Unsteady (The Torqued Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  “He’s just going to have to wait,” he snarls back, never even making eye contact with him as he tosses a crowbar in his tool cart.

  “It’s over-filled with oil,” Tyler tells him a minute later, looking over his shoulder at Daniel.

  Red shoots his glare at Daniel, who had originally changed the oil. More than likely he didn’t drain the oil and just filled it with more.

  “Fuck, man.” Red groans. “Pay attention.”

  Daniel raises his hands. “Sorry!”

  I don’t think Red likes people apologizing. In fact, it seems to only make him angry. And let’s face it, that’s not entirely hard to do.

  I’m just getting to know the dynamics of the shop, but you can already tell who does what, and who Red likes and doesn’t.

  Guess what? I’m his least favorite person.

  Red walks up to me, his eyes on a repair order.

  I raise an eyebrow, thoroughly annoyed now. We went from rattles to oil changes today. “An oil change? Really?”

  “Well, Daniel doesn’t seem to be able to handle them today, and Rawley seems to think his shift starts at noon. Someones gotta do them.”

  “But an oil change?” I don’t even know why I’m making a big deal out of it, probably because I want the jobs where I can show him I know what I’m doing, not this basic shit.

  “You know…” Red lets a wrench slide out of his hand, slowly, and I watch intently as it happens, my stare fixated on the motion. “I thought a lube job would be easy for you, princess.”

  There he goes with the fucking princess shit again.

  I take the wrench from his hand. “I don’t know. I’d say I’m better at checking the bore and stroke of an engine.”

  Red smirks at my comment, which makes me want to punch him in the face. Especially when he winks at me and lets the wrench slide slowly out of his right hand to his left.

  I take the wrench from his hand and slide it in the back pocket of my jeans and turn to walk away. Leaning over the car in my stall, I remove the dipstick and check the oil when Red comes up behind me. His left hand rests on the car, his chest pressed to my back as he slowly brings his right hand to cup my ass. My breathing stops immediately. I’m pretty sure my heart did too as he reaches in my back pocket for the wrench, long, strong fingers caressing as he pulls. “I believe this belongs to me.”

  I’m pretty sure I have an oil leak now, thanks to him. But you know, judging by the hardness against my ass, he’s having the same reaction to me and you know, I wouldn’t mind checking the bore and stroke of his piston inside my cylinder.

  All right, maybe working here wouldn’t be so bad?

  I’m constantly having to find new and inventive ways of waking Nova up and getting her in a good mood first thing in the morning. She’s a lot like me in that way. I hate getting out of bed in the morning and if I could sleep until noon, I probably would. Much like my brother. That asshole hasn’t gotten in before noon in weeks.

  Nova fell asleep on the couch last night, and I didn’t have the heart to move her to her bed. She has a thing about sleeping on the couch, which is better than her sleeping in my bed because that’s never an enjoyable experience. So I let her sleep out there at least once a week.

  Dressed in a pair of shorts and no shirt, I crawl on all fours toward my sleeping daughter and rest my chin on the edge of the couch. She’s curled to the side; her tiny hands slipped underneath her cheek in an adorably prone position. I could sit here and watch her sleep forever but since we don’t have that kind of time, I decide to rip the Band-Aid off. She’s gonna be pissed one way or the other so I might as well have a laugh at the same time.

  Taking my socks off, I put one on my right hand, one on my left and lay down on the floor and talk to her in a chipmunk voice.

  After ten minutes, she peeks her head over the side of the couch and smiles. “You sound like Alvin.” And then she rolls landing on my chest with an umph. Ripping the socks off my hands, I tickle her sides as she squeals and tries to slap my ear.

  I’m cackling so hard that I’m coughing, nearly brought to my knees by my daughter's own laughter.

  Suddenly serious, she straightens up and places her tiny fist on her hip, her cheeks pink from sleep and the touch of sunburn she has. “I have to pee. That wasn’t fair.”

  I flop back against the hardwood floor in the living room as she scampers down the hall and to the bathroom. “Get dressed too!”

  “I don’t want to.”

  I roll over to press my face to the floor and notice I should vacuum soon. “You don’t have a choice.”

  “DO I GET to come to work with you on Friday?”

  I nod, turning onto Elle’s street. “Yeah, but it’s only Thursday so tomorrow.”

  Nova huffs out a breath. “Ugh! I hate Thursdays.” And then she’s quiet, looking out the window as we pass by the coffee stand. “Can I get a donut?”

  “No, not today. I’ll get some tomorrow for the office, okay?”

  She huffs out another long breath. “Fine.”

  Guaranteed I piss this kid off at least ten times a day.

  When we walk through the door, Elle literally has her left tit hanging out with her kid attached to it. I’m all for what’s best for the baby, but come on, the kid is nearly two and I’m positive she knows exactly what time I drop Nova off every day. It’s sadly obvious that she’s leaving her tit out on purpose.

  Turning to leave, I shake my head. Some things you can’t un-see.

  “Oh, hey, wait…” Elle stands up and straights out her top before rushing toward me as she practically drops the kid she was holding. “I was wondering if you had plans this weekend. Maybe we could get the kids together for dinner?”

  Nova shoots me a glare. She does not like Elle’s kids but it’s a small town and the only daycare around. The last thing she’ll want is to have dinner with them. “Can’t. Nova is spending the weekend with her grandma.”

  “Well then, if you’re gonna be on your own then maybe you and I could just grab some food on Saturday. Have some adult conversation.”

  I don’t know why she’s constantly asking me this. She’s fucking married.

  “Are you forgetting you’re married?” My eyes drop to her wedding ring. “Why would you ask me that?”

  She stutters around words, her mouth opening and closing before she smiles softly. “We’re separated.” Her voice is hushed, like she doesn’t want the kids to know. “I thought you knew that seeing how he’s never here.”

  No, I just figured he didn’t want to come home to you.

  I look down at my feet and let out a sigh as I shake my head. When I look over to Nova, she’s staring at me with a look of disgust on her face. I can’t help but think back to the other night and how excited she was around Lenny, and then now how she’s reacting when Elle is close to me.

  Maybe my kid is trying to tell me something.

  I back up, reaching for the door. “I’m real busy this weekend. We’ve got a lot going on right now, and I don’t have a lot of time for going out. But thanks for asking.”

  I turn to leave, hoping that answer will keep her off my back for a while.

  Once I’m back in the car, my windshield wipers sweeping away the first sprinkles of rain, my thoughts immediately focus on work… and Lenny.

  I think of those damn shorts again and have to sit in my car for a few minutes before I walk into the shop.

  “WHY IS THIS shit playing?” I ask when I hear rap music blaring through the shop. It’s barely nine in the morning, and this is the last thing I want to be listening to.

  Rawley smirks, running his hand through his dark hair and then watching over my shoulder at where I know she’s standing. “Daniel put it on.”

  Yeah, I bet he did.

  “And what are you doing here? It’s before noon.”

  He points behind me. “Thought I’d make an early appearance for the show.”

  I turn my head, and I wish I hadn’t. Lenny is dancing
. Luckily, she’s wearing jeans today. Unluckily, they’re so fucking tight I can see the outline of her thong underwear and all I can imagine is walking up to her and slapping that ass while I pull on that G-string with my teeth.

  And here’s to another day with a constant hard-on.

  I’m tempted to tell her that she has to wear baggy overalls and outlaw music playing in the shop if this shit continues. I mean, fuck, look at those hips. After that little wrench incident the other day, believe me, those hips haunt me.

  Behind Lenny, Daniel has an oil hose reel in hand positioned between his legs. As Lenny’s dancing around, he’s stroking the hose with a smile. I stand there, glaring at him, but he doesn’t stop what he’s doing.

  When she bends over, still swaying her hips as she pops the hood of a Honda in her stall, Daniel hits the button on the oil as if he’s coming and throws his head back.

  Completely inappropriate but I have to bite back a smile because it’s kinda funny. Colt slaps him on the shoulder just as Lenny catches on to what happened behind her. “Looks like you got a problem with premature ejaculation, kid,” Colt says, walking past him.

  Daniel’s lame attempts at flirting with Lenny are really starting to get on my nerves. Mostly because I want her and if I can’t have her, well, no one will.

  Psycho much, Red?

  Fuckin’ right I am. Despite my behavior toward her, there’s one thing I’ve noticed about Lenny. She can handle her own, that’s for sure, but she’s so guarded, and that makes me think she’s running from something. For that reason, I don’t want these guys fuckin’ around with her.

  Just to test her ability, I’ve thrown everything I can at her that I didn’t think she could handle from valve jobs, timing belts, fuel pump replacements, water pumps, hell, even a head gasket. And to my surprise, she had me eating my words because not only could she do all of it, she did it fucking quicker than most of the guys here.

  Colt grins, bumping my shoulder with his and watching Lenny sway to the music. “Ah, don’t be mad. Kids just trying to bury his bone.”

  “Don’t you have work to do? Stop talking to me.”

  To my right, Daniel arches his eyebrow at Lenny when he walks by her again with a hint of a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

  I don’t like it, not one bit, especially when she smiles and winks at him.

  Truth is, I want it to be me. I want to be the one sparking a smile. All I’ve managed to do is spark the scowl, and I guess that’s for the better.

  So I hang back and let them joke around with her.

  For now.

  Colt bounces on his heels, shaking his head in amusement. “Today just keeps getting better and better. I’m just waiting for you to take your pent-up anger out on the poor kid.”

  Daniel, having heard that, looks at me like I’ve lost my mind, and he really has no idea how true that is. I can see the look of confusion on his face.

  Colt nods to Daniel, leaning into my toolbox. “How’d that granny work out for you the other night?”

  Lenny looks up, smiling at Colt and then Daniel, curious as to where this is going. “What are you talking about?”

  “Well the way I see it, you’re trying to change her oil but ain’t she a little young for you? Last time I heard you were baggin’ grannies.”

  We’re all lost now because Colt doesn’t make a lot of fucking sense, ever, and in the mornings, it’s worse. I think his brain is still shifting into gear until at least one. And then it’s a downhill slope after that. He’s got one good peak hour of the day. Usually lunch time.

  Colt turns to me as if I’m paying attention. I’m staring at repair orders. When I don’t look up, he hits my shoulder. “I saw him last Saturday night practically titty fucking this old broad in his pit.”

  “She wasn’t that old,” Daniel points out.

  Colt levels me a serious look, his brow pinching together. “She could have been a grandma.”

  “I don’t care how old she was as long as her mouth is still working.”

  Yep. He said that.

  Lenny’s expression turns from amusement to disgust. “Seriously Daniel? There is something seriously wrong with your logic.”

  “Whatever. She wasn’t that old, just experienced,” Daniel barks, walking off into the parts room.

  “Get back to work. All of you.”

  “Your Lexus is back,” Lenny says with a smile, nodding to the parking lot and leaning back against my toolbox.

  Fuck, not again. I rub my hands over my face trying to refocus my attention away from Lenny and back to where it should be, work. Shaking my head, I reach for my hat since it’s raining steadily now and I draw in a breath. Stepping outside the shop, Amber, the chick with the Lexus is huddled under a black umbrella with bright red lipstick on.

  I know that lipstick is for me. I’m not trying to be a dick or anything, but I know that Amber is a married stay-at-home mom who has no reason to wear red lipstick around town unless she’s trying to put out an invitation.

  First thing she asks after I remove a nail from her tire?

  “So, Red…” She looks at my hand on her door just before I’m about to close it. “What are you doing later tonight?”

  Jesus… what’s with this woman?

  “Sorry, Amber,” I tell her, even though I’m the farthest from sorry. “Aside from the fact that I don’t think your husband would appreciate me hanging out with his wife tonight, I gotta date with a pretty girl.”

  Her cheeks flush. “Oh no. I wasn’t implying that you and I should go out alone. No, I was thinking maybe we could get the girls together, and we could all have a playdate.” She lets out a nervous laugh, her eyes searching my face for the denial she knows is coming. “I thought I could pick up a DVD for the girls and a bottle of wine for us. And while the girls are having fun, we could talk.”

  I’m getting really tired of women using a playdate as an excuse to get time with me. I mean what do they think is going to happen? Our kids are in the other room, and I’m going to bend them over the kitchen table and fuck them into orgasm?

  That’s probably exactly what they’re thinking.

  I step back. “I appreciate the offer, but I promised Nova that it would just be us tonight.”

  The disappointment on her face is obvious. “Oh, okay then. Maybe some other time.” And then she reaches in the front seat of her car and pulls out a box of donuts. “Here.” She pushes the box toward me. “I picked these up for you guys.”

  Maybe she thinks the old adage is true. The best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Not so much with me, but I take the donuts.

  “Thank you, that was nice of you.”

  As I turn to walk away from Amber, I notice Lenny staring at us taking in the conversation with a look of amusement on her face.

  “What are you smiling about?” I ask, stopping in front of her, opening the box of donuts for her to have one. “Want a donut?”

  Her wide brown eyes shine brightly as she stares at my mouth, and then my chest before meeting my eyes. I’m close enough I can feel her warmth and the only thing separating me from making contact with her body is a box of donuts. I want her to pick one so I can watch her lick the frosting off it. “Well, I just get the feeling that Amber there would love for you to do more than just remove a nail from her tire.” As she says this, her smile gets wider and more mischievous, selecting her donut. “She would probably like you to, oh, I don’t know…” She shrugs, one hand on her hip, the other with the donut in hand as she brings the pastry to her lips. “Check her oil pressure.”

  Taking a slow bite, she chews even slower, and I can’t help but watch the way her lips move. She did that shit on purpose.

  When she senses my inability to focus on anything but her mouth, she shifts her eyes to the side of us, and I can sense that this little show is not just for her amusement but for everyone in the shop.

  I shift, uncomfortably.

  Not because what she is saying is ma
king me uncomfortable but because what she’s saying is turning me the fuck on. And the way her lips look with the chocolate on them, I’m struggling to keep control.

  I knew from the moment I met Lenny, she had a dirty side. No way a girl who looks like her, and enjoys getting her hands as grimy as she does, doesn’t enjoy a little dirty talking between the sheets as well. You can see it on her face as she watches me, if not in her snide comments.

  The girl has snarky and sexy down.

  “Yeah, well.” My voice lowers and I know I have an effect on her. It’s the flush of her cheeks and the eyes that lower to my lips. “I do have the skill of making sure there is just the right amount of pressure down to an art.” I toss her a wink, and I’m rewarded with a small blush and Lenny biting her bottom lip like she’s picturing something she likes.

  “Why don’t you meet me in the parts room and show me how it’s done then.”

  What in the ass? Well, I’d like to see that ass for sure but fuck me she knows how to lay it on.

  I clear my throat and decide I had better change the subject before I bend her over one of these cars and show her just how good I am at applying just the right pressure. “Did you figure out what’s wrong with that Honda?”

  “Yeah, they said it felt like it was hopping when it went around corners.”

  I don’t look at her as I say, “I know what the repair order said, Lenny. I read it. I’m asking if you figured it out.”

  A sardonic snort grabs my attention, and my eyes reflexively seek out Lenny again. She picks up the shock she took out of the right rear. “Yeah.” And then she takes the shock in her hands and compresses it. Usually, a shock will take some effort to compress, and this one glides freely in an up and down motion. “It’s lost its stroke.”

  I really should sit down, but apparently, I’m into fucking torturing myself with blue balls.

  I step in as close as possible. Close enough where I feel her heartbeat against my chest.

  “And we all know it’s about the stroke, right?” I’m only teasing, trying to get a rise out of her because seeing her flustered makes me weak, and it seems I like being that way lately.