I sat up, and scowled at Melissa. Since my return, she had been pursuing me tirelessly. I was getting real sick of it. I’d tried everything from politely expressing my unavailability to flat out ignoring her. It wasn’t my fault Melissa wouldn’t take the hint. Hell, I was being a hell of a lot nicer than I would have been in high school, that’s for damn sure.
Melissa let out a soft sigh and leaned against the truck in the next bay, her hungry eyes roaming my body like it was some kind of twenty-four hour buffet. I suppose, to her, it was. She was dressed in a pencil skirt and a button up top with far too many buttons undone, her amble cleavage practically spilled out of her top. I knew she’d done that intentionally.
“What is it Melissa? I’ve got stuff to do,” I grumbled, irritated at the interruption.
“It’s lunch time,” she drawled flirtatiously, batting her lashes at me. “Figured you’d want to have a break, maybe grab a bite to eat with me?”
“I’m working,” I reminded her, my brow creasing with annoyance. “Mrs. Winston is waiting on her vehicle. It needs to be finished before her hair appointment is over.” I added, rolling back beneath the car. Melissa stood there for several long minutes, and then she thankfully walked back to the office.
“Sure you aren’t hungry?” Miles snickered from the engine bay beside the one I was working on. He’d been with the shop for a few months now, and he was familiar with Melissa’s blatant come-ons and loved to razz me about it. He thought it was the funniest fucking thing.
“Get back to work,” I scowled.
An hour later, I passed the keys off to Melissa to hand to Mrs. Winston, along with the bill for the work I’d done. The tight lines around her lips and eyes showed me that she was offended that I had refused to take a break with her, but I couldn’t care less about Melissa’s feelings.
“We got a call for a tow,” she said, handing me the information stiffly. I took it without another word, grabbing the keys to the tow truck off the hook behind the counter. There was no sense in apologizing to Melissa. She’d get over it and get right back to hitting on me again tomorrow.
I walked out of the garage and into the bright sunlight, wiping my grease covered hands on my work jeans as I pulled my pack of smokes out from my shirt pocket. I was itching for some nicotine in the worst way. The tow truck was parked out front, and I climbed in, grateful for the quick break away from the ever overbearing Melissa.
I drove to the location written on the paper, and found a red Camry pulled over to the side of the highway, the engine smoking. “Well I’ll be damned,” I muttered, shaking my head in wonderment.
Long, toned legs and a delectable ass cased in denim greeted me as I got out, slamming the door behind me. I approached slowly, my thirst acutely growing. I’d know that ass and those legs anywhere. I licked my lips, repressing a grin. It must be my lucky day, I thought.
“Oh thank God,” Elle spun around, her long hair catching in the wind. The relief fell from her face as she stared at me. “Seriously? Could this day get any worse?” she added, a frown pulling those thick lips down.
“I don’t know, I was going to ask if this day could get any better,” I chuckled, crossing my arms and surveying the mess of her car. “What happened?”
“I don’t know, that’s why I called for a bloody tow and mechanic,” Elle retorted, exasperated with me.
“You called the right guy,” I smirked. I knew I was a sight for sore eyes, covered in grease and dirt. Mechanics don’t exactly have the cleanest job out there, but I also knew how much Elle used to love the sight of me all dirty after a day of work. Sometimes, I could scarcely shower before she jumped my bones.
Elle bit her tongue, holding back the retort that I know was sitting on the very edge of it. Thinking about Elle’s tongue made me feel a little hot under the collar, so I got to work hooking her car up to the tow truck.
I could feel her eyes on me as I worked. I knew she was checking me out. You don’t spend every day with someone for over two years, having crazy wild sex with them, and not know when they’re checking you out. I may have made a bit of a show for her too, flexing muscles and taking my time.
“Are you going to finish this up any time soon? I’m supposed to meet Tessa at the florist’s,” Elle snapped, her patience waning. I looked at her over my shoulder.
“Why don’t you come and hurry me up, then?” I dared, smirking at her. She huffed at me and rolled her eyes, her arms folded protectively across her chest.
“I wouldn’t touch you with a twelve-foot long pole, Braden Miller. But if you don’t hurry up, Tessa will kick your ass from here to next week,” she replied, the corner of her lip lifting in an adorable sneer.
She had a point. I stopped fucking around and got Elle’s car safely secured. “Can I give you a lift?” I asked, nodding to the tow truck.
“Looks like you’re going to have to, now, doesn’t it? Had I known you were driving the tow truck I would have arranged another ride but I’m late enough already,” she grumbled, sounding completely unhappy with the arrangement as she stomped over to the passenger door and yanked it open. “Hurry up,” she added, annoyed that I was still standing there.
Running a hand through my messy hair, I shook my head with a rueful smile. Elle was just as feisty as she’d been the other night, and it was fucking turning me on in the worst way possible. The last thing I needed right now was to pop a boner.
I climbed in and Elle’s familiar scent washed over me like a wave of nostalgia, making me smile and ache at the same time. She still smelt like the sweetest mixture of apple blossoms, jasmine and French vanilla. It was the same perfume she’d worn in high school, the very perfume I’d bought her for our six-month anniversary and every other important date after that.
”Still wearing that perfume, huh?” I asked her, trying to suppress a grin. It had to mean something, right? I was the one that bought it for her, and here she was…years later, still wearing it.
Elle froze, my words doing something to her…and I wasn’t at all sure if it was a good something. “Just drive,” she said through clenched teeth.
Instead, I regretted my poor choice of words. If only I could take them back. Hell, if only I could take back everything I’d done to hurt this beautiful girl.
I cleared my throat, pursing my lips. “Yes ma’am,” I said before checking my blind spot to make sure I was safe to pull back out onto the highway.
Elle fiddled with the stereo, trying to fill the endless void of silence that stretched on between the two of us. I had a million things I wanted to say to her.
“The stereo system doesn’t work,” I said, my eyes sliding over to her face. She stiffened again, her hand frozen on the dial.
“Why in the hell does the tow truck of a garage have a busted stereo? Isn’t that giving the wrong impression?” she asked haughtily, sitting back in her seat and folding her arms across her chest, as if she was suddenly cold. My eyes dropped down, and I swallowed hard. Her protective stance wasn’t doing much protecting. In fact, her folded arms just made the tops of her breasts spill out from her little tank top even more.
I grinned and shrugged, forcing my eyes back to the road before I drove right off it. “Or maybe it shows that we’re more concerned with keeping said tow truck available for people who need tows. We only have one, and most people don’t care too much. Most people don’t mind talking to me. Hell, I’d say a lot of them even like to talk to me.”
“I bet they do,” she said dryly, eyeing me with her lips pinched into a tight line.
I pulled up to the garage and parked the truck haphazardly in the lot. Tessa was driving Brock’s truck, and already waiting out front. Elle went to unbuckle her seat belt, and I turned to her. “Let me take you out to dinner,” I said, my voice sounding borderline desperate.
Elle stopped what she was doing and slowly raised her eyes to meet mine. Her brow furrowed slightly, the tiniest tell-tale sign of her confusion. “Why on earth would you want to do that?�
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“I need to explain,” I said quickly, sensing she was going to bolt at any minute. “I need to apologize.”
“Maybe I don’t want an explanation, or an apology,” Elle’s eyes narrowed with disdain. “Maybe I want you to stay exactly where you belong—in my past.” She finished unbuckling her seat belt and went to open the truck door. My hand automatically shot out to wrap around her wrist gently. We both looked down at the contact.
“Maybe,” I said, forcing the word out. It was sharp and unpleasant sounding, just as sharp and unpleasant as it had felt to say. The possibility that Elle wanted me to stay in the past was painful. “Or maybe you do need this, hell I know I do.”
My words made Elle take pause. I could see the thoughts racing through her head.
“Besides,” I added, releasing her wrist. “It’d be nice to get on a semi-good basis with one another…for Tessa. We’ll be seeing a lot of each other over the next several weeks, and I don’t want any animosity between the two of us at the wedding.” I knew it was a cheap shot, but I also knew it would work. Elle looked over to where her best friend—my soon to be sister-in-law—was patiently waiting. Tessa looked as if she was hopped up on caffeine and sugar. She was all but bouncing on the heels of her feet.
“I’ll think about it,” Elle relented grouchily. She opened the door and slid out.
I watched as she walked towards Tessa, her hips swinging subtly with every step she took.
Elle
“What was that all about?” Tessa asked me, her eyes wide as she watched Braden back the tow truck up into the garage, my poor little car hooked up and looking quite helpless.
I scowled over my shoulder in his general direction, trying to ignore the tingles his touch had left upon my skin, trying to ignore the fact that I felt alive for the first time in forever. “What do you think it was all about? My stupid car broke down, I called for a tow from the only tow service in town which happens to be run by the only garage in town, which he happens to work at!”
“Ah, I thought you knew he was working here again.”
“No, I don’t seem to know a lot of things about him anymore, do I? But it doesn’t matter. Again, it’s the only garage and the only tow service in town.” I reminded her bitterly as I climbed up into the cab of Brock’s truck. “Sorry I’m late.”
“These things happen,” Tessa waved away my apology with her hand. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
I huffed in response. Okay wasn’t a word I’d used to describe myself right about now. I was a jumbled mess of nerves and anxiety.
Ever since that moment at the bar the other night, when Braden’s eyes slid over to mine and he’d gazed at me with unrepressed desire, I’d felt off-centre. Probably because for a fleeting moment, I’d wanted him too.
It was just like my dreams, only a thousand times worse because he was here and I was just as powerless to those deep blue eyes as I’d been in every dream I’d had for the last ten months. The only thing that had stopped me from acting like a fool and giving in to those feelings was the cracks in my heart. Braden had broken me once before, and I knew he’d do it again.
Plus, there was Alex. I didn’t know what I felt for him anymore, but I knew with utmost sincerity that I didn’t want to hurt him.
He called me every night, and I had long since run out of things to tell him. Planning a wedding was exhausting. I didn’t have anything important to add to our conversations, so I let him rattle on and on about work and hemmed and hawed in all the right places, all the while falling deeper and deeper into a pit of self-loathing and despair.
Thinking about pits of despair and self-loathing had me remembering the other night, at the bar, and the odd stand-off between Becky and Braden.
All my thoughts circled back to him, and it was driving me crazy.
“Hello? Where did you go?” Tessa waved her hand in front of my face, trying to capture my attention.
“Sorry, I’m just worrying about the car,” I sighed. “I really can’t afford a huge mechanics bill right now.” I really couldn’t—the mere thought about how much this was going to run me had my stomach twisting with anxiety.
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Tessa said with confidence. Before I could ask her what she meant, we had arrived at the florist shop. She parked out front and turned to face me. She saw the questions on my face and shook her head, her beautiful blonde mane dancing against her shoulders with the action. “You and me, we’re going to need to talk about this later. Right now, we’re an hour late for a very important florist appointment.”
I nodded obediently, not wanting to irritate Bridezilla. If Tessa’s wedding had taught me anything, it was that even the most laid back of brides can turn into total monsters if provoked during this stressful time.
* * *
It was nearly eight at night, and I had yet to hear back from the garage—ahem, Braden—about my car. I had spent the majority of the day stressing about it while trying to provide my best services as a maid of honor to Tessa. I really couldn’t afford to get a new vehicle right now, hell I hadn’t been able to afford that one when I bought it and I was still paying it off. I didn’t know what I was going to do if it was beyond repair, or hell…if it ended up costing more than what was currently sitting in my savings account. Plus, there was the bachelorette party to think of, and the fact that I wouldn't be back at work for at least a month—my car issues couldn't have come at a worse time.
I was in the kitchen, making myself a cup of chamomile tea when the sound of knuckles tapping against the screen door startled me. I sloshed half of the tea on the white t-shirt I was wearing. Cursing, I set the mug down on the counter and crossly walked over to see who was calling at this hour. Mom hadn’t been home when I got back from running errands with Tessa and still wasn’t.
Walking into the foyer, I could see Braden’s tall outline through the screen door as he stood on the porch. He had his back to me and was looking out towards the driveway. He’d obviously changed his clothes since earlier that morning—he was wearing clean jeans and a gray t-shirt now. His hands were in his pockets, his forearm muscles taut.
I appreciated the view for a moment, feeling guilty for doing so—but Braden had filled out in the last several years. The ink on his arms just added to that bad boy feel he’d always had. It really wasn’t fair. A part of me had hoped that he’d be miserable and unsuccessful, but from the little bits of information I’d managed to discreetly tug from Tessa—he’d graduated at the top of the mechanical engineering technology program he’d taken, and his attractiveness had only increased with age.
My heart started to thrum rapidly in my chest. I tugged at my white t-shirt, now stained and damp from the spilt tea, and became extremely self-conscious of my too-short sleep shorts. I definitely wasn’t expecting company. In fact, I’d been expecting a quiet evening in where I could reflect upon how confused I was about everything in my life and how powerless I felt about fixing it all. The last thing I needed was one of my mental tormentors showing up at my doorstep, literally.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded, opening the screen door cautiously. Braden turned slowly, his eyes rising slowly from my bare feet up. It was as if he could physically touch me through his gaze, leaving goosebumps in its wake.
“Your radiator had a leak and your engine overheated, but I’ve replaced it and you’re good to go.”
“Oh, thank you,” I managed, crossing my arms across my chest when his eyes lingered a little too long at my girls.
“I thought I’d bring you your keys and see if you wanted a lift,” Braden added, his voice sounding strained as he finally pried his eyes up to my face. He swallowed hard, his Adams apple bobbing with the action.
“Thanks again,” I told him, holding out one hand. He remained still, uncertain. I looked down at my clothes. “But…I’m not exactly dressed to go out right now, Braden…although I do appreciate the gesture. I’ll just have my mom take me over in the morning.”
/> “Right, yeah,” he said quickly, fishing in his pocket for my keys. “Well, if it’s any consolation—I think you look incredibly sexy,” he told me with a smirk, finding the keys and pulling them out. He handed them to me, our fingers brushing for the briefest of moments. My skin sizzled where he’d made contact with it, just like this morning in the tow truck.
I know he felt it too, from the way he pulled back as if the contact had burned. He swallowed hard, his eyes lifting from our hands to my chest, then to my collarbone, and finally landing on my eyes. His gaze smoldered.
“Braden,” I warned. My heart clenched in my chest, like a fist was squeezing it. His eyes hardened, and his hand dropped to his side.
“Okay, well. I’ll catch you later then,” he said, pursing his lips. He turned around, walking quickly down the front steps and back to his truck.
A heaviness settled into my chest, and I closed my eyes at the sound of his tires kicking up gravel as he sped down my driveway.
* * *
The next morning, I woke up early. I had a shower and took my time picking out an outfit for the day. I needed to pick up my car and find out how much the repair set me back before Mom, Tessa and I went out shopping for Mom’s dress for the wedding.
Mom’s usual outfit of choice was a pair of worn blue jeans and a t-shirt. In fact, I hadn’t seen her in a dress in years—discounting the box of photographs I’d found from her modelling days, of course.
These days, she didn’t put much time or effort into her appearance at all. I used to think it was because she was a single mom and didn’t have many opportunities to dress up. When I was sixteen, I’d stumbled across that box in the attic though, and I realized that maybe she’d distanced herself from that world because it was too painful.
My mom had met my dad during a modelling job. He was a photographer who’d moved to Toronto from Columbia, and they’d fallen in love and married quickly. He had a sweet-talking, slick charm about him that Mom was instantly drawn to. Shortly after I was born, the wanderlust crept in and he left after telling her he wasn’t cut out to be a father or a husband.
Rebel Heart: (Rebel Series Book 2) ((Rebel Series)) Page 8