Dad was waiting for me right inside the main bay after Daniel left. “All set?”
“Yep. He, ah, decided to pass on the AC.”
Dad kept watching the door even after it closed behind me. “Don’t go borrowing sugar from him or anything, okay? Something seems off.”
“Borrow sugar? Like for all the baking I never do? And he seemed—” I floundered for a word but couldn’t find one that felt right. “Maybe he just doesn’t like Hall & Oates? Nothing off about that.”
“I’m saying let’s leave that one alone.”
That was a new one from Dad, but not worth an argument, considering that Daniel appeared to agree with him. “I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem. He seems ready to leave me alone all on his own. The other day he decided to walk home and risk heatstroke rather than accept a ride. Or is that how guys play hard to get?”
“You think you’re funny, but you’re not.”
“Lou thinks I’m hilarious,” I said, referring to our very stoic seasonal employee. “Remember that time he almost smiled at my pineapple joke?”
“That wasmypineapple joke.”
I erased Daniel’s Jeep from the work board. “Yeah, but I told it. I’m gonna see about replacing the ignition coils on the Land Rover before we start on the Stratus, okay?” The next song started, and “Everytime You Go Away” drowned out any response Dad might have made.
CHAPTER 14
Attempting to scrub grease out from under my fingernails was one of the more pointless things I did every day. No matter how long I worked, it always looked like I’d traced a pencil underneath. Abandoning the tiny brush, I stepped back from the slop sink and into a warm pair of arms.
I squeaked when they tightened and swung me around. And laughed when the blind elbow I threw elicited a satisfying grunting noise. I broke free and turned to Sean. “What if I’d been holding a wrench or something? I could have seriously hurt you.”
“You mean I could have hurt you.” Sean flattened my palm against his quite probably wrench-deflecting abs. When he flexed, I ditched theprobablyand yanked my hand back.
“My point is you shouldn’t sneak up and grab me from behind.”
“So I should just grab you from the—” Sean was already moving to slip his arms around me when Dad came down the hall.
“You don’t want to finish that sentence, Sean.”
Sean held up his hands and took an exaggerated step away from me. “Sorry, Mr. Whitaker.”
Dad didn’t return Sean’s grin as he headed back to the office.
I twisted away, my face still warm from the moment in Sean’s arms. “What are you even doing here?”
It wasn’t that Sean didn’t come to the shop; he did. But that was before. I didn’t know how I felt about him being there anymore. I didn’t feel sick though, and that was a start.
He tossed me a towel to dry my hands. “I thought we could hang out, maybe catch a movie.”
I let that idea play out in my head. Me and Sean alone in his car—I could do that again. Movie theater full of people, okay. Sharing an armrest in the dark for two hours… “Um.”
“Come out with me. We haven’t done anything besides run for weeks. Just saying that makes me want to shoot myself. Or Claire.” Sean’s dimple flashed as he slung an arm around my shoulders. “We can get the trash-can-sized popcorn you claim is too small.”
“It is too small,” I said, trying to decide if I was okay with the weight of his arm and noticing that he smelled way too good. “So you’re bribing me now?”
“If I have to.”
Dad’s voice echoed from the office. “Are you touching my daughter, Sean?”
Sean mouthed at mehow does he know?but he dropped his arm. “No, sir.”
I moved away, choosing the trash can farthest from the sink and Sean to throw my towel away. “Because if there’s a girl anywhere near you, you’re touching them.” Even if he had no business being anywhere near them. Even if he didn’t mean to hurt anyone.
I jumped when he spoke, not expecting him to be that close behind me.
