I squeezed my arms tighter around his waist and sighed. “You have nothing to be sorry for. It’s not like you could have anticipated him telling me something like that.”
“Maybe, but this was avoidable.” He pulled away so that he could look down at me. The gold rings in his irises were captivating, even as he frowned. “Amelia, I could feel the worry seeping out of you. You were scared. I don’t want toevercause those kinds of feelings. Not from you.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Logan,” I pressed. “Look, I knew in my heart that you wouldn’t intentionally hurt me . . . I just wanted to bring it directly to you. We made a promise.”
He looked into my eyes for what felt like endless seconds before he pulled me back in for a hug, pressing his lips to my forehead before he rested his cheek on the top of my head. I heard him sigh. “You’re so perfect, Mills,” he murmured into my hair. “Do you know that? Do you know how perfect you are?”
I felt my nose skate along his neck as we swayed in place, holding fast to each other. “I’m not perfect, Logan. But these feelings I have for you sure feel like they are.”
A small groan escaped from his throat. I felt a flash of stubble against my chin and Logan’s lips were on mine, searing me with a warm, soft kiss. I slid my hands up his chest to the collar of his coveralls and pulled him down further into me.
After a moment, he pulled away and chuckled. “Looks like you got your wish.”
My wish? I looked at him, confused.
“Making out in my office during business hours.” He looked at me pointedly with arched eyebrows. I started giggling when I realized he was referencing my words from Saturday night, and watched as his face bloomed into a full smile.
“You should do that more often.”
“What?”
“Smile,” I said as I reached up to kiss his cheek. “Now, Mr. Davis, would you be so kind as to teach me the ways of this business so that I can learn what opportunities exist for me to help you?”
“Yes ma’am.” He waved his arm toward the open office door, gesturing for me to go first. “Let’s start at the lobby. I’ll introduce you to Camila and she can go over our customer intake process.”
Logan trailed closely behind me as I made my way back to the front of the shop. I could feel the stares from the mechanics around us, but it felt more like curiosity than anything else.
“Camila,” Logan addressed the receptionist, “could you please walk Amelia through our process when a new customer walks or calls in? She’s going to help us with marketing, and I’d like to make sure she understands how people are currently finding us.”
Camila lit up from the inside. “Of course, Logan.”
He grabbed the nearest chair from the waiting area and set it down next to Camila for me to sit in. When he disappeared back to work, I put all of my focus on Camila as she showed me their customer database.
I spent almost four hours at the shop that afternoon, immersing myself in every customer touchpoint that they currently had. Logan was doing an incredible job already, and the sense of pride I felt for him only grew as I learned more and more.
At lunchtime, Logan sent one of his mechanics, Andre, out to get lunch for everyone, giving him his credit card without hesitation. It was clear that Logan trusted his employees, and they all seemed to have a mutual respect and appreciation for each other.
This somewhat surprised me, as I knew it could be difficult to create a positive work environment when so many people with different backgrounds and experiences came together. I remembered my time at the agency where dealing with toxic coworkers was the norm . . . but not here. The brotherhood amongst the mechanics was obvious, and the same treatment was extended my way simply for being Logan’s guest.
When Andre returned with lunch for everyone—a delicious assortment of tacos and burritos from a local Mexican restaurant—the entire shop closed down to enjoy lunch together, finding places to sit inside the front lobby. I took the opportunity to observe Logan in his element, passing around food to everyone and making sure everybody got their fill. At one point, he looked over as if just to visually check-in, giving me a quick wink before his attention was back on Andre, who was telling everyone about his birthday party that evening.
“Y’all better come through,” he said, sweeping a look across the whole room, his gaze landing on Logan. “Especially you, boss.”
Logan chuckled. “Andre, I’m too old for birthday parties.”
Andre, who looked to be six and a half feet tall and had tattoos on almost every inch of skin except for his face, shook his head adamantly. “Nah, sir, you need to be there. Bring your friend, it’s all good.” And just like that, everyone’s eyes were on me.
“Ha!” one of the other guys, Manny, cackled. “Andre’s calling out the boss’s new friend.”
Logan’s focus shifted from Andre to Manny, giving them both a quick glare. “Leave my friend alone. Also, her name is Amelia.”
Andre lifted his hands up. “I mean no disrespect, sir. Manny is a wise ass. My invitation comes from a good place, I hope to see you both there.” He nodded toward me. I wondered how old he was turning. He definitely seemed more my age than Logan’s. He was handsome too—not exactly my type, but I’m sure he had no trouble with the ladies.
Logan looked at me, the question swimming in his eyes. “I’m down,” I said, shrugging. “Why not?”
Logan’s face ignited into that megawatt smile again, the one that made me feel weak, before he looked back to Andre. “There better not be any funny business at this party.”
When I’d seen everything I needed to see to get a good idea of how to elevate some of their customer communication, I put my laptop back into my bag and set off to find Logan. I took my time walking through the bays, watching all of the mechanics as they worked on the various cars.
