But right now all I want to do is walk through that door and buy up the whole damn shop.
My focus shifts from the display of bath bombs in the window to further back in the shop. I quickly scan the space, searching for my beautiful girl.
Ah. There she is. She’s helping a customer. Smiling. Nodding. Saying something I can’t hear.
What a lucky bastard I’d be if I could see that smile every day of my life.
After the work day is done and the guys have all left, I lock up the shop, then hightail it over to the grocery store on the other side of the shopping center. There’s a small floral department just inside the doors, and as soon as I see the bouquet with pink and peach-colored blooms, I grab it and go through the checkout line.
Truth be told, I’ve never done anything like this before. I’ve never considered myself much of a romantic.
Guess Millie just brings it out in me.
From the store, I jog over to Millie’s shop. As I approach, I slow to a walk, clutching the flowers in one hand and quickly running my other hand through my hair.
The bright colors of Millie’s shop fill my vision. I push open the door and walk in. I’m glad to find the shop free of customers, so she and I can talk—but then I see her standing behind the checkout counter at the back of the store with another girl.
When they see me come in, their conversation drops off.
“We’re just about to close, sir,” the girl next to Millie calls out. Millie leans in toward her and says something that’s impossible to hear from where I’m standing.
The other girl’s eyes widen.
They both look back at me and wait.
“Do you have a second, Millie?” I ask as I walk across the shop.
“About?” Millie asks. Her eyes flit to the flowers in my hand, then back at me. She doesn’t seem as pissed as she did when she came into the shop earlier today, but she doesn’t look happy to see me, either.
“Uh, I’m going to go…do something…in the back room,” Millie’s companion says and steps away out of sight, leaving us alone.
“For you,” I say, holding out the flowers as I approach the desk. “A peace offering for the noise.”
“Oh, um…thanks,” says Millie. She takes them from me, even though, frankly, it doesn’t look like she wants to. “I don’t need flowers, though. I just wanted less noise.”
“Didn’t realize they were mutually exclusive.”
She opens her mouth, closes it, furrows her brows.
“We were just about to close,” she says.
Guess that’s my cue to leave.
Fuck.
This is going to be harder than I thought.
“Right,” I say. “See you around, then.”
“Bye.”
She doesn’t say anything more as I walk out of her shop. After I step out, I turn around to look at her again. My heart starts jackhammering when I see her walking after me.
But she’s avoiding looking at me. And she doesn’t look any happier. She’s—
Right. She’s just locking the door.
I guess I get where she’s coming from. Thanks to my obliviousness about the noise, I didn’t exactly make the best first impression.
But I’m going to change her mind about me if it’s the last thing I do.
3
Millie
The noise isn’t an issue the next couple of days. I mean, it’s not dead quiet over there—I can still hear the clanking of tools and the whirling of drills and the baritone of men’s voices—but it’s not nearly as loud as it was. Not by a long shot.
“See?” says Addison. “You ask for something, you get it, Millie.”
The two of us are filling up a tray of piña colada bath bombs, the tropical scent of pineapple and coconut surrounding us.
“Yeah,” I say. “Exactly.” But the distraction is audible in my voice. I’m thinking about Rex, of course—of his sexy grease-stained hands, his muscular broad shoulders, his penetrative, protective eyes.
The worst part? Last night I had a dirty dream about the dude. I refuse to recollect the dream, though. I just want it out of my head.
Right?
Don’t I?
As that afternoon goes on, thoughts of Rex keep popping into my mind. But every time I start to feel daydreamy about him, I remind myself how wrong he is for me. He’s too old, for starters; he and I are also way, way too different. Aren’t we? And he’s annoying. Right? I’m still annoyed at him, aren’t I?
“Do you ever get annoyed at David?” I ask Addison as we’re getting ready to close the shop for the evening. David is my sister’s boyfriend; they’ve been together for just over a year.