Chapter Ten
Clint
The moment I opened my eyes, I knew I had slept through my damn alarm. The sun was shining in my window—it wasn’t the usual predawn darkness. Shit. This was the first time I had overslept since moving in with Jo and Nana. I would have to see them in the morning.
Seeing Nana was fine, but seeing Jo was going to be hard as hell. Last night, I’d wanted to kiss her...and more, to be fucking honest. When I kissed her cheek, it was like a damn jump start through my entire body. I wanted so much more with her, right then and right there. Fuck. At least she did the sensible thing and told me no. I was ready to pick her up and bring her to my bed like a fucking caveman.
I threw on my clothes and picked up my shoes. It was only seven—maybe they weren’t awake yet. I made my way to the kitchen. I could write Jo her note and get the hell out of the house before Nana and Jo got up.
But as I got closer to the kitchen, I heard voices.
“Didn’t you get your little yellow note today?” Nana was saying, probably to Jo, since she was the only other person in the house.
Her little yellow note? Then it clicked. The note I wrote Jo every morning. I leaned up against the wall that led to the kitchen. Yeah sure, I was eavesdropping, but I wasn’t quite ready to bust in there and see the woman who didn’t want to kiss me last night.
“No.” Jo’s voice was flat and quiet, like she was disappointed. Shit. I guess she looked forward to our notes as much as I did. That was nice at least.
“How was your date, dear?” Nana continued. “Did you have a fun time?”
“I had an amazing time.” Jo’s voice wasn’t as disappointed this time. “We had a lovely dinner and dessert.”
Damn. Now I felt really bad for listening in on the conversation that wasn’t meant for me. That was it. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to make myself known.
“Good morning, ladies,” I said, stepping into the kitchen.
“Oh!” Jo made a startled noise, then dropped a bag of coffee grounds all over the floor.
“Let me help you,” I offered, reaching for the broom.
“No, no, I got it.” She took the broom from my hand and refused to look at me. “Go sit with Nana and I’ll make some breakfast.”
“Well, you’re here late,” Nana observed as I sat at the table. “Shouldn’t you be at work by now?”
“I stayed up last night. I got a new parts catalog for the shop that had a lot of cool gadgets.” I’d flipped through the damn catalog for an hour before going to bed. It’d taken every last shred of control I had not to knock on Jo’s door and kiss her. The way she felt pressed against me had been perfect.
“Did you hear Jo come in from her date?” Nana asked, reaching for her cup of coffee. “She had a lovely time, didn’t you, Jo?”
Thud. Jo muttered a curse from behind the fridge door.
“I’m glad to hear that.” I tried not to laugh out loud. Grabbing my boots, I headed for the door. “I think I’m gonna skip breakfast and head out. I’ll be back home in time for Jo’s class.”
Once out of the house, I broke a grin. At least she had a good time. I had fun playing with her just a little in the kitchen too. After hopping on my bike, I headed toward the garage.
As I pulled into the lot, I noticed all three customer bay doors were open. It was nearly eight and we were already busy. People dropped off their cars in the morning and the prospects were already hard at work on oil changes and basic maintenance. I walked past tools and equipment until I got to the back of the shop, where I housed the Lambo. She was far too pretty to sit out in a parking lot getting pounded with rain.
“Hey, man.” Roach came out of the office as I parked my bike. “The white Chevy needs a new timing chain. They brought her in for an oil change, but it’s been forever. The oil is like paste and the damn timing is just rattling around.”
“Yeah.” I nodded as I looked over the schedule. “That’s what happens when they don’t change their oil for years. Did you call the customer and tell them the issue?”
“I thought I would leave that task to you, boss.” Roach grinned, emphasizing the last word.
I laughed. Right. The hard jobs were all mine, and I loved it.
“Yeah, I got it. Can it just be tightened?” I asked.
Roach and I discussed how to fix the Chevy’s timing problems before I went back to the office. I needed to work up a quote for the customer. This was exactly what I had dreamed my whole life. My own shop.
I spent most of my day working on customer vehicles before I could get to the Lambo. I called in Skeeter, our resident artist and body shop guy.
“I’ve gotta cover up the front end without damaging it,” I explained. “The rounded front fender is one of the hallmarks of the Strosek model. If the cops see it while we’re driving, they’ll know it’s not street legal.”
“Damn, the whole front end needs to be covered?” Skeet asked in his part southern, part European accent. I knew he was Cajun, but it always surprised me. “What about them funny little mirrors?”
“Yeah, they’re pretty weird looking, aren’t they?” I showed him a picture of a couple different model cars. “If we can square off the front fender at least, it can pass for a Gallardo model. I’m guessing most cops don’t know the body models that well. It would be too much of a pain to change out the mirrors.”
“No one knows the body models as well as you.” Skeeter laughed. “I guess we can modify the front with some foam for the drive to the customer’s, but I need to come up with something good to keep it on there. It’s a long damn drive and our usual adhesive won’t cut it.”
“Long drive?” I frowned. Fuck. This must have been what Tate was talking about the other day in Chapel. “Where are we delivering this?”
“Reno, Nevada.” He shook his head. “Right through Silver Souls’ territory, and they ain’t gonna like that.”
I let out a low whistle. Fuck. The Silver Souls were a smaller club, but formidable. They certainly would not like us doing business in Reno. They owned the whole damn city.
“Maybe we should trailer it all the way down there.” I crossed my arms and looked at the gorgeous machine. Gluing foam on it might ruin the finish. “Would take us forever to get through the Silver Souls turf, though.”
“It’s a shit job.” Skeeter shrugged. “Tell me what you wanna do, so I can get started. I’m still working on the paperwork for the registration and all.”
I nodded. This was definitely the hardest job I’d ever done—and I was gonna have to do it right through another MC’s territory.
“I’ll let you know. I gotta talk to Tate first.” Damn, this job was a fuck load more difficult than it should be, but I was up for the challenge.
“See you at Family Night tomorrow?” Skeeter asked, grabbing his backpack full of paint and color samples. “It’s at the clubhouse this time.”
“Naw.” I shrugged. Family Night was when the guys had a party and all the old ladies socialized. “I never go to those things.”
“You got your nana living with you now. She’s family—you should bring her.” Skeeter rolled his eyes. “You ain’t no swinging bachelor anymore, kid. I’ll see you there.”