The Men of CCD: Help Wanted

by Marie Rochelle

  Jim knew that he had to get out of here before things got any worse for him. He wasn’t interested in getting involved with Keira no matter how attractive he found her. He would keep telling everyone that she wasn’t his type until the matchmaking crew left him alone.

  “I have to go.” He got up, made his way towards the front door and then hurried out before anyone could stop him.

  Outside Jim shook his head at the people inside Clinton’s house and wondered when they were going to give up trying to fix him up. He loved all of them like they were his second family, but they were wrong. He wasn’t interested in Charisma’s attractive best friend. He would be doing wonderfully if he never had another meeting with Keira ever again.

  Chapter Three

  Keira stood inside the bike shop glancing around at everything that had been a part of her life of so many years. She hadn’t been in here since her father passed away. It had just been too hard to even think about stepping through the front door.

  Plus she was still trying to get over the plane crash and all the bad memories it kept bringing back to her night after night. The airline offered to pay for counseling, but she wasn’t ready.

  She wasn’t very open to telling someone about her nightmares. It was still too fresh in her mind. She couldn’t even talk to Charisma about how it felt and she was her best friend. She could still hear the screams and moans of several of the passengers before the plane broke apart ending their lives in a matter of minutes.

  There was just too much going on inside of her head for her to handle it all at once. In addition, she had to see this stranger who her father sold his precious business too. He wanted total control over what her father had spent most of his life building up. She didn’t feel right handing over the keys to her father’s long time passion to a man that she wasn’t aware existed in the world until several months ago. It just didn’t sit well with her.

  She ran a hand over her dad’s prized custom made Harley Davidson. Her father had redone the bike her senior year in college. He adored this particular motorcycle and took it out any chance he got.

  How was she going to be able to give this bike away to a new owner? She knew nothing about this man. She wasn’t even sure this guy knew anything about motorcycles. I can’t do this. I won’t let a stranger take over my father’s business. I’ll learn how to work here. I can do it to honor the memory of my father. The sound of the bell ringing above the front door drew Keira’s attention back to the entrance of the shop.

  “Hello, is there anyone here?” A masculine voice called out.

  Keira took a quick look at her watch frowning at the time. She hadn’t realized how late it was. It was time for the guy to show up for the keys. She hoped that Jim Russell understood when she gave him the bad news. She just didn’t understand why his name seemed so familiar to her. Oh well…it didn’t matter. He would be a distant memory in a few minutes anyway.

  “I’m coming,” Keira yelled, coming back towards the front of the building. She came around the corner and saw a tall, white man with long, dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail looking at a couple of the older Harley Davidson’s that her father had kept proudly on display.

  One was a 1979 FXEF that showed the tachometer mounted below the speedometer. Her father had restored it to its original condition. The second bike was a 1980 FXB Sturgis. She recalled seeing him ride that bike about three or four times when she was a little girl. This shop had been her father’s world, but no matter how many long hours he spent in the shop, he always made enough time for her and anything she wanted to do when she was growing up.

  Keira stared at the man for a second or two wondering why he looked somewhat familiar. Maybe he had been a passenger on one of the flights she was on a while back before the crash. Well, she wasn’t going to worry about it because it would come to her soon enough where she knew him from.

  “Excuse me sir, may I help you?” she asked.

  “I’m here about the bike shop. I’m Jim Russell the new owner,” the guy said as he turned around.

  “I can’t believe it!” Keira gasped. “There is no way in hell my father sold our family business to you.” How was it that bad luck seemed to follow her no matter where she went now?

  “Well, if it isn’t Miss Butt-into-other-people’s-business.” Jim glared back at her. “You can’t be the daughter Dennis bragged about. She sounded very sweet and understanding. We both know that isn’t you.”

  “How dare you assume you know who am I? We only had about a two minute conversation.”

  “It was the longest two minutes of my life,” Jim snapped back. “Just give me the keys to the shop and I’ll be on my way, sweetheart.”

  Shaking her head, Keira crossed her arms over her breasts. “First, my name isn’t sweetheart. It is Keira Winters, but I rather you call me Ms. Winters. Furthermore, I’m not giving you the keys to my father’s business today or any other day for that matter.”

  Keira secretly congratulated herself for not moving when Jim closed the distance between them. His gorgeous hazel eyes, that looked more green than brown, flashed down at her from a truly handsome face. She hated that she was even mildly attracted to the domineering man in front of her.

  “What are you talking about?” he demanded. “Why aren’t you giving me the keys? I gave your father a shit load of money for this place and I want those keys.”

  “I’m going to run it myself to honor my father. I’ll give you all your money back and you can be on your way. Let me go and grab my checkbook.” Keira spun around and was about to walk away, but gasped instead when Jim wrapped his large calloused hand around her bare upper arm.

  “Not so fast, Keira,” he whispered by her ear sending a tingle of excitement racing through her body. “I never said that I wanted my money back. I bought this place from your father in good faith and I’m not giving it up just because his spoiled daughter wants it now.”

  Jerking her arm away, Keira pivoted and stared up into Jim’s face. She hated the smirk she saw plastered there and how it didn’t take away from how appealing he was. “You have to let me buy the shop back from you. I’m sure there’s another business in town you can buy.”

  “I agree with you. I’m sure that there is, but why would I want to buy another one when I already own a perfectly good one,” Jim taunted.

  She swallowed hard, lifted her head another inch or two and boldly met his gaze. “I’m not going to let you get away with this. I’ll get my dad’s business back from you. You may think you’re so damn smart, but I’m smarter than you and I’m going to prove it.”

  “Fine, I’ll let you buy this place back from me if you can answer one question; however, if you get the answer wrong the discussion is over. I own this place and you will accept it.”

  “I’ll take you up on that deal.” There was no way she wouldn’t be able to answer any question Jim asked her.

  “Besides a Harley Davidson, can you name three other types of motorcycles?” Jim asked.

  The confident smile Keira had a few seconds ago slowly slipped off her face as she realized the huge hole she had dug herself into. Jim tricked her! He knew that she didn’t have an answer to his question and that’s why he asked it.

  She quickly chastised herself for even thinking Jim would be fair or honest with her. She knew nothing about him except that he was Dave’s best friend. “You know that I don’t have a response to that question,” Keira accused. “You tricked me!”

  His stare drilled into her as he listened to her rant and rave. “I did nothing of the sort. I thought it was a very easy question for you because your father had this place since you were a little girl. I’m sure you have seen a variety of bikes coming in and out of here.”

  Keira hated that Jim was right, but she’d been too busy trying to live her own life instead of becoming more aware of what her father did in here. She knew a few things; however, she didn’t know this.

  “I don’t know of any more,” she finally admitt
ed. “I’m not that good when it comes to the other designs of motorcycles. I know they exist but I’m not positive about their names.”

  Just thinking about Jim owning this place shattered her as she watched him move away from her over to a table beside them. He picked up a motorcycle helmet that she hadn’t noticed was there until now.

  “I guess I’ll be seeing you bright and early tomorrow morning.” Jim strolled towards the front door. “I’m not a horrible person. I’ll give you today to have some more time with your father’s shop.”

  Opening the door, Jim was about to walk out before Keira stopped him, “Wait. Aren’t you going to tell me the answer to the question?”

  “Sports bike, Trail bike and Custom bike,” Jim told her and then continued on to the door without a second glance in her direction.

  Standing there watching the door as it closed behind Jim made Keira more uncertain than ever. She couldn’t believe how irritating Jim Russell was. He had to be the most self-centered man that she had ever met. She wondered how long it would be before they jumped at each other’s throats. What else might happen, she wasn’t in the mood to think about.

  Chapter Four

  “Tell me how to get rid of him. I don’t want him coming back tomorrow,” she complained. She had thought long and hard before coming over here, but she couldn’t think of any other place to go about her problem.

  “I can’t believe I’ve been asking you for weeks to come over and when you do it is to complain about Jim.” Charisma sighed as she placed Dave Jr. back into his bassinet.

  Keira felt horrible. Charisma was right. She wasn’t being a good friend at all. Her problems weren’t that big compared to what Charisma had been through these past couple of months worrying about her baby.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t be over here tossing my problems in your lap. You have enough going on in your life. Jim Russell is my headache, not yours.”

  “I think Jim is a great guy,” Charisma said brushing a lock of hair off her son’s forehead before joining Keira on the couch.

  “You would like him. He’s nice to you. He was a pain in the ass the first time I had the misfortune to meet him and the months that have passed haven’t changed his personality.”

  “Jim has been through a lot in the last couple of years. He isn’t as bad as he came off to you at the airport. How about we forget about Jim for a minute and talk about you?”

  “What about me?” Keira looked warily at her friend.

  “Have you started going to those counseling sessions yet? I know you mentioned those months ago and I never heard another word about them from you. Are you still having all those horrible nightmares?”

  Jumping up from her seat, Keira paced in front of Charisma. It was too painful to think about, let alone talk about, to anyone.

  “I can’t get into this with you,” she said shaking her head. “It’s too much for me to handle. Don’t you remember all that news coverage? I was the only person who survived that damn crash. There were 147 people who died when that plane broke apart.”

  Tears filled Keira’s eyes, but she quickly blinked them away before they started to fall. She wasn’t going to start crying in front of Charisma. “It isn’t fair to all of those other people that I’m alive and they aren’t. Maybe if I hadn’t been knocked out and moved a little faster I could have at least saved someone.”

  “Honey, you have to stop blaming yourself. It’s not your fault that the crash happened. You tried to save that man, but you couldn’t. You were lucky enough to have survived. God blessed you that day. Please don’t take it for granted. I want my son to get to know his godmother and tell him stories about his amazing mother.”

  “It wasn’t right that he died.” Keira continued as if Charisma hadn’t spoken. “He was married with three kids and another one on the way. I was frozen with fear. If I’d moved faster I could have saved him. It was my job to help the passengers and when I was supposed to protect them the most…I failed them.”

  “Keira, I hate that you are shouldering so much of the responsibility when nothing, and I mean nothing, about the accident was your fault. I want you to get some help because I miss the fun-loving woman that I went to Jamaica with. I love you so much and it’s killing me to see you like this.” Charisma got up from her seat and wrapped her arms around her best friend’s shoulders pulling her closer to her body. “Why don’t you pack a bag and stay with me and Dave for a couple of days. You know that there’s plenty of room in this huge house. Sometimes, I think I might get lost in here.”

  Keira understood what Charisma was trying to do and she loved her so much for it, but she needed this time alone. “No, that’s okay. It’s very sweet of you to offer, but I’m going to head back home.” She pulled free of Charisma’s embrace, picked up her purse and rushed out of the house before Charisma could talk her into staying.

  Chapter Five

  Tossing his helmet on the couch, Jim sauntered into the kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator. After twisting off the lid, he took a long sip and thought about everything that had occurred today.

  He couldn’t believe the motorcycle shop that he dreamt about owning for the past couple of years brought the ultra sexy, yet overly bossy Keira Winters back into his life. He didn’t know how Hayward and the rest of them put up with her for so long. Sure, she had a rocking body, but he wasn’t going to let that sidetrack him.

  He was going to be back at the shop first thing in the morning to get the keys from her. God, she knew nothing about being the owner of a custom made motorcycle business. Keira couldn’t even answer his question today. Any true motorcycle owner wouldn’t have to even think about the answer.

  I’m going to be able to deal with her. Maybe I’ll get lucky and she will get sent on an overseas trip for a while leaving me alone with the shop. I would be able to make it into everything I have wanted and more, Jim thought.

  Keira’s father had kept Choppers in pretty good shape, but there were a couple of more up-to-date things he wanted to do with it. It would draw in more customers and expand the business making it more accessible to everyone.

  For some reason, he got a sneaky feeling that wasn’t about to happen anytime soon. Keira came off like she didn’t give up anything without a fight. He loved a woman with some spunk and Keira had a truck load of it and then some. However, he didn’t want to go through the hassle of fighting with her.

  Maybe he could talk to Charisma and she could get Keira to give him what he wanted. They were best friends and would do anything for each other. Keira might actually listen to Charisma.

  Jim finished off the last of the beer and then tossed the empty bottle into the trashcan. He couldn’t let Keira ruin the rest of his day because he had to deal with Kathy in less than an hour.

  His ex-wife was bringing Trevor over for his weekly visit and he prayed that Kathy wouldn’t go into her rant about needing more money for their son. Hell, she wasn’t even using the money she was getting now for him. Just last week Trevor called him wanting a new video game. He sent Kathy more than enough money to buy little gifts like that for Trevor and then have more than enough money left over for her expensive tastes.

  He was trying his best not to take Kathy back to court for full custody of Trevor. But if she kept spending all the money he sent on herself instead of their son something was going to change. Kathy wasn’t going to mistreat Trevor and give the young lovers in her life anything they wanted. She was the poster image of a woman being a cougar. The last time he’d gone to pick up Trevor from his ex-wife’s house, he’d found a guy there who, if he had to guess, wasn’t older than twenty.

  What was Kathy thinking? She couldn’t let guys come in and out of Trevor’s life like that. His son loved the both of them so much and he knew that his son had a spark of hope his parents would get back together.

  Jim had tried numerous times to make Trevor understand that there was no way he was going to get back with his mother. Howev
er, Trevor still held out for that prospect.

  I might really have to talk him to again. I should take him on another camping trip. It’s been too long.

  Trevor was the carbon copy of him and he loved his son dearly. It pained him that it wasn’t able to see Trevor more than he did.

  Leaving the kitchen, Jim strolled back into the living room to wait for Kathy and Trevor. Sitting down on the couch, he picked up the remote control and turned on the television to ESPN. He had been watching a NASCAR race for about twenty minutes before the front door swung open and a bundle of energy raced through it.

  “Dad, I was thinking about you all day at school. I was so excited to be spending the entire week with you instead of the weekend like I usually do!” Trevor shouted as he jumped on the couch next to him.

  “Son, I’m glad you’re going to be spending extra time with me too. Do you want to order a pizza tonight and watch some movies? We can rent something off the television,” Jim said, hugging his son.

  “Dad, I’m too old to be getting hugs. I’m not a baby.” Trevor moved back from him and got off the couch. “I’m going to start on my homework, so I’ll be finished before dinner.” Trevor raced back to his bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

  “You know that he really isn’t going to start on his homework, don’t you?” A snippy voice complained behind him. “You let him get away with too much. That’s why he’s so unruly when I get him back from you. He has no rules at your house at all. He’s horrible the way he can do anything he wants over here. I’m the only one who punishes him for doing something wrong.”

  Jim got up from his seat and glared at his ex-wife. There wasn’t a time that Kathy hadn’t dropped off their son and complained about something. She was such a negative person. She hadn’t been this way when they first got married. She wasn’t the most positive person back then; however, she never constantly saw the bad in everything and everyone.