CHAPTER 9
MACKENNA
For the past couple days, I’d accurately portrayed the personality of a stale piece of bread.
My intention was to come across so bland and boring that Jimmy would find me completely uninteresting and decide to leave me alone.
Instead, my efforts only seemed to spur him on.
He seemed to enjoy getting a rise out of me and, as much as it pissed me off, sometimes it got my heart racing—and not in a bad way.
Since ignoring him wasn’t working I’d have to try a different strategy, because I wasn’t sure if I could handle two months of his hotness showing up on my doorstep.
Maybe if I was super talkative, he’d become annoyed with me.
I could do talkative. I could be annoying. Having a younger sister ensured that I was refined in the art of getting on someone’s nerves.
I wasn’t used to having visitors, so I’d been surprised when I heard a knock at my door this morning. I didn’t expect to see Jimmy standing there, looking positively lickable.
And although the sunglasses hid his eyes, I could feel his gaze on my body. It was then that I realized I was still in my PJs. The very PJs I wouldn’t be caught dead in. I made him wait on the porch while I changed into rose-print leggings and a red T-shirt.
Living up to his promise, Jimmy promptly removed the bumper balls, which were currently hanging out in the glove compartment.
Now I was sitting in the driver’s seat with the car in neutral as we slowly made the three-block journey to Hank’s Auto Shop. It was my job to steer while Jimmy pushed it from behind.
I had no idea why I agreed to this, but I regretted it already.
Glancing in the rearview mirror, I admired the way his muscular arms were on full display, those tattoos on his left arm standing out more with the sheen of sweat on his skin.
At least he was wearing a shirt today. A small mercy for my out-of-control hormones.
As we made it to the sparse business district of Tolson, we passed the small post office on the right and two taverns on the left. And that was basically all there was to see. A couple hundred more yards down the road, and we’d be leaving town.
We neared the shop, and I turned the wheel to park the car in the gravel lot. In addition to auto repair, Hank’s also offered a moving service with their transport company, but the semi-truck that normally sat at the side of the building was gone. Bright sunlight reflected off the white concrete exterior, making my head pound.
Squinting my eyes, I brought my hand up to shield against the glare. Before I knew what was happening, Jimmy was leaning through the driver’s side window, placing his sunglasses on my face.
“What are you doing?” I asked, surprised by the gesture.
He shrugged. “Looked like you needed them.”
Thankful, I pushed them up on my nose. “But what about you?”
“Nah, I’m okay,” he said, then his lips curled up in a slow, naughty smirk. “With your reclusive tendencies, I was afraid your retinas couldn’t handle the light.”
I didn’t bother to retort with the fact that I’d spent many hours outside with him and never went up in flames.
Because today wasn’t a day for playing games.
Today was the day I would finally get Jimmy off my back.
Instead of narrowing my eyes like I wanted to, I shot him an overly-sweet smile, and the look of confusion on his face was worth the energy it took to restrain myself.
As we stepped through the open garage door at the front, Hank Evans came out from behind a small counter. Although I’d never met him, I had seen him around. His shop had been a constant presence in this town for over a decade.
He was a good-looking man for being in his mid-forties but, just like me, he was somewhat of a hermit. People in Tolson didn’t know much about Hank other than the fact that he was a widower who ran a good business and didn’t get out much.
“Jimmy, right?” He extended his arm and the guys shook hands.
“That’s right,” Jimmy replied. “I met you last Christmas at my grandma’s house.”
Hank patted his stomach. “I’m still thinking about her food. I hope she doesn’t mind me showing up at her door again this year.”
Jimmy laughed. “I’m sure she’d love it.”
The older man peered over at the station wagon. “Did you push that thing all the way here?”
“It was only a few blocks.” Jimmy shrugged. “The A/C stopped working a while ago, which I can live with, but it wouldn’t start this morning.”
Hank circled the car and rubbed a hand over his short hair. I had no idea how he wasn’t overheating in the gray coveralls, but he didn’t seem fazed by the weather. “Your tires seem to be in good shape. You two did a good job getting it here.” His gray eyes cut to me, and he smiled. “And you’re the partner in crime?”
My lips tilted up as I shook my head. “No crimes here. I’m Beverly’s neighbor.”
“What’s your name?”
“Mackenna,” I said, hoping he didn’t recognize me.
“Didn’t you go to school with my boys?”
Reluctantly, I nodded. “They were a year ahead of me.”
I’d never had any classes with Colton Evans or Travis Hawkins, but everyone knew they were like brothers even though they weren’t related. They had already graduated when ‘the incident’ happened, but I was sure they’d heard about it since they stayed local to work at the shop.
Thankfully, Hank didn’t bring it up. “Well, I’m glad to see you’re back. Tolson needs more young folks.” He turned to Jimmy. “I’ll take a look at your car today. We’re not too busy, so I should be able to get it fixed. Why don’t you come back tomorrow morning?”
“Sounds like a plan.” He handed the keys to Hank. “I just have to get something out of the back seat, and we’ll be out of your hair.”
After grabbing his laptop, Jimmy and I started the walk back. As we passed Buck’s Tavern, I remembered my mission to bug the crap out of him, and it made me a little giddy to turn the tables.
Putting a skip in my step, I injected a cringe-worthy level of cheerfulness into my voice. “What’s your favorite color?”
A little stunned by my peppy tone, he looked over at me like I’d just slapped him. “Uh, black,” he replied, pointing to his shirt. “What’s yours?”
“Purple. If you could listen to only one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?”
Eyebrows furrowing, he seemed confused by my randomness but answered me anyway. “That’s a difficult one. I guess ‘Dream On’ by Aerosmith.”
“Not a bad choice,” I told him. “I would pick ‘Barbie Girl’.”
“Really?” he asked skeptically. “That’s an…interesting selection.”
Pressing my lips together, I suppressed a laugh. Messing with Jimmy was as much fun as I thought it would be.
“We can listen to it when we get back to my house,” I suggested brightly. “That is, unless you have other things to do…”
“Nope, I’m free all day. That reminds me about the second favor,” he said with a smile. “I need to use your Wi-Fi.”
“What’s wrong with yours?”
“Grandma doesn’t have internet.”
“Seriously? Talk about living in the Dark Ages.”
He chuckled. “Tell me about it. She still has a landline telephone.”
“Landlines are practically ancient.” I snickered and pointed at his wrist. “And speaking of ancient, you still wear a watch?”
Holding up his hand, he tapped the round face a couple times. “It doesn’t work anymore, unless it’s 5:00. Then it’s right twice a day.”
“It’s 5:00 somewhere, right?” I forced an obnoxious giggle.
Jimmy gave me an odd look, but started belting the chorus of ‘It’s Five O’clock Somewhere.’ His singing was so loud, he frightened a cat that had been lounging on the front stoop of the house we passed. The orange tabby jumped at least three feet in the air, then took off into some bushes.
That time I laughed for real. “You got a thing for Jimmy Buffet? That’s the second time I’ve caught you rocking one of his songs since I met you.”
“Yeah, he’s got some good ones.” He smirked. “And at least I’m wearing clothes this time.”
I felt a blush creep up from my chest to my cheeks at the reminder of the way his ass looked in those briefs the first time I saw him.
“So why do you wear a broken watch?” Grabbing his wrist, I tried to ignore that electric zing in my fingers when I touched his skin.
“It was my grandpa’s. He gave it to me right before he passed away. Even though it stopped working a few years ago, I still like to wear it.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, feeling like a giant asshole. “That’s a pretty good reason.”
Jimmy shrugged. “I’m glad you asked.”
Our eyes locked, and I was suddenly very aware of the fact that I hadn’t let go of his arm yet. My eyes traveled up his skin, taking in the intricate floral design and bright colors of the tattoos.
Then I realized we were pretty much standing in the middle of Main Street, holding hands. I released the grasp I had on his arm.
“Hey, wanna hear a joke?”
He smiled. “Sure.”
“What do you tell a cat when it asks you what time it is?”
“I don’t know, what?”
“Right meeeoow,” I answered, drawing out the cat sound.
Much to my surprise, Jimmy actually found it funny. Laughing, he rubbed at his lower lip with his thumb, drawing my attention to his mouth.
Did he have any idea how sexy the action was?
He probably had no clue. Jimmy was just one of those people who had natural, effortless sex appeal. He didn’t walk—he sauntered. That was the best way for me to describe the way he moved.
“Why flowers?” I gestured to the ink running up and down his arm.
“Peonies,” he responded. “They’re Grandma’s favorite.”
And damn if that didn’t warm my heart a little.
Suddenly, I felt a strong swooping sensation in my abdomen right below my sternum, and I wondered if I was having heart palpitations. I’d had this feeling several times over the past few days when Jimmy was around, and it took me a few seconds to realize what it was.
Butterflies.
Jimmy gave me butterflies.
No one had ever given me that feeling before. I’d heard about it in movies and books, but thought it wasn’t real or that something was wrong with me.
There wasn’t anything wrong with me.
Apparently, all I needed was Jimmy to show me that.
But this new knowledge only made me more determined to sever whatever connection we had, so I did the most incredibly awkward thing possible. I grabbed the skin on his elbow with my fingers and gave it a yank.
“Ow!” Jimmy jumped away from me while rubbing his arm. “What’d you do that for?”
“I pinched your wenis.”
“My what?”
“Your wenis. It’s the loose skin over your elbow,” I explained, and as if that wasn’t awkward enough I said the word one more time to drive the point home. “Wenis.”
He threw his head back and laughed. It took him a full block to get himself under control, and the sound only exacerbated the fluttering in my chest.
Who was this guy? The rough-looking exterior and ornery attitude didn’t seem to match who he was on the inside. No one got a permanent mark of their grandma’s favorite flower unless they had a good heart. And his grandpa’s watch? Who knew Jimmy Johnson was such a sentimental softie?
But I knew things weren’t always as they seemed. Anyone could pretend to be something they weren’t for a short amount of time. Some talented people could do it for years.
I wasn’t sure which side of Jimmy was real.
As we stepped onto my front porch, he headed for my door.
“We can just do it out here.” I stopped him, motioning to the bench swing. Having him inside my home—my sanctuary—seemed too intimate.
“I’ll need a plug for my charger.” He held up the black cord.
“Lucky for you, I have an outlet out here.” I moved a potted fern aside and plugged it in.
He shrugged and took a seat. After getting Jimmy connected to my Wi-Fi, I sat down next to him, purposely moving into his personal space.
Looking suspicious, he gave me the side-eye. I sent him a cheerful grin. With a small smile, he shook his head and went back to clicking and typing on the keyboard.
“Whatcha doin’?” I peered over Jimmy’s shoulder, blatantly invading his privacy.
He didn’t seem to mind. Moving his head closer to mine, he turned the screen so I could see the website to The Ohio State University.
“Getting signed up for my fall classes. What should I take?”
I let out a scoff. “You’re asking me? I wouldn’t know the first thing about it.”
“Sociology 101 sounds interesting, but it might be hard,” he went on, scrolling down to the class description. “I’ll have to take it at some point anyway, so I might as well get it over with.”
“Sure.” I shrugged, not having much to add to the conversation.
“Speech 101 might be cool.”
I gasped. “Isn’t that public speaking?”
He nodded. “Yeah. What’s wrong with that?”
Giving an exaggerated shudder, I shook my head. “That’s pretty much one of my biggest fears.”
“No way,” he said, shocked. “You performed for a living.”
“I got booed off stage for a living,” I corrected. “Stage fright is no joke.”
His expression was soft when he glanced at me. “But I bet when you overcame it, you were awesome up there. A real force to be reckoned with.”
I could tell he wasn’t bullshitting. He really believed that, and his blind faith in me made my stomach do another somersault.
“Believe me, I don’t belong in the limelight,” I told him before changing the subject. “How many classes are you taking?”
He went back to his laptop. “Four will put me at a full schedule. I could take five to try to catch up, but I don’t want to overload myself. I really need to do well this time.”
“You didn’t do well last time?”
Something a lot like regret flashed across his features. “No.”
“Oh. That’s too bad,” I said quietly. “I’m sure it’ll be great.”
“I appreciate your vote of confidence.”
“What’s your major?”
“Undecided. Maybe something in business?” With a shake of his head, Jimmy made a sound of frustration. “It was so much easier when I was a kid. I thought when the time came I’d have the answer, that I’d just automatically know what I wanted to be.”
“I know what you mean,” I said, dropping the obnoxious act I’d been trying so hard to pull off. “I always thought I wanted to be a big star. But the idea of it was a lot different than the reality. I figured out my path, and you’ll find yours.”
When Jimmy looked at me, there was warmth in his eyes. “I hope so. Thanks for saying that.”
“You’re welcome.” We smiled at each other for a few seconds before he turned back to the screen.
His fingers flew over the keyboard and I stayed quiet, letting him sign up for the rest of his classes in peace.
Since my legs were too short to reach the floorboards, I tucked my feet under my thighs. Jimmy’s sneakers pushed off the porch, causing us to sway back and forth.
Sitting here with him was surprisingly calming. Closing my eyes, I enjoyed the warm breeze against my skin. I got a whiff of something pleasant. Clean and fresh. Not quite masculine like cologne. More like laundry detergent or deodorant. Breathing in deep, I let myself imagine what it would be like to bury my face in Jimmy’s T-shirt and take a big sniff.
I was jarred from my shirt-smelling fantasies by the sound of the laptop shutting, and was almost disappointed when Jimmy stood up to leave.
“All done,” he announced. “Thanks for letting me bum off your Wi-Fi. Saved me a trip into town.”
“You can use it anytime,” I offered. “You have my password now, so next time you won’t have to come over.”
Nodding, he shuffled his feet before walking away, and the sudden shyness was unlike him. Stopping halfway down the steps, he turned back with a smile. “I’ll see you around.”
“’Bye, Jimmy.” I didn’t believe him. After today it was safe to say he wouldn’t want to see me again for a while, if ever.
Thinking I had accomplished my mission, I watched his long, steady strides until he disappeared into the house next door.
Sighing, I went inside and got a bottle of water from the fridge. As the cold liquid hit my tongue, I thought about my humiliating attempt to get my hot-as-hell neighbor to run for the hills.
I pestered him with the most annoying questions ever, made fun of his deceased grandpa’s watch, told a lame joke, and molested his arm in public.
I touched his wenis.
He probably thought I was a complete whack-job now, and would most likely spend the rest of his time here trying to stay away from me.
I should’ve been happy that my plan worked, but I couldn’t help feeling a little sad.
Picking up my guitar, I tried to find contentment while ignoring the hollow feeling in my chest. It was then that I realized I still had Jimmy’s sunglasses on my face.
Well, crap. Maybe he’d be back sooner than I thought.