Tell Me No Secrets: Secret Baby Romance Collection

by Jamie Knight

  I laughed and ran a hand through my hair. “Yeah, and they’re all nuts, from what I can tell. I can’t imagine devoting my entire existence to someone else.”

  “It isn’t quite like that,” John said, “besides, you just haven’t met the right girl yet.”

  I practically choked on my beer. “Oh, come on, man, are you serious?”

  “As cancer,” he said with all gravitas, “you’ll meet her one day, and it will totally change your life.”

  “A woman can only be right for one night,” I insisted, laughing it off.

  John just shook his head sadly. I hated when he did that but didn’t want to ruin the night, so I held my tongue.

  It was funny how I could tell when trouble was coming — like a wolf smelling a change in the wind. It wasn’t from John, who I knew would always have my back. No, there was a new threat on the savanna. One that wore cheap cologne by the bottle full.

  “Hey, boss,” Will said, smacking me on the back so hard my eyeballs shook.

  It was probably some kind of bullshit power play, like seeing who could shake hands the hardest. I really didn’t have time for his bullshit so let it go. Will was one of the last mechanics working for me, but the guy was a jerk.

  Truth be told, I would have let him go instead of Jim and Hank. Except Will had seniority. We both knew the garage would be even worse trouble without his skills — a fact he used to be an asshole at every opportunity.

  “How is it going with the daycare?” he asked.

  Will had been a prick about the idea of bringing in trainees. Particularly so soon after I had to fire Jim and Hank. So much so he had basically refused to work and took all his sick days at once. It was an act of solidarity with the guys he saw as wronged. I was tempted to show him the books and ask what he suggested. That would have shut him up for a good while, but I couldn’t bring myself to be that open about my situation. No matter how insufferable he became.

  “Fine, I think it will end up being good for the shop.”

  “Better than having Jim and Hank?” Will teased.

  “Certainly cheaper,” I snarked, “though if it goes like I hope, I’ll soon have enough money to hire them back. Probably with raises.”

  It sounded nuts, but I knew it wasn’t their fault for what was happening. Yeah, they’d been upset, but I seriously doubted Jim or Hank would have sent people to fuck with me. Which was honestly more than I could say about Will. Another reason he was still on the payroll.

  “I might be able to help you with that,” Will said, in the offer-you-can’t-refuse tones of a mafia thug, “though I might be needing a raise too.”

  “Like the one you’ve been pushing for since you started but has yet to materialize?”

  “Yeah, something like that,” he said, his tone even less friendly.

  I took a slug of my beer. “I don’t have the money yet, and even if I did, it’s doubtful it would cover three raises. Particularly considering what you’re already paid. I could lower your salary to get Hank and Jim back, if you like.”

  If there was one thing Will really hated, aside from short jokes as he only stood five-foot-four, it was being reminded that he was wrong. Which he most definitely was in that case. The chair almost clattered on the floor as he got up to beat a hasty retreat. His fragile ego unable to take any kind of criticism.

  “Sad, isn’t it,” John mused.

  “In more ways than you know,” I sighed.

  Chapter Five - Nina

  It was like an extension of my dream, sliding out of my bed and into overalls. Auntie Blair insisted I eat something before driving me down, so I compromised with a couple of Pop-Tarts. I’d come equipped for my new internship with a set of purple overalls bought for me by Daddy. They were top of the line with a too-clean name patch sewed into them. I had the gut feeling this could be a problem. As though the other mechanics would need any further reminders that I was a girl.

  In my experience, people weren’t too welcoming for females in the once male-dominated domain of auto shops. Particularly in Texas, which on average, was a good twenty to thirty years behind the rest of the county. Yes, including Florida.

  I had auntie Blair drop me off a few blocks away from the garage, not wanting to let on that I didn’t have my own car. It would be like apprenticing at a tattoo shop with no ink of one’s own. I had the clothes but still felt a burning need to back it up with a show of my skills.

  They were already there when I arrived. The other trainees even keener than I was, waiting for Chad’s Garage to open so they could continue their training. I started thinking of them as padawans, partly due to the rat-tail ponytails on at least half of them.

  “Did someone order a stripper?” one of the more jerkish ones asked as I walked up.

  There was a smattering of mirthless laughter, the shyer trainees looking at the ground. They didn’t look much older than me, and I doubted most of them had actually been around a girl before. Car nerds trying to go pro. If only they could see we were in more or less the same boat.

  Silence fell, and everyone moved away as he approached. Tall and handsome, he was dressed like the others in overalls and steel-toed boots. Even so, he carried an air of easy-going authority. I immediately got the impression of someone who tried to be friends with his employees but also wasn’t afraid to get tough when needed.

  “Okay, boys, let’s get at ‘er,” he said, opening the garage.

  There was a smattering of laugher as they flooded into the shop, the boss looking confused until he saw me approaching.

  “Aw, shit,” I heard him mutter.

  “Mr. Pierce, I’m Nina Dunn. I’m really sorry, I’m late.

  “So late you’re early,” he teased, “and don’t call me Mr. Pierce. It’s Chad. Not that you’re going to be here that long.”

  He turned on his heel, making a mark on a clipboard as he went. Probably putting a check next to my name. I’d already missed the first day, but it wasn’t like a regular class, much more hands-on. It wasn’t like there was reading I hadn’t done.

  The looks continued as I set to work doing oil changes. Some of them resentful, but most of them disconcertingly lustful. The overalls didn’t show much at all, though this didn’t seem to stop my coworkers.

  I was just twenty-one and a virgin and wasn’t used to such male attention. At least not so openly. Even Art played at being a gentleman. These rough customers gave no such illusions. My chest being a particular target of attention. Their eyes seemed to zero in on my breasts as though pulled by magnets.

  I tried to ask Chad questions, actually attempting to learn something, but he just ignored me. At least when he wasn’t looking at me funny. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of his expression. It didn’t look outright hateful, nor was it particularly sexy.

  “When can I work on an engine?” I asked after my fifth successful oil change.

  “Why bother? You probably don’t know anything about engines anyway.”

  It stung, but I was too shy and well-raised to think about correcting him. Not only was he a man, but he was also a lot older than me, and my boss. This gave him absolute authority in my head. If only it had finished there.

  “See them?” he asked, pointing to the calendars of half-naked women with cars that lined the walls of the shop.

  “Yeah,” I said, fighting to keep my voice steady.

  “That’s the only way a girl should be in an auto shop,” he said with a snap before heading up to his office.

  Damn, if I didn’t want to cry. It hurt me deeply, and I was furious, but I didn’t want to say anything and risk getting kicked out of the program. I wondered why Chad took me on in the first place if he hated girls so much, but there must have been some reason.

  Making matters worse, the boss was really good-looking. From his jet-black hair to his tattooed wrists, the guy was all muscle. No if, ands, or buts. He also had a note of causal authority to his voice that struck a really dee
p chord in me. Unlike anything any man had done before.

  I waited until lunchtime and found one of the other interns — the one who didn’t laugh and looked at the ground at the stupid stripper joke. I figured he was my best chance of finding someone actually willing to talk to me. I found him around the back of the garage eating his bagged lunch by himself, the others going to a nearby diner.

  “Hi,” I said.

  The kid jumped a bit and scooted a few inches away like he was actually scared of me — a pang of sympathy beat in my chest.

  “They won’t see you,” I said.

  “I know,” he said, pushing up his glasses.

  “May I sit down?” I asked, my urbane manners asserting themselves.

  “Um, sure. I’m Juan.”

  I sat down next to him as he kept his gaze on his boots. Chewing his PB& J as a sort of distraction.

  “You’re not from around here, are you?” Juan asked.

  “Nope, I’m from San Antonio.”

  “That explains it,” he said, as though it did.

  Ignoring that, I tried to move the conversation forward. “I was wondering about Mr. Pierce.”

  “Don’t let him hear you calling him that,” the kid warned.

  “I’ll bear that in mind. Does he run the shop with his wife?”

  Juan started laughing, a disconcerting, snorting kind of sound. I really didn’t see what was so funny. Was Chad gay or something? It was the only thing that made sense at the time.

  “The day Chad gets married is the day the Pope turns Protestant. He is an infamous womanizer who goes through lovers the way other men go through toothpicks.”

  Immediately I thought about Art and his rakish ways. I hated the idea of dating him, let alone marrying him. Despite myself, I couldn’t get my mind off Chad. He really was a sexy man, even if he was a bit older. Okay, a lot older. I had just turned twenty-one, and he was at least 30. A successful businessman. Tall and handsome, and… fuck, I needed to get my head right and focus on cars.

  Chapter Six - Chad

  A kind person would say I handled badly. An honest person would say I’d been a complete asshole. Where I being honest, I’d admit that the sudden arrival of a girl at the shop was too much for me to comprehend — especially one as young and sexy as Nina was.

  I racked my brains but couldn’t think of a time I’d encountered a girl who was honestly interested in mechanics. In my, admittedly limited experience, girls only talked about cars to get a read on how rich a guy was — better car equaled more money.

  Were I to get Freudian about it, I hadn’t really trusted women of any age since my mom walked out on Dad and me to marry some rich asshole. Dad didn’t take it very well and drank himself to death within a couple of years, leaving me a ward of the state. Miracle of miracles the old man had some money put away he never told my gold-digging whore of a mother about. I sank it all into the garage, which was why it was so important to make a go of it.

  So, I had to ignore the sexy ass and chest walking around my shop and keep my mind on work. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep my eyes off Nina. I felt a bit creepy with her being so young but reminded myself that she was an adult according to the law and free to make her own decisions. I respected that in a way.

  It had only been two days, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the girl and noticing how incredibly hot she was. Her purple overalls left a lot to the imagination, but I’d seen Nina change out of them once. Wearing tight jeans and a basketball jersey, it gave a much better idea of the curves that lay beneath. She dressed like a bit of a tomboy but was undeniably sexy. I just wanted to get my hands on those sweet assets of hers, to do whatever I wanted to the young thing.

  I was selfishly hoping she would fail out of the program, so I could have a one-night stand with her and then never see her again. I imagined all the things I wanted to do with her tender, young body — like pinching her hard nipples until she cried out or grabbing handfuls of her huge boobs as I stuck my hard cock in her mouth. I pictured Nina writhing and moaning under me as I fucked her hard. I was dying to fill her with my cum and then never have to think about her again.

  It was just stupid to have a girl in the shop. It made it difficult to concentrate.

  There were still three other mechanics working, including Will, though he’d started to act pretty shifty. I didn’t know exactly what his problem was but could guess. I knew he didn’t like the idea of the trainees in general. He probably really resented the fact that one of them was a girl, especially when Jim and Hank had been fired. I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like he was running a mutiny from inside the shop. Setting the other two mechanics against me. None of them helped with the training program at all. I was left doing everything while they continued to be paid for doing next to nothing. Only when something dire came in could they pull themselves away from their coffee and gossip, and sometimes not even then. For example, there was quite an elderly Buick in the garage that had been needing a new fuel pump for over a week. A part Will swore he ordered, but it had mysteriously disappeared.

  It was Friday of the first week of the program when disaster struck. The garage’s name wasn’t mud with everyone in town, El Paso boasting almost two million residents. So three customers came in at once. I took a quick glance skyward, both excited and nervous. This could really boost the shop’s numbers.

  “Lunchtime,” Will announced, Mark and Barry following close behind him.

  “Are you fucking serious?” I asked, all heads on the shop floor turning toward me.

  “What? We have to eat,” Will argued, with the kind of grin that made me want to knock his teeth down his throat.

  I pointed to the cars outside. “It’s eleven, and we have three customers,” I said, getting a hold of myself.

  He spit on the floor and glared at me. “What are you going to do? Fire us?”

  I fought the temptation to say ‘yeah, out of a fucking cannon’ and just kept glaring. Will’s smile morphed into a laugh as he continued on his treacherous way toward his car.

  “Will. Office. Now,” I said, the force of God behind my tone.

  Will halted his little victory strut and turned on his heel. Mark and Barry looked at each other in wonder as Will followed me into the back office.

  “Take a seat,” I offered in my best HR appropriate tone. I needed to get a handle on this situation, and I needed to do it fast.

  “I’ll stand,” Will said, his arms crossed.

  I sighed and tried to reason with the guy. “Look, I know you don’t believe me, but I don’t like this any more than you do.”

  “Bullshit, I’ve seen you eyein’ up that little tasty.”

  “I meant about Jim and Hank,” I snapped, “I know you’re pissed, and I don’t blame you. I would have kept them on if I could afford it, but I can’t. Mark and Barry listen to you. Do you think you could talk to them for me?”

  He shrugged exaggeratedly. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll give it a go.”

  “That’s great man, I —”

  “For another thousand a week.”

  I stopped in my tracks and started to shake with anger. “Why don’t you just make it the treasures of Atlantis? You know I don’t have that kind of money, Will.”

  My anger was met with another shrug. “Change the tune, boss. It’s gettin’ boring.”

  Will got up and led Mark and Barry out on an unsanctioned lunch break. I gave a moment’s thought to firing them too but was afraid that everyone would hate me if I did that. Then I would come in one day to find the place burned to the ground. Will had a real Napoleon complex sometimes, and there was no telling what he would do.

  Waiting for the shock to wear off, I went back out to the shop floor. Nothing but trainees, some of whom had gone very pale. It was almost comical what a shambles my business had become. Like something from a sitcom. How was I going to get out of this one?

  Then the answer hi
t. The same way I’d done every other damn thing in my life: improvise.

  Chapter Seven - Nina

  It was terrible. The mechanics had walked out, it almost seemed on strike, and three cars had come in all at once.

  Chad was arguing with the head mechanic in his office, so it was just the trainees and me on the floor. They looked lost — like sheep that had just woken up in a stage valley, no shepherd in sight. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but even I could tell it would’ve been good for the garage if none of the work got done. If no one else was going to do it, I figured I might as well take charge.

  With a fortifying breath of courage, I adjusted my cap and went up to the first car. It only needed an oil change. That shouldn’t be too hard, even for the other trainees. The second car needed the same. It was a truck and might be a bit more awkward, but it should still be easy enough. The third car, however, required major work to be done on the muffler. It sounded like a dragon when I turned it on to see how bad the problem was. Ordinarily, one got in trouble for a noisy muffler if it went too far and became noise pollution. The only reason Art was still driving being who his father was. No one dared arrest him or even give him a ticket for fear of ending up working traffic — Art’s dad really was that powerful. Not only because he played golf with the chief as well as the District Attorney.

  It was okay. I could do this. I just had to focus and think. I don’t think anyone was more surprised than me when I spoke.

  “Dale, Jeff, this car oil change, get on it. Eric, Shawn, you’re on the truck.”

  I had done my best impersonation of Chad’s boss voice, and it turned out to be surprisingly effective. After a moment’s hesitation, the boys set to work on the oil changes while I went over to start the muffler job.

  “Can I help?” Juan asked, looking at the floor as usual as he approached.

  I couldn’t tell if he was just shy or thought he might turn to stone if he looked at me directly. Either way, I was glad for the help.