This still doesn’t explain my missing tools.
They are with me, safe and sound. I’m sorry I didn’t ask first. I was supposed to be back already so I thought you wouldn’t miss them since the shop was closed. But now there’s a transmission leak. Which I thought was the worst of my problems, until the engine didn’t start.
When it rains, it pours. Is the engine cranking? Or is there no sound? Could be the battery.
No, the battery is good. I just—hang on, let me just video with you.
The phone rings a few times while it connects, then Lewis’s deep-set frown pops on the screen uncentered.
“What crazy problem have you gotten yourself into now, kid?” he grumbles as a greeting.
I hold the camera over the engine, showing Lewis the different angles.
“You did everything I would have done. It has to be something else. Sounds like you need to take it apart piece by piece.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. I wish I had something that could lift this higher in the air than the jack I brought. The bell housing is going to weigh a ton.”
“I said I would help,” Tristen adds.
Lewis’s eye moves in close, taking up the whole screen. The video immediately switches to a regular call.
“Put the boy on the phone.”
Tristen takes my phone with a frown. He shoots me a worried plea that I shrug off. Lewis is harmless.
“Take me off of speakerphone,” Lewis demands.
Well, he’s mostly harmless.
Chapter Fifteen
REESE
Tristen holds the phone to his ear. “Hello?”
Muffled sounds hum through the phone, too quiet for me to decipher. His eyes grow wider the longer the conversation continues.
“Uh, huh. Yes, sir. I understand. We are not... I would never...” His lips pinch as he shuffles from foot to foot. “She will be back safe and sound. I promise.”
Brows squished together, he stares at the black screen and hands the phone to me. “He hung up.”
“What was all that about?”
“Apparently I need to be on my best behavior... or else.”
I swallow my laugh at his fidgeting fingers. “You know the bulldog. He’s more bark than he’s bite. Don’t worry about it.”
“Of course you’d say that. He didn’t threaten you with his power drill.”
“Aww,” I say, chuckling. I wrap my arms around his stomach and press my cheek against his chest. “I’ll protect you.”
Without hesitation, his arms enfold around me, strong yet gentle. I relax in the comfort of his arms, savoring the ridges ofhis muscles against me. His hands slowly graze over my back. An uncontrollable fire ignites in my chest, my joke instantly forgotten. The rush of his breath fans my neck, and my own hitches at the wave of heat rising between us. I’m torn between running from the intensity and diving straight into it, grabbing his shirt to plant my mouth on his. But the longer his thumbs draw circles, the higher the chance of me choosing the second option increases.
“It’s all worth it for moments like this,” he whispers in my ear.
He trails his nose around the rim of my ear before tilting my chin up so my lips are hovering in front of his. My nerve endings tingle in anticipation, waiting for his mouth to capture mine.
“Have I told you how beautiful you are?” His voice vibrates through me, deep and throaty.
