Hot and Handy: A Small Town Romantic Suspense (Shameless Southern Nights Book 3)

by J. H. Croix

  Blessed, my ass. If he were half the God-fearing good boy his aunt Annie would have anyone in town believing he was, he would’ve done me the favor without asking for anything in return.

  The calm I felt when I got to the shop was gone after my phone call with Mike. Frustration rocketed through me, heating my veins.

  This was not my fucking week. I cranked up the music and walked over to my truck, hoping to blow off some steam before the customer and her car arrived.

  Elbow deep in my engine about thirty minutes later, I heard the rumble of a truck outside. I looked up to see one of the cherry red Colton Towing trucks pulling up in front of the garage.

  The woman sitting in the passenger seat, who I assumed was my customer Sadie Hammel, jumped out, and my jaw nearly hit the ground. She was fucking beautiful.

  Curly brown hair that shone in the sunshine fell in a curtain to her narrow waist. Her fair skin had a tinge of pink on her cheeks, and her wide, round green eyes stood out.

  She rushed up to me, a flowing white skirt wrapping around her ankles as she moved. “Thank you so much for agreeing to take a look at my car. I’m Sadie.”

  “Evan,” I told her. “Go on ahead inside. I’ll help Dave get your car off his rig and be there in a minute.”

  She smiled, and it was so bright and relieved, it nearly fucking blinded me. “I will, thanks. Do you have a restroom I could use?”

  “Second door on the left, right down that corridor.” I’d never been happier that I knew the shop’s layout like the back of my hand. If I’d had to think about it, I would’ve stood there gaping like an idiot while I shook off the effect of her smile.

  “Thank you, thank you,” she repeated, hurrying off to where I’d instructed her to go.

  I turned to Dave, only to find him staring after her like he wanted to take a bite out of her perky ass. Pulling the ever-present rag out of my back pocket, I swatted him across the shoulders. “Eyes over here, big guy. Let’s get her car inside.”

  He nodded but whistled under his breath. “I would’ve done this one for free if I knew I was going to have a piece like that to look at today.”

  “She’s not a piece, man,” I snapped. “She’s a woman. And a customer to both of us. Keep it fucking professional, would you?”

  Jesus. Where did that come from? His comments weren’t welcome, but I was surprised by the force of protectiveness that rose inside of me. Must’ve been the almost crying earlier on the phone.

  I hadn’t had a reaction like that to a woman in years. When I was younger, I was a bit of a player. It was part of the Lovett curse. All of us, except maybe Tyson, had been more than happy to play the field, so to speak.

  Then when everything had blown up with our father, I withdrew socially. I hadn’t dated anyone since. It annoyed me too much to be the focus of gossip. If there was one thing that town loved almost as much as a juicy trial involving one of their own, it was a new relationship.

  No, thanks. Gossip wasn’t for me and neither was doing anything that attracted the attention of the bored in Cypress Creek. Been there, done that.

  Chapter Six

  Sadie

  Cold water stung my cheeks as I splashed my face in the bathroom. My hands trembled when I looked down at them in the fluorescent lighting bouncing off the plain white tiles on the walls.

  The garage was nothing fancy, a typical mechanic shop with roll-up doors in the front, a large workspace with concrete floors, and a chaotic desk off to one side. At the end of the corridor where the bathroom was, I saw a functional office on my way in.

  None of those things would matter. For my complete lack of knowledge about cars, one thing I knew for certain was they were expensive machines to fix. Gnawing on my lower lip, I worried about how much that was going to cost me.

  The absolute last thing I wanted to do that morning was to face the prospect of a hefty car repair bill. I didn’t have much choice. When my car refused to start regardless of how many times I tried or how hard I hoped, there was no other way out.

  With a heavy heart, I looked up some places and finally found Lovett’s, right here in town. I took a chance calling on a Sunday, heart racing and with panic rising fast. When someone picked up the phone, I’d nearly cried with relief—only to be swamped by panic again when he told me the shop wasn’t open and he would only be able to help me tomorrow.

  Desperation had taken hold of me, and I’d broken down, practically begging him to take a look at my car today. It really couldn’t wait. It was only once the tow truck arrived and we were on our way over that I realized not only would I have to pay for the repairs to my car, but with it being Sunday and the shop not being open, I was probably facing a plump surcharge for his “help.”

  Frustration coursed through me, making me edgy on the ride. When we arrived, I was practically buzzing with anger and annoyance that I didn’t know the first thing about car repair. I wouldn’t even be able to tell if he was overcharging or using unnecessary things I would have to foot the bill for.

  Knowing that if I didn’t take a minute to myself to calm down, I would only make things worse, I smiled when I got here and decided to come to the bathroom and rinse my face with some cool water. I stared into the small but surprisingly clean mirror hanging above the basin and closed the taps.

  I gulped in air, taking in a few deep breaths while giving myself a silent pep talk. It was too late to second-guess my decision. Not that I had any other options, but my only mode of transportation and I were here. I would have to face the music and pay up. Somehow.

  It was going to cost a lot of money I didn’t have, not to mention I didn’t know how I was going to get to work and back until it was fixed. Sighing, I squared my shoulders, dabbed at the water droplets on my face with a paper towel and got ready to go back to the workshop.

  The only thing I could think of doing to mitigate the damage to my bank account was to hover while the repairs were made. I knew most car shops took advantage of their customers, and I was going to do my utmost best not to be one of the easy targets.

  He didn’t know that I didn’t know a thing about cars. Maybe my presence would be enough to deter him from doing too many unnecessary things.

  My sandals slapped against the concrete floor as I returned to the garage. I found Evan with his upper body stretched out under the hood of my car. My eyes absorbed the sight of his faded denim jeans hugging his muscled legs and sculpted ass. They lingered on the strip of tanned skin visible where his shirt rode up. Dear God. I was ogling my mechanic.

  I averted my eyes immediately when I realized what I was doing. Heat flooded my cheeks, and I kept my eyes firmly on a steel table beside him with lots of tools on it. Stop checking out the guy who’s probably going to rip you off!

  I did as my subconscious ordered, but it wasn’t easy. As much as I knew I had to watch out for him and wasn’t at all interested in any kind of relationship with a man, I was only human. As a fellow member of the species, he was hard not to look at, even if only for a moment.

  The man was beyond handsome. Dishonest as he may turn out to be, I had to give it to him on the looks thing.

  On the dishonesty thing, however, I was still determined to make him understand I wouldn’t let him overcharge me. Walking up to my car, I stood next to the popped hood and peeked in. “How bad does it look?”

  He grunted, wiping his brow with his forearm while the other arm seemed to be twisting something in the engine. “Remains to be seen. I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”

  “Okay.” I tried not to fixate on the way his muscles bulged and released as he tinkered or the rippling of the cords in the forearm as he kept twisting away. “When do you think that’s going to be?”

  Tensing, he slowed his work for a moment. Without looking up, he told me, “I’m not sure. It could take a few minutes. Feel free to look around if you want. Or there’s a very nice bench under the tree outside.”

  I bristled. He was definitely trying to get rid of me. No
easy target here. Sorry, buddy. “No thanks. I’m fine.”

  “Suit yourself,” he replied and went back to work. He pulled some kind of metal ring free and let it clatter on the steel table beside him. I leaned forward, trying to get a look at what he was doing. That sounded like an expensive clatter to me.

  I was still on edge, and mentally, I was trying to calculate how much every turn of his strong wrist was going to cost me. Every wipe of the brow and every shift on his feet had a price tag. I wasn’t going to let him turn, wipe, or shift a single time more than was necessary. I bent down further to get a look at what he was doing and craned my neck to see what it was that had clattered onto the table.

  Evan worked quietly, but his movements weren’t as fluid as they were at first. They seemed stiffer, more aggressive. When I leaned over as he moved to the other side of the engine compartment, he huffed out a breath. “Would you like to go wait in my office? There’s a great coffee maker in there.”

  “I’m fine,” I said again. My eyes narrowed as I wondered why he was trying to get rid of me so badly. Foot tapping lightly on the concrete, I opened my mouth as he lifted his head out of the engine and unlatched the arm propping the hood open. He let it rest on the tips of his fingers on both hands and gently slammed it shut.

  After wiping his hands on a rag, he looked at me. “Do you want the long story or the short one?”

  “Short one,” I said immediately. I just needed to know what he was going to charge. Of course, I would ask for a detailed quote to see what he was charging for in the hopes of keeping him honest, but hearing him name parts and what needed to be fixed wasn’t going to mean anything to me.

  He nodded. “Total cost with labor included is going to be around six hundred dollars. Give or take about thirty depending on which supplier I can get the part I need from.”

  Six hundred and thirty dollars? My vision went a little blurry as I tried to calculate how many shifts that was for me, how much time away from Emery to pay for something totally unforeseen. I couldn’t get the math right, but I knew it was a lot.

  My mouth started blabbing without my consent as it dawned on me that to pay for the repairs, I was going to have to pick up some weekend shifts at the diner. For all of Emery’s life, my weekends had been devoted to her. It broke my heart to think of the time I was going to have to sacrifice with her for every dollar of these repairs.

  Words rushed out of me in one long stream. “Look, I know it’s a Sunday, and I know you’re not open, so thank you for taking a look, but is there anything you can do to bring the price down? Six hundred dollars seems awfully steep for something that took you less than fifteen minutes to figure out. I know car shops charge more for things than they should. Is there any way I could convince you to charge me just what it actually costs?”

  I was talking too fast, but I was nervous about the money. Evan’s jaw twitched as I spoke until, eventually, he held up a hand. “Listen, lady. I hear this crap all the time. Some people charge more than they should, I get it. I’m not one of those people. I’m here on my day off to work on my own truck, and instead, I’m dealing with your car. I don’t have to help you. If you’re not happy with the price, which just so happens to be what it costs, take your car somewhere else.”

  Frustration rolled off him. His shoulders were squared and stiff. His jaw clenched, and his light green eyes were stormy. He seemed to feel bad when I jerked back from the force of his words, but then he shook his head and marched to the back.

  I rushed after him. I needed my car, and he was the only one who could make that happen. “I’m sorry. Really, I am. I just… need your help.”

  Swallowing against the knot of emotion rising in my throat, I wound my hands together and fidgeted with my fingers as he stormed into his office, littered with sketches and piles of paper, and turned to face me. His eyes narrowed on mine, but he didn’t seem as tense anymore for some reason.

  “You’re not used to asking for help, are you?”

  I shook my head. “I’ve been on my own a long time.”

  His expression was unreadable as he searched my eyes, but then he sighed and tossed the dirty rag in his hands onto his desk. “I’ll have your car ready by Wednesday.”

  Wednesday? What was I going to do about getting to work until Wednesday? I didn’t ask Evan. Instead, I smiled, grateful that whatever he was searching for in me a second ago, he seemed to have found and was willing to help me.

  “Okay, thank you so much.”

  Nodding, he started walking in the direction of the door. I took that as my cue to follow him out. Thankfully, I’d texted Lori already, and she was giving me a ride.

  Evan brushed past me on his way out of the office. He didn’t quite come close enough to touch me, but his proximity in those few seconds was enough to make my skin buzz like I was standing outside during a lightning storm.

  He glanced at me, and I could’ve sworn I saw a flash of something in his eyes too before he snapped them away from me and kept walking. It was a strange feeling, the attraction I felt toward the stranger.

  As a single, working mother, romance was a million miles off my radar, so feeling a rush of heat between my legs and the urge to kiss him surprised the hell out of me.

  Lori was waiting when I got outside. Evan and I said brief goodbyes before I dashed to Lori’s car. Emery was in the back, singing along to a song.

  “Car shop owners are all such scammers,” Lori said when I collapsed into her front seat, glad to be free from whatever haze of raw lust had gripped me before I left. Those needs of mine were long dead or so I’d thought.

  “Uh-huh,” I agreed vaguely with Lori’s statement and wondered why, of all days, my hormones had chosen today to make their continued existence known.

  “Let’s hope this,” she peered around me to read the name of the shop, “Lovett person isn’t the worst scammer.”

  She frowned at the name and then snapped her fingers. “Holy crap. Lovett’s. Isn’t this Evan Lovett’s shop?”

  I nodded.

  Wagging her brows at me, she started the engine and pulled onto the street. “Well done, Sadie! You chose the hottest mechanic in town. Didn’t think you had it in you, girl. Evan and his brothers are the best eye candy this town has to offer. If I had to spend a Sunday morning with a mechanic, you bet I’d have chosen him.”

  “I didn’t have much of a choice,” I grumbled. I didn’t add that he did, in fact, make for excellent eye candy. Hot or not, I was going to have to pay him for the work done. Looking in the rearview mirror at Emery’s content face as she sang along, I swallowed down a lump that jumped into my throat. It was going to take a lot of hours away from her to pay for spending my Sunday morning with said mechanic.

  Chapter Seven

  Evan

  “There’s our fearless leader,” Phoenix joked when I got to the shop on Monday morning. He was perched on a stool at the counter in the workshop, his black Batman coffee mug sitting on top of a piece of scrap paper in front of him. His eyes slid to the clock on the wall. “Five minutes after eight. You’re late this morning.”

  I grunted, walking straight to the coffee he had waiting for me. “Don’t start with me. I was here the whole day yesterday.”

  He jerked his head to Sadie’s car. “Where’d that come from? I could’ve sworn the floor was clear when we left on Friday.”

  “It was,” I muttered. “I got suckered into bringing that one in after I accidentally answered the shop’s phone yesterday.”

  Chuckling, he shook his head at me. “How did that happen? We’re supposed to be closed on Sundays.”

  “I fell for some sob story the customer fed me over the phone,” I started, scrubbing my hand over my jaw as I drank down half the mug of cooling coffee. Phoenix had clearly made it when he made his own. “She said she worked two jobs, wouldn’t be able to bring it in today. Blah blah.”

  “Maybe it’s not a story.” He lifted his mug to his lips and a trickle of coffee escaped from th
e corner as he swallowed. He wiped it away with the back of his hand. “It’s possible she was telling the truth.”

  “I called in a favor to get her damn car towed in and then took a look at it on a Sunday. When I told her what it was going to cost to repair, she gave me the talk about how all car shops overcharge.”

  He whistled under his breath. “That old classic, huh?”

  “The one and only,” I said dryly. “Get this. While I was taking a look at her car, she literally kept looking over my shoulder to see what I was doing. Like she was keeping an eye on me.”

  A laugh rumbled from his stomach. “Sounds like you had an interesting day. We should put a sign out front that says we don’t overcharge.”

  “Then we’ll probably get flack for having spent money on a sign we don’t need.” A customer once went so far as to tell me I should’ve rented out the space where the only two offices we had were to keep our overheads down. He was convinced we’d be able to charge more “reasonable” prices if we did. “Her attitude was annoying but nothing we haven’t dealt with before.”

  “If she’s that worried about money, maybe she was telling the truth,” he suggested.

  I shrugged. “Either way, we need to have her car ready by Wednesday. I’m going to have to make a run to pick up some parts today so we can get started.”

  “Go. I’ll take care of the shop. No worries,” he told me. When we finished our coffee, Phoenix went off to coordinate the day’s repairs with some of the guys, and I filled out the forms I would need for the parts before heading out.

  I was getting in my truck when Beau called. Squinting at my phone’s screen, I wondered what I owed the pleasure of the call to. It felt like he’d called me more in the last week than the last six months.

  “Beau? Is everything okay?”

  “Everything’s fine, but we need to talk. Now.”