Chapter 14

Ellie

Axel returned from his phone call fifteen minutes after leaving the shop. He met my gaze and hooked a thumb over his shoulder to point at his parked car outside. “I have to run out to meet up with Jax for a bit. Are you okay to hold things down here?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll start placing orders for equipment. You good with that?”

“Yeah. Sure.” Axel sounded distracted, but I wasn’t going to say anything about it. He left in a hurry, and I watched him fumble with his keys at his car door. Seconds later, he was peeling out on the road in a screech of tires. He left behind the stench of burned rubber.

I got comfortable at the shop computer. It was nice to have one inside the shop. At our old location, we’d had to go into the office anytime we needed to access the internet, which was a fair amount. Now, we would be able to walk ten feet to the shop computer and find whatever information we were looking for.

I logged onto our most commonly used supplier’s site and began adding to the shopping cart tools that I had written down on the list of things we needed to buy. After I had been at it for ten or fifteen minutes, I heard the shop door open.

Jamie slipped in and closed the door gently behind her. She walked around the shop peering at the tools I was sure she couldn’t name until, eventually, she stood on the other side of the computer from me.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey,” I looked up and smiled at her before looking back at my computer screen to continue shopping.

“Do you mind if I hang out in here for a bit? I’m getting a little lonely in there. I forwarded the shop calls to my cell phone, so don’t worry. I won’t miss any customers trying to get a hold of us.”

I liked her resourcefulness. I especially liked that she had taken the initiative to solve the problem before it happened. “Sure. Grab one of those rolling stools over there and have a seat.”

She grabbed the stool that read “Ford” across the seat and sat down across from me. She was quiet for a while, but I could feel a question burning inside her. I leaned back from the computer and rested my hands on my knees.

“So. Is this your first time working in a place like this?”

Jamie nodded. “Yeah. It’s a lot different than what I’m used to. My last job was at a coffee shop pouring lattes and cleaning espresso machines. This feels really intimidating compared to that.”

“You’ll be fine here. Everyone is really nice. That’s why I stayed. I couldn’t imagine ever working anywhere else now. Maybe you’ll start to feel the same way after you put in your time here.”

“Speaking of putting in your time, how did you learn so much about all this stuff? Cars and bikes, I mean. I wouldn’t have a clue where to start.”

“I learned from my dad while I was growing up. It made the transition to work as a mechanic pretty easy for me. You don’t have any experience with cars?”

Jamie shook her head. “No. None.”

“Have you ever changed a tire?”

She shook her head again. “The only work I’ve ever done on a car was filling it with gas. No joke.”

I tried not to laugh but couldn’t help it. I was relieved when she let out a little chuckle, too, and blushed.

“I know,” she said. “Kind of embarrassing, but I want to learn more. I’d love to know how to change my own tire. Or my oil. I know that’s important. Right?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “I would say it is.”

Jamie reminded me of how I had been when I was really young, asking my dad to teach me everything he knew about cars. He had jumped at the opportunity despite the flack he’d gotten from my mom about it. I remember him saying to her that if I ever lost interest in mechanics, he wouldn’t push me to keep learning. He would let me follow whatever passion I chose.

There had never been anything I wanted to do more than work on cars and motorcycles. I was living my dream job. I knew it wasn’t what most girls wanted. The early mornings and the late shifts made it hard to date. The grease and the grime and the inevitability of having coarse hands and chipped fingernails was unavoidable.

I glanced at Jamie’s hands. Her nails were bright pink and perfectly shaped. She caught me looking and tried to hide them under her legs. “I know I don’t really fit in with the whole ‘vibe’ of this place.”

“We don’t care about that. But if you start helping out in the shop, you’ll probably break those. I hope you don’t spend a lot of money on them.”

“My nails?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Oh, I don’t care about that. I mean it’s nice to have them done all nice and whatnot, but I’ll stop going to my appointments if I start working with you in here.”

“Yeah. I miss having pretty things.” I frowned down at my own hands. My nails were naked and incredibly short. They had to be that way. Otherwise, I would constantly catch them on things while I worked under the hood. They weren’t worth the effort, the money, or the pain.

I started to wonder if Axel might appreciate a softer side of me. Our time together last night had proven to me that I was more than just a onetime fuck for him. He had been tender with me, soft, almost vulnerable. Almost.

He had been kind and gracious. The meal he had prepared for me spoke volumes. It had taken him time, and he had gone about it with care, making sure everything was just right. I had always known he was a little obsessive about things—working so often in the shop with him had brought that to light pretty quickly—but I never expected him to be so meticulous where I was concerned.

It felt nice to have him doting on me. Maybe I could do something sweet for him to return the favor.

“Hey,” I said, and Jamie looked up at me. “Would you be open to the idea of giving me a makeover this weekend? I want to surprise someone.”

“Someone?” Jamie asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.

“Yes. Someone. I would like for him to see me all dolled up. It’s never happened before. It might be nice.”

“I think that would be so much fun,” Jamie said. “It will be so easy. You’re already beautiful.”

“Thank you.” I blushed.

“I can bring my makeup and curling iron and give you the full treatment. I can even bring some nail polishes if you like. But, may I be honest with you?”

“Yes,” I said hesitantly.

“I think Axel likes you just the way you are.”

I stared at her with my mouth hanging open. She had only been around for a couple days, and somehow, she already knew about me and Axel. “How did you know?”

Jamie giggled. “Oh, please. I knew the moment I met you two that there was something between you. I wasn’t sure if it was something that happened in the past, or if you guys were currently an item. But everything fell into place. You’re seeing each other, right?”

“Sort of. I’m not really sure. We haven’t said anything out loud to each other. Things have been mostly … physical.”

“Sounds fun.” Jamie winked.

I laughed and nodded. “It has been. He did something really special for me last night, so I was thinking a big makeover might get his blood racing, you know?”

Jamie nodded. “Absolutely. I already have a couple ideas for a look we could create. A dark, smoky eye and a wet, glossy lip. I think he’d like it. We’ll do you up like a vixen, a badass biker babe with a chip on her shoulder. I think he’d be more into that than you putting on a cute dress and heels. Am I wrong?”

“No, I think you’re spot-on.”

Jamie clapped her hands together excitedly. “I’m so excited! Thank you for asking me to help you. It means a lot. I moved here over half a year ago now and meeting nice people hasn’t been easy. It’s been kind of lonely, to tell you the truth.”

I felt for her. Feeling like you were alone in a city as big as New York wasn’t a good feeling. “Well. You’re among family now. Everyone at the shop is your friend. That’s just how it is around here. We stick together, and we have each other’s backs. Always. If you ever need anything, ever, don’t be afraid to speak up and ask for it, okay? Axel will make sure you have what you need, whether it’s work-related or not.”

“Work-related or not?”

I didn’t want to spill too much information so early. I had no clue how much she knew about Axel and her cousin Jax. Did she have any clue about the MC at all? Did she know what they were all about? Did she even know that about fifty percent of the jobs our shop took were under the table gigs?

She would learn in due time, but that time was not right now.

“Yeah. Like I said, we’re a family. We help each other out, no matter what.” I gave her my best smile, and she seemed to take comfort in it.

“That sounds really nice. Like what I’ve been looking for.”

“We can be a bit rowdy, and sometimes, it gets pretty intense around here, but it’s all worth it. And that’s kind of what you get for working in a macho man’s world.”

“I had wondered about that,” Jamie said. “Lots of testosterone all in one place. It was such a relief to see you on my first day. I was so worried I would be the only girl around.”

“I was the only girl around for a while,” I said. “It had its perks. They all treated me like a princess until they realized I was more like them. Then they started treating me like one of the boys. Minus the roughhousing. Thank God.”

“Roughhousing?” Jamie asked, tilting her head to the side again.

I nodded. “Yep. Sometimes you’ll be lucky enough to have a show on your lunch break. Like you said, testosterone. One thing leads to another and all of a sudden, there’s a brawl. Just stand back and watch. They’ll get it out of their systems.”

Jamie swallowed and laughed nervously. “What have I gotten myself into?”

I wanted to tell her she had lucked out. Somehow, she had fallen into the best job she could ever get, in my opinion. In time, she would learn how fortunate she was. Once she got past Johnny’s abrasiveness and Axel’s sour attitude, she would see the shop for what it was.

Our home.