I rub my hand on my face. I don’t like it. I can’t say no, though. I can’t stay here forever and make my brothers pick up the slack.
“When?” I ask.
“Don’t have a timeline yet. Wanted to give you the heads-up, though. This one is going to be a bit more dangerous than the ones with the Lotus boys.”
I nod. “Understood. While I have you, I’m going to give Jane the Malibu. We haven’t used it in a while, so it needs to be driven anyway, and she needs a way to get around without relying on strangers.”
He smiles. “You know your sister only asked you to give her a place to stay and keep her safe. She didn’t tell you to do all this extra shit.”
“Are you telling me I can’t give it to her?” I ask him.
If he says no, I’ll go buy her one. I have plenty of money saved up.
“I didn’t say that. Just pointing out that you seem to be going above and beyond for the girl. Still claiming not to like her?” he asks.
I rub my hand down my face. “She just got out of an abusive marriage. It’s not fair of me to like her like that. She needs to heal.”
He shrugs. “May not be fair, but the feelings are there. She watches you too, you know. Maybe she is healing faster than you think. Not everyone is on the same timeline. For all you know, her marriage was dead long before she physically left it.”
“Can she have the car or not?” I bark.
He laughs. “Of course. Change out the tires and do a full tune-up. Make sure it’s safe for her and the kids. Gotta protect your family, Mac. Always.”
I hate that I like it when he calls them my family. He knows it too.
He laughs as he walks away, leaving me to go back to the car I was working on. I can’t focus on it, though. All I can think about is the Malibu and the fact that Tanner will be here soon.
“Sloane, can you finish this one? I need to work on the Malibu.”
She gives me a questioning look.
“I’m giving it to Jane.”
She smiles. “Leave it. I’ll get to it when I’m finished with this. I’m almost done.”
“Thanks.”
I leave the shop and head back to the garage off the clubhouse. The Malibu is a bit dusty but still runs great.
It takes me a couple of hours to hose it down and complete all the necessary work, but by the time I’m done, Tanner is there watching me.
“Can you teach me to do that?” he asks.
“You want to work on cars?” I ask him.
He shrugs. “Maybe.”
“Yeah. I’ll talk to your mom about it. It’s about time to go home. Why don’t you grab your sister and get her a snack while I talk to your mom?”
He nods, running into the office. Moments later, he and Emily come out and head toward the kitchenette we have.
I knock on the open door, smiling at how adorable Jane looks as she squints at a piece of paper.
“Having trouble?”
She holds it up for me to see. I wince when I see Gunner’s handwriting.
“Yeah, he should have been a doctor.” I move closer, looking at it closely. “He changed the filter and…” I trail off. “I think that says spark plugs.”
