Under the Hood: An Under the Hood Novella (Entangled Bliss)

by Sally Clements

  She hadn’t noticed. In fact, she’d barely noticed anything outside of the sensual bubble that had surrounded them in the restaurant. It must be much later than she’d thought. The sky had darkened, revealing a pincushion of shining stars.

  He unlocked the car, and held the door open as she climbed in, then made his way around to the driver’s side. The cocoon of the MG’s interior was cozy and intimate. Mark started the engine, and in mere moments they were driving through the darkness.

  Meadowsweet was practically deserted.

  “It’s so quiet here at night I have difficulty sleeping,” Alice said.

  “Unlike the city that never sleeps.” Mark changed gears, his hand close enough to touch her stockinged knee. She angled her knees to the right. The hem of her dress rode up slightly.

  Mark pulled the MG into the parking lot. Nerves bit as they walked from the car. What about tomorrow?

  Reality splashed over Alice. He lived upstairs. If they ended up in bed together, what about the days after? Every morning, every evening they’d bump into each other going out or coming home. One night of passion could lead to months of awkwardness.

  In the elevator, Mark pressed three. The air seemed to vibrate with unspoken desire. The elevator doors slid open. They stepped out and took the couple of steps to her door.

  “Would you like to come in for coffee?” Alice’s heart thumped rapidly.

  What was to come was inevitable, inescapable in light of the passion that had been burning beneath the surface all evening. She stepped closer, into the circle of his arms. His mouth dusted against her jawline, finally claiming her lips in a quick kiss.

  “I’d better not. It’s getting late.” He took a step back and his arms dropped away. “I really enjoyed this evening. Maybe we could go out on Saturday. Do you hike?”

  Shock thundered through Alice. She’d expected him to act on the attraction humming in the air between them, not ask about hiking. How had she read him so wrong? “What do you have in mind?” Her voice was irritatingly husky. She cleared her throat.

  “I thought we could take a picnic, climb Heartbreak Ridge. The view from up there is great. You haven’t been, have you?”

  “No. That sounds good.”

  “Can you make eleven o’clock?”

  Could it have been her comment about lust rather than love? She hadn’t tagged him as a romantic, but maybe he’d been insulted…

  Mark’s body was rigid, his shoulders tense, hands curled into fists at his side. His smile seemed plastered on.

  Alice crossed her arms. “Sure.” She knew she sounded terse, but was so shaken she couldn’t fake delighted.

  Mark’s gaze flickered from her eyes to her mouth. He tucked a strand of hair that dangled against her cheek back behind her ear. “Goodnight, Alice.”

  Chapter Five

  Staring out the window is no way to do business.

  Mark rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. Loosened his tie. He needed a distraction—anything to stop images of the night before from flashing through his mind. Alice waving a breadstick in the air as she laughed. The soft curves of her body, revealed in that knockout dress. The trace of chocolate mousse on her top lip that tempted him to lick it away. The hint of black lace he glimpsed as her dress rode up in the car. When he slid his hands over her hips and tasted her, it took superhuman strength he hadn’t even known he was capable of to pull back…

  But he’d had to. He couldn’t take her to bed when she didn’t know the truth. He groaned. Why hadn’t he told her everything?

  A quick knock, then Janice stuck her head around the door. “Your aunt just called.”

  All thoughts of Alice were instantly washed away as though Janice had dowsed him in ice-cold water. “Which one?” His father had four sisters.

  “Aunt Louise.” Janice walked into the room. “She didn’t want to be put through, just told me to tell you she was on her way over.”

  This can’t be good. At least he didn’t have an appointment. Louise MacDonald was more than capable of shooing any of his clients out into reception while she ranted and raved. Well, he’d needed a distraction, and Louise was certainly that.

  “She sounded cross,” Janice warned.

  “Right. Send her in when she gets here.”

  Mark reviewed Louise’s file as he waited. Her divorce had been one hell of a difficult assignment, mostly because he really liked his uncle, known far and wide as Mac, and Louise had been determined to bleed him dry. Working a compromise that gave her all she was entitled to without destroying Mac’s business had been a challenge.

  One he’d pulled off. So why is Louise on the warpath?

  There were voices in the reception area. The door pushed open, and his aunt strode in. “Mark.” She strode across the carpet in six-inch heels. Her glossy brown hair was piled up on her head, fastened with two bejewelled chopsticks in a studied, messy look that her hairdresser had probably spent all morning arranging.

  Relatively few people could wear that shade of dark red lipstick. She wasn’t one of them. Her forehead was smooth and unlined, but if she could frown, she would be frowning now. Instead, the corners of her mouth tugged down in a familiar “there’s going to be trouble” expression.

  Mark advanced and kissed her cheek. “Louise, what a pleasant surprise.” He smoothly led her to a chair, then retreated behind his desk.

  Louise leaned forward, gimlet eyes gleaming. “Have you seen this?” She pulled a leaflet out of her padded leather bag and tossed it on the table.

  Mark picked up the piece of paper. Under the Hood, a new service for the ladies of Meadowsweet. He glanced up at his aunt. What possible problem could she have with Alice’s garage?

  “Mac has gone out of business and sublet the garage to these women.” Her lips thinned. “Under the terms of our settlement, he owes me a stipend every month, but he has skipped six payments in a row. He said business was bad and he was working on selling the garage. Under those circumstances I was prepared to be understanding, but this…”

  She crossed one skinny leg over the other. “I called him about it, of course. He told me that going forward he would split the rent with me, and hoped to increase the amount in six months. It isn’t good enough. I want a new condo. I need the money, Mark. I’m not prepared to take…rent.” The final word dripped from her lips like acid.

  Mark opened the file. His gut clenched. “The new garage is getting a lot of business, rent is—”

  “Not acceptable.” His aunt brushed off his words like swatting a wasp. “He’s violated our agreement. I want cash. And you’re going to get it for me.” After a few shrill demands about what she expected, the hundred-pound whirlwind swirled away, no doubt intent on wreaking devastation elsewhere.

  Mark slumped in his leather swivel chair. Rubbed a hand over throbbing temples. Losing the garage would devastate Alice and her partners—there must be an alternative. Louise was his client, there was no question that her interests came first, but the owners of Under the Hood had signed a lease. Overturning it could become an expensive legal quagmire. And Mac must have tried to sell the business. He was an astute businessman, but the fact was that Meadowsweet had two other garages. Under the Hood was only thriving because of their unusual business strategy.

  A knock, then Janice scuttled in.

  “Hold my calls,” Mark said. “And could you pick me up a sandwich from the deli? I’m not going to get out for lunch today.”

  Louise wanted a stern legal letter demanding a quick sale. Instead, Mark picked up the phone and dialed Mac’s number. Hopefully it wouldn’t get him disbarred.

  …

  Heels clicked on concrete. From her vantage point under a rusting Ford, Alice glanced toward the sound. Her face was six inches off the ground. A pair of dainty ankles in wedge heels blocked her field of vision. One foot tapped.

  “Could you come out for a minute?”

  “Sure.” Alice slid her backboard from under the car.

  Mel
looked seriously annoyed.

  “What’s up?”

  “Emergency meeting.”

  Alice stood, pulled the rag from her overalls, and wiped the grease from her fingers.

  “Better wash up. We have company.” Mel stalked over to the sink in the corner, handed over the orange-infused gritty soap that took everything off. “Mac is here.”

  “Mac of Mac’s Garage?” In hindsight, it was a stupid question. How many Mac’s could there be?

  Mel’s mouth twisted. A muscle twitched in the corner of her jaw. “The very same. We have a problem.”

  They passed Betty getting coffee together on the way to the office. “Go on ahead. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  Alice had never met Mac. The negotiations about the garage had taken place before she moved from New York. His hair was thinning on top, as though his head had grown through it. To compensate, he’d grown some strands on the left extra-long and combed them carefully over the dome. One gust of air and he’d be in trouble.

  A cap lay on the table in front of him. Ah, the solution.

  His T-shirt was tucked in tight over the swell of his belly, and his chinos, tightly belted, dipped below in that older man way. He probably looked great in overalls.

  “Alice, Mac. Mac, Alice.” Mel gestured to the chairs. “Why don’t we sit down?”

  Betty came in with coffee and set a cup before Mac.

  “I’m glad to meet you, Alice.” Mac’s smile was tight. Strain was evident in the lines that bracketed his mouth. “And sorry it’s under such circumstances.”

  “Mac came to tell us about a phone call he got this morning.” Mel’s eyebrows rose in a silent prompt.

  Mac clutched the cup like a life preserver. “My wife’s divorce attorney rang me this morning. We were divorced four years ago. She got the house, and I kept the business. Because the business was worth more, I agreed to pay her a monthly amount from the profits.”

  Alice waited for him to continue.

  “I guess the writing was on the wall for a while, but I didn’t want to give up on the garage. I kept going for as long as I could, but when it came to getting the new computerized diagnostics…well, I just couldn’t afford them. And when the new garage opened on the outskirts of town, I lost most of my customers.”

  Mel nodded. “They have a great client base.”

  Mac swallowed a slug of coffee and made short work of a chocolate chip cookie. He spoke, looking down at the table. “I tried to sell, but when there were no decent offers, I took it off the market and offered it for rental instead.” He glanced up, gaze travelling to each of them in turn. “I’m perfectly happy with renting it to you, but today, Louise stormed into his office demanding I sell.” His mouth tightened. “She wants money to put down on a new condo.”

  Alice’s heart sank like a stone. All their work. Their business…

  Always the businesswoman, Mel tapped on the file before her. “We signed a lease, Mac.”

  “I know.” Distress showed in Mac’s eyes. “I told Mark that.”

  Mark? Alice’s mouth went dry. Surely it couldn’t be…

  “The thing is, Louise is a tough cookie.” He looked as though he might cry. “When she gets the bit between her teeth, she’s ruthless. She insisted he write me a letter demanding a sale. Mark’s her nephew, and through marriage, he’s mine, too. He knows damn well there’s no buyer waiting in the wings and that your company is the only one interested in the garage. But he suggested that we try to work something out.”

  Alice glanced at Mel and Betty in turn. They’d sunk their money into equipment. Betty micro-shook her head.

  Mel flicked open a pad of paper. Picked up her pen. “Okay, let’s look at our options.”

  Mac clenched his hands on the desk. “Right. Currently you have a one year lease. Mark suggested that we could draw up a contract that sets out the intention to buy. Louise wants money, but there’s no way she’s going to get a lump sum. Perhaps you could pay the remainder of the rent in two installments, rather than paying month to month. The agreement would state that these are staged payments to buy, rather than to rent.”

  Mel hissed. “That’s a lot of money. I’m not sure…”

  “You have a lease,” Mac said. “There’s no way I’ll let them even try to break that. But at the end of the term, I’m going to have to sell unless we can sort something out. This way…”

  “This way at least the year of rent counts toward ownership,” Betty said thoughtfully.

  “Yes.” Mac rubbed a hand over his eyes. “I’m sorry for all this, gals. My goddamn ex-wife is a ball buster.”

  “We’ll need a valuation of the garage. And some idea of the payment schedule before we can go any further.” Mel wrote furiously on her pad.

  “Before I let it to you, I got a valuation for sale. I’ll get that updated. Property’s dropped like a stone since then. It should have gone down.” Mac picked his cap off the table and stood. “I have a good relationship with the bank, and I know you’re going to make a success of this business. Every woman I know is bringing their car here. I’m more than happy to say that to the bank manager if that would help.”

  Mel stood and extended a hand. “Thanks, Mac. We’ll be in touch.”

  Chapter Six

  The next couple of days passed in a flurry of activity. Mel was busy with paperwork, drafting up possible plans for the future. Betty worked on the finances. Alice was so rushed off her feet dealing with customers that meetings had to be scheduled after the day’s work had been done.

  Being busy was a welcome distraction from thinking about Mark. A casual enquiry to Susan at the weekly car maintenance class had revealed that yes, Mac had been married to their Aunt Louise, putting Mark firmly in the frame. The intensity of work was the perfect excuse to leave her apartment an hour earlier every morning. And the after-work meetings stretched into evening, take-out with her partners replacing solitary meals in front of the TV.

  At home, she kept her curtains closed. There was no way she would make the first move, but she kept her cell phone charged and always within reach. She’d heard Mark moving around upstairs the past couple of nights, but he’d made no attempt to contact her.

  He was a lawyer. Louise was his client. By all rights, her needs came first. But Alice’s tangled emotions didn’t do logic. He should have told her. Should have been straight. The possibility that he’d been on the phone with Louise while they’d been at dinner burned a hole in her gut.

  With a sigh, she packed tools into her hot pink toolbox, absentmindedly checking supplies. Out of duct tape. I should grab a roll from the supply cupboard…

  “Hey.” Over the intercom, Betty’s voice filled the workshop. “I’m just ordering pizza. You in?”

  “On the way.” Alice flicked off the workshop light on the way out. Time to find out how Betty’s meeting with the money men had gone.

  Betty looked up as the door pushed open. “You looked beat.” Her eyes lit with concern. “Are you okay?”

  Alice tried a shaky smile. “Yeah.”

  Betty walked around the desk and slid an arm around her shoulder. “I know you’re worried about the business, but I think we have a chance to turn this around.” She peered at Alice’s face, seeing a lot more than Alice wanted. “This isn’t just about the garage, is it? It’s about the haddock.”

  “Shark, more like.” Alice couldn’t keep the words from flowing. “I liked him, Betty. He should have told me.”

  “Maybe the last time he saw you he didn’t know? Mac said Mark phoned him hot off a meeting with the ball-buster.”

  Alice looked at the phone barely visible under the mounds of paper scattered on Betty’s desk. She pointed. “That’s what that is for.”

  Betty touched her shoulder, drawing Alice’s gaze. “He couldn’t tell you first. It would have been a betrayal of his client. Has he tried to contact you since?”

  Alice shook her head.

  “Who knows what’s going on behind the scene
s? Don’t give up on him—not yet.”

  Alice opened her mouth, then shut it again.

  “He suggested the work-around, Alice. He’s been trying to offer a solution we can work with.” Betty’s mouth curved into a wide grin. “And I think we can. Mel and I have just had a great meeting with the bank.”

  …

  Having contact with any owners of Under the Hood would be a conflict of interest while Mark was representing Louise, so he’d stayed away. Avoiding Alice while negotiations were ongoing was driving him crazy, but in order for the deal to go through… If Louise caught wind of what he’d done, there’d be hell to pay, not just professionally, but she would make certain Alice and her friends never got the garage out of spite. Last night, he’d even walked downstairs and stood outside Alice’s door. He’d lifted his hand to knock, debating long and hard before turning and walking back upstairs.

  Now the deal was struck. And soon, she would be home from work. Mark pushed away his half-eaten dinner and strode to the window. Every time he closed his eyes at night, a vision of her danced behind his eyelids. The way she laughed, those ridiculous overalls that almost managed to hide every curve, the soft silvery sheen of her hair in the sunlight, all filled his mind.

  An engine. Mark’s eyes flicked open just in time to see the pickup ease into its usual parking space. Moments later, Alice crossed the lot and disappeared inside the building. She’d be angry. Hurt and confused at his silence. Hell, she might even kick him to the curb.

  It was a risk he’d have to take.

  Mark killed the next hour tidying up after his meal, filing the paperwork he’d brought home, and taking a long, hot shower. Alice needed time to decompress from work, and when he called, he wanted her receptive.

  Finally, he sat down and made the call.

  When she answered after two rings, he couldn’t speak.

  “Hello?”

  Mark swallowed. His heart pounded at the sound of her voice. This is it. If I screw up this time…