I should stop talking forever.
But Jake just laughed. A dimple set into his left cheek. “It’s okay. I called you cute yesterday, remember?”
“Y-yes.” I pushed my glasses up my nose.
“Now we’re even.” He winked. “No harm in that, right?”
My cheeks flushed. Every time he winked at me, my heart rattled around my chest like a tumbleweed.
“So? You wanna learn?” he chirped, his voice springy and lighthearted.
Bless his heart to think I was capable enough of learning anything about engines or motors or whatever. Cars were the devil as far as I was concerned. I was honestly just happy to be in his company.
"Sure," I said.
“This here's your compressor.” Jake pointed to something black and gray with a cylinder shape. “It has refrigerant. Or, coolant, some people call it. It can leak. Sometimes it’s gradual, sometimes it’s a lot. In your case...” He paused for effect, his smile curving his entire face. "It was a lot.”
"Oops. How bad is it?”
“Well, normally it'll only affect the AC, but inyourcase, the coolant started dripping into these other parts of the car, including the engine itself. It got all over the wires over here, shorted 'em out.”
Jake’s gloved hand moved across the engine as he pointed out where the damage had been done.
I sighed. “Lucky me.”
That sounded like something that would happen to me all right. Like, of course coolant leaked all over my engine at the worst possible time.
Though I couldn’t complaintoomuch. I was able to meet Jake, at least.
“Come on over here.” Jake nudged his chin, beckoning me to come closer to him.
I stood where he summoned me, which was way too close to him. His scent rolled off his body in mesmerizing waves. I shuddered at how good he smelled.
“Take this. We’re gonna unscrew these sockets and take a look inside here.”
As Jake handed me the wrench, his gloved fingers brushed against mine. I stiffened, all the blood rushing to my head all at once—before it rushed further south between my legs.
It was mortifying. I didn’t dare glance down there for fear of drawing attention to it.
“Er, which way do I turn the wrench?” I asked.
Jake looked amused at my incompetence, but it wasn't malicious. “To the left to loosen it.”
“Oh, yeah. Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey.”
When he chuckled, the sound rumbled in his chest. "That'll do it."
There was a moment where our eyes locked, and my heart leaked through my rib cage like the coolant on the engine.
Jake cleared his throat, turning his attention back under the hood. “Anyway. Just twist it and that cap will come right off.”
That sounded easy enough. “Got it."
I hesitated, unsure of myself even though Jake's instructions were perfectly understandable. I reached for the cap with an unsteady hand.
“That’s it," Jake praised. "Easy does it.”
Why was he saying that when my hands were shaking like a newborn horse?
