CHAPTER 11
950 Words
When the garage came into view, she thought of dropping Nolan Chance off at the corner of the block but knew he wouldn’t take her up on that generous offer. She pulled into the forecourt and maneuvered the truck into position to make it easy to roll the car off and into a bay, then killed the engine. She climbed out of the truck without saying a word and watched as Rick approached from the break area, a beer dangling from one hand.
Nolan climbed out of the truck and watched as she got to work, lowering the car from the back. He stepped away to give her room and admired the economy of movement of her body as she wound up the cables and rolled the car into place.
“Hey, you’re our unlucky customer of the day,” Rick said as he approached.
“Looks like it,” Nolan said, and he held his hand out for Rick to shake. “I’m Nolan.”
“Rick.”
“Of Nick’s and Rick’s?” Nolan asked with a chin jerk at the sign over the garage.
“Yeah. And that’s Nick.”
“Is it?” Nolan said with a grin as he looked over at Nick, who was filling out the paperwork as she checked her watch and ambled over to them without looking up.
“What’s the deal with the motor?” Rick asked her as she came up beside them and finally looked up.
“No idea, I need to run some tests.” She handed Nolan a wad of pages, and he looked down at them for a moment before he took them from her. “There you have your receipt for the tow, including distance and time, and the initial cost of basic tests we’ll run.”
“Ok.”
She turned a clipboard to him and held out a pen. “Sign here to agree to the tests and subsequent costs.”
Nolan took the pen, again making sure to touch her fingers and signed his name, and Rick watched the exchange as he sipped his beer and grinned at Nick when she looked over at him.
She frowned and took the clipboard and pen back from Nolan, who was still smiling at her, and she had an urge to wipe that smile off his face. Somehow. Preferably with her mouth, or her p***y, she wasn't sure which. Maybe both.
“You need a lift anywhere?” Rick asked Nolan, who was still watching Nick with a smile.
“Well, I was on my way out to TJs Roadhouse for a burger when the car broke down.”
“Oh disaster! The burgers there are amazing.”
“Yeah, so I need to go hunt somewhere for lunch,” he said with a pointed look at Nick, who was looking through the papers in her hand.
“Have you been to Peggy’s?” Rick said and gestured over Nolan’s shoulder at the diner across the street. “They make the best club sandwich in the state, hands down!”
“Yeah?” Nolan said, and he glanced at the diner, then back at Nick, as he started to walk away from both men.
“Oh and Nick swears by the french beef dip,” Rick said loudly.
“Really?” Nolan smiled and looked over at Nick, to see she had stopped moving and was now glaring at Rick.
“We’re about to break up for lunch anyway, let’s head over,” Rick said, and he returned her glare with a grin.
“I gotta get started on these tests,” she said and waved the papers in her hand.
“How about I get started on the tests,” Rick said, and he snatched the papers out of her hand and started moving across the yard to the car. “And you show Nolan the diner.”
“Show him the diner?” She looked across the street, then back at Nolan. “It’s over there. Enjoy.”
Nolan grinned and enjoyed this exchange. He felt he had an ally in Rick, and he was going to exploit it if it meant he could get lunch with her.
“You tow, I test. I tow, you test. That’s the deal.” Rick offered Nolan a semi-salute as he backed away from them and hurried into the bay where Nick had left his car.
“So…hungry?” Nolan said softly and put his hands into his front pockets.
“No.”
“Care to join me anyway?”
“No.”
“You gotta eat, Nick,” he said, making sure she knew he knew her name. “C’mon.” He nodded his head towards the diner and took a couple of steps backwards towards it.
Nick looked over her shoulder at Rick, who was leaning against the car, his arms folded across his chest, legs crossed at the ankle and a huge s**t eating grin on his face. She knew if she refused lunch with Nolan she would have to explain it to him, and he was like a dog with a bone when he sniffed a secret on her.
She turned back to Nolan, to see he was still smiling, but the smugness was gone. Instead, he now looked hopeful, which made her heart trip up, and she realized she really did want to have lunch with him. She just didn’t want to want it.
“Okay, I gotta go clean up first.”
“I’ll wait right here.” He stopped moving and planted his feet in an at-ease stance to show her how long he was willing to wait.
- Writer
