A Nanny For The Mechanic

by Kincaid, Cass

  And obviously, if her quick retaliation towards his lie about their relationship was anything to go on, she wasn’t nearly as mild-tempered anymore, either. No, Terra Payton wasn’t a kid anymore. She was feisty, and sexy, and...

  His fiancée.

  Shit, that little stunt had gotten out of control in a quick fucking hurry. He’d meant to just make his dad believe he had a girlfriend, one that was good with Allie, so his father would see that Gray could make good choices in life.

  Then Terra decided to one-up his lie, and she sent the whole thing into overdrive. His father almost fell over after she announced he’d gotten engaged to her without telling them, and his mother...well, he was pretty sure she hadn’t stopped crying tears of joy yet.

  “What the ever-loving hell were you thinking?” Gray barked at her from the driver’s seat of his black F-150.

  They were on their way back from his parents’ house. That had been awkward as fuck. Not only did he have to put up with the intensity of his mother’s grilling about wedding details—oh, hell no—but he had to do everything in his power to keep Allie from hearing her grandmother’s wails of happiness as she showered Terra in kisses and hugs. His five-year-old did not need the confusion of thinking she was getting a new mommy, like he’d just gone to Target and picked one out.

  Thankfully, Allie had begged to stay for dinner—she picked spaghetti and meatballs over her own father. And that was fine, because he needed to talk to Terra and get this shit sorted out.

  Terra looked downright defiant in the passenger seat. “You put me in a position I didn’t want to be in, Gray. So, I decided to make it even harder for you.” She turned and glared at him. “Payback is a bitch.”

  “No, you made it harder on us,” he replied. “And just so we’re clear, there’s no woman in this county who’s ever complained about my positions, or how hard it is.” He flashed a wicked smile, unable to help himself.

  “You’re such a pig.”

  Gray laughed at that. “Hey, you’re the one who chose to get engaged, sweetheart.”

  He didn’t know her well. He pretty much only knew of her because he’d gone to high school with her older brother. There had to be ten years between their ages. That didn’t mean he didn’t recognize an attractive woman when he saw her, though.

  “Just play along,” he added a bit more seriously. “You’ll get your money, and I’ll get my shit figured out. Plus, I need someone to watch Allie, so you’re definitely on the hook for that now.”

  “I’ll play the nanny bit, Gray.” She leaned forward, forcing him to look at her. “But be damned if I’m playing the part of your girlfriend for long. You can’t pay me enough for that.”

  He smirked at the insult. “Just play along, Terra,” he repeated. “I’ll fix this mess. I just need some time.”

  “Tell me why you lied.”

  Instinctively, he tightened his grip on the wheel and faced ahead, out the windshield. “We both lied.”

  “You started it,” she argued. “Why did you lie in the first place?”

  “Because I wanted a sexy little nanny to be my fiancée?” His crooked grin was back in place, an attempt to hide the anger her questions instilled in him.

  “Gray.” It sounded like a warning.

  “Why are you even going along with this?” He knew he should be counting his fucking blessings, not questioning her about it, but he wanted to change the subject before he was forced to answer her. Forced to tell her the truth.

  “I told you, I need money to—”

  “You aren’t getting paid to pretend to be my fiancée, Terra.” He turned and gave her a pointed glare.

  “Neither are you,” she retorted. “This isn’t about the money, anyway.”

  “You’re damn right it’s not.” His response came fast, with the fury of a raging storm. “It’s about respect. And despite how hard I work and how hard I try, I don’t get it. So, just do me a favor—buckle up, sweetheart, because I need you to pretend to respect me and maybe even like me a bit. You’ll get your money, and maybe I can show my dad that I’m not a complete fuck-up.”

  “You chose me to help you prove to your father you’re a responsible adult? Oh shit, Gray, you picked a winner, I’m afraid.”

  It was a self-deprecating remark, but his mouth twitched at the humor. “Your turn,” he said. “Why are you doing this?”

  Terra looked out the passenger side window, and he didn’t think she was going to respond. Then, a slow smile crossed her face and she turned to him. “I spent my whole life wanting to get out of this town, Gray. And if I can turn this goddamn place upside down with a little drama before I get the chance to leave again...hell, count me in.”

  He had to admit it, he was impressed. “I like the way you think.”

  Chapter Four

  Terra

  She did not want to be in a relationship with Gray Radden, let alone engaged to the man. She didn’t even want to be in a fake relationship with him. But seeing as he was so willing to hire her as his daughter’s nanny and he’d put her on the spot in front of his father, Terra hadn’t had her wits about her enough to realize just how bad this whole idea really was.

  And it was a bad idea.

  But it didn’t take long for the story to get around town that she and Gray were, in fact, an item, and it certainly didn’t take long for all the rumors to start flying because of it. The worst part was that the story fit so perfectly together, and that the lies rolled off Gray’s tongue so easily.

  In days, the entire town, including his family and her own, thoroughly believed that she and Gray had been a couple for months and that they had been doing the whole long-distance thing while she was in Chicago. Suddenly, she didn’t have to explain to anyone that she’d lost her dream job in the city because everyone she met on the street or in the grocery store just assumed that she’d moved back to town in order to be with Gray now that they were engaged.

  Neither she nor Gray told anyone any different.

  Thankfully, Gray was a bit of a workaholic and he wasn’t around much throughout the days. He worked through his lunch hours and didn’t tend to come home until the sun had already almost fully set in the autumn sky. That gave him little time to see Allie when he did get home, and Gray utilized that time to its full capacity. Once Gray arrived home each night, the first thing he did was give his daughter a quick kiss on the forehead, then head into his bedroom to shower in the en-suite bathroom and change out of his oil-stained, smelly work clothes into jogging pants and a worn t-shirt.

  He barely paid Terra any mind, and she was glad for it, because when he did, his jerkish ways came out in full force.

  “Sure you don’t want me to screw that scowl off your face tonight, sweetheart?” he asked her once after a hard evening with Allie and her dislike of watching anything but the same Chipmunks movie over and over again, or “Supper on the table when I get home and a sweet ass to grab, too; how did I ever get so lucky, wifey?” If he’d have grabbed her ass, Terra would have kicked him in the nuts. Gray, however, found her distaste of his suggestive comments amusing, and her dagger-like glares and muttered insults under her breath only fueled the fire.

  The man was lucky he looked so damn good, or else she wouldn’t have been able to find any redeeming qualities in him whatsoever.

  Until tonight, anyway. She’d been busy refilling the dishwasher when she picked up on the mumbled sounds of Gray’s deep voice mixed with Allie’s high-pitched one. She knew they were down the hall. Terra had already said her goodnights to the little girl, promising to be there first thing in the morning to help her get ready for school. It had become her routine for the past week and a half. To say that Allie and all her tumultuous energy and vibrant spirit had grown on her would be an understatement.

  It was none of Terra’s business, but she rounded the corner of the kitchen that led into the hallway and listened from there.

  “Terra’s gonna take me to the park tomorrow,” Allie told Gray in a sl
eepy voice.

  “That’ll be fun, huh?”

  The little girl giggled, and though Terra couldn’t see her, she figured Gray must have been tickling her. “Lots of fun. We do lots of fun things.”

  “You and Terra?” Gray sounded surprised, which made Terra’s mouth curl up at the corners. Take that, she thought. I’m a damn good nanny.

  “Yup,” Allie replied. “We made a list of fun things we wanna do.”

  “That sounds pretty cool, pumpkin. It really does.”

  “It is!” she exclaimed, making Terra cover her mouth to hold in her laughter. “You should ask her if you can come with us, Daddy.”

  “Maybe I will,” he replied jokingly. “But I can take you to the park, too, pumpkin. We’ll go on the weekend.”

  “Can Terra come?”

  Terra pressed her hand over her mouth harder.

  “We’ll iron the details out later. For now, you’d better get some sleep, my girl. Sounds like you got a big day tomorrow.” The rustling of covers being pulled up around his daughter could be heard, and Terra decided she’d better not get caught eavesdropping. She didn’t know how Gray would take that.

  “I love you, Daddy.”

  “I love you more, pumpkin.” The light that cascaded down the hall from the bedroom went out. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  By the time Gray appeared in the kitchen, Terra was bent over the opened dishwasher, placing the last two plates in the bottom rack.

  “You’ve made quite the impression, wifey.” He leaned against the doorframe as he smirked at her, then pushed away from it and went to the fridge, pulling a beer from inside.

  “I could say the same about you.”

  Gray chuckled, the bottle still against his lips. He took a long pull before speaking. “I meant with Allie.”

  She closed the dishwasher and turned it on. “Yeah, well, I didn’t.”

  His eyebrows furrowed. “Enlighten me. What kind of impression have I made on you?”

  “You pretend to be this raging asshole, but I don’t think that’s really who you are.”

  “Whatever you say.” Boom. Just like that, his defences were back up. “Lock the door on your way out. Goodnight, sweetheart.”

  “Goodnight, pumpkin.”

  Gray stopped, eyed her warily, then disappeared into his own bedroom, the beer still clenched in his hand. She heard the door click shut, successfully shutting her out in the process.

  She didn’t know why she cared. He acted like a raging asshole, that was all she needed to know.

  Unfortunately, he was a raging asshole she was fake-engaged to.

  ***

  Radden Automotive was a huge garage with a long line of bays and hydraulic hoists. Everything looked the same in each bay unless someone was familiar with it and knew where they were going. Terra, thankfully, knew exactly where she was headed this time.

  “Come on, Allie. He should be right over here.” Terra dodged obstacles, hand in hand, until they saw Gray in their sights, then the little girl let go of her hand and sprinted towards him.

  “Daddy!”

  Gray turned, surprised. There was no mistaking the way his face lit up at seeing Allie. It had been three days since Terra advised Gray that he wasn’t the asshole he pretended to be, but there was still no denying the way his features tightened at the sight of her, too.

  “I wanna show you something I made for you!” Allie had been so excited about the heart-shaped card she made for her dad that Terra had relented and said they could walk to the garage and hand-deliver it without having to wait for him to finish work. She figured the pick-me-up would be good for Gray, too.

  Terra stayed back, letting the father and daughter have their moment. She was surprised when a voice sounded beside her, startling.

  “There’s my future daughter-in-law.”

  She looked up into the surprisingly soft eyes of Mr. Radden. “Hello, Mr. Radden. I didn’t see you there.”

  “Please, call me Bart.” He smiled, but it looked like it took effort to do so. Terra didn’t think he did it often. “I’ve got to say, I still can’t figure out why Gray kept you from us all this time.” He stood, arms crossed, staring across the room at his son and granddaughter as they jabbered on about the colorful card in Gray’s hands.

  “I’m sure he had his reasons.” This was a dangerous line of conversation.

  “That’s Gray for you,” Bart said roughly. “Always thinking about himself.”

  As if on cue, Gray’s eyes lifted from across the room and he locked them on Terra and his dad, looking suddenly tense. His father wasn’t trying to keep his voice low, so Terra didn’t doubt that Gray could hear him, albeit distantly.

  Terra didn’t get the chance to respond.

  “Did he even tell you Doreen and I offered to take Allie for the night, so you two kids can have some time to yourselves?”

  “What?” Terra felt lightheaded at the thought. “Oh, that’s not necessary, Mr. Rad—Bart.”

  Bart waved a hand, dismissing her words. “It’s not a bother at all, Terra. After all, you work so hard with Allie. You deserve a little time off, even if it is with Gray.”

  If he meant it as a snide joke, she didn’t take it that way. “So does Gray, though.” Her defensive words were falling from her tongue before she could think them through. “Gray’s a damn hard worker, Mr. Radden, and he does everything he can to provide for his family. He deserves a break every now and then, too.”

  She didn’t know where the urge to defend and protect Gray had come from, but it was obvious that Bart Radden hadn’t expected it, either. One look across the room and Terra could see that Gray was just as shocked by her outburst.

  Shit. Somehow, something had changed in the way she thought about Gray Radden. The worst part was that she’d just announced it to him, loud and clear.

  “Come on, Allie,” she called, trying to sound less skittish than she felt. “We should go and let Daddy finish up his work.”

  And before she said something else she should have kept to herself.

  Chapter Five

  Gray

  It was a long three hours after Allie and Terra left until the garage closed for the day. Gray avoided his father like the plague. There was no way in hell he wanted to have to look the man in the eye, knowing he’d let one of his smug little smirks show through because his fake fiancée had just put his own father in his place, and then all hell would break loose.

  It was better just to keep his distance. From his father, and from Terra.

  Which was exactly why, for the first time in his life since Allie was born, he didn’t make a beeline for the door at exactly five-thirty, desperate to get home to his daughter. He wanted to see Allie, sure, but he needed time to process what the hell he’d just witnessed, and what the hell he was feeling and thinking because of it.

  Terra Payton had gone up against Bart Radden and defended Gray, for no other reason than because she was the only person who seemed to realize how fucking hard he tried. How hard he was trying. How hard he worked.

  Somewhere along the way, he’d let a small piece of his guard down, and Terra had seen through him and his prickish defences.

  It freaked him out. Mostly, because somewhere along the way he had started seeing Terra a little differently, too. She wasn’t just the kid he remembered growing up, and she sure as hell had a backbone that would put a grown man to shame. And she’d won over Allie, which Gray supposed was the part that cut through his heart the most.

  But defending him against his father was a pretty damn close second.

  He tinkered with a motor he had torn apart for another hour after the garage closed. He didn’t make any further leeway with it, his thoughts too consumed by Terra and his feelings, but he managed to stay at work longer than his father, so he figured that was a plus.

  By the time he got home, Gray knew Allie would already be asleep. It was dark outside, and the window into her bedroom didn’t have a glow of the bedside lam
p shining through the curtains. It made his chest ache that he wouldn’t get to see her until morning, but it was Terra he needed to talk to tonight. His mind wouldn’t settle until he did.

  He let himself in and could hear her bustling about in the kitchen, undoubtedly cleaning up after her and Allie’s supper.

  “You’re late,” she said in the hushed voice before he’d even made it fully around the corner. Gray leaned against the doorframe, smirking, but she didn’t turn to face him, instead continuing to wipe down the counter.

  “Had a few things to finish up at work.”

  “You should have called. I was just about to text you and make sure you were all right.” She turned finally, her eyes steely from her annoyance.

  “Aww, sweetheart, were you worried about me?” He might have sneered about it, but he had to admit, her concern was kind of nice. He couldn’t remember the last time someone called to check up on him.

  “Don’t be a jerk about it.” She made to turn away from him, but Gray reached out and grabbed her wrist.

  “Tell me why you did it.”

  Terra’s eyes narrowed. From his request or his touch, he wasn’t sure. “What?” she snapped.

  Gray spoke slower. “Tell me why you defended me,” he said. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “Well, somebody had to.” She said it with so much conviction, like it was the most logical explanation in the world.

  “I thought you hated my ass.”

  “I can hate you and still think you’re a hard worker, Gray.”

  “You can.” He pushed away from the doorframe, stepping closer to her. “But I don’t think you actually hate me. Just like I don’t hate you.”

  Terra’s eyes widened, but she jutted out her chin defiantly as she looked up at him, now only inches apart. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The way her bottom lip trembled and her gaze kept deviating to Gray’s mouth betrayed her. She took a step back, but there was nowhere to go. Her lower back touched up against the kitchen counter, leaving her trapped between it and Gray’s strong, muscled body.