Flea
TWO WEEKS LATER, I was in the shop workin’ on a Miata (no shit), and tryin’ not to drag Grace into the back room and kiss her senseless. I hadn’t seen her outside of work for over a week, which had been slammed with almost more repairs than we could handle, so we’d had to forgo lunch together as well. Tack on the fact that tonight was church and tomorrow she had a dance class again, I wouldn’t see her until the weekend. The fact I was fuckin’ pissed about that was becomin’ a problem, but nevertheless, I couldn’t stop myself from being pissed about it.
I fuckin’ missed her.
It was irrational.
“Flea?” Grace called, and I leaned around the open hood of the car.
“Yeah?”
“Mr. Miller’s here to pick up his BMW.”
“Be right there,” I said.
I removed my gloves and washed my hands, then headed through the door to the lobby… where I found Mr. Miller fuckin’ all over Grace.
“You wanna back off my receptionist?” I growled. I almost said ‘my woman,’ but stopped myself.
The man had the good sense to step back, but he made the mistake of grinnin’ like an asshole. Grace scowled at me, her face pink and her eyes flashing.
I grabbed the clipboard off the counter and signed my name, then quickly went over everything I did to the douchebag’s car while Grace retrieved his keys.
“Do you have any questions?” I asked.
“I’m good.”
I set the invoice in front of him for him to sign, Grace handed him his keys and a copy of the receipt, and I hung around until he walked out the door.
“What the hell was that about?” Grace snapped once the douche was out of earshot.
“What?” I played dumb.
“You know exactly what,” she said.
“You have the right to feel safe in your work environment,” I said, improvising. “You shouldn’t get accosted by some asshat with a Bimmer.”
“Don’t you mean ‘Beemer’?”
“Bimmers’ are the cars, Beemers’ are the bikes.”
She widened her eyes, her full mouth forming an O, and it took every bit of me not to kiss her in the middle of the waiting area. “Really?”
“Yeah, babe, really.”
She bit her lip. “You know what I like about you?”
“What?”
“You don’t mansplain things. You just tell me the information and move on.”
I chuckled. “You know what I like about you?”
She raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Everything.”
She let out a quiet squeak and dropped her eyes to the floor. I grinned and squeezed her arm, heading back to the Miata, leaving her to think about what I’d just said. I knew Grace enough to know that she needed time, alone, to process.
Especially, when she’s caught off-guard.
Considering the fact I liked to catch her off guard, I had no problem giving her time to process. Particularly if she was startin’ to feel the same way I was. This thought brought me up short.
Shit!
I wasn’t fallin’ for her. I’d already fallen.
Fuck!
* * *
Grace
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
I watched Flea walk through the door and into the shop as I pondered this question. After the incident with my dad, he’d checked in with me every night, but timing over the past week had sucked and we hadn’t seen each other. I thought I was the only one who was affected by this fact.
Apparently, I wasn’t.
This was interesting. It was also unbelievably frightening. Ohmigod, this beautiful man liked everything about me. What was I supposed to do with that information? I’d never been here before. I wasn’t really into dating, and although I’d had some guy friends throughout my short life, I never let them get close (for obvious reasons). But Flea had broken down a hell of a lot of my defenses and I was terrified I was going to lose him. I mean, not that I had him, but I wanted to have him.
Shit.
I wanted him.
No, no, no, no. I can’t have him.
I bit my lip.
Why can’t I have him?
Oh, yeah, because I’m probably schizophrenic. Or bipolar.
I wondered if my child-bearing hips were on his radar. Probably. Because he was older than me and undoubtedly wanted kids. If we did get together and it was something lasting, we couldn’t have children. I wasn’t putting a child through what my mother put me through. Mental illness was hereditary.
I shook my head.
No way in hell.
I had to shut this down. I had to focus on my dancing. I accepted the position with PBC, even though it wasn’t exactly what I wanted, which meant my free time would be shrinking, so that would help.
“Gracie?”
I jumped and spun to see Hatch’s head peeking through the door.
“You okay?”
I nodded. “Yep. Why?”
“Called your name three times.”
“Oh, sorry. I was distracted.”
“Apparently.” He grinned. “I sent you an email with an updated parts list. Can you get those ordered today?”
“Yes. Of course. I’ll do that now.”
“Thanks.”
He stepped back into the shop and the door closed behind him. Since we had no customers at the moment, I pulled my stool up to the computer and began to enter the parts order. We used a fancy schmancy ordering system that went straight to wherever the little elves were that made bolts and nuts and carburetors, and it was pretty easy to navigate. But really all I knew was I put the order in and three days later, boxes would show up for me and Flea to add to the inventory.
I couldn’t believe I was looking forward to those boxes to arriving, so I could be alone with Flea in our parts office.
I shook my head. This was getting ridiculous.
“Grace!” Flea called, and I jumped… again.
“What is with y’all sneaking up on me,” I complained, spinning to face him.
He grinned. “Lunch. Let’s go.”
“I’m not done with the order.”
“You can finish after lunch.”
I rolled my eyes. “Flea…”
He stepped to the desk. “We’re goin’ to lunch, baby. Come on.”
I saved my spot, locked the computer, and slid off the stool. I didn’t bother to grab my purse, since he’d argue and insist on paying wherever we went anyway.
He held the door for me and I stepped through, flanking him as we headed next door to the Chinese restaurant. Once we took our seats, I settled my elbow on the table and my head in my palm, staring down at the menu while I continued to try and process his earlier statement.
“Why are you lookin’ at the menu?” Flea asked.
I raised my eyes to meet his. “Ummm… it’s generally used to figure out what the restaurant offers and what you’d like to eat,” I sassed.
He chuckled. “Oh, so you’re going to deviate from beef broccoli and chicken lo mein?”
“I might,” I retorted, and turned my gaze back to the menu.
The server arrived and Flea ordered his usual Kung Pao something, then fried rice. I shuddered. Rice. Gross. No. Ever since I watched the Lost Boys when I was thirteen, I haven’t been able to eat rice.
“Grace?”
“Hm?”
“You orderin’ something different?” Flea asked.
I smiled at the server. “Beef broccoli and chicken lo mein, please.”
“Shocker,” Flea said under his breath and I ignored him.
The young man took our menus and left the table and I made an all-out effort to ignore Flea. Hard to do when he was virtually close enough to smell… and oh, god, I wanted to sniff him hard.
“You freakin’?” he asked, leaning forward and tapping my arm.
I sighed. “So hard.”
He grinned. “You okay with me pickin’ you up from class tomorrow night so we can talk?”
I raised an eyebrow, finally taking a second to look at him… you know, directly into the sun. I shivered. If I wasn’t careful, I’d get burned. “I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you know?”
“Um, hello, freaking… so hard.”
He dropped his head back and laughed. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous.”
“Not helping me freak out any less, buddy.”
“Okay, baby. We’ll shelve it while we eat.”
“That would be appreciated.”
As promised, he guided the conversation to anything other than discussing feelings, and I started to relax. Not surprising. I was always relaxed around Flea. He made me feel safe.
We finished our food, Flea paid, then he led me out of the restaurant and pulled me around the corner between our two buildings.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“Need to kiss you, Grace. You gotta problem with that?”
I licked my lips, shaking my head. “Not in theory.”
He chuckled. “What does that mean?”
I sighed, gripping his cut. “I want to kiss you, too, but I feel like doing that will move us to a new place and I don’t think I’m ready to lose our current place. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah, baby, I get it. And I don’t give a fuck.”
“Well, I do,” I countered. “I give a lot of fucks. I couldn’t handle losing you as my friend.”
“Baby, you’re not gonna lose me.”
“How can you say that? You don’t know everything.”
“About what?”
“My life,” I whispered. “My mom was crazy. It’s hereditary.”
He stared at me like I was an alien… or crazy. I released his cut and tried to move around him, but his arm snaked around my waist and he pulled me close again.
“Grace. We’re not done.”
“I am.”
He grinned down at me. “Right now, I’m gonna kiss you. Tomorrow we’re gonna talk.”
“You’re going to kiss me and then I have to think about our conversation for more than twenty-four hours?” I hissed. “That’s insanity.”
Before I could say anything else, his lips landed on mine and I fisted my hands in his shirt, leaning into him and opening my mouth to deepen the kiss.
Ohmigod. I could drown in him if I wasn’t careful.
I broke the kiss and dropped my head to his chest. “No. Huh-uh. Nope.”
His hand slid to my neck and he kissed the top of my head. “Yeah.”
I shook my head and he chuckled.
“Baby, you need to lean in. This is happening.”
“Nope.”
He cupped my face, removing it from his chest and raising my chin. “You think after that kiss I’m gonna let you hide or run away?”
“Is that an option?” I met his eyes. “It’d be good if it was.”
He grinned. “No way in hell.”
I bit my lip. “I didn’t think so.”
“It’s gonna be okay, Grace.”
“I wish I believed you.”
“Biggest fear,” he said. “Let’s address that now. The rest we can work on as it comes.”
“My mom was crazy. Literally.”
“And you’re afraid you’re the same.”
I nodded.
“You been seen by a doctor?”
I nodded again.
“And?”
“I’m all-clear,” I whispered.
“Why don’t you believe that, then?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
He smiled gently. “You’re not mentally ill, honey. I’m confident of that.”
“Not now,” I said. “What if that changes?”
He stroked my cheek. “Quit borrowin’ trouble, Grace. Worry about now. Don’t rob the joy by worryin’ about what might happen. Shit, one of us could get hit by a bus tomorrow.”
I gasped. “Don’t say that! Don’t put that out into the universe.”
“Baby, neither of us is gonna get hit by a bus.”
I rapped my knuckles on his forehead.
He rubbed his head. “Ow, what the fuck was that for?”
“I was knocking on wood.”
He raised an eyebrow, then burst out laughing. “God damn, Grace, you’re fuckin’ hilarious.”
Before I could scoff, his lips were on mine again and I was once again distracted by his tongue and what it was currently doing to my mouth. God, I liked it. I liked it a lot.
This time, he broke the kiss and dropped his forehead to mine. “Not givin’ you up, Grace. We’ll talk more about what that looks like tomorrow, but I want this.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m willing to talk.”
“Look at me when you tell me that.”
I wrinkled my nose, slowly opening my eyes. “You’re kind of bossy, did you know that?”
He grinned. “Little bit.”
I rolled my eyes. “We’ll talk tomorrow. But I want chocolate and wine, and I want to be in my fat pants when we do it.”
“I’ll make that happen.”
“That’d be good.”
He kissed me once more, then we headed back into the shop.