Chapter Five
Harlow
“How the hell did he manage to wreck this so thoroughly?” she complained to the empty space, pushing her fingers through the mess that was her hair, trying not rip strands from her head in frustration.
The floats were a simple concept: a boxy rectangular engine surrounded by steel beams that were used to support the various designs and decorations that made them what they were. From there, all sorts of various platforms or mounts could be made, such as the one that had been built up to carry the wire-structure of Barton City’s founder. When Harlow had seen the final product—she didn’t build them, she just rented her floats out after all—she’d been amazed. It had been over two stories tall and just fantastic to see.
Now it was a crumpled, ruined wreck of wire, paper decoration, and steel beams. Just like her company and her dreams. All that was left was to tear them apart and pack up her machines until she could find a buyer for them. They were old, rickety, and mostly held together with wishes and duct tape.
Failure crashed over her in a giant wave of darkness, driving her down until she was sitting on the cold concrete ground staring up at the last vestiges of the only dream she’d ever really had. It meant so much to her, bringing joy to families and little kids as they watched the giant floats go by. That was what had, in the end, ruined her. She’d been driving in the Founders Day Parade, and the sea of little faces looking up with awe, amazed and full of happiness had caught her eye.
If she’d only done her job, she’d have stayed in the center of the road and been able to avoid Vanek, and everything would be okay.
Except you wouldn’t have met him.
“Yeah, but it was just one dinner date. It’s not like I’m going to see him again, unless he actually manages to come through with a brand-new float.” She definitely wasn’t going to let herself even remotely begin to believe that possibility until it walked up and smacked her in the face.
Meeting Vanek had been nice, as had dinner. That was an experience she would never forget, nor something she would ever be able to repeat. She’d snuck a peek at the bill, astounded that it had come to nearly four figures for just the three courses and several glasses of wine. Outrageous for sure, but she was glad she’d agreed to go. The actual restaurant was so beautiful. She’d remember it always.
Bringing her mind back to the present, she got to her feet and decided to forge ahead. Maybe, just maybe, she could repair the float enough that it could be useable. The odds were long, but fixing it would definitely be cheaper than buying a new one. Especially if she did much of the work herself. After nearly twelve years at the helm, Harlow had learned a thing or two about makeshift repair work.
Rolling up her sleeves, she went to the cab of the rickety old semi-truck she used to haul the floats around. Opening up an underside panel, she removed several boxes that were filled with tools and laid them out on a folding table nearby. It was time to get to work.
“This looks like fun.”
The voice came out of the air behind her and she spun, clutching a wrench in one hand, spilling tools all over the floor as she bumped into the table as well.
“Vanek,” she said with a sigh of relief. “You scared the shit out of me. What are you doing sneaking up on someone?”
He looked around. “I didn’t sneak up. I walked in here like normal.”
“Well then you move like a ninja. Someone your size should be heard from a mile away. Don’t do that!” She smiled slightly as relief replaced the burst of adrenaline. “My heart can’t handle it.”
The huge man came closer, his face happy, but tight. “I didn’t mean to make your heart skip a beat, but I can’t say that I’m sorry to hear I did.”
She rolled her eyes. “You wish it was just the sight of you, and not your stealth skills.”
“I’ll take what I can get.” He jerked his chin in the direction of the float. “What’s the plan with that?”
Harlow turned to regard the mess once more. Even getting it back to the warehouse had been…interesting. “I don’t know,” she said, sighing. “Repair it, probably. I need six floats.”
Vanek came up to stand next to her, his elbow brushing slightly against hers. For some reason Harlow didn’t object, letting them rest while touching.
“That’s actually why I came here to see you.”
“Yeah, how did you find me?”
He shrugged. “I called the city and asked what warehouse they had rented out to you. Wasn’t that hard.”
“Oh. Well. You found me and my wreck.” She shrugged. “But it’s okay, the new one will look great next to it, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah.” Vanek turned to look at her. “Listen, Harlow. I’ve done some looking into getting you a new float.”
She braced herself. Here it comes. You knew it was coming. He put his mouth where his money ain’t, and now he needs to back out of it.
“It’s going to take me a bit longer than expected. I had thought I could get you one in a few days.” He winced. “I…don’t think I can do that anymore.”
Of course not. Vanek, like every other man who’d made promises to her, was going back on it. Just like her father when he’d promised to come back to his then-four-year old daughter. But he hadn’t kept that promise either. Harlow wondered what it was about her that had men running for the hills when she was around.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I didn’t think you’d be able to get it,” she said, trying to contain her hurt and anger. “Thanks for dinner though.” She turned to the side, focusing on her tools while she waited for him to go.
“Whoa.” A hand fell lightly on her shoulder, turning her back around.
She kept staring down.
“I never said that I wasn’t getting it,” he said forcefully. “Just that it might be a few weeks, instead of a few days.”
Harlow slowly dragged her eyes upward, cognizant of the fact she was also admiring the outline of his body underneath the tight T-shirt he wore. She’d known he was jacked, but this was the first time she’d truly noticed his muscles. The firmness of his chest and the broad, solid shoulders.
“Are you sure?” she asked carefully, trying to remain guarded.
“I gave you my word. I keep my word.”
There it was again, that utter conviction of truth that rang out in his words. Harlow felt it seducing her, tempting her with its believability. Still, she couldn’t let herself live in dreamland. Not yet.
“This one still needs repairing though. I have someone coming to look at it before I leave town, to see if they want to rent them for their corporate parade thing. I don’t really know, they were pretty vague. I need six floats though. They were insistent on that.” She pushed the hair back out of her face that had fallen forward. “If I don’t get this repaired by then, I’m absolutely going under. It’s my only chance, and frankly, I think it’s impossible.”
“Really?” Vanek glanced at the wreck. “Why?”
“Well for starters, I can’t afford all new rebar to frame this. Plus I’m not sure I can do it all on my own.”
“Well, we can’t show them the new one,” he said. “Though I promise it is coming. But you’re going to try and repair this one?”
“Yes. I have to try.”
He nodded, grasped the side of his shirt and took it off, tucking it into the back of his waistband as he strode past her to the table, looking over her assorted tools. “Okay, when do we start?”
Harlow was caught off guard, her eyes, attention, and every other part of her focused on the insane definition of his body. Vanek’s back practically bulged with every movement. He spun, and her head grew heavy as she took in the taut lines of his stomach, disappearing into the jeans that were all he was currently wearing.
Wow.
“You’re a mechanic now too?”
Vanek shrugged, the motion setting off a chain reaction in her body that seemed to match each rippling muscle as it settled back into place. “Sure, why not.”
Harlow’s head bounced from side to side. “Yeah. Sure. Why not. Okay. We can do this.” She licked her lips, swallowing her nerves as best she could. “Yeah.”
Vanek grinned. “What do we do first?”
“First, we have to rip down the wire structure and get it clear. After that we need to…”
Harlow started walking around the float, pointing at the various things they would need to do to get it back into working order. Vanek followed her around, taking note of everything she said with a seriousness that wasn’t at all what she’d expected.
Who is this guy? And why is he interested in me this much?