“And,”she continued, “Gino’s does curbside delivery so I didn’t even have to get out of my truck. Two, I don’t take orders. From you, or anyone. When are you going to get that through your head? And my ribs are a lot better today. I’m fine. And three, I thought I grabbed the wrench, thank you very much.”
“Liar.”
“I don’t lie.”
“Liar.”
“Fine. I only lie about hand tools.”
“Ever consider just learning how to cook?”
“No offense, but I get the feeling you’re not whipping up three course meals on your own, Jagg.”
“Hey, a breakfast burrito takes multiple steps.”
“That’s your idea of gourmet?” She squinted.
“Honey, it’s every man’s idea of gourmet.”
“Whatever. Look, do you mind? I’m kinda busy here.”
“Scoot over. Better yet, get out of my way.”
“Are you always this demanding?”
“It’s part of my charm. We’ve already been over this. Scoot.”
“No. Just tell me what to do.”
“I just did. Scoot. Get out of my way.”
“You’re unbelievable, you know that? They should bottle your testosterone.”
“If you don’t get off your back, I’ll give you a free sample.”
That got her up… and I don’t know if I should have been pleased or offended.
I watched her shimmy out from under the fender—absolutely no clue what she was doing under there—her chest jiggling and hips swaying in a way that had my pants tightening. I helped her up. Based on her smooth movements, she hadn’t been lying that her ribs were better, but she still should have been resting. I took a moment to look at the injury on her arm. It was clean, with a new bandage. The swelling was gone.
Good.
I rolled up my shirtsleeves and squatted down. She handed me the flashlight.
I looked the tire over, searching for a nail or whatever had pierced the rubber. I got nothing.
“Looks like you’ve got a faulty valve.”
“What? No. I just bought these tires.”
“How long ago?”
“Two months.”
My gaze shifted to the rest of the tires, each of which were low. The bottom left would be flat by morning.
I pushed off the ground. “You got four new tires?”
“Yes.” Her eyes locked on the back left tire. “That one’s almost flat, too, isn’t it?”
