“In five minutes.”
He nodded and shut the vehicle off. “Let’s go. I don’t want to linger out here.”
Before he could open the door, I grabbed his arm. Sheldon’s whole body froze as he slowly turned in my direction, gray-blue eyes meeting mine.
“Would you please stop for a second?” I asked. “I don’t understand what I did to chase you away the other night. Now you’re acting like I’m in imminent danger, and you’re my personal bodyguard. I’m so fucking confused.”
“I’ll explain later. You should go inside. I can stay here if you want, but I’d rather not.”
“I’m going to hold you to it.” I gave his arm a gentle squeeze, feeling the muscles flex beneath my fingers, before releasing him. “I’d like you to come with me. Not for the interview. It would be nice to know someone.”
He nodded, and we exited the SUV. Sheldon walked at my side toward the front of the shop. For a moment, I thought his hand brushed my lower back. I couldn’t be certain and didn’t want to turn to look at him. Having him this close, his body near mine, was doing shit to me I shouldn’t have had to fightas I walked in for an interview. If only I had better control over myself around him. My body was all over the place.
Sheldon held the door open for me. We could have gone through the open bay doors, but that didn’t feel right. I didn’t work here and knew nothing of their policies.
“There he is,” I heard the moment we were in the door.
JJ Altair needed no introduction. Even if I hadn’t met him before, I’d sense the power he exuded. It was similar to Jordan’s, although I didn’t think JJ meant to do it.
Around the same height as me, JJ’s gaze was sharp, bouncing from me to Sheldon and staying there. JJ’s blond hair was brushed away from his face, and the dress shirt he wore had the top couple of buttons undone. The sleeves were rolled up, revealing tattoos beneath. Even dressed for the office, JJ screamed danger.
“I hope you know I wasn’t talking to you,” he said to Sheldon. “You should wait outside.” He made a shooing motion with his hand.
Sheldon leaned toward me to whisper loudly, “I freak JJ out. He doesn’t like it when I’m calm. Apparently, it’s terrifying.” He even gave his voice a spooky note when he said it.
“Jesus Christ, I’m not afraid of you, jackass. I can’t handle the emotionless shit.”
“I’m not emotionless. Ask anyone who knows me. Maybe I only behave this way around you. Did you ever think of that? I like toying with you, JJ. It makes my day.” What the hell was I witnessing? Sheldon smirked, and JJ visibly shivered.
“The less I know, the better,” JJ stated. “Forest, it’s nice to see you again.” We hadn’t spent a lot of time together, only when we were in the same room for a gathering.
I stepped forward and offered my hand, which JJ shook. “Thank you for the opportunity to interview. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Please,” he scoffed. “You’re smarter than that. My old man found out you applied, thanks to your brother, and texted me.”
My chin dropped to my chest. This was a courtesy, nothing more. Sure, I could still get through this and show them I was able to do the job. What would be the point? Jordan did what he typically did and got involved when he shouldn’t have. I wanted to earn this myself, not have favors called in.
“Hey,” Sheldon whispered. This time, his hand was definitely on my back. “We don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”
“Creepy, back up,” JJ told him.
Instead of doing what JJ said, Sheldon stepped closer to me. “I wouldn’t test me right now.”
My head snapped up. Why did he have to make this worse? I was about to apologize when JJ let out a low whistle, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and rocked back on his heels. “Well, well, he does have fire in him. I like this better. You’ve been upgraded from creepy to potentially tolerable. We all have our vulnerabilities. I’m filing this away for later.” He tapped his temple. Seriously, what the hell was happening? It was like I was under water and couldn’t make sense of anything. It was right there in front of me, yet out of reach.
JJ focused on me. “I didn’t mean it as a bad thing. I’m honest and wanted you to know the chain of events. In truth, Keith probably wouldn’t have brought you in. He’s the other owner of the shop and is currently filling this role until we find someone. I told him it would be good to get new blood in here who didn’t live and breathe motor oil and grease. We don’t need you to crawl under a car. The job is to help with the business side of shit. That’s why you’re here to interview.”
“Why are you here then?” Sheldon asked. “If his being interviewed has nothing to do with your father, why bother showing?”
“You’re going to be a different kind of pain in my ass now, aren’t you?”
“Depends on where today goes. I like to keep my options open.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, this shop is still mine. I co-own it. I can come and go as I please. Hell, I can interview Forest if I want. The office manager is a key role. It only seemed fitting I was here. Plus, I’m a nice fucking guy. Stop being an asshole and let Forest interview for the goddamn job.”
“I’m not stopping him.”
JJ tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling just like I’d seen Jordan do countless times. “Fuck my old man for this bullshit. Just when I think it’s getting better, this happens.” His gaze was on us again. “Keith.”
