Hard to Break
He studies me for a long, long moment before he finally speaks. “You want a job in the garage?”
“Is that a stupid question?” I mutter.
He smirks at me.
“Answer my question, angel.”
“Yes, Tazen, I want a job in the garage.”
“Fine,” he says, crossing his arms. “It turns out I might have some work for you there. But there are conditions.”
I roll my eyes to the ceiling, then back, muttering, “Of course there are.”
“You don’t touch my builds.”
I blink. “So you want me to do what then?”
“We have a fuck load that come back in for services, replacement bits, things like that. You can help out on those, it’s basic work but it’ll give you great experience. You’ll have free range with all that, but no one touches my builds except my trained men.”
Gosh, I hate him sometimes.
But he knows I’ll accept, because even doing basics on the cars that come back in is an amazing chance. It’s also a chance to prove just what I can do to Tazen arrogant Watts.
“Fine,” I say casually.
“You work the same hours, and you take orders from me like the other guys. You’re not running this show anymore, Quinn. You do something without my permission, I fire you. These are the same rules all the men have.”
“Fine,” I say again.
“Good.” He steps out of the way. “Let’s see how well you really handle this man’s environment, because I can tell you now, my guys won’t be happy about having a woman on the team.”
“Your guys can suck it.” I smile coldly. “Now, can I start?”
He waves a hand again. “Let’s see what you’ve got, angel.”
Challenge accepted.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
He isn’t kidding.
The guys don’t say it out loud, but it’s clear that I’m not an accepted part of their boys’ club. They treat me like I’m invisible and only give me the easiest jobs. I keep my shit together and do my job efficiently. That is, at least, until their little pranks. “This isn’t funny!” I yell, throwing my oily rag toward Tazen who is standing in his office laughing.
I stare down at my coveralls and inwardly screech. The men thought it would be funny to cut holes where my breasts and ass are meant to go. I don’t have anything else to wear, and the skirt I was in is hardly acceptable. I want to smack him for laughing. That’s the last thing I wanted to do when I was changing into my coveralls in the female restroom.
As I looked at myself in the mirror, I saw that my leopard-print bra was poking through the two messily cut holes. I turned and stared at my ass, and my cheeks flushed. I’m wearing a G-string, because I hadn’t done the washing and it was all I had left. My butt cheeks are poking out the holes cut there. I was so angry I stormed into Tazen’s office, not even caring if anyone got a glimpse of my ass.
“How is this funny?” I yell. “This is wildly inappropriate and offensive on so many levels.”
He stops laughing. Then his eyes grow a little more serious. Clearly he can see this has upset me.
“Listen, Quinn,” he says. “The guys are testing you, seeing how much of their bullshit you can handle. They do it to the new guys, too. I can go out there and rip them a new one, if you’re upset, and believe me I will. It’s up to you. How do you want this handled?”
He’s being serious. He laughed at first, but now his eyes are scanning my face and I know, even though he’s arrogant at times, that Tazen will defend me if I ask him to. But … he’s right. They are testing me and I can handle it. I will handle it. I am trying to prove I belong in this world, and so running to the boss isn’t exactly going to help my cause.
“No, I’ve got this.”
He nods and hands me a roll of duct tape. “Now patch up those holes and get back out there. Show them they can’t faze you.”
I take the tape from his hand. He grins.
“But before you do,” he says, his eyes dancing with amusement. “Turn around one more time so I can enjoy the view.”
“Careful, Tazen.” I grin at him. “Revenge is coming, and you aren’t safe from it.”
“I look forward to it, baby.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The next few days at work are crazy. Tazen gets the car out and then a new job comes in, so it’s right back to square one. I’m busy helping out where I can, but I so desperately want to work on those cars with him. When the new job comes in, things slow slightly because we have time to move with it, so Tazen calms down. It’s then I get my revenge.
He purchased a whole heap of nuts for the guys, which he puts out during the day for them to nibble on. He’s been doing this since I’ve been there, but today they’re getting a whole new level of snacking. When they’re busy, I go in and swing the cupboard open, pulling out all the nuts. I bring them into the men’s room, lock the door, and drop them all in the toilet, which is in need of a good cleaning. Then I dredge them out and put them in a bowl. I have my phone held out in front of me as I’m doing this, filming the entire thing.
I may or may not do this laughing like a hyena. I shuffle the nuts in the bowl, and they look perfect, like nothing sinister has happened to them. Wiping my smirk off my face, I carry the bowl out to the guys.
“Hey, nuts are up.”
As always, the guys don’t hesitate. They’re in the middle of their lunch breaks, so all of them take a good handful of nuts. Tazen included. I watch with bubbling laughter as they throw them into their mouths, chewing happily. Poor, helpless males.
“How’re your nuts?” I ask, making a choked, laughing sound.
Tazen has just thrown a few into his mouth and is chewing, but at my words he stops. His eyes flick to the guys, who seem oblivious to my little outburst.
“They don’t seem as salty,” Kellan says, chewing. “Did you get the unsalted ones in an attempt to keep us healthy?” He pats his belly.
I burst out laughing, I can’t hold it back. Tazen leans forward and spits the nuts onto the ground. All the guys stare in horror at Tazen’s chewed-up nuts and then their eyes flick to me. With hysterical laughter rising from my throat, I open my phone and pull up the video, turning it towards them. As they realize what I did, they start spitting their nuts out. Some even get up and charge to the bathroom.
I’m laughing so hard my belly hurts.
“That’ll teach all of you for being assholes and pranking me!”
I’m laughing and hiccupping and laughing some more. I double over, wrapping my arms around my belly.
“You’re seriously evil,” Tazen grunts.
“I told you I’d get you back. Now if you don’t start treating me like an equal, my next prank will be much worse. Got it?”
The guys’ reactions range from grunts, to chuckles, to nods. I have come to get to know their names and their roles now. There is Rick, who is Tazen’s second in command, Kellan and Toby who are Tazen’s apprentices, Drasco and Kyle who are his painters and detailers, then Lloyd and Michael who are seriously amazing mechanics that do all the engine work with Tazen. I haven’t had a chance to talk to many of them, because I really only work with Kellan and Toby on the easy jobs. Kellan is coming around, but Toby is an angry dude.