“I thought you hated me following you.”
“That was before the nagas.”
He looked outside. “Bene and Henrik chased them off.”
I snorted. “So did you.”
He scratched his chest, leaving another smudge of grease on his shirt. My eyes stuck there for a moment, and my imagination went into overdrive.
“Maybeyouscared them off,” he joked.
“Very funny.” I thumped his arm, then cringed when he grimaced. “Oh! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t thinking.”
“Obviously,” he muttered, rubbing it gingerly.
I hung my head. “I’m really sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he said.
Ha. I was pretty sure atenon my pain scale was only about atwoon his.
“I should leave you in peace. Sorry again.”
Good, why was I so flustered all of a sudden?
“Wait. You don’t have to.”
“I do,” I said, moving toward the door. No wonder I had such a bad track record with men. I gravitated toward jerks, and I was a jerk to the good ones.
Roux reached out, whispering, “Don’t go, Geneviève.”
I halted. God, I loved the way my name rolled off his tongue.
And, oh. Maybe he didn’t hate me.
“You could stay and…uh…” He looked around, suddenly shy.
“Note down any other parts you need?”
A tiny smile formed on his lips, starting from the right side, then stretching all the way over to the left.
“Yes. In addition to the wiggly carburetor.”
I chuckled, then checked my watch. “I’ll see what I can do, but unfortunately, work on the ballroom comes first.”
He gestured. “Wearing that?”
I looked down at myself, then sighed. “I’ll squeeze in a wardrobe change first.”
Which meant I had to tear myself away from the stables. A new sensation, because I’d never felt particularly drawn to the place before. But now, that classic car had jumped to the top of my list. That, and its mechanic.
I cleared my throat and hurried back to my room. Ten minutes later, I was hurrying down the stairs in my work overalls, doing my hair as I went. Opening the front door, I spotted Roux on his way in from the stables.
Bene came up behind me with a sigh. “What page are we on on Mina’s job list? Thirteen?”
I laughed. “Thereabouts. I’m sure Roux knows.”
The man loved lists. It was a wonder my sister had hooked up with Marius instead of Roux.
