My lips trembled like we already started. “Drake, we shouldn’t,” I said, chickening out. “It’s late over there, and you have to be at work tomorrow—”
“What are you wearing right now, Lacey?”
My mouth parted, and I gazed down at my robe. “My robe,” I paused, gripping its belt underneath my fingers. “The silk one in the bathroom.”
“Anything else?” he breathed.
I shook my head on autopilot. When I finally realized he couldn’t see me, I said, “No. Nothing.”
His next words were light, yet direct, and sent a sharp tingle between my thighs. “Take off your robe.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Drake
Last night probably wasn’t the best idea. Lacey kept telling me it was late, that I had to be at work tomorrow, but damn if I listened to her in that moment. She told me she was taking a bath and the only thought I had in my mind was her; that tight body and those glorious curves I loved filling my hands with. On top of that, I hadn’t seen her in almost forty-eight hours, and I was a selfish man. I needed my Lacey fix, and that’s exactly what I pushed for. I really was weak. And so, once I made the decision to be intimate with her over the phone, it quickly went out of control, drawing us both long into the night.
Lacey’s soft breaths husked into the phone, and I had to grip my sheets to calm down. I was waiting for her response after I told her to take off her robe, and the anticipation was making me hard as a rock.
Say something Lacey… my thoughts rang.
“Drake, I… You have to work. I don’t want to be responsible for you being late on your first day—”
“Lacey,” I said, my voice forceful, direct. “Take off your robe, baby.”
In the next moment, there was an intake of breath into the receiver, and then she said, “Okay.”
My cock literally twitched in response to the word. This girl was maddening. I swallowed hard, the phone sliding in my sweaty palm. “Okay?”
“Mmmhmm. It’s off.”
She was in her bathroom. Standing there completely naked. I bit my knuckles before my next words. I’d never done this before with a girl, and though I was a novice, one goal was perfectly clear.
I was going to make my girl feel damn good after this conversation.
“Tell me how you feel,” I asked her.
“How I feel?”
I nodded despite the fact I was by myself, damping my lips. “Yeah. Tell me what you’re feeling.”
She didn’t allow silence to hang between us for long. “My heart is racing, and my mouth is dry.”
“And?” I pushed her.
“My breasts…”
I sucked in a breath.
“They feel heavy. And they’re hard… my nipples.”
I was blasted out of the memories of our conversation last night the minute the bus blew past me. The asshole driver had the nerve to grin, tipping his head to me while he did.
Groaning, I ran after it. I lifted my arms, waving the guy down to stop, but all that got me was a response from the other passengers. They threw their heads back in laughter, enjoying my fail just as much as the bus driver.
Cursing under my breath, I reached into my pocket for my phone. Now I had to waste the little money I had on a cab. What the hell was wrong with the public transportation service? I was literally ten feet away from getting to the bus stop when he passed me, and he knew I was a passenger. I was waving my arms for fuck’s sake. Lacey was right. About so many things. I’d overslept because of how late our conversation went last night, and now I was at the mercy of Yellow Cab. Who knew how long it would take for them to get to me? I was running late as it was.
I squeezed the bridge of my nose, listening for the cab company to pick up the phone through my cell. I’d call Derrick for a ride, but he was working at the country club right now. He only worked part time at the garage and wouldn’t be in until this afternoon. I didn’t want to bother him anyway. I could do this myself.
“Yellow Cab. You need a ride?” a dude grunted into the receiver.
Yeah, asswipe. That’s why I’m calling, I wanted to say, but I bit back my pissy response. It wasn’t his fault I was in this situation. I rattled off my location to him.
“All right. We can have a guy there in,” he paused. “Forty-five minutes.”
My stomach dropped. “Are you serious? That’s the fastest you can get someone here?”
“Sorry, man. No one’s in the area.”
I shoved my lip into my mouth, checking my Fossil watch. I had only forty-five minutes to get to work before I was late. If I was late today, hell, I might as well not show. How good did it look to flake on the first day?
“You trying to catch the bus, sweetie?”
I shot a round. A woman was there. Her dark complexion was aged, and she had a warmth in her dark eyes that moved a strong kindness across her entire face. She held a green garden house, spraying her lawn while wearing a large sun hat.
“Uh, yeah,” I said, pointing to my phone. “I’m calling a cab since I missed it.”
She pushed her hat back, the cord around it allowing it to hang. I could see her eyes better this way, and she really did have a niceness about her face that one didn’t usually see every day. “Oh, you don’t have to do that. You can catch it on the next street over. The route doubles back and passes right in front of my house.” She pointed with her hose. “There’s a stop right there.”
“Hey, buddy. Do you need a cab or not?” the cab guy said, impatience lining his voice.
I smiled at the woman. “Not,” I said into the phone. After I returned it to my pocket, I looked up to see the woman holding open her white picket fence.
“You can cut through the lawn. Better hurry now. Leonard doesn’t stop for anyone.” She winked at me, her cocoa-colored skin bright with sunshine.
People such as this woman were a rarity in the world. It was nice to know someone so kind lived so close by.
I nodded my thanks to her then jetted through the yard. With a quickness behind my step, I made it to the stop as the driver turned the corner onto the block. He pulled right up to me, frowning as he opened the door.
I had nothing but confidence in my stride when I went up the stairs and dropped my coins into the payment till. I took my seat in front, pushing my ear buds into my ears for the ride to the garage. And here my girlfriend was worried about my first time using public transportation. I’d say today was a job well done.
*
“So you’ll be handling the bills, answering phones, and greeting customers, Drake,” said Mr. Mackney.
The large, middle-aged garage owner ended the tour of his small business at the front desk, where I’d be mostly stationed. It had a direct view of the lot where customers would pull up their cars to get into the garage but was cut off from the mechanics in the back. That kept the area pretty quiet for the customers as they waited for their cars to be ready up front.
“Do you have any questions?” Mr. Mackney asked, pulling a rag from the back pocket of his bibs. When I arrived, I was surprised to find the owner himself underneath a car, working alongside his hired technicians. It really made me respect the guy. I highly doubted garage owners in the North Shore would be doing the same.
I raised the appointment book he’d given me to get familiar with. “Nope. Everything seems pretty straightforward. And thanks for the job, Mr. Mackney. I really appreciate it.”
The older, African American man lifted his hands, protesting. “Call me, Lou, and not a problem. I’ve known Derrick since he was a boy and anyone he trusts deserves a shot in my book.”
He shook my hand, then pushed open the door to the back, letting in the garage noises of hip hop music, chatting technicians, and car repair. “Oh, and remember, Drake, have customers pull up their cars right to the garage doors. They give a honk, we let them in. And make sure to keep a close eye on things up here whenever customers are around. We’ve had some issues with theft recently,” he paus
ed, pointing to the stock rims and sample car radios. “Which is why I decided to hire an office manager. Obviously, you won’t be up here 24/7 but just keep a watchful eye.”
I was informed of their dire need for help when I arrived. Apparently, the technicians themselves had been manning the phones and greeting people. Mr. Mackney had been doing everything else, which had been spreading the guy pretty thin.
“Not a problem,” I said to him.
He left me to my job, heading to the back with the rest of the guys. Lou left me quite a bit to do, so I got down to business. The box of bills he had was overflowing like the man hadn’t paid a utility since the place had been in operation. I checked the budget, divvied out the funds, then cut checks to the appropriate utility companies. After I laid those out on Lou’s desk for him to sign, I got to work straightening up the place and organizing the products the garage sold like oil and various waxes. This definitely wasn’t considered challenging work, and frankly, my mom would cringe that I was here and not in some prestigious internship at a Fortune 500 company, but I needed a job, and that’s what this was. I was grateful for it. No matter how low paying or unchallenging it was. I answered phones and greeted customers, and the flow of the day went very well.
I gazed up from an appointment I just scheduled when a bunch of laughing men wearing work coveralls like Lou’s came in through the door.
I raised my hand to them, assuming they were the techs changing shifts since it was almost five. The garage had a few evening hours, which was when Derrick occasionally worked.
The tallest guy who had shaggy, messy brown hair tipped his chin at me. He and the guys he came in with went around to my side of the front desk.
The tall guy put out his hand to me. “You must be Drake. Lou told me he finally hired an office manager. I’m Troy.”
The guy’s grin was infectious. I couldn’t help but grin back as I shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. And yeah, I’m it. I can see why he needed one. Things were pretty backed up in the bills department.” I laughed.
Troy chuckled. “That’s Lou. He’s pretty much the most disorganized guy I know. He’s great at the hands on part of the business, but the actual ‘business’ part not so much.”
That made me smile. The guy had a passion for the job. I guess he had heart where it counted.
“Meet the rest of the evening crew,” Troy said. He slapped the man to his right on the chest. A rather burly one with a fro. “You got Sam here.”
Sam was significantly shorter than Troy and myself but stood tall and confident as he shook my hand. Troy pointed to the other man flanking him. “And this is Jermaine.”
I went to place my hand out to the dark-skinned guy with a buzz cut, but hesitated when he didn’t seem as if he was going to do the same. He simply tipped his head at me, granting a single “‘Sup” my way.
I felt a sudden chill cast in my direction with his stiff, emotionless stare. I could only define the expression as mean-mugging, the reason for which I had no idea why.
Jermaine left right after his greeting, not waiting for the others to do the same. Sam did go shortly after, but Troy stayed for a moment. He pointed behind him when we were by ourselves. “Don’t worry about Jermaine. He’s just pissed because you got this job over his cousin. Derrick recommended you first, and well, his ‘cus is known for his record around the neighborhood. Needless to say hiring you over him wasn’t a hard decision for Lou to make.”
Great. I was here one day and already making enemies. This felt very reminiscent of the crap I went through with Ty. I didn’t plan on history repeating itself so hopefully Jermaine could get over his issues with me being here over his family.
“Good meeting you, Drake.” Troy patted my back.
After he headed to the back, I checked the clock hanging up in the waiting room. It was about time for me to head out myself, so I decided to clean the bathrooms in the waiting room before I left. There wasn’t much trash, but I gathered a bag anyway.
I had a few minutes before clock-out so I rushed to the back to dispose the trash in the dumpsters behind the building. It was a long day, and I was ready to go home. The sounds of tires quickly rolling over rocks filled the air, and I turned, seeing a blue minivan.
At first, I paid no attention to it, thinking it was going to pass by. But when it pulled right up to me, I turned completely. Out of the van came a tiny sneaker, followed by a petite girl who was maybe around my age or so. She barreled out of the vehicle. Her cheeks were flushed a pale pink and black strands that had escaped from her bun brushed across her face.
“Aiya! Wǒ chí dào!” she said, closing the van’s door with a snap before going to the back of the van and opening the trunk.
I twitched, bristling for two reasons. One, I had no idea if what she said was more to herself or to me. If it was toward me, it kind of annoyed me that she would assume I could understand her. True, I was Asian, just as she was, but she shouldn’t assume that meant I was well versed in all East Asian languages. And two, she didn’t stick around long enough to get a response. Just went to the back of the car she was now rattling through.
I went around to her. Her little bottom was propped up in the air as she rooted around the shit ton of boxes she had back there.
Damn, this girl has a lot of stuff. “Miss?” I questioned, trying to get her attention. “Miss, you can’t park back here. I’m sorry but this is a business lot.”
“Oh, it’s okay. I have an appointment for an oil change.” She closed the box she was looking in, then pulled another forward with a grunt and opened it.
She was a customer. She must have just been confused about where to park. “This actually isn’t the appropriate area to park for service. You’re going to have to pull it around to the front. The techs can assist you there.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that,” she huffed, grabbing a large box of what I could now see were toys. Like all kinds. Balls, action figures, and dolls. She slid it out of the van with her.
I didn’t understand what she was doing, but I did know she couldn’t do it here. “That’s okay, miss, but you’re still going to have to move it.”
“Can you move it for me?” she asked, gathering the box on her hip. She hopped down and reached up to close the trunk with one hand. “I’m late for something across the street and—”
She finally gazed up at me after she closed the van, her deep hazel eyes settling on mine. Her cheeks painted a rose red, and her silky lashes blinked once.
Getting a good look at her, I realized I’d seen her before. She was at the park with three others, the one reading the book. She must have recognized me too, which was probably the reason she paused. Since she did, I took the opportunity to cut in before she started up again.
“I’m actually not supposed to drive the customer vehicles. If you could just take it around—”
“Hi,” she said, blinking twice now. “Remember me? I saw you the other day at the park. You were eating a Polish sausage.”
Her comment struck me funny at how she remembered me. I nodded, acknowledging the moment I saw her. “I remember, miss, but—”
“Natalia,” she spoke her name lightly.
“Natalia,” I corrected. “I’m sorry but you’re going to have to take the van around yourself. I’ve not been authorized to operate customer vehicles. If you hurry, you can still beat our five o’ clock rush.”
Her eyes went wide and alarm flooded face. “Five!” She checked her watch. “Tian a! Oh my God! I’m so late.”
She breezed past me and lost a couple of balls from her overflowing box of toys. I grabbed them, my head whirling at how frantic this girl was. “Miss?”
“I’m so sorry. I have to go. I’m late. So late.”
She tossed me a set of keys, which I caught with my free hand, before she scurried away. She chanted, “I’m late. I’m late,” like the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland as she left me and crossed our back lot to the street across from it.
“They came from that girl who left the van. I told her she couldn’t park here. Needless to say she wasn’t listening. Sorry, man.”
He raised his hand. “No big. I’ll take it around.” After taking the car keys I’d been tossed, he tipped his chin ahead. “The hot ones are wasted on you I guess.”
I faced that direction, watching a panicking Natalia disappear into the large building across the way with her huge box of toys in tow. “I don’t think you want to mess with that one. She seems kind of flighty.”
That was an understatement. That chick was all over the place.
Derrick had just thrown the basketball in the air and narrowed his eyebrows when he caught it. “Flighty? We’re talking about Natalia Johnson, right?”
I lifted my brow. “You know that girl?”
Shrugging, he turned, and I followed him back into the garage. “Not really,” he said. “She’s a local girl. We went to the same schools growing up. She was a couple of grades lower than me. Like around your age. I don’t remember her being flighty, though. Actually, she was the opposite. That smart type. Class president. Student council and honor society. Girl had her stuff together.”
That didn’t seem like the girl I just met. I took his word for it since he said he remembered her being that way. We made it to the back room, and I clocked-out while Derrick clocked-in.
“What do you think she was doing with all those toys?” I asked Derrick, shaking the ball I still had before tossing it into my work locker.
Derrick threw his own in then grabbed a rag out of his locker. He stuffed it in his back pocket, allowing the material to hang over the edge. “Probably for the kids at the Y. She volunteers there all the time. Runs youth programs.”
“The Y?”
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