Chapter 1
“Eli.”
Eli carefully set the Superbird’s water pump on the ground and looked at up at Shane. He hadn’t seen him since that Monday night in the hospital and it was Thursday morning now. One of the other guys had told him that Shane had messaged him saying that he was taking a few days off and that Eli was in charge.
Having been given command, Eli switched the other guys to his jobs and began an inventory on everything that the Superbird needed. He’d gotten back to the client with a list on Tuesday and had been given the go ahead to do whatever he needed to do. Today was waterpump day and it was a pain in the ass. He’d spent most of the morning scraping the old gasket away so that no debris could get into the new system.
“Come into the office for a second,” Shane said.
Eli followed him in and sat down in the chair in front of the desk. He took a deep breath and waited for Shane to rip him a new one. He knew that he deserved it.
“Riley’s home,” Shane said instead.
Eli’s breath went out in a whoosh. That wasn’t where he’d expected his friend to start.
“That’s good,” he said cautiously.
“Yeah. Turned out that she had a minor concussion, but as long as she takes it easy for a few days, it won’t be a problem and she’ll be fine. She’s resting up on the couch today.”
“Glad to hear it.” And he was. Some part of him that he hadn’t even known was tense relaxed at the news that she was going to be all right.
Shane took a breath. “Eli, I wouldn’t have cared about you and her if you’d just told me the truth. I don’t get why you lied.”
Eli rubbed the back of his neck. “You don’t? Come on, Shane, how the hell was I supposed to tell you that I had a one night stand with your sister?”
“It’s not like I was gonna ask for details,” Shane said wryly. “But keeping me in the loop would have been nice. What did you think I’d do to you?”
“Fire me,” Eli answered promptly. That was certainly what he’d been expecting when he sat down. “At the very best. At the very worst, I figured you’d try to kick my ass.”
Shane stared at him. “Why the hell would I do that?”
Eli looked at him in confusion. Had Shane not been paying attention? “Because I fucked your sister,” he said slowly. “Back home, that would have gotten me shot.” He wasn’t exaggerating. There were women no one touched and the boss’s sisters were always in that category.
“Yeah? Last time I checked, she was a grown damn woman and you don’t live that kind of life anymore. You know that you can be honest with me.”
Eli sat in silence for a second or two, simply processing things. You don’t live that kind of life anymore. That was true, and he’d been able to feel it when it came to not drinking himself to death and to earning an honest day’s wages. Why hadn’t he thought that when it came to Riley? Maybe things could have been different if he had.
“You’re really not mad about this?” he demanded.
Shane sighed and shook his head. “I’m really not mad. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pissed off that you didn’t tell me, but only because you knew how worried I was about her. But I’m not mad about you two having a...relationship. If that’s what you’re going for.”
“I don’t think it is,” Eli said honestly. “And it’s not because I don’t want to,” he hurried on. “I just think that she needs stronger people than me around right now. And she probably needs some more time to get over the jackass who dumped her.”
“It probably wouldn’t hurt,” Shane agreed. “But...and this is the last time I’ll mention anything to do with the two of you...I think she really cares about you. Just putting that out there.”
Eli didn’t quite manage to hold back a grin at that, but he didn’t ask for more information. The possibility was good enough. “Okay. Thanks.”
“Now let’s talk about why you think I couldn’t kick your ass if I wanted to.”
Eli laughed in relief. “Come on, man. You grew up in the suburbs. I’d own you.”
Shane shook his head. “If you keep up with this disrespect, then maybe I’ll rethink asking you to run the shop for a few weeks.”
“What?”
“I’m gonna take some time off so I can be home with Riley. I thought that you could probably handle everything here.”
Eli blinked in surprise. “Yeah, I’d be happy to.”
****
Three weeks later, Eli looked up from the supply order he was putting in to see Riley Harris standing at the office door.
“Hey there,” he said. “Have a seat.”
She glanced around. “Wow. I think I actually could.”
The teetering stacks of supply orders, work orders, invoices, and general notes were gone. The two chairs across from the desk were cleaned off as well.
“Did you get filing cabinets?” she asked, glancing at the side of the room.
“No,” Eli said. “They were always here, I just excavated them. And then cleaned out ten years of crap from them.”
He wasn’t sure why he was talking about office work with her, but he was glad that she didn’t want anything too intellectual from him because he couldn’t stop staring at her. Her outfit was simple, jeans with a small hole in the right knee, a plain white tee shirt, and a pair of scuffed sneakers, but it looked damn good on her. She’d left her long curly hair loose and he wanted to twine it around his fingers, bury his face in it, and breathe in her scent.
She started to sit and then pushed her hands down into the pockets of her jeans. “I was wondering if you’d like to get some coffee, actually,” she said. “I know that you’re probably busy, so I won’t keep you long.”
Eli thought privately that she could keep him as long as she wanted. Instead he nodded and walked around the desk. “Sounds good to me. Want to walk over to Betty’s?”
“Sure.”
Eli walked beside her down the sidewalk and held the door for her when they got to the small coffee shop.
“Morning, Eli!” the waitress called. “Usual?”
“Thanks,” he called back, taking a seat in a booth.
When Sarah saw that he wasn’t alone, she came over with a smile. “And what can I get you?”
“Just coffee,” Riley said. “Cream and sugar, please.”
“Sure thing.” Sarah bustled away again.
“You come here a lot?” Riley asked.
“Just about every day,” Eli answered. “The food’s good too, if you decide that you want anything.”
Riley shook her head and lapsed into silence. While they waited for their coffee, she drew nervous circles on the tabletop with her finger. They grew more and more frantic until he caught her hand and she smiled up at him.
“Sorry.”
“I don’t mind. I just don’t want you freaking out the whole time,” he said.
“That’s kind of hard to do,” she admitted, pushing her hair back over her shoulders and giving a small smile.
He gave her a smile in return. He’d missed her so much. “It’s just me. Relax.”
“It’s not easy,” she said, leaning back so that Sarah could put the coffee down in front of her. “I’m about to do something I hate doing.”
Eli’s heart sped up. She was leaving. Or seeing someone new. Or maybe getting back together with her asshole of an ex. He’d probably had enough time to realize how stupid he’d been when he’d let her go.
“Eli,” Riley began, taking a deep breath. “What you said when I was in the hospital...you were right.”
He stared at her. “Say what?”
“Don’t make me say it again,” she said with a joking grimace. “I was...I was really messed up and I was doing a lot of really stupid things. I didn’t want to talk to Shane because I knew that what I was doing would disappoint him, so I told myself that he didn’t need to know anything about my life. And I really hurt him right along with screwing myself over.”
Eli nodded. “I’ve been there.”
“I think I’m doing better now,” she said and he was happy to hear some confidence in her voice. “I haven’t had a drink since I came home from the hospital and I’m planning to keep it that way for a while. I think that it’s probably better to step back while I’m still in control.”
“A good plan.”
“I’m also going to keep living with Shane. And I have a few freelance jobs lined up. It’s not full time work, but it’s something to keep me busy.” Riley smiled. “And out of trouble, which is a bigger issue than I thought it would be.”
“That sounds even better.”
“Eli...I did a lot of things that I regret when I came back.”
He nodded, bracing himself to be told that he was at best a bad memory.
“You’re the one thing that I don’t want to change,” she said.
His heart thudded in his chest. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’m glad it was a guy like you that I...well, that I went home with.”
“It could have been a lot worse,” he agreed.
Riley nodded emphatically. “Yes. But that’s not what I mean. It’s not just because you’re not crazy or a drunk or anything like that. It’s because...well...I like you. I don’t know if you’d be interested, but I’d love to maybe start seeing you again. It probably wouldn’t be anything serious,” she hurried on. “I mean, I’m not even sure that I’m ready for that, but--”
“Hey.” He touched her hand to get her to stop talking. “I’d love to start seeing you again.”
She grinned and bit her lower lip. “Really?”
“Any reason why not?” Eli challenged.
“I kind of...” she trailed off and then met his eyes with that innate honesty that he appreciated so much. “I used you, Eli.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “But I think you can probably make it up to me.”
Her eyes sparkled. “I certainly plan to do my best.”
“See?” he said. “There’s that sexy responsible side shining through.”
When she threw her head back and laughed with genuine joy, he thought that she’d never been more attractive. “Come on,” he said. “I gotta get back to work.” And he wanted to kiss her, but he thought that he probably shouldn’t do it in the middle of the diner.
Outside the door to the shop, he ducked his head and pressed his lips to hers. It had been much too long since he’d had her in his arms. She parted her lips for him and moaned against his mouth. She’d missed him just as much as he missed her.
Eli thought, as he pulled her against his chest and kissed her more deeply, that she might not be ready to be serious about him, but it didn’t change how he felt about her. He planned to do everything he could to make sure that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.