“Why, because you’re dating someone else? You’re not married, are you?”
“No. To both of those.”
Ashley parked next to them and looked over, probably wondering why they hadn’t gotten out yet.
Shaun waved to her, and she gave a hesitant wave back. “Sorry to grill you. Ashley’s been through a lot so I’m a little protective of her.”
“How did you know?” Chase asked. First Flynn, and now this guy who had spent all of fifteen minutes with him.
“That you’re in love with Ashley? Easy. It’s the way you look at her.”
Chase rubbed a hand down his face. “Great. Now I can’t ever look at her again.”
“Girls are clueless about that kind of thing. And even if she knows, she’s still here. Trust me, if it was making her uncomfortable, she would’ve told you to stop walking her to her car.”
“She did tell me that. I did it anyway.”
Shaun laughed. “Good for you.”
***
Ashley was dying to know what conversation had kept them in the cab of the truck for so long, but as soon as they got out and dragged the car off the trailer, Shaun left. She was more comfortable weaseling information out of her brother-in-law than Chase, but Shaun didn’t even answer his phone when she tried him, and his voicemail was full. Maybe she was being paranoid. Knowing Shaun, they had just been caught up in talking about basketball or something.
The mechanic’s shop had a small waiting area with hard plastic chairs and a strong smell of engine grease. Ashley sat down inside and waited for Chase. She scrolled through her email until he came in a few minutes later and sat next to her, looking stressed.
“They won’t be able to work on it for a few more hours, and they said the soonest I’ll be able to get my car back is sometime tomorrow.” He rubbed his forehead, leaving black smudges right above his eyebrows.
Ashley bit back a grin. “Hold still.” She rubbed the two spots, though it only seemed to move the grease around. Her breath hitched as she stared into his deep brown eyes. She couldn’t let him know what she was feeling, the jumble of nerves that hit her just by touching him.
“Is this some kind of de-stress method you use? Like the stretching?” One side of his mouth quirked up, and she pulled her hands back.
“You transferred some grease from your hands to your head, smart aleck.”
She smiled as his smug expression turned to embarrassment. Chase retreated to the bathroom to wash his hands and face, and then they headed out to her car.
“I’m sorry, Ashley. I bet I’m totally out of your way.”
He got her door for her, and she turned to look at him. “If we ran into each other at the store the other day, you can’t be too far away from me.” And once they’d compared cross streets, she understood how true her statement was. Chase lived only three miles west of her. In a city as large as Phoenix, that was a strange coincidence.
The shop was on a busy street in the middle of rush hour, and it took some time just to merge into traffic. She waved to the lady who let her into the long line of cars waiting at the light. “So, I’ll pick you up in the morning, and then after work, we’ll drive here and get your car.”
Chase ran his now clean hands through his hair in frustration. “I’m going to be endlessly indebted to you after today.”
“You act like that’s a bad thing.” For her, it wasn’t. Feeling needed pushed away the insecurity trying to rear its ugly head inside of her. She liked that, just for today, Chase needed her as much as she’d needed him after Reid. “I’m really sorry about your car.”
He shrugged. “It’s just one of those things, but I wish I hadn’t roped you into this.”
She glanced at him before concentrating on the stop-and-go traffic. “Yes, being stranded back at the office would be much better.”
“Don’t pester me with your logic. I’m busy wallowing in self-pity.” But he was smiling.
“Chase, thank you for being my friend.”
He looked over, the lines above his forehead wrinkling a little. He’d managed to clean off most of the smudge, but there were still traces of it left. “There’s no one else I’d rather be stranded with, Ash.”
***
Beth texted as they were pulling onto Chase’s street.
