Epilogue
“I don’t think that’s right,” Riley said, leaning over and watching Eli work.
“Do I bug you when you’re computer programing?” he asked, putting all his muscle into trying to budge a bolt.
“No, but that’s mainly because I design software,” she said with a laugh.
“Whatever,” he grunted as the bolt finally came free. Unfortunately, with the pressure he’d had on it, he skinned his knuckles against the engine block. “Shit,” he muttered.
“See?” Riley asked. “I told you.”
“Don’t you have paperwork to do?” he asked pointedly.
She filled in and did the books when Shane was out of town and Eli was busy with a lot of cars. Like now.
“Nope,” she said. “I’m all caught up.”
He glanced over his shoulder. There were four other cars that he hadn’t even touched today all seeming to watch him reproachfully.
“Well good for you,” he said sarcastically.
“I am pretty proud of myself,” Riley agreed, grinning at him.
Before he could get irritated with her though, she moved around behind him, wrapped her arms around him and leaned against his back, stretching onto her tiptoes to kiss the back of his neck. That always sent shivers straight down his spine and she knew it.
Eli turned, catching her around the waist and lowering his lips to hers. “I’ve got a lot to do today,” he said against her delicious mouth.
“A break never hurt anybody,” she murmured back.
He slid his hands down her back, cupping her ass and lifting her up so that she could wrap her legs around him. Then he lost himself in their kiss and in the way that she responded to him.
“Could you two do that on your own time?” Shane asked from the door.
“I’m on break,” Eli said, reluctantly setting Riley back onto her feet again. “And I thought you were picking up a car.”
“I was, but the guy rescheduled. Wants me to go out there tomorrow instead. So I came by like a good boss, to help my beleaguered employees and I find them making out in front of the whole garage.”
Eli and Riley looked around at all the emptiness.
“No one else is even here,” Riley pointed out.
“I’m here!” Shane protested.
“Well, we didn’t know that,” Riley replied.
“You would have heard me come in if you hadn’t been making out,” Shane pointed out. “And I brought you people coffee.”
“You were the one who said this was okay,” Eli reminded him, slinging his arm over Riley’s shoulders and pulling her against his side.
“I’m revising my statement. This is only okay in the privacy of your own home.”
Eli grinned. “Come here, I’ve gotta show you something.”
The two of them were going over the restoration plan for the next car the Superbird client had sent their way when he heard Riley’s cell phone ring. He glanced up and saw her face go slightly paler than usual just before she answered the call. Then she walked out of the garage.
Eli wasn’t the suspicious type, or rather he tried hard not to be. He and Riley had been seeing each other for nearly six months and he knew that she cared about him. But she hadn’t said anything about taking things to the next level. She hadn’t even said that they were exclusive, even though he knew she wasn’t seeing anyone else and he sure as hell wasn’t. There wasn’t another woman in the world that made him feel like Riley Harris did.
“What’s up?” Shane asked.
“Huh?”
“You just stopped talking in the middle of a sentence,” Shane pointed out. “One minute we’re regearing a rear end and then we were staring off into space.”
“Sorry,” Eli said quickly, getting back to the plan.
At the end of the day though, it was still playing in the back of his mind. Riley hadn’t said anything to him about the call and that in itself was strange. They were sitting on his back porch and she was glancing down at her phone even now. He saw her tap out a rapid reply to something and then cleared his throat.
“Who called today?”
She stared guiltily. “What?”
“I saw you take a call in the garage.”
“Oh...it was...” Riley sighed. “Eli, can we just not talk about this right now?”
“Why?”
She came over and sat down in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder. “Because I’m confused and I just want to think it all out before I talk about it.”
Eli sat stiffly. “Are you talking to another guy?” Say no, say no.
She caught her breath. “I...not...exactly.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Look, I said that I didn’t want to talk about this!”
“And I think that I deserve to know if you’re talking to someone else!” Eli shifted Riley off of his lap and stood up. A look at her face told him everything he needed to know. And it hurt more than he’d ever thought it could. “Who is it?”
“It’s not...it’s not like we’re really talking,” Riley said. “Yesterday, Mike sent me a text.”
“Who the hell is...wait. Mike? Your ex, Mike?”
She looked down. “Yes. He said that he wanted to talk because I left so suddenly. We never really got a chance to--”
“You left because he wanted to move another woman into your house,” Eli reminded her. “What do you even have to say to him?”
“I don’t know!” she burst out. “I just...I wanted to know how it all worked out.”
Eli leaned back against the deck railing and crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay. And how’s his life without you in it?”
“He said it didn’t work out with her.”
Eli snorted. “Of course it didn’t.”
“He said that he misses me.”
“Of course he does!” Eli said impatiently. “But that doesn’t tell me a damn thing about how you feel about him.”
“I...I don’t know,” Riley said again. “I said that I didn’t want to talk about this right now, Eli!”
He took a deep breath. “Okay. You don’t have to talk. I’m gonna say my piece since he’s saying his and then leave you to think about it.”
“Eli--”
“Just listen, Riley. Please.”
She nodded and he said, “We’ve been seeing each other for nearly six months and I haven’t pushed you for a damn thing. I’m not going to, either. But I’m gonna say this. I love you, Riley.”
She caught her breath, staring up at him.
“I can’t imagine my life without you in it,” he went on, his voice going rough. “But I want to know that you’re mine. I want to love someone who loves me back. And if you’re not ready for that, then maybe we’re not in the same place.”
Riley stood up and walked out. Eli sank back down to the chair, his heart aching and his throat tight. For all he knew, that would be the last time he saw her.
Close to midnight, he was still sitting there, even though he knew that he needed to go inside and go to bed. He had to be at work in the morning and there was no reason to keep sitting where he was. He was just standing up when a small figure appeared in the doorway.
“Riley?”
When she stepped out onto the porch, he could tell that she’d been crying. He couldn’t help but reach for her. She shook her head and stepped back. His heart sank.
“I have to say something,” Riley said, swallowing hard.
Eli braced himself and nodded.
“I love you too,” she whispered.
“Wait, what?”
“I love you too.” This time she started to cry as she said it and she flung herself into his arms.
He wrapped her into an embrace and let her cry.
“You really do?” he asked when she finally stopped.
Riley nodded. “I never would have been happy with him. Not waiting for him to get tired and trade me in again. You...you’ve been everything that I ever wanted in a relationship. You’ve been patient and sweet and funny and you...you love me.” She sounded amazed by that, but she didn’t give him time to address it before she hurried on.
“And I thought that making it official would make it like things were with Mike and I didn’t want that. I never really wanted him, Eli, I swear. I just...I only talked to him because of the way things ended and because of how long we’d been together. One conversation was enough to know that it wasn’t ever going to be good between us again. And I know that I’m rambling and I’m scared that if I stop, you’ll tell me to go and I love you and I don’t want to lose you.” She stopped and took a shaky breath, wiping tears off of her cheeks as he looked down at the deck.
Eli put his hand under her chin, tilting her face up to his. “Of course I love you,” he said with a grin of pure relief. “I only have one question.”
Riley nodded, but she still looked nervous. “Go ahead.”
“Does this make us official now?”
She didn’t answer, but he considered the kiss...and what followed it...a yes.