And she knew right then and there that there was a very real chance of Dylan Maxwell being her next big mistake.
Three
Chloe awoke the next morning after sleeping harder than she had in years. Stretching, she looked around the room and smiled, remembering how incredibly kind Dylan had been the night before.
When they had arrived at his home – which was a Craftsman bungalow on the outskirts of town – she had questioned her own sanity. How smart was she to go home with a stranger? And in a strange town? Not very, as far as she could tell, and yet everything about Dylan screamed she could trust him – that he was one of the good guys.
Case in point – this room. She was safely cocooned in the middle of a queen-size bed in his guest room that was more comfortable and more welcoming than any hotel room she’d ever stayed in.
Dylan had carried her bag in and made sure she knew where she could find anything she needed – toiletries, towels, extra pillows and blankets – and even went on to show her his fully-stocked kitchen with a variety of gourmet coffee for the morning. This was far better than any B&B would have been, but she knew not to get too comfortable because she was only going to be here for a day or two.
Glancing at the clock she gasped. Ten! It was already after ten? No doubt Dylan was already at his shop and Chloe had no idea how to reach him. Jumping up from the bed, she scurried across the room and out into the hall and called out to him – just in case.
No answer.
Walking to the kitchen, she found a note propped up on the granite island.
Chloe,
Left for the shop early to start on your car. Call me when you wake up.
Dylan
At the bottom of the note was a phone number and she wasn’t sure if it was for the shop or his cell, but either way, she couldn’t call him because her phone was still dead. With a weary sigh, she pulled up one of the bar stools next to the island and sat down.
“Note to self, get a damn phone charger today,” she murmured. Looking around the kitchen, she thought, “Now what?”
And that’s when she spotted it – a phone. Like an actual home phone. She didn’t think people really had them anymore. Chloe walked over and approached it like she thought it would bite her. Carefully she lifted it up and was surprised to hear a dial tone. With a sigh of relief, she reached for Dylan’s note and dialed the number.
“Hey, Chloe.” Dylan’s deep voice washed over her and her heart rate picked up and she could almost feel herself blushing.
“Hey,” she said softly and felt completely tongue-tied.
“Did you sleep okay?”
She had to get a grip. It wasn’t possible for just his voice to make her feel this…good. And needy. God…all she could think of was hearing him ask her that as they were sharing a pillow and tangled up together. Which was completely crazy. And so totally out of character for her. Chloe was not someone to wax poetic or have any kind of romantic daydreams and yet…
“Chloe?” he asked, breaking into her…yup, romantic daydream.
“Um…yeah. I slept great. Thanks,” she said a little too quickly. “So…um…have you had a chance to look at my car?”
“I did.”
She waited for him to say more and when he didn’t, she had a feeling the news wasn’t going to be good. “And?”
“The head gasket’s blown, which is what I suspected yesterday. You have a leak in your radiator and most of the hoses in the engine are in sorry shape.”
A nervous laugh came out before she could stop it. “Okay…anything else?”
“Your exhaust system is holding on by a thread.”
Her head hit the wall and all she could think of was how she was completely screwed. There was no way for her to fix all of those things – not with her budget. All the money she had was supposed to get her to Oregon and help her get settled into a new apartment – and that would have only worked if she found a job right away.
“Chloe,” he began, as if sensing she was starting to freak out, “I know it all sounds bad, but it’s all fixable.”
“Yeah,” she replied wearily. “Sure.”
“Let me take care of some things here and I’ll come home and we’ll talk about it – I’ll need to make calls to get some of the parts we need. I don’t stock some of them.”
“Okay.”
“It’s not going to be so bad,” he went on, doing his best to sound upbeat and positive – like he hadn’t just pretty much killed all her plans for going any farther west than Sapphire Falls.
“If you say so.”
Dylan let out a low growl before saying, “I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
****
Parked in front of his own house, Dylan worried about what was waiting for him inside. He knew Chloe was disappointed – hell, he was disappointed for her. The car needed work – extensive work – and that was just to get it running again. If he were to do all the work the car actually needed to be fully restored? Well, it was just a dream because he knew there was no way Chloe could afford it – especially not right now – and he wasn’t so sure she would even want to.
Like a man facing the firing squad, he grabbed the paper bag from the passenger seat and climbed out of the car – dragging his feet as he made his way up to the front porch.
He called her name as he walked in the door but she didn’t respond. Closing the door behind him, he walked further into the house and called her again. And froze.
Chloe walked into the living room wearing a pair of faded blue jean, a clingy white cami – no bra - and was drying her hair with a towel. Dylan’s mouth went dry and for a moment, he completely forgot how to speak. She looked just as surprised as he did and they simply stood and stared before he finally found his voice.
Holding up the bag, he gave her a lopsided grin. “I um…I picked up some donuts. It’s not much but I thought you might like them.” He forced himself to move and head toward the kitchen. “Have you eaten breakfast yet?”
“No,” she said quietly, following him. She sat on one of the barstools and watched as Dylan opened the bag and pulled out several different varieties of donuts and arranged them on top of the bag.
“I wasn’t sure what you liked so I just grabbed a bunch of them.”
“Thanks.”
Without taking one himself, Dylan turned and busied himself with making a cup of coffee. The one-cup-at-a-time deluxe machine seemed like a ridiculous purchase at the time, but it really came in handy. “Would you like a cup?”
“Please.”
He hung his head. The one-word answers were really starting to get to him. Figuring it would be easier just to make her a regular coffee rather than going through all the choices, he kept his back to her until both cups were ready. When he turned, he noticed she’d already eaten one donut and was halfway through her second.
“Sorry,” she murmured and gave him the cutest apologetic smile he’d ever seen. There was a hint of powdered sugar on her cheek and without thinking, he reached over and gently wiped it away.
And immediately pulled his hand back as if he’d been burned.
Her skin was soft. Incredibly soft. Like silk.
She gave him an odd look before grabbing a napkin and wiping the spot he had just touched. He wasn’t sure if he was offended or not and decided not to harp on it. “Would you like milk and sugar for your coffee?”
“Sure.”
If it were possible to strangle a carton of milk to death, Dylan was pretty sure he would have. He wasn’t sure if Chloe wasn’t a morning person or if she was just pissed off about the car, but her one-word answers were really making him crazy now. Turning toward her, he slammed the milk down and felt a twinge of satisfaction when she jumped.
“Okay, I get it,” he began. “You’re upset about the car, but that’s not my fault. I came here so we could talk about it and figure out all your options. I’m not looking to rob you or do unnecessary work, Chloe. I’m seriously just trying to help here.”
The eye roll was small and she looked away kind of fast, but it was definitely there. And he’d had enough. Stalking around the island, he stopped next to her and spun the stool so she was forced to face him. “What’s going on here?”
Her eyes were huge as she looked up at him and suddenly Dylan felt like a complete jackass for snapping. “Chloe…I’m…”
“Do you have any idea how many offers I get for that car?” she asked, cutting him off. “On any given week I get at least three offers to ‘take it off my hands.’” She jumped off the stool, forcing Dylan to take a step back. “And you know what? I’m tired of it! The offer comes in all different varieties – flat-out offers of cash, snarky comments on how it’s not a car for a woman, and my favorite,” she added sarcastically, “comes from shady mechanics who try to convince me it’s not worth fixing. Well newsflash, buddy,” she went on, stabbing him in the chest with her finger, “I love that car and I don’t care how much it costs or if I have to camp out for a month to pay for it, I’m fixing it and I’m keeping it!”
Ah…now they were getting somewhere. No matter how nice he was being, she still didn’t trust him. Well, not him personally, but pretty much men in general. Okay. That he could work with.
Gently, he took her by the shoulders and guided her back into her seat. Then, reaching for a donut, he stepped back around to his side of the island. Dylan saw the confusion on her face and almost found it comical – but now that he knew what he was up against, he figured he could relax for a minute.
Chloe stared at him and he could see the impatience just radiating off of her. She was cute as hell when she was mad – bordering on sexy – but he wasn’t going to think about that right now. She already didn’t trust him so he had to tread carefully.
Once he was finished with the donut, he took a sip of his coffee and put it back down and looked calmly at her. “It seems to me you think I’m looking to take the Mustang from you. I’m not.” When she made to argue, he simply held up a hand to stop her. “I’m not going to lie to you – I’ve always wanted to restore a classic car. But not to the point I’m willing to lie, cheat and steal one away from someone. You love that car? Good. You should. It’s amazing. But if you want it to get you to Oregon and keep it running for a while, there are some things that have to be done.”
She was visibly relaxing and Dylan almost smiled when she reached for a third donut. Gotta love a woman who wasn’t afraid to eat.
Clearing his throat, he went on. “The head gasket is a must. No way around that. Or the radiator. But I think once those are done, you should be okay. Just don’t wait too long on the hoses.”
“And the exhaust?”
He shrugged. If it were him, he’d do it all just so the damn car would be safe, but he understood there was the cost to consider. He gave her the figures and then felt bad when she paled.
Looking up at him, she sighed. “I…I don’t know, but I guess I’ll put it on a credit card – or twenty,” she mumbled.
Dylan was nothing if not fair. “Okay, let’s make a deal.”
She eyed him warily and he realized how creepy that probably sounded.
“It’s going to take me at least a week to do all the work. Between the labor and getting the parts in, that’s the soonest it will be done. If I had to guess, I’d say you’d best plan for that, but it could take longer.”
“Longer than a week?” she cried. “For real? How is that even possible?”
He shrugged. “Sapphire Falls is a small town. I have to order the stuff from Lincoln and – again – we’re not dealing with a run-of-the-mill car. It’s a classic and the parts are harder to come by.”
“Which is another word for ka-ching!” she mocked.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Dylan mentally counted to ten. “I can’t help the cost of the parts, Chloe. But we can certainly work something out on the labor.”
Once again, she jumped up from her seat, but rather than saying anything to him, she stormed from the room. Curious, Dylan followed after her. He found her in the guest room stuffing her belongings into her duffel bag as she muttered under her breath about men being pigs and not trading sex for car repairs.
“Hey,” he said, leaning in the doorway and feeling more than a little annoyed. “I get that you think all guys are scum, but I resent being lumped in with that.”
“Oh really? Well too bad!” She never even broke stride and kept shoving stuff in her bag.
“I was going to offer you a job at the shop!” he shouted and then wanted to kick himself. His mother would have slapped him upside the head for raising his voice to a woman – even a woman who was getting on his every last nerve.
Chloe stopped and stared at him. “What?”
Pushing off the wall, he slowly walked into the room, crowding her into a corner. “That’s right - a job at the shop. Business has been a little crazy and we really need someone manning the phones and the desk. It’s not a great job but it’s something.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah…oh,” he mimicked. “And I figured you’d be able to keep an eye on things so you’d be comfortable in knowing I wasn’t trying to rip you off.”
“Oh.”
He was starting to feel a little smug. “Look, I’m sorry some guy hurt you or that some guy took advantage of you. But that’s not me. All I’m looking to do is help you out and send you on your way.”
“Oh.”
She was sorely testing his patience again with her one-word answers. His mouth was set in a grim line as he forced himself to not say anything else to upset her.
“I…I still don’t have a place to stay.”
“You can stay here.”
She rolled her eyes and this time she didn’t try to hide it. “Dylan…I really do appreciate all that you’re doing, but I can’t do that. I can’t stay here. It’s…it’s just not right. I’m going to have to call some of the hotels that are a little farther away and…”
“And then what? How are you going to get back and forth into town? I’ll admit I don’t mind giving you a job and a place to stay, but I don’t have the time to be driving an hour back and forth every day.”
“Surely there’s got to be a room opening up at the B&B soon!” she argued.
Dylan shook his head. “I told you – the annual town festival starts this weekend. And the high school reunion. Trust me when I tell you that you aren’t going to find a room in a twenty-five mile radius any time soon.”
“Dammit.”
“Yeah,” he agreed.
Dropping her duffel bag on the floor, Chloe sank down on the bed and sighed. “So…it looks like you’ve got yourself a roommate.”
****
Clearly she’d lost her mind. There was no other way to explain it. In all her life, Chloe couldn’t remember doing something this reckless. Okay, maybe throwing all of her things in her car and driving across the country was a little more reckless than agreeing to stay in Dylan Maxwell’s guest room, but this still felt like it was way worse.
She glanced over to where he was standing and barely suppressed a sigh of appreciation. Even when she was mad at him and thinking the worst, she couldn’t help but feel drawn to him. Everything in her mind was yelling Danger! Danger! Danger! But it didn’t stop Chloe from admiring his physique. How was it possible that his clothes could be dirty and covered in grease – along with his hands – and he still made her want to run her tongue all over him from head to toe?
And why did she have to get her sexual groove back now?! She thought for sure after finding Kevin screwing that woman that she’d be turned off to sex, but…okay. If she really thought about it, she and Kevin hadn’t had sex in well over a month. So maybe she was just a little frustrated and Dylan was a convenient target – for lack of a better word?
“There’s no strings attached to this, Chloe,” Dylan said, startling her out of her train of thought. “Honest. We can drive to and from work together, but you’re more than welcome to take time off and g
o to the festival and explore the town. We’ll figure it all out. So…are we good?”
Good? If she were honest with herself, she’d admit she wasn’t sure she could handle being this close to Dylan day in and day out for a week without jumping him. And she wasn’t the kind of girl who ever made the first move. But right now? She totally wanted to. In a big way.
“Yeah. We’re good. And…thank you.”
He nodded. “Why don’t you finish getting ready and we’ll head back to the shop. I’ll help you get settled in and show you how we do things – although I have to admit, there really isn’t a system. We need one,” he chuckled. “But it’s one of those things that keeps getting put off.”
“Not a problem. I kind of like getting things organized. So maybe by the time I leave, you’ll have the beginnings of a system in place.”
“That would be great,” he replied, smiling.
And there were those damn dimples again. She almost groaned. Forcing herself to stand up, she rummaged through her bag for a light sweater to put on over her cami and excused herself to finish drying her hair and put on makeup. It wasn’t until she caught her reflection in the bathroom mirror that she felt ready to die. No makeup. Hair a damp, matted mess. And she was making come-hither looks at Dylan.
Was it any wonder he wasn’t looking at her the same way?
Yikes.
Quickly she applied her makeup and did her best to blow dry her hair. In her haste the previous night, she hadn’t brought everything she normally used with her so other than her brush and blow dryer, there wasn’t much else she could use to style her hair. Hopefully somewhere in her duffel she’d be able to find something to help her tie her hair back.
Stepping out of the bathroom, she made her way back to the guest room and cursed the time. She knew Dylan most likely had to get back to his shop and she was holding him up. When he called her name, she asked him to give her a minute.
One minute turned into two. And two into five.
Sapphire Falls: Going My Way? (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 3