“Ah, good.” She cleared her throat. “Because I’d have to kill you.”
He laughed and dropped his hand, and she wanted it back.
She reached for him at the same time he reached for her. They shared a warm smile and held hands as they finished their loop around Green Lake.
The car ride home passed too quickly, and as she left his truck, promising to see him the next day at four for a hair appointment, she realized they hadn’t talked much on the ride at all. But they’d held hands the entire way home.
* * *
Rylan stuck his head in the door first thing Monday morning. “So, Boss, you finished the Escalade?”
Axel continued to frown at the paperwork on his desk, managing the paint and supplies they needed while wondering what the hell had happened to the budget. He had no one to blame but himself, he thought, knowing his time away from the shop was responsible for the imbalance on the books.
“Boss?”
Axel glanced up, still too pleased about his date with Rena to be too angry. Even if Rylan was a major pain in the ass. “Ja,I finished your work. Come in and sit down.”
Rylan strutted in and sat. Not a small man, Rylan acted big and tough but nonetheless gave Axel the impression that he was not as confident as he portrayed himself to be.
“Rylan, you are creative, and your attention to detail is spot-on. But you’re not good at following orders. If Kelly were here, things would be running smoothly. Unfortunately, he’s out until April. You want to have a job when he comes back?”
“Yeah.”
“Then get your head out of your ass and think. Follow orders. Watch and learn from Mateo and Smitty. Listen when Lou speaks. I’ve never met a finer artist. Not because he draws on command but because he listens to our clients and does whattheywant. Not what he thinks they should want.” A bad habit Rylan had, of doing what he wanted regardless of what he’d been told.
“So you’re saying you want sheep to work for you? Guys who obey, do what you say without question, go along with the herd?” It wasn’t the sarcasm that made Axel pause but the hint of unhappiness he could sense. Having lived with it for so long, he knew well when a man dealt with impossible burdens.
“What is wrong with you?”
Rylan blinked. “What?”
“You’re not being an ass on purpose. It’s there,ja, but you are having a problem with something. Someone.” He gauged Rylan for a response, seeing the flush that came from his candor.
“I’m sorry, okay?” Rylan blurted and stood. He began pacing. “I’m having…problems at home. I really need this job. I like it here. And I’m good at paintwork, which you’d know if you’d let me do some—” He broke off at the sight of Axel’s stern expression. “Sorry.” Rylan ran a hand through his shaggy hair. “I know I’m new. I know I fucked up a few times. But at my job before this one, they said I didn’t take enough initiative.”
“You mean they fired you because they found out about your record, and no matter how hard you worked, they wouldn’t keep you.”
Rylan paled, frozen to the spot. “You know?”
“I know about everyone who works for me.” Axel sighed. “You should have told me.”
“I want this job. Ineedit. My P.O. kept giving me static for not having anything, but it’s so hard to find work when you’ve been in the system. And the places that will take you pay for shit.”
Axel could imagine. “What were you in for?”
Rylan flushed. “You don’t know?”
“I’m asking you.”
If Rylan turned any more red, his head would go up in flames. “Assault. I was at a party, drinking. It got out of hand. I hurt a guy. He’s fine, but he pressed charges.”
“Assault is a misdemeanor.”
Rylan blinked. “Ah, yeah, but, well, there were extenuating circumstances.” Rylan paused and mumbled, “I didn’t know he was a cop.”
Axel studied him. “Anything else?” Something Smitty had mentioned stood out, but he waited to see if Rylan would say anything about it.
“Nothing.”
