by Shannyn Leah
Stone waved his arms in the air. “Right on a part!” he roared. “How would you like it if I took you apart then started dropping shit on your insides?” He took two large steps forward and pointed his finger around the room. “These vehicles are the owner’s babies. Treat them with more caution than your life or it’ll be me you’ll be answering to. Got it?”
Dax held in a smirk as the boy stammered a “Yes, sir.”
Stone waved at the door and shouted, “Get the hell out of my shop before you break something else. I think there’s a toilet waiting to be scrubbed with your name on it.”
The boy’s shoulders slumped and his lips drew into a thin line, but he said, “Yes, sir” again and then turned back out the door he’d come through.
Stone turned to Dax, a smug smile across his lips, making the scar on his upper lip almost disappear. “He won’t make that mistake twice.”
Dax glanced around him at the clutter. “Yeah, but you have quite the job ahead of you.” He slapped his friend’s shoulder. “Get to it before I tear a strip out of you.”
Stone chuckled as Dax left in search of his father. Short search. Rowdy sat comfortably at Dax’s desk, drinking a coffee and reading a newspaper.
“Your newbie just tore apart Stow’s bike without labeling the parts.”
The news didn’t faze his father. “I’m sure Stone can handle it.”
“I don’t pay Stone to babysit and how did I get the same irresponsible co-op student from the fire station in the shop, but now were paying him?”
His father chuckled, not bothering to move from Dax’s chair as if it were his office. “It’s a good thing I own fifty-percent of this company and have half the say. Ava’s dropping Olivia off to work on Charlie.” Rowdy could change topics with ease, not wasting his time talking about things he had no interest in.
Dax shook his head as he grabbed a pile of mail and numbly read through the envelopes. He’d voiced his opinion about Olivia being too young for the shop and suggested keeping her at the fire station where she was easily the center of attention. Plenty of family members popped in and out of the fire station all the time. They were like one big family over there. But her age had never stopped Rowdy from bringing her to the shop, too, even when she’d been waddling around in diapers. Her coos and burp-filled giggles had won the hearts of every last one of his big, bad employees. Now, her extensive knowledge regarding vehicle restoration garnered her the men’s impressed smiles. The knowledge she’d gained at the shop undoubtedly surpassed the co-op student on his payroll. Even Stone had a soft spot for the little girl.
“Dad, what kind of name is Charlie for the Impala? Maybe Chastity or Chelsea. But Charlie? No.”
“Olivia named him.”
“Him?” Maybe the kid wasn’t as smart as everyone gave her credit for.
“To Olivia the car’s a ‘he’.”
Dax tossed the envelopes back on the desk. “Well, get at it. What are you doing in here when you have a date with Charlie?”
“Inviting my son to come work on the Impala.”
“Dad, someone has to work around here.”
Rowdy stood then and waved a hand at Dax. “Horse shit. You’re going to stew in here for the next hour over Ross.”
“Ross? Who’s Ross?”
Rowdy rolled his eyes. “The newbie.”
Dax sliced his hand through the air. “No more newbies.”
His dad stepped around the desk. He was identical to Dax in height, mass, dark eyes, crooked nose and angle of mouth. No one could deny the father and son similarities. As Dax aged, the resemblance had amplified further. However, two things had changed with his dad’s age. His once dark hair was now silver and the stern, tough, no tolerance attitude he’d instilled in Dax had fallen into a soft, gentler nature.
It had happened the moment Ava had stepped into the old man’s life—seven years ago to be exact. Rowdy had been attending a conference in another town when he’d met Ava. She’d been in her early twenties at the time, alone with no family—her family had died during a house fire—and pregnant. Rowdy had offered her a room in his house until she got back on her feet. However, a couple months had turned into years and it didn’t look like that arrangement would change anytime in the near future. Ava had stepped into the daughter role Rowdy never had and Olivia the granddaughter he’d always wanted.
Whatever. Dax sure as hell didn’t plan on having kids, so at least that expectation had been lifted from his shoulders. However, when the two girls had become a part of Rowdy’s life, they’d become a part of his too. Supper at his dad’s soon changed from swearing and shop talk to tea parties and school events.
He looked back at his dad now and crossed his arms over his shoulders, waiting for a new reprimand.
“You know, son, there was a time when you were a newbie.”
“And you fired me more times than I can count.”
“You learned from your mistakes and my punishment. Just like Ross will learn from Stone.”
Dax had learned more than car lessons from his dad. He’d learned strength, fearlessness and that his feelings were better off buried than exposed. The latter lesson being the best one his father had ever taught him. Even if Rowdy had grown soft over the years, Dax knew better than to follow those foolish footsteps.
“Grandpa!” Olivia barreled into Dax’s office and ran straight into Rowdy’s arms. Today, she’d swapped her dress and tights for jeans and a plain T-shirt. A braid down her back gathered her hair together to keep it from dipping into liquids or catching on equipment. Rowdy lifted her and smacked a kiss on her cheek.
Dax heard Ava’s voice before he saw her, the sweet sound causing the stomach flip he hated so much. Damn woman had an uncanny effect on him that even night after night with spicy redheads couldn’t reduce. He needed one night with Ava, to rid his speculation of what her luscious lips would taste like and how her body would feel pressed up against his. Just one night.
He heard Ava warning Olivia not to go into Dax’s office, but she was a little too late. Carrying a pink and purple knapsack, Ava stopped in the doorway.
Her shapely eyebrows furrowed at her daughter’s disobedience. “Olivia, I told you not to interrupt.” She pushed her fingers through her thick, ash-blonde hair. The curls bounced down her shoulders in silky waves. Dax wanted to touch the locks of hair to discover if they were as soft as he assumed. More than that, he wanted to kiss her frown away and suck on her pouty bottom lip.
Damn it.
“I’m sorry, Dax.” Mesmerizing blue eyes, like the swirling waves of water on a windy day, met his in a sincere apology. Those same eyes exuded kindness—that’s who she was. If a neighbour needed a cup of sugar they could depend on Ava’s welcoming smile and if some clumsy little twit of a student needed a job, she’d go out on a limb for him.
“She just gets so excited about working on Charlie.”
And, damn, he liked how natural her goodness came to her. What he didn’t appreciate were the lustful feelings he had while in her presence because he damn well knew there would be no one-night between them. So he stomped them down like his dad had taught him.
“This isn’t a playground,” Dax barked, making his way around his desk. He needed the split-second away from her stare to regain his composure. When he turned back, Rowdy had set Olivia on her feet and they were headed toward the door.
“Don’t worry about it.” Rowdy said.
“We were in the middle of a meeting.” Dax placed his flat palms on the wood surface, eyes firmly planted on his father.
Ava reached for her daughter’s hand. “It’s okay. Take your time and we’ll wait in your office,” she said to Rowdy.
The old man shooed her away from Olivia. “He doesn’t like the newbie. Thinks he’s king shit and has never made a mistake in his life.”
Ava’s pleasant face dropped. First, she sent Rowdy a scolding look for his language choice in front of Olivia and then she looked back at Dax. “Did something happen
with Ross?”
“Yeah, something happened. He ripped Stow’s bike apart without labeling it. Do you know what that means?” Of course she didn’t know what that meant. “It means—”
“Someone’s going to have to label all the parts before they’re painted,” Olivia said. “And more than likely they won’t all make it back into the bike. Way to go, Mom.”
Rowdy’s chesty laugh filled the room. “Nice kid.” He looked back at Dax. “Smart ass—” He stopped and looked at a disapproving Ava. “Smart aleck there reversed old man Caliendo’s car into the front end of the mayor’s car when he was Ross’s age.”
He’d been fired for that. “This isn’t about me.”
“It never is. Can you imagine me trying to explain those two smashed vehicles to the richest arch-enemies in Willow Valley?” Rowdy shook his head, but his smile revealed how the memory amused him. Back then, Rowdy would have torn a strip out of both of them if they’d talked back to him. Not anymore.
“Come on, kid,” his father said to Olivia. “Let’s go say hi to Charlie.”
“Okay. Bye, Mommy. Bye, Dax!” Olivia chattered Rowdy’s ear off as they made their way out the door. Dax could hear her voice as it trailed down the hall. He still didn’t know why his dad was stretching out the restoration of the Impala or why he’d decided to restore it in the first place. His dad had locked it away after his mother died and hadn’t pulled it out until Olivia had wanted a project. But why the Impala? Why bring back painful memories instead of choosing one of the many other cars they bought and flipped?
Ava stepped into his office now, shutting the door behind her.
Dax pulled his eyes away from her tight rear end as she turned back to him. “Is Ross not working out? I know your dad underplays everything so just be upfront with me. Do I move him over to Otto’s Garage?”
“Otto’s is a dive.” Dax didn’t actually have an issue with the town’s local repair garage. He’d even sent customers there when they’d accidentally stumbled into his shop thinking they repaired mufflers or gas lines. But, right now, his irritability had taken over and his mouth followed.
Ava narrowed her eyes on him, folding her silky smooth arms under her chest and pushing her breasts up to peek through the open space of her button-up blouse. “There’s no need for insults.” Her teacher’s tone brought a whole different fantasy world into his head. If only he’d had sexy, hot teachers like her when he’d been regularly sent to detention: big breasts, firm ass and one hell of a curvy body. He certainly wouldn’t have skipped detention then.
“It’s fine,” he snarled. “Dad and Stone are dealing with him. If he screws up, it’s on them.”
Dax sat down, dismissing her. He moved the mouse to activate the computer screen, feigning work. Her intoxicating perfume made it impossible to concentrate on anything, though. And now his office was doomed to smell like her for the rest of the evening.
Fabulous.
“Dax?” She’d moved directly beside him and he felt her warmth radiate near his arm. “Rowdy says you haven’t gone back to the hospital for a follow up on your shoulder.” She set the princess-patterned bag on his desk before he could reply, not that he needed to answer her. They both knew he hadn’t gone back to see the doctor. He hated hospitals. A couple weeks back on their way back to the station after dousing a farm fire, the new guy had driven off the road and flipped the fire truck on its side, sending all five of the men to the hospital. Had the ambulance driver not given him a choice, he wouldn’t have gone in the first place.
Big deal. Firefighters got muscle sprains all the time. Although his shoulder was being a pain and not healing. He should have gone for the follow up, but he could scrounge up a thousand excuses to hold it off, too.
Ava unzipped Olivia’s knapsack and pulled out a container of gel. “Let me see your shoulder.” Her teacher’s tone again. Damn woman.
“Ava—”
“I didn’t ask. Take off your shirt, Dax.”
He leaned back in his chair to get a better look at her. He put on his famously seductive grin and tapered his eyes. “I’ve been trying to get you out of your shirt for years and you think you can come into my office and, after one demand, think I’m going to just strip for you? Do you think I’m that easy?”
Her lips curved upwards. “You are that easy.”
“Take yours off,” he retorted.
Her jaw tightened, as did the grip on the jar in her hands. Humor swept away, her eyes didn’t waver from his, and he watched desire heat up in them. The attraction between them resonated around the four walls of his office and he knew sex with her would be mind-blowing. Except, he’d never sleep with her. He couldn’t. As much as he teased and flirted, at the end of the day, they didn’t mix. Hot and cold. Water and fire. Besides, his dad would whoop him good and serve him up for dinner if it ever went that far.
Ava’s fingers grasped the edge of her blue and white plaid blouse and hiked the material high enough to see her naval.
Goddamit. They were in his office and the wall overlooking the shop was encased with windows.
He caught her wrist, conflicted with wanting more, all of her and not wanting any of her at all.
“Alright,” he growled, pulling her shirt back down over her denim shorts.
He stood up, ignoring what looked a hell of a lot like hurt in her eyes and yanked his own black T-shirt over his head. He balled it up, frustration invading his hands and tossed it onto his desk.
“If I’d known it was that easy to get your shirt off, I would have flashed my sprained shoulder a helluva long time ago.”
One thing was for certain, the teasing had to end. She’d never given an inch and today she’d have given a whole damn foot.
CHAPTER THREE
~
AS DAX SAT DOWN, RELIEF flooded Ava, giving her back the breath she’d been holding, but not nearly stomping out the wild emotions flaring inside her. She knew this would be a bad idea, an impossible request for a man who independently rejected the help of others. But flashing him her breasts to get the job done? Well, technically, only her pink bikini top since they’d just returned from the beach, and she hadn’t bothered to change.
The logic sounded accurate in her head, and yet, even as her hands had touched the material of her shirt, that moment alone with Dax had felt more intimate than if she’d been buck naked on the sandy beach of Willow Valley. And she’d hardly lifted her shirt! What had he seen? Probably only a slit of skin before he’d stopped her and covered her back up. After years of Ava turning down the one-night stand he promised would be a memory she would never forget, he’d stopped what could have resulted in exactly that.
Why? Not the time or place, she supposed. Or maybe he wasn’t actually interested in her that way.
Why did the possibility sting? And why did she think he’d be interested in her in the first place? She was simply an unwed mother attached to responsibilities he wanted to stay clear of. The only responsibilities Dax had were his business, the firehouse and his dad. Everything else ceased to exist.
Now, standing at his side where he couldn’t see her flaring red cheeks, she caught sight of her mission. Dax’s thick, tattooed shoulder still swelled, begging for gel, an ice pack, and a doctor’s check-up. The man needed to realize he wasn’t invincible, even if he tore through burning buildings on a regular basis. While she needed to realize his swelling required her attention more than ogling his perfect tan.
Taking a deep breath, she reached back inside her daughter’s bag and pulled out the ice pack she’d grabbed from the fridge at the firehouse. She set the ice pack on his desk and unscrewed the lid of gel. All the while, silently applauding his long runs along the shoreline for giving him flawless, golden skin.
“You haven’t been icing this, have you?” Talking brought her down from her fantasy world and back to reality.
He shrugged. No words. Not helpful.
“Dax, you need to follow up with the doctor.”
She
barely got the sentence out before he moved away, reaching for his T-shirt. “I don’t need your orders, but thanks for caring enough about my dad to inquire.”
Ava grabbed his forearm. Big mistake. Heat wickedly poured through her veins, reminding her why she kept her distance from him: her young fantasy crush would never go away.
She’d expected time to take away her silly crush on him, but that hadn’t been the case. Every year that passed since the moment she’d laid eyes on Dax, confident with every ounce of masculinity mixed with a menacing excitement, brought deeper desires within her.
She wouldn’t call it love at first sight, or love at all. Not that kind of love, anyway. Love was too deep of a word. Never having been in love herself, she couldn’t define such a word.
Lust at first sight seemed more likely.
Everything about him had given her butterflies. Everything from the color inked up his arms, across his shoulders, and down his back, to his killer deep eyes, made her swoon. But, above all else, the way he held himself without caring about anyone else’s opinion of him sparked an admiration within her.
She wished she’d stood up to the hometown locals who’d frowned upon her because of her last name and the rundown, old farmhouse where she’d lived. It had been easier then to remain invisible than confront people. Watching Dax do and say what he pleased, without caring about the repercussions, had impressed her. Still, to this day, she cautioned her own actions. Willow Valley had been a fresh start for her and Olivia. No one knew of her past and she’d worked hard to accomplish a good reputation for both of them which she wouldn’t spoil.
“It’s not only your dad. I care about you.” She cautiously made the statement as a family member and not some lust-filled declaration.
His head tilted up to look at her, his eyes glinting a spark of seriousness under a layer of teasing. He had gorgeous eyes she couldn’t drag hers away from even if she’d wanted to. “You care about me, huh?”