“Keep flirting with me, and I’ll have you back in that wedding dress and wearingmyring.”
“I’mnotflirting.”
“Careful, Runaway.Mixed signals are my kink.”
“You’ve lost your mind.”
“Says the woman who ran from her wedding to an island of naked strangers.”
“Get out.”I push him toward the door as if it’s my room, not his.
“Still don’t trust me?”He lets me manhandle him into the hall, his grin lopsided and eyes sparkling.Clearly enjoying the hell out of this.
“I don’t trust anyone.”
“Join the club.We meet on Tuesdays.”
I start to close the door in his face, but his expression stalls my hand, and I catch the door mid-swing.
A beat of silence pulses between us, our gazes locked.Too loud and intimate.
“For what it’s worth…” He grips the doorframe overhead, inadvertently flexing his forearms.“I haven’t lied to you.”
He’s underselling it.
From the moment I met him, he protected me, lost his job for me, fed me, gave me a place to sleep, and shared personal details about his life.
I’ve given nothing in return.No answers.No trust.No repayment.The least I could do is fuck him into a mindless coma.It wouldn’t be a hardship.Just thinking about riding his sexy body ignites a greedy little throb between my legs.
But that’s not why he’s helping me.
Being alone sucks.That’s the reason.
Wouldn’t kill me to give him something.
“I’m a mechanic.”I release my hold on the door.“I used to have my own garage.Specialized in vintage engines, mostly.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.But the garage burned to the ground.I lost everything.Then I met Gavin, and he was going to help me rebuild after the wedding.Turns out, he’s so broke that he took a bribe to marry me.I can’t go back to California.I have nothing there.Nothing worth salvaging.”
He studies me quietly, all sarcasm gone.
“I need a job,” I say.“I need to earn and save and start over somewhere.”
“You can work here.”
“Doing what?Fixing all the cars on your private island?”
“No.”He laughs.“I meant in town.You can ride with me and look for work when I go to the tattoo shop tomorrow to get my apprenticeship back.”
“Okay.”My shoulders relax.“I’ll do that.”
“We should swap numbers.”
I grab my phone from my backpack, ignoring the missed messages from Jag and Gavin.
Once our numbers are stored, Wolf reaches for the door and pauses with his hand on the knob.“There’s food in the fridge downstairs.Bathroom’s stocked.If you need anything, I’m right next door.”
