Remy hung his head. “This is bad, Harlyn,” he mumbled.
I looked around and tried to figure out what he meant. “Uh, why?”
His head shot up. “You saw Frankie earlier, didn’t you?”
My head tilted, and I squinted at him. “Uh, yeah.”
“She knew who you were,” he stated.
“Yeah.”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “Roc is going to kill me.”
“I’m getting lost on how you are stringing this together. I’m not sure how me talking to Frankie, you, and my dad all go together.” He had completely lost me.
He stepped toward me. “Harlyn. I love my job. I mean, there are days where shit isn’t the greatest, but I still love it.”
I nodded. So far, I was following him.
“Your dad also loves this job.”
I bite my lip. Remy really had no idea just how much my dad did love this job. He had given up his family to have this job. “Yes.”
“Your dad, Roc, he hates me, Harlyn.”
I scoffed and waved my hand at him. “My dad hates everyone. He’s a grumpy bear who’s had a pricker stuck in its paw for the last thirty years. You’re really not telling me anything I didn’t already know.”
“But I love my job.”
And he had lost me again. “You’re gonna have to dumb it down for me even more, Remy, because I am not following you.” I was a couple of years away from being thirty. My dad had nothing to do with who I dated.
“I know your dad, Harlyn. I know he hates me, or at least can barely tolerate me. Now, we add in the fact I’m dating you, I’m not going to have a job anymore.”
I threw my head back and laughed. Remy was crazy and totally overthinking this. “You mean the man who didn’t have time to even call me my whole childhood? You really have nothing to worry about, Remy. Roc is all bark, but no bite.”
The front door to the office opened, and Remy jumped back from me.
“Harlyn. I need you to pull up the number for Maverick Tools for me.” Roc walked through the door, his head buried in his phone. “The last race, we didn’t have enough air guns. I don’t want that shit happening again.”
“Their number is three on your speed dial.”
Roc looked up. “It is?”
I nodded. “Yup. I tell you every time.”
He nodded. “I’ll try to remember it this time.”
That was doubtful.
He looked at Remy and scowled. “What the hell are you doing up here, Grain? Don’t you have shit to finish on the car and the hauler to start packing.”
“I was just grabbing my check stub, Roc.” He swallowed hard and looked everywhere but at me.
“Give him his check stub, Har, then let the man get back to work. He doesn’t get to stand around all day doing nothing.” Roc glared at Remy, stalked into his office, and slammed the door shut behind him.
Remy raised his hand and pointed to Roc’s office. “See,” he hissed. “That man does not like me, and you and I together is going to go over like a lead balloon.”
“Well, I can tell he’s not jumping for joy when you are around, but that has nothing to do with you and me.”
His eyes didn’t leave the door to Roc’s office. “Can we just talk about this tonight?”
I stalked over to my desk and grabbed his check stub. I slapped it in his hand. “So you still want to see me tonight?” I couldn’t mask the hurt in my voice. Ten minutes ago, I had the fleeting thought Remy may be the guy to stick around, and now it looked like my dad was running him off before we could ever really start.
That finally got his attention. His hand wrapped around the envelope, and his other snaked around my waist. He pulled me close and pressed his lips to my ear. “I’m not giving us up, Harlyn. We just need to talk.”
I leaned back and looked up at him. “There’s the man I’ve gotten to know.”
“He’s there, baby. He’s just freaked by the fact your dad is Roc.”
I rolled my eyes. “So my dad is sending you running?”
He shook his head. “We’ll talk tonight.” He pressed a quick kiss to my neck. “I’ll be over at seven.” He left the office without a backward glance.
I sighed and leaned against my desk.
Well, it seemed like Roc had thrown a wrench into my budding relationship with Remy.
The funny thing was, last night Roc had wanted to meet who was coming over, when he had actually worked with who I was seeing. Now if that wasn’t a twist of fate, I didn’t know what was.
I just hoped it wasn’t going to be an issue that sent Remy running. I was starting to get used to him being around.
*
Chapter 19
Remy
“What are you up to?”
I shifted the Challenger into drive and pulled out of the parking lot headed toward Harlyn’s. “Going out.”
“Out where?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m twenty-six years old, Mom. Do I really need to tell you where I’m going all of the time?” I had made the mistake of answering the phone when my mom had called, and now, I was stuck talking to her the whole way over to Harlyn’s.
Thankfully, Roc had stayed in his office the rest of the day so I didn’t have to look him in the eye while dealing with the fact that I had done unmentionable things to Harlyn. After I left the office, Frankie had hopped up on top of my workbench and had looked at me with a shit-eating grin on her face.
She may have thought she had the upper hand knowing Harlyn worked here before I knew, but I blew her out of the water when I had told her who Harlyn’s dad was. She was in agreement that Roc was going to grind me into dust when he found out about Harlyn and me.
“Who are you going to be hanging out with?”
“Mom, really?”
She huffed. “If you’re not going to tell me where you are going, the least you can do is tell me who you are going to be with. If I need to report you missing, I can at least give them a name.”
I chuckled and braked at a red light. How a town as small as Leeds Square had a stop light was beyond me, but here I was, sitting at the light with no other cars in sight. “I can assure you that Harlyn isn’t going to kidnap or try to hurt me.”
“Whoa, Harlyn? Here I thought you were going to say Jay and Frankie.” She covered the receiver of the phone, and I heard her holler for Lo.
“Ma,” I called. Why was it every time I talked to her, she had to have another conversation going on in the background?
“Just let me tell Lo you’ve got a date, Remy. He’s been worried about you.”
“More like you’ve been worried about him, babe,” Lo grumbled.
“Her name is Harlyn, and Remy said she won’t kidnap or hurt him. She sounds nice.”
Lo roared with laughter, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Has that always been a concern for you?” Lo asked.
I eased off the line when the light turned green. “Ma, I gotta get off the phone.” I turned down Harlyn’s street, and her driveway was only a block away.
“What?” she squealed. “We just got on the phone.”