Copyright
Copyright © 2017 by Krissy Reynolds.
All rights reserved under Krissy Reynolds. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, or distributed in any form or by any means including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter One.
Cornerstone - the first stone set in the construction of a foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.
...
"Hello, Martin's Garage. How may I help you?" She answered the ringing phone as she always did and then listened to the person on the other end. "An oil change usually takes thirty to forty minutes. Let me check with one of the mechanics to see if they can fit you in at that time. Hold please."
Alison Silver pressed the hold button on the phone and then stood up from the desk, going to the door at the side of the office that opened into the large garage. A Lynyrd Skynyrd song was blaring over the speakers amongst the chatter and whirring of tools. She looked at the last bay – the furthest from the door – and she saw him leaning under the hood of the car he was working on. She took a deep breath before beginning her walk towards him. Thankfully, none of the other mechanics noticed because if they had, whistles would have followed her.
"Yuriel," she said his name, her stomach fluttering when he lifted his head and looked at her, his eyes slightly squinted as if he had never seen her before. There was hair hanging in his eyes and her fingers twisted in the hem of her skirt to stop herself from doing something like reaching out and brushing it away for him. "I have a lady on the phone. Would you have time to do an oil change at one for her? She'll be on her lunch break and only has the hour."
Yuriel Salas looked back to the car he was working on and then to the clock hanging on the wall. Finally, he looked back to her but his eyes only settled on her for a second before looking away from her again.
"Fine," he grunted, turning back towards the car, effectively dismissing her.
Alison turned and hurried back to the office, once again grateful that no one noticed her as she did. She didn't hate her job. Not at all. Martin, her boss, was such a nice man with sparkling eyes and a warm smile and he called her a godsend at least once a day. He was a fair man and paid her what she deserved. But most of the mechanics had a tendency to make her uncomfortable. They all threw her smiles and winks and because of who she was, she smiled faintly in return; too polite to just ignore them though she really just wanted to glare and even flip them off more times than not. But she would never do that because she was Alison Silver and she was a good girl.
Yuriel Salas wasn't like the other mechanics at the garage. He was quiet – practically mute – and he preferred to stay by himself. He never talked to her except one word responses and always said in the most gruff of grunts. She always felt like she was angering him if she even breathed the same air as him for just a second and he did his best to avoid her altogether. She had no idea what she had done to him because most of the time, she swore he hated her.
She returned to the phone call and set the woman's appointment up for one.
She didn't know what it was because he obviously didn't care for her at all but out of all of the mechanics, Yuriel was the only one she ever approached to talk to. There was something about him. She didn't know what it was but all she did know was that he didn't scare her or make her nervous. He gave her flutters but she knew what those were even if she wasn't prepared to admit that to herself. They were silly flutters and nothing would ever come on them and she supposed it was natural to have a silly work crush on one of the guys who worked here.
The garage closed at noon for lunch but Alison usually brought her lunch with her and ate at her desk in case the phone rang. All of the guys cleared out at that time so it was just her. And Yuriel. Yuriel always stayed, too, but he, of course, never came into the office. He always took his lunch break out back where the guys had a picnic table set up and would take their smoke breaks. Alison watched him go out there every day but she never felt the courage to take her lunch back there with him. He would probably stare at her and then get up and leave without saying a word and she didn't want to tick him off or embarrass herself so she always stayed in the office.
Today, she slowly ate her tuna sandwich as she mindlessly played a game of solitaire on the computer and tried not to let her eyes drift towards the window of the garage. He was still in there, finishing work on the car and slamming the hood shut. She watched him tug the red rag from his back pocket and wipe his hands on it and then slipping it back, he then pulled a pack of cigarettes from his other back pocket. He popped a cigarette into his pocket but he didn't light it. His hair was hanging in his eyes again and she wondered how that didn't annoy him. He would sometimes flick his head slightly to get it out of the way but it always fell right back. She wondered why he didn't cut it but at the same time, she liked his longer hair and couldn't imagine him with short hair.
She quickly moved her eyes back to her computer screen when he turned his head and looked towards the office. She could feel his eyes on her through the window and she felt the back of her neck flushing. She wished she didn't have such a reaction when around him and she hoped she wasn't obvious. The last thing she needed was for anyone – especially Yuriel – to know of her silly crush on him.
She looked up again when she heard the heavy back door shut and saw that he had gone outside and the garage was now empty. She exhaled a deep sigh. She wished there was some way for her to get over this. She had been working at Martin's for three months now and had probably spoken just ten words – if that many – to Yuriel. There was no reason to have a crush on him.
Except his hair and those blue eyes and that scruff on his chin and those arm muscles. Oh goodness, those arm muscles. She had actually had dreams about those arms and him wrapping those arms around her and holding her close to his chest. And just thinking about them now, she felt her throat grow dry. And then she just wanted to smack her head down on the desk because she felt so silly and stupid and he didn't even look at her and she didn't even feel brave enough to talk with him.
She had just finished her sandwich and began on her snap peas when she saw a car pull up to the garage and a woman stepped out with beautiful dark brown curly hair. Alison smiled when the woman entered the office, pulling her sunglasses off and smiling in return when she saw Alison.
"Hi. I'm Karen. I know I'm a little early but I called about an oil change," she said.
"Oh, yes," Alison smiled, standing up. "The
mechanic I have you scheduled with just stepped outside. I'll go get him."
Alison stepped from the office, heading across the garage to the back door and just knowing that she was going to be seeing Yuriel in just a few seconds, her stomach was already fluttering and she wanted to just sigh and roll her eyes at herself.
Outside, Yuriel was leaning against the wall, a cigarette hanging between his lips but the second he heard the door open and saw her, he dropped it to the ground, stubbing it out with the toe of his boot.
She gave him a small smile. "Hi. That one o'clock oil change? She's here a little early."
He nodded and stepped towards her. He reached past her and held the door open and she gave him the same small smile and she ducked inside before he could see the faint blush on her cheeks. He smelled like oil and smoke but like fresh air and soil and it all collided up into her nostrils and she hurried back to the office because all she wanted to do was turn and press her nose to his shoulder so she could inhale.
What the heck was the matter with her? Why was she like this around him?
"Karen, this is Yuriel," Alison said, stepping back into the office. "He's going to change your oil for you."
Karen looked past Alison and smiled when she saw Yuriel standing in the office doorway. Alison dared a glance at Yuriel as she sat back down behind the desk but his face was blank as it always was.
"I'm in the last bay. Swing your car 'round," he grunted at her and Karen nodded, leaving the office to go back to her car.
"Yuriel," Alison heard herself blurt out before he could leave.
He looked at her and she looked at him for a moment even though she felt the flush on her cheeks and knew that he could see it, too.
"Wha'?" He asked when she didn't say anything for a passing minute.
She remembered herself and quickly shook her head. "Oh. Sorry. Were you able to eat any lunch? I didn't, I didn't see you… Not that I was watching but I just noticed that you were working through your lunch hour and I, well, I have a bag of chips that I'm not going to be eating so if you want them…"
She swore she could physically feel her foot getting closer to her mouth. Why was she stuttering and babbling and going on like such an idiot? She was a shy woman, yes, but she had never been like this. She had never been completely inept at speaking with another human being. No wonder he always seemed so bothered by her presence around him. He probably thought she was touched in the head.
Yuriel kept looking at her and didn't say anything and she held out the bag of potato chips for him to take. After another moment, he reached out and took the bag from her and dipped his head in the slightest of nods.
"Thanks," he grunted and then turned, heading into the garage, the office door closing behind him and Alison exhaled a deep breath.
She turned the chair back towards the desk and she felt like laughing and crying at the same time. She didn't know anything about him. For as much as she knew, he was probably married or in a serious relationship already. He might even be gay. That was how next to nothing she knew about him. All she knew was he wasn't interested in her in the least and she really had to get past this and over him. Of course, it wasn't as if she had come out and told him that she was interested in him.
She casually looked out the window as Karen drove her car into the bay and she stood there, talking with Yuriel. Or rather, she was talking and Yuriel wasn't saying anything as usual and just listening. She hadn't come right out and said that she was interested in him but she had been obvious. Hadn't she? She stuttered like an idiot and always blushed and could never meet his eyes for too long. That was obvious, wasn't it?
She sighed, looking back to her computer. She had to keep reminding herself. It didn't matter if she was obvious or not. Yuriel didn't like her. For whatever reason, he didn't like her and this was all just a silly crush and it didn't mean anything.
She could hear Karen laughing suddenly from the garage and Alison cleared her throat, staring at her computer screen even though her eyes weren't really able to focus on anything at the moment.
Nope. It definitely didn't mean anything.
Chapter Two.
He had no idea where she came from.
One night, he left the garage after a day's work and she wasn't there and the next morning, she was – sitting behind the desk in the front office in a yellow dress that matched her hair and laughing lightly over something Martin was saying to her that he could hear all the way from his bay. Zach, the annoying kid who worked beside him and always wanted to chat, let out a whistle when he caught his first glimpse of her. And he wasn't the only one. The other mechanics immediately took note of the pretty blonde and all were staring as if they had never seen a woman before.
Yuriel felt himself only scowl though. Who was she and what the hell was a girl like that doing here? Martin came out a few minutes later into the garage with her following behind and he introduced her as Alison Silver, telling them that she was their new receptionist. Zach let out another whistle and Alison's cheeks flushed as Martin set a stern glare in the kid's direction.
For the most part, Yuriel had very little interaction with her. It wasn't as if he was the only mechanic at Martin's. There were three other guys and she was in charge of setting up all of their appointments – not just his. The most he had to do was after he was finished with a customer, he had to go take the paperwork to her in the office so would be able to run the invoice.
"Thanks, Yuriel," she would smile at him and Yuriel would just turn and leave again.
Her smile made him too damn nervous. It was too sweet and warm and he didn't get why she would be smiling at him like that. She didn't even know him. Why was she always so damn nice to him? He began to notice though that she smiled at everyone like that. It was just who she was. Everyone got a taste of the sun when she was near. He wasn't anything special – not that he was looking to be.
Girls like that always had boyfriends or at least plenty of boys always tripping over themselves and willing to do anything for her and he could just imagine the trail of saps following after Alison, begging for a scrap of attention. And hell, the other mechanics seemed to be the biggest suckers of all for her.
But deep down, he knew she wasn't like that at all. He saw the way she always looked down to the ground or hurried away when one of the guys gave a whistle or a wink and asked her to go out with them. She always politely declined and excused herself and it was surprising to him to see a girl who looked like her being so shy.
He saw the way she tidied the office after each work day and the fresh flowers she brought in to brighten her desk or the way she was always gently lecturing Martin on taking his medicine for his heart condition. There was a refrigerator in the break room and since Martin hired her, all of the guys found their favorite beverages stocked. Zach and his bottled water because he was some hippie kid who couldn't drink from the water fountain like the rest of them. Martinez liked his Coke and Axel liked his Cherry Coke and Yuriel – and he had no idea how she had found out – had always preferred Ginger Ale.
The first time he had opened the refrigerator and saw the green cans on the top shelf with a post-it with his name on it, he had just stared at them for a minute as if he had never seen anything like it before. And for the first few days, he hadn't taken any of them as if they were some sort of trick and the instant he took one of those cans and drank from it, he would instantly be under her spell like every other guy here.
"I can get something else if you'd like," she said to him in that soft, gentle voice of hers one afternoon when he came into the office to hand her his paperwork.
"What?" He grunted at her and he realized he had asked a bit too roughly because she flinched ever so slightly.
"The Ginger Ale… Martin told me you like to drink it but I can get you something else," she offered. She wasn't meeting his eyes and she stood there, looking down at the paperwork in her hands instead.
She was wearing a blue dress that day with a white swe
ater and her hair was down and long and always in these waves. The sleeves of her sweater were pushed up and he saw that was always wore a bundle of bracelets on her left wrist. She was always so damn pale, too, and he wondered if the Georgia sun had ever touched her skin. He always found himself outside as much as he could manage it and his skin was rough and dark from the exposure. He found himself wondering how soft her skin was.
He shook his head at himself for that asinine thought. "'Ginger Ale's fine," he said, already heading back out of the office, not looking at her again.
When the garage closed for lunch that day, he stayed – as he always did – and took his lunch from the refrigerator so he could go out in the back and eat – as he always did – but this time, and he had no idea why, he took a can of the Ginger Ale with him. And he felt like an idiot – both for having stubbornly refusing a simple can of soda and for finally giving into it.
She always stayed during the lunch hour, too, eating at her desk. Most days, she would be playing music and it was different every day and if he left the heavy back door propped open, he was able to hear her singing along to whatever she was listening to that day. He found himself leaving the door propped open more and more because there was something about her voice. It was the same when she sang as when she talked. It was one of the sweetest sounds he had ever heard.
He ate his sandwich – usually always bologna – and sat there with his head resting against the brick wall behind him and he allowed his mind to go empty as he listened to her sing. They were always songs he had never heard before and he found himself wondering more than once why she was working at some small garage in a small town instead of being in Atlanta or Nashville, singing for a bigger audience than just some mechanic she didn't even know was listening.
He never asked her though because it was none of his business and he didn't really care either because the fact was, she was here and not in one of those big cities and everyone had their reasons for doing what they did.
The garage was open Tuesday through Saturday and closed on Sundays and Mondays and she was almost always one of the last to leave. As soon as Martin closed for the night, Axel and Martinez were always the first gone. Zach lingered just enough to ask Alison if she wanted to go to some party with him – seemed like that kid had a party to go to every single night and every single night, he asked Alison if she wanted to come – but she just smiled and told him she had to get home.
Honka Honka (Honk Series Book 1) Page 1