Once she was dressed in her only clean change of clothes, she opened the creaky door that led downstairs. The garage itself was also quiet but not in that same still, you're-definitely-alone kind of way. It was quiet in the way that it sounded like someone was working hard on something. If she listened really carefully, and she was, she could hear Josh breathing underneath a minivan.
“Josh?” she called out, not wanting to surprise him and have him hit his head on something underneath the vehicle. “Good morning.”
Metal clattered against concrete as Josh put down whatever tool he was using.
He didn't say good morning back. But he also didn't yell at her to get out of his garage, so that was a win.
It wasn't the first time she had come looking for him in a garage. But it was the first time she'd had a moment to quietly observehisgarage, the one that he had bought with his own hard earned money.
It was neat and tidy, well stocked with tools and supplies. And he had even gone to some pains to add a certain aesthetic vibe behind the desk that matched his personality. From a brand assessment point of view, he got full marks.
The wheels on his dolly squeaked and he rolled out from beneath the minivan he was working on. She turned to look at him, because she couldn’t not. He came out work boots first. Then grease-stained jeans stretched taut over thick thighs, thicker than she remembered.
And finally he was standing, rubbing his hands on a towel he yanked out of his waistband. He looked at her with a mix of concern and wariness and something else she couldn’t interpret.
“Morning,” he finally said, crossing to the sink. “How do you feel?”
“Stiff. But I took something, so I should be able to get going soon.”
He cleaned his hands and grabbed another, cleaner towel. Then he turned around and braced his hips against the counter. “Yeah. No. Sorry. You’re not going anywhere. The highway’s closed and flying conditions are shit as well. You and me? We’re roommates for another day.”
16
Monica blinkedat him in disbelief. Josh knew the feeling, he’d been reeling since he woke up—far too fucking early—and saw the alert on his phone.
She was dressed in her own clothes again, and her hair was damp. Like she’d taken a shower. His brain unhelpfully offered an immediate image he didn’t need or want.Liar.
Well, he didn’t need that mental image. Want…what he wanted wasn’t on the table.
She found her voice. “Another day?”
And another long, painful night. “At least. The weather got worse over night.”
She looked confused, and looked outside. The confusion deepened. “It doesn’t look that bad.”
“Sometimes we’re in a little bubble down here, by the lake. But the highway is definitely closed. Special alert on my phone and everything. Welcome to winter in The Bruce. We always get a few final blizzards in March and April.” He shrugged. “We might get plowed out tomorrow. Or the day after.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“No.”
“I…I have…”
He could imagine how busy her life was. How she thought she could come here in a day, in and out, and flit on to something more important than him. “Time to start cancelling your plans, princess.”
She was shaking. “How is this possible? Shouldn’t there be a travel advisory or something?”
Josh almost dropped the wrench he’d mindlessly picked up. The only thing that stopped it from clattering was the basic muscle memory his body had for treating tools well. Numbly, he managed to jam it on top of the tool chest before he advanced on Monica.
Once upon a time, she’d looked at him like he was a god who could do anything. When she pinned her hot little gaze on him, everything else faded away, and he felt seven feet fall. Mighty.
Now he was nothing but an inconvenience. And maybe she didn’t like to look at him, see her mistakes reflected in the grease-covered small town hick she’d once let into her bed.
But it wasn’t his fucking fault she’d driven off the road so fast she fucked up her rental car. Hell, it wasn’t his fault she rented such a little car to come up here in the first place.
It wasn’t his fault she was here in the first place.
That was on her, and her father, and their useless lawyers.
