The Bad Boy's Secret Romance

by Jessie Gussman

  Both of the big bay doors were down, so Justice walked around to the little man door on the side, opening it up and walking in.

  She’d already known, because she got a text from Eve, that Rachel wasn’t going to be there. She had been called out on a road call and had taken the service truck out forty-five minutes ago.

  But the twins, Eve and Eden, were still there.

  Eve was dark like her brother Ben, the man Justice had worked with, alongside her fellow banker, Tucker Gibson, on a loan to help him open his own garage.

  Which was how she had met Eve and Eden.

  Eden somehow was blond and light and fair, almost looking like an angel. She specialized in bodywork and custom painting. Justice had seen some of her projects, and she’d never seen anything even remotely as good as what Eden could do. If anyone could make a go at running a garage, it would be these two. Rachel was the welder.

  Maybe, for a few seconds, she felt a flash of guilt because they were untried, getting a contract that might be too much for them. If it were a government contract, what she was doing would be illegal. But it was a contract from the company of a friend. Pulling strings was okay, even expected.

  “Hey, Eve, she’s here!” Eden called from the top of the ladder where she was sanding the upper side of a big rig that was stripped down and taped up. Not that Justice knew much about it. What little she knew, she’d learned from the time she spent with these two, watching and talking and considering if this was where she wanted to invest her hard-earned money. But she couldn’t help but get excited about a garage owned by three women.

  Although, maybe her thoughts about men were shifting slightly. Still, she had to be loyal to her sex.

  Eve came around the side of the truck, rolled masking tape and newspapers in her hand. She set them down before brushing her hands off and holding one out. “Hey, great to see you. I think we’re ready to take a break. You can come on over to the workbench. We’ve got some stools set up.”

  Justice shook her hand and walked over. “It’s too bad Rachel got called out. She’s really the one who has the vested interest in this contract. Since it’s mostly for welding and large equipment repair.”

  “I’ll be doing some of it,” Eve said. “I’ve been studying welding for a while, and Rachel’s been teaching me on the side. I live for the motor work, it’s really what I love. But welding is something I seem to have a knack for as well.”

  “She’s switching loyalties on me,” Eden said as she brushed her hands off and claimed a stool. “I’m going to have to do all my grunt work myself.”

  “There’s a lot of grunt work to painting a truck, that’s for sure.” Eve grinned. “It’s not hard, just takes a lot of time.”

  “How’s Tucker?” Justice asked. When they’d been working on the loan, Tucker had seemed extremely interested in Eve, although Justice had never seen them together outside of the office. At the time, she figured it was only a matter of time. And Tucker had said he was going to be asking her out.

  A shadow crossed over Eve’s face, but she lifted a slender shoulder like she didn’t care. “Last I heard, he was getting married. He’d found the perfect match, someone said.” Her words were deliberately flippant, and Justice didn’t miss it.

  There was definitely a story there, a painful one from the looks of things. It made Justice wonder if she was making a mistake with Thad. Men seemed to get bored easily and wander off to the next best thing. Maybe Thad would do that too. She didn’t want her happiness, or anything in her life, to be dependent on a man. That had always been her main philosophy.

  It was only since she’d been seeing Thad, that she thought teaming up might be fun. Now she remembered she wasn’t sure it was worth the risk.

  If someone as strong and tough as Eve could let a man get to her, could let shadows of pain cross her face at just the thought of a guy, it was too much control over her. Most certainly more control than Justice wanted to give up.

  She lifted her chin. “I feel like we should have a toast to girl power.” She lifted a hand. “But I didn’t bring anything. I was just stopping in to see how things are going. And to report that I just left Barry’s office, and although we didn’t talk directly about this contract, Bernice assured me that his lawyer is drawing it up and that we’ve got it.”

  “That’s fabulous!” Eden said, a big smile stretching from ear to ear. “You’re so right. It’s too bad Rachel couldn’t be here. She’s been hoping for this. We seem to be able to attract painting jobs especially, and we definitely had some motor and tranny work, but people don’t trust a woman welder. That’s the feeling we’re getting, anyway. If we get this, Rachel will have a chance to prove herself. She does excellent work.”

  “She really is great,” Eve added. “Although with everything we have going on, we might need to hire someone if Rachel gets busy. Like today, we wouldn’t have had anyone to go on the service truck if Rachel was doing a job in here.”

  “And we get a lot of work for the service truck. Good-paying work.” Eden and Eve exchanged grins.

  “This is a great building, but we’re going to have to expand, and soon, if we get that contract.” Eve lifted a brow at her sister who nodded.

  “That shouldn’t be a problem. As long as everything’s running smoothly and in the black, you shouldn’t have any problem at all getting money for that. You’ll probably have to go through Tucker, though. Because I would have a definite conflict of interest. And I couldn’t not disclose that.” Justice knew Eve and Eden understood what she was saying. “I can give Tucker a heads-up, though.”

  “Let’s wait until we get the contract, at least until it’s in hand.” Eve seemed less than thrilled all of a sudden. Justice had to wonder if it was because of Tucker and whatever seemed to have happened. Justice could have sworn Tucker had been very interested in Eve.

  Still, personal issues aside, it sounded like everything was going well for the girls. Which made Justice’s heart happy. For the most part. She wasn’t sure who else was in contention for the contract—her heart shook a little because she knew Thad and his brothers could very well be competing against her—but she knew Eve, Eden, and Rachel were just as qualified, if not more so, as anyone else who could be on Barry’s list.

  They chatted a bit more about expansion plans, a time frame, and life in general. Rachel came back and joined the conversation. Before Justice knew it, she looked out the window and it was dusk.

  “My goodness, I didn’t realize how late it was. I need to go.” She jumped down off her stool. “You guys sound like you’re doing well, and I’ll keep in touch with you about anything I hear, contract or otherwise.”

  They said their farewells, and Justice hurried away. She’d told Thad she would be late, so hopefully he waited. It definitely concerned her how much she wanted to see him and how much her heart seemed to have riding on it.

  But she refused to think about it. Maybe, for the first time in her life, she’d just let go and see where it went.

  Chapter 11

  Thad stood beside his pickup, his arms crossed across his chest, his back leaning against the bed, hoping he wasn’t making a big mistake.

  Justice might not want to go with him, and he supposed he would be a little embarrassed. The way it looked now, though, she might not even show up. She wasn’t just late; she was really late.

  But he didn’t have anything else to do. Nothing pressing. He’d done some extra work in the shop after everyone else left, and he’d gone home and taken care of Beau, feeding and watering and walking, before he’d dug out the old raft in his basement, checked for holes, and blew it up.

  He had to tie it down, so it didn’t blow out of the pickup bed as he drove to the trail, but that wasn’t any big deal. When they’d been younger, he’d done it a good bit with his brothers.

  Now, he liked the idea of doing it with Justice.

  He wasn’t sure how she’d feel about it. But it was hot enough, with humidity so deep and thick it lay
on his shoulders like a tangible thing.

  He’d been spending so much time thinking about Justice he hadn’t thought too much about the shop and the contract they were hoping to get. There wasn’t too much he could do to help get it. It was just a matter of waiting.

  And Blade seemed preoccupied. A lot of times they did some work together in the evenings, extra work on the side that they did beyond the shop work.

  But Blade was walking Libby home. Libby, Justice’s sister. Seemed to Thad that if Blade could walk Libby home, Justice shouldn’t have any problem being seen with Thad in public. It was something he wanted to talk to her about.

  Headlights interrupted his thoughts, and he didn’t have trouble recognizing the low-slung outline of Justice’s sports car. It suited her. He smiled.

  He was at her door when she shut the motor off.

  Since she showed up here, she must not be mad at him for giving her a note on the pretense of picking up garbage.

  It hadn’t been hard to grab a square of paper off the table along the wall, scribbling two words on it while she was talking to Bernice and Barry was talking to Andrew. He could hardly stop himself from doing it. He’d wanted to do something to connect with her, since he knew he couldn’t talk to her, not like he wanted to.

  He’d thought about their kiss from last night all day, especially when he saw her in Barry’s office.

  But he wasn’t really planning on kissing tonight. Maybe before she left. He smiled. Definitely a good-night kiss. He could spend the whole night doing that, but it wasn’t a good idea, and he knew it. There needed to be more to their relationship than kissing.

  Hopefully, she agreed.

  He opened her door, and she stepped out, wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Perfect.

  “Sorry I’m late.”

  “You said you were going to be. I expected it. Although maybe not this late. I started to worry you might be mad at me.”

  “Not mad. Why would I be mad?” She paused as she brushed her hands down her shorts.

  “You’re not mad. Not looking to give you a reason to be.”

  “Thad?”

  “I didn’t know how you felt about the note I gave you. Maybe it was taking too much risk. I know you’re a lot more sensitive about the idea of us being found out than I am, especially since Blade and Libby seem to be spending a lot of time together, and I try to respect that. Really.”

  “So that was your handwriting?”

  “Yes.” He never even thought that she might wonder whether he had even written the note. But it made sense. All they’d ever done was talk. She’d never seen him write anything.

  “My only gripe was I had to throw it away. Bernice was watching me, it’s not like I could stick it in my pocket and keep it to read later.” She laughed a little. “Like a teenager. That’s crazy, isn’t it? Who would keep something like that other than a teenage girl?”

  “I can write another one that you can keep. And no one needs to know.”

  “Why aren’t you waiting at the rock?” she asked suddenly, like she’d just realized it wasn’t their normal for him to meet her in the parking lot.

  “I have plans for us. Can you be out late?”

  “I’m not needed at the bank early tomorrow. What do you have in mind?” She tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and shoved her hands in her front pockets.

  “I thought it was a nice night to float down the river.”

  She froze while her mouth worked up and down, then her head tilted to the side. “I’ve never done that.”

  “Was that a yes?” He honestly couldn’t tell. Good surprise, bad surprise? He wasn’t sure.

  She lifted one shoulder, then her lips turned up. “Sure. Why not?”

  “That wasn’t exactly a strong vote of confidence, but it was better than a flat-out no.”

  “Well, it sounds kind of scary. In the dark? On the river? Isn’t that dangerous?”

  “I hadn’t really considered that it might be dangerous. Does that make me a bad person?”

  She laughed, short and low. “No. I think that makes you a man.”

  He grunted. True statement, probably. “So, you still in, or did I manage to change your mind?”

  “My degree is in accounting. I’m a banker. I’m not supposed to be taking risks. It pretty much goes against everything that I am.”

  He didn’t like hearing that. “I guess being with me goes against everything that you are.”

  “Exactly.” She pushed off her car and put her hand on his chest. “I don’t think this is something I’m going to regret though.”

  “I hope not.” He knew he’d do his level best to make sure it wasn’t. It sure wasn’t his intention to make being with him the worst thing that ever happened to her. He wanted it to be the best.

  “So are we going in the river right here? Is that why you’re waiting here?”

  “No. There’s a spot upriver that we can go in, it’ll take about two hours to float down. And we’ll get out here. Then you’ll drive me to my pickup, and I’ll come back for the raft.” He put his hand over the hand that she had on his chest and threaded their fingers together. “That’s going to make it well after midnight before you get home. Is that going to be too late?”

  “No.” She stared at their hands for a minute. Then she turned her face up and looked in his eyes. “It feels crazy, but I want to spend as much time as I can with you.”

  Her words warmed his heart. “I feel the same. Plus, I think you’re really gonna like this. I know I am. I appreciate you being willing to try it.”

  She locked her car and walked beside him to the passenger side of his pickup, where he opened the door. “I’m risking life and limb for you, remember that.”

  “If I thought there was any chance of anyone getting hurt...no, if I thought there was any chance of you getting hurt, I wouldn’t have suggested it.” That was the truth.

  “I trust you.”

  He was in the process of shutting her door, but he stopped. “That means a lot to me.”

  He didn’t really know what she saw when she looked at him. But he’d bet there weren’t a lot of people that saw someone they felt they could trust. It did something to his heart to know that she did.

  ~~~

  Thad parked his pickup by the old railroad bridge and shut the engine off. “You haven’t changed your mind?”

  Justice felt a little prickle of anxiety snake through her chest. It had been a pretty big thing for her to be out on the trail at night. Being on the river in the dark scared her. But Thad seemed confident and comfortable, and she trusted him.

  She tossed her head. “No.”

  Thad unhooked a strap and walked around the bed of the pickup. “Scared?”

  She shoved her hands in her pockets. “No.”

  “Liar.”

  They laughed together. “I know you’re kinda apprehensive about this, and I appreciate you giving it a shot. We can quit anytime. It’s not that hard to paddle to the bank, and we can walk.”

  “I’m not sure I’m any more comfortable with walking through the woods in the dark, or fields, or whatever is along the river, than I am with actually floating on the river. I’m not sure which one is the less scary option.”

  Thad unhooked the second strap and lifted the raft out.

  “Are you sure that’s big enough to hold us both?”

  His smile almost sparkled with humor. “We’ll be pretty close for a couple of hours, won’t we? Do you think you can handle it?”

  Now she had to laugh. “If you want to be close, just say so. You don’t have to go through all this work and drag me out onto the river.”

  She couldn’t keep the laugh and smile out of her voice, despite the fact that her stomach was still cramping and twisting.

  She probably was not going to die. She probably was not going to die. She probably was not going to die.

  If she kept telling herself that, she might eventually believe it.

  Or maybe saying it often
enough would make it true.

  “You’re not going to die.” Thad had the raft over his head, and he stopped beside her. “Grab a hold of the back of my T-shirt and follow me. We’re going to take this trail down to the river where there’s a nice sandy spot, and we’re going to get in. This is your last chance to say no.”

  “I am probably not going to die.”

  He laughed. “Morbid.”

  “I’m trying to remember if I have my will and all my end-of-life papers in order.” She grabbed a hold of his waistband and followed him. “Maybe I’d better go home and check just to be sure.”

  “I might be talked into taking you home, if you make me your beneficiary. What are you worth?”

  “I’m not a hundred percent about this anyway, and if you are the beneficiary of my will and estate, I think I would be even less. I probably am not going to die. Unless you stand to inherit a lot of money if I do.”

  “Very funny. Tell you what, I’ll donate ten percent to charity.”

  “Not convinced.”

  “Twenty percent and your car.”

  “You don’t want my car? Really?”

  “You’re right. Maybe I should keep it. I think I could do a few things under the hood that would really make that thing go.”

  “Never mind. It’d probably be safer for the entire town if you just donated it to charity.”

  “It’d be better for my reputation anyway, huh?”

  “I guess our relationship would be out of the bag if I willed everything to you.”

  “Yeah. That would really be a surprise for our families.”

  The gurgle of the river was calming and almost reflective. The moon had risen and shone down on the water, not like glass, because there were ripples that broke it into a thousand little moons. Beautiful and breathtaking and dark and scary and she’d soon be in the middle of all of it.

  He set the raft down with a splash in the water.

  “You get in and scoot to the front. I’ll push you out. I’ll be holding on the whole time, and then once it’s in deep enough water, I’ll jump in behind you. Are you good with all of that?”