I plan to one day build a log cabin in these woods, not too far from the garage and the savings in my bank will go toward it. A few more years and I’ll be there to do it.
“I’ll get you unloaded and into a bay,” I tell her, “Then you can call whoever you need to.”
With a nod, I climb from the truck and head round to her side, but I don’t open the door.
“Wait in there till I’m ready, there’s glass and shit on the floor and you’re not wearing shoes.”
“Right, okay,” She nods, sinking back into the chair. “Do you need help?”
I cock a brow and grin, “Nah, I’m good, princess.”
I feel her eyes watching me the entire time I’m walking away and with it, I know I just got a little bit closer to the finish line.
Chapter Five
River’s garage is set back from the dirt road but it’s hard to miss with all that neon green. The Sinclair Motors sign flashes a few times before lighting up as River opens the shutters and walks back to where I’m waiting in the cab.
My eyes follow his every move, like he’s a predator. Muscles roll and flex with each movement, his tan skin glowing under the afternoon sun which makes those burn scars more prominent on his arm, chest and lower neck. He walks with a confidence I could never possess and the grin he throws at me when he catches me watching forces my heart into overdrive.
It’s been pumping wildly inside my chest since he showed up to tow my car and hasn’t stopped. I listen as chains and gears rattle behind me and then River is pulling the truck door open, staring up at me.
“Down you come,” He holds up his arms.
“Wait, you’re going to carry me?”
“You have another idea?” He quirks a thick dark brow, his brown eyes lit up with amusement.
“Well,” I chew my lip, judging the distance between the cab and the door to the garage. I don’t particularly want my feet cut up by whatever is on the ground, and I believe him when he says there’s glass and god knows what else here but the other option is letting this man hold me.
“I won’t drop you,” He purrs, his smile disarming and downright charming.
“Okay,” I breathe, shuffling to the edge of the seat. I place my hands on his shoulders, on one side it’s smooth, warm, the other is rough under my palm, colder too but then that goes out my head as his large hands cup my waist, and he hoists me out of the cab.
Out of instinct, my arms go around his neck, my legs around his waist and I tighten my hold, making him grunt as he takes the brunt of my weight. You’d think I was dangling twenty feet off the ground with the way I just reacted.
“I kind of need to breathe, princess,” He whispers, his breath tickling against the shell of my ear.
I loosen my hold but keep myself wrapped around him, “Sorry.”
It’s only when we’re in the garage and he’s lowering me down onto the rug in what I guess is the reception area of the shop, that I realize I could have got him to grab the heels from the car. My brain is entirely frazzled and I’m blaming his unexpected arrival for that.
“Um,” I look everywhere but at him standing ahead of me, “My shoes are in the car. We could have just…”
“I know,” He smirks before he walks off through a door, leaving me in the reception. My cheeks burn with the blush that steals across them and my stomach knots.
Pressing my palm to my clammy forehead, I look around. There’s an ancient computer on the other side of the worn desk, stacks of paperwork beside it and a calendar on the wall behind the chair. There’s a row of mismatched furniture for customers to use while they wait for their cars and a water dispenser in the corner. The windows look out into the woods that border one side of the garage and streams of sunlight breaks through the green canopy to warm the ground. It’s quiet, eerily so and the clock ticks loudly as each second passes.
River returns a few moments later with my shoes, “Here.”
“Thank you,” I mumble, moving to take them from him but then he crouches in front of me and circles his fingers around one of my ankles, lifting it from the floor to slide the heel onto my foot. He does the same with the other and unfolds himself to standing, shoving his hands into the pockets of his overalls.
“My cell was dead so I just put it on charge for you,” He explains, “Just need ten minutes then you can get out of here.”
I nod my head quietly and glance around again, “It’s quiet, are you the only one who works here?”
“Jake works here,” He tells me, “And I have an apprentice who works three times a week. It’s his day off.”
I didn’t know what else to say so I give him a smile and turn around, heading to the windows. I feel his presence hovering behind me, but he doesn’t say anything, and he doesn’t move. I pick at the skin around my thumb nail as the silence stretches between us.
