Chapter 3
Eli wiped the steam off of the mirror so that he could see his reflection again and then slathered shaving cream on his face. He’d only made two passes with the razor when the bathroom door opened and Riley came walking in. She was still completely naked and he took a second to admire the view.
It was just as good as he’d thought it was last night. He’d discovered that there was a lot to be said for sober sex in his years on the wagon.
“Morning,” he said amiably. “I won’t take too long.”
“You’re fine,” Riley said breezily, leaning into the shower and turning on the hot water. A second later, she was behind the shower curtain. “I’m using your soap, by the way.”
“Fine with me,” Eli said, still watching her. Those small, firm breasts were just an outline behind the shower curtain, but it was enough to make him recall how they’d felt in his hands the night before.
It was too damn bad that there wasn’t time to do more than look, but he hated being late. He’d already pushed it by keeping her against him when he’d woken up. But it had been so long since he’d had a woman in his bed when he’d woken up that he hadn’t been able to resist.
“So, if you’re taking orders instead of giving them this morning, I like my eggs sunny side up,” Riley said over the splashing water. “And I wouldn’t mind some bacon on the side. ”
Eli grinned. He was sure as hell going to have to get her number before she took off. It wasn’t just the sex he enjoyed with her. He liked her wicked grin and her sense of humor too.
“Yeah, neither would I. But I gotta get to work and I’m already running late, so the outlook isn’t good.”
She pulled back the curtain and looked out at him. Her hair was soaked and slicked back from her face and soap suds clung to her body, tipping her breasts and running down her smooth stomach.
“Okay fine, but be warned that I’m mentioning this in my Yelp review.”
He laughed and went back to shaving. “I’d rather take my chances with you than with my boss,” he said.
Shane was a stickler about time. Eli knew that he wouldn’t get fired, but he’d get his friend’s day off on the wrong foot and that wasn’t his favorite thing to do. Especially when he wanted nothing more than to get his hands on that Superbird. Today, he vowed, would be the day.
“What do you do?”
“I’m a mechanic. Head mechanic, actually.” He was proud of that and he didn’t see any reason not to mention it. “What about you? What do you do?”
“Nothing at the moment,” she admitted after a second or two. “I don’t guess your boss needs a software developer, does he?”
“Not that I know of. Harris isn’t the most tech friendly place,” Eli said, raising his chin to shave his neck without cutting himself. “We’ve got lots of old fashioned ledgers and handwritten receipts laying around.”
“Harris? You work at Harris Garage?” she repeated, sounding more interested now. She actually sounded a little surprised. “I guess you know my brother then.”
Eli could have sworn that he felt his heart stop, but he took a deep breath and told himself not to jump to conclusions. There were a few other guys that worked there. There was no reason why she shouldn’t be related to one of them
“Yeah?” he asked, keeping his tone casual. “Who’s your brother?”
“Shane Harris. He owns the place.”
Eli cut himself with the last pass of the razor. He swore inventively and grabbed a towel, wiping his face as he yanked the shower curtain back with a quick movement. Riley squealed, ducking back under the hot water.
“It’s cold out there!” she protested.
“Did you say that Shane’s your brother?” he demanded. “Are you serious?”
“Of course I’m serious,” Riley said, reaching out and yanking the curtain back into place. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because he’s my best friend, that’s why!” Eli pushed his hands through his hair, which was still damp from his own shower. Good God, why the hell couldn’t she have said something last night? Why hadn’t he thought to ask her what her last name was? Even he usually got that information before he took a woman to bed.
“So?” she asked. “I don’t really get why this is such a big deal, Eli.”
“So I just fucked his sister! How do you not think that this is a big deal?” Eli tugged the curtain to the side once more and looked at her seriously. “Don’t mention this to your brother, okay? Please.”
Riley raised an eyebrow and looked at him as though he was something she’d found on the bottom of her shoe. “Don’t flatter yourself, Eli. You were just a one night stand anyway.”
****
Eli went into work and got straight under the hood of the nearest car. It wasn’t the Superbird. With the tension he was carrying now, he didn’t want to risk messing it up.
Riley had gotten dressed and called a cab without speaking to Eli again. He’d stood on the porch with her to make sure that the cab didn’t ditch her, but for all the attention she paid him he might as well have been across the country. She stared down at her phone the whole time, surfing Facebook and Instagram. She hadn’t even returned his goodbye.
It was bugging him more than he wanted to admit. The only thing that worried him more was how in the hell he could manage to avoid Shane today. It was a small shop, but he needed to figure something out. His friend would see the guilt written all over his face, he was sure of it.
Eli had thought that his luck had turned around in the past few years. Now it felt like it had only been lying in wait to screw him over in the worst way possible. He’d had a one night stand with his best friend’s sister, for God’s sake. Everything he had, he owed to Shane Harris. And then he’d done this. Shane would never forgive him.
“Eli, can you come here for a minute?”
Eli’s breath caught in his chest. Shane didn’t sound happy. He stood up and took a deep breath, rubbing his hands down his jeans to dry the sudden sweat. He’d be honest and he’d take what came of it. It was no one’s fault but his own.
“Ye-” he cleared his throat and tried again. “Yeah?”
“Remember I told you that my sister’s flight was getting in last night?” Shane asked, his face drawn.
“Yeah, yeah, you uh...you said she was coming in.” God, what was he doing? Wasn’t this the moment to admit what had happened?
“She didn’t come home.”
“What?”
“She never came home. I know that the flight got in, because I called and checked. But Riley never showed up. I called her a few times and she didn’t answer.”
He’d heard her phone ring a few times while they’d been tangled up in each other. Eli rubbed the back of his neck, trying to get the image out of his mind.
And hell, he’d figured that she’d at least stopped off at home first. Apparently she’d gone straight to the bar. And then straight to his bed.
“I don’t know what to do,” Shane admitted. “I mean, she’s an adult. I don’t want to check in on her or anything...but this is just weird. She’s always been so responsible. This isn’t like her at all. Just to leave me hanging like this.”
“I don’t think it could hurt to call,” Eli said, chickening out spectacularly. There was no way that he could get the words out of his mouth. There was no way that he could tell his best friend that the reason his sister hadn’t come home was because she’d been underneath him.
“I mean, let her know that you’re worried. And she might be there by now. Maybe she just took a later flight or something.” He’d never hated himself more than in that moment.
“Maybe,” Shane said with a distracted nod. “All right, I’m gonna be in the office.”
As Eli went back to working on the car, he heard Shane’s voice raise. It sounded like he and Riley were having a fight. Maybe there was some harm in calling after all. He listened carefully, wondering if Riley was telling Shane where she’d been. He felt sick with relief when Shane came back out and grabbed a wrench.
“She won’t say where she was, but she’s home now,” he said. “Go find something else to do, I’ve got this.”
Eli took the suggestion.