Dirty Fighter: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (16 page)

“
S
on of
a,” I muttered to myself.

It was the second time in as many minutes that I had dropped the wrench I was using to pry open the casing on my cousin’s old Ford. Still, she wouldn’t bust loose.

“Time for a break,” I told myself, knowing that the more frustrated I got, the more difficult this would be.

As I made my way through the shop, I took into account everything that still needed to get done. My father had left me the mechanic shop two years ago when he passed away. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the same booming business it had been back in the sixties. That was evident in the stack of bills sitting by the front door.

I reached down to pick them up, cursing each one as I went. The only one that mattered was the one with giant red letters plastered across the front. Another warning from the bank about the mortgage, no doubt. What did they think? That I didn’t like to pay them? With a stressful sigh, I tossed it onto the office desk with the rest of the threats.

“You’re killing me, Papa,” I murmured to his picture hanging on the wall, “Couldn’t you have found a better line of work to stick me with?”

I knew it was all talk though. I loved being a mechanic as much as he did. My wonderful sister had inherited genes that had screamed for her to leave the nest and carve her own path. Ever since I was a child, all I wanted to do was work in the shop that my father had started. Now, though, that dream was becoming a faint glimmer against reality.

Flipping on the television, I tried to drown out my worries while I popped open a beer. No one would notice, it was Sunday morning, and everyone was off for the day except me, trying to pull extra hours in hopes of saving a few dollars.

If I was able to get my cousin’s old clunker running again, he promised to give the building the fresh coat of paint that it so desperately needed. The ancient television roared to life and I flipped through the channels.

I stopped when a good looking man caught my eye. He had a grin that must melt hearts left and right. Although, it wasn’t his smile that made my heart skip a beat; it was the car he was standing in front of.

“Desmond, with the Grand Nevada Cross-State race coming up, what do you hope to accomplish before that time?” asked a reporter.

“Well,” he said with a smile, “Hopefully I can sweet talk them into letting me bring my mechanic with me. Otherwise, I hope that I can find someone to fill his shoes.”

“Just a mechanic? What about winning?” she asked.

He laughed, “Of course I want to win, and the Grand Nevada Cross-State is like the icing on a perfect birthday cake or a good looking woman at the end of the day, everyone wants it right?”

They all laughed as the cameras panned out and back to the reporter. She was, of course, smiling like a fool at the winning driver. I couldn’t help but scoff a little bit at how the woman fawned over him.

He was attractive, and any red-blooded woman would love to wrap her legs around him. Still, he seemed to be a little full of himself.

“There you have it folks, Desmond Keys wants what every driver here wants, to win the Grand Nevada Cross-State. It’s not just a race, it’s a way of life, bringing prestige, money and endorsements to all the team members,” said the reporter.

Her last few words caught my attention. My father had always claimed that I was one of the best mechanics he’d ever seen before. Ten times better than the men he had hired over the years.

With my interest peaked, I powered on the old computer we used for ordering parts and waited impatiently for the Internet to start. As I logged onto the Grand Nevada Cross-State racing site, my heart did a little flip.

There, in bold letters, was an application for a crew. It was vague, but it was a chance. They were looking for everything from mechanics to wheel greasers. All the drivers had to have a full staff, and when they couldn’t provide that, the race provided them with one.

If I could get onto a team and make the car a winner, I might be able to save the shop. As I filled out the application, I held my breath for each question, praying I got everything right.

Just as I sent the application in and finished up my second drink, the phone began to ring. Of course, we were closed on Sundays, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. I begrudgingly picked up the phone before it could go to voicemail.

“Martinez’s garage,” I muttered, struggling to turn off the television in the background.

“I knew it!” screamed a shrill voice. “Amber Martinez you promised me you would be here for Sunday breakfast!”

I couldn’t suppress my sigh. I had forgotten about my sister entirely. “Hey, Diana, it’s nice to talk to you too.”

“Don’t you try and deflect me! I called your apartment and some man answered the phone!” she shrieked, “I would think you would tell me if you had someone in your life! I want to meet him right away.”

I laughed, “Okay, Diana, you can meet him. You can also meet his wife and two kids.”

She gasped, “Oh my God, Amber! Daddy would roll over in his grave if he knew what you were doing! Shame on you!”

“Jesus, Diana, don’t get an aneurysm. The man that answered my phone was Carlos. He, his wife, and their two kids all stayed at my apartment last night. Their water line burst and the maintenance man had to order the part,” I explained to her.

She was quiet for a minute. “Oh, well that’s a shame.”

“It’s a pity that I’m not shacking up with a married man?” I poked.

Diana scoffed, “Of course not, Amber! Honestly, I don’t know where you get your sense of humor from. Daddy no doubt. I only meant that it was a shame you still don’t have a boyfriend.”

She put extra emphasis on the word “still,” making me cringe in response. I loved my sister with all of my heart. She was all the family I had left. But, we were as different as oil and water. She didn’t want anything to do with the shop and would never understand my love for cars. Diana was all about healing others. Which she did, as a registered nurse. Unfortunately, blood made me a little sick to my stomach, so neither of us visited at work much.

I had been promising her for two weeks now that I would make it to Sunday breakfast. I was pretty sure though that she was just trying to set me up on a surprise blind date with one of the men from her church.

I smiled, “Well, I am starving, so I’ll head over now.”

“What? Now? You’ll be an hour late!” she replied.

I had her, “Why does it matter? Isn’t a meal with family good at any time?”

“I um, I have to work, sorry! I will see you next Sunday!” she said, hanging up before I could corner her into admitting she had an agenda.

I laughed as I hung up the phone. Diana always made me feel better, even if that wasn’t her intention. I sat in my father’s chair for a little while longer, thinking about my sister and my dad while saying a silent prayer that I was selected to go to the Grand Nevada Cross-State. I had been up for the past two days, just trying to make ends meet and using as few employee hours as possible.

Finally, since I had slowed down, the exhaustion started to set in, and I felt my eyes start to drift closed. As they did, thoughts of my father and the gut wrenching hope that he would be proud of me crept up from deep inside of me.

I knew that the race was my last chance to save my shop. It just had to. There were no other options. With a final yawn, I closed my eyes, mentally promising myself to only rest them for a few minutes before starting back to work.

“
C
an you believe it
, man? We’re really here!” Glen said as we pulled into the parking area for the race.

I felt his excitement too, “I know, it’s crazy. I’m going to go check out the competition. Bar later?”

He nodded his head, his eyes already following a pack of cute flag girls walking by with short skirts and red smiles. I laughed at his ambition as we parted ways and I headed to the competitor’s tents. Each driver had their own tent and crew.

As I walked by, I looked in on each driver’s area. They were all men and women that I knew well from the circuit. They ranged from local circuit drivers to professionals from all over. It was going to be stiff competition.

Just the thought of racing against the best made my heart speed up and my stomach do little flips. It was a thrill that I would never grow tired of. Each time I saw that flag drop, the adrenaline would course undiluted through my body. It was like being on steroids, and it always had been for me, from the very first car that I ever pushed over the triple digit mark. Smiling at the memory, I almost ran head-on into the one competitor I wasn’t thrilled to see.

“Well now, I wasn’t sure you were going to make it without your pet, José,” said Luke with a grin.

I couldn’t keep myself from rolling my eyes, “He’s my friend and a damn good mechanic, but I won’t let his absence keep me from kicking your ass, Luke.”

“I sure do look forward to seeing you try Desmond. I hear the mechanic you got is a real piece of work,” he said with a snicker.

I glared at him and walked away. The last thing I needed to do was get disqualified for beating him to a pulp because he got an attitude with me. I had already made sure that José was able to find me the next best mechanic that he could and according to him, the man he had lined up was rumored to be even better than him.

José had nothing to worry about with me, and he knew it. It wasn’t just Luke. Aside from José and Glen, I just didn’t like most people in general, to be honest. I preferred to spend my time with women.

As I found my tent, I could already tell something was off. Besides having an entire staff, they all seemed to be running around like chickens. It appeared that someone was already working them pretty hard.

The new lead mechanic must have a serious set of balls to be able to get a crew to bust their asses so hard on the first day. The race didn’t even start for two more days still.

I rounded the corner, ready to tell my new mechanic to take a chill pill already but I quickly skidded to a stop. Leaning over my car was a woman that looked like no other woman I had ever charmed.

She was slim and Hispanic, her tan skin pushing out of tight, grease laced overalls. Her dark brown hair was pulled up in a loose clip. I caught myself licking my lips as a strand broke loose and brushed her cheek. My hand twitched, wanting to brush the hair away and feel her soft skin for myself.

She looked up at me as I cleared my throat and smiled. As she sauntered over, she wiped the grease off her hands and held one out for me to shake.

“Desmond Keys?” she asked.

I nodded my head, “And you are?”

“Your lead mechanic, Amber Martinez,” she replied with a sweet voice.

I cleared my throat. “Oh, um. I think there’s been a mix-up? José said something about a Michael Martinez?”

Her eyes narrowed. “No mix-up, I am the one you want.”

“Really?” I asked, unsure if a woman so beautiful could also be a mechanic.

She rolled her eyes, “Listen, if you would rather have my dead father, that’s your problem. I got this gig because José put in a good word for me. I had no idea he and my dad knew each other.”

I couldn’t stop the blush from creeping over my face, “Oh, wow. I’m sorry. So, have you been a mechanic long?”

Amber glared at me. “Have you been racing long?”

I laughed. She had more spunk than any other woman I had ever met. “Listen, I just want to be sure. This car is my baby.”

“Hey,” she said with flare. “Don’t take my word for it. Why don’t we take her for a test drive?”

“Really?” I asked in shock.

She nodded her head. “I’ll put my job here on the line and say that you’ll be impressed.”

“I don’t know about that. José made sure that she was running smooth before we got here,” I muttered.

“Nothing against José, but he didn’t take the update course on 5.8L engines,” she shot back.

I nodded my head, unable to find the words to argue with her. José knew what he was doing, and I wasn’t about to doubt him. If she wanted to put her word against mine, I was all for it. It would be a shame to see such a lovely woman leaving unhappy, but I wasn’t about to risk my car for her or any other woman.

As soon as I turned the engine over, I felt my heart sink a little bit in my chest. Already, I could feel the difference. The torque had more output, and the accelerator was aching to jump forward.

Glancing at the passenger’s seat, I saw Amber had a satisfied smirk on her face, just begging to hear that she was right. I sighed, maybe it would run just the same, I told myself, knowing that the odds were not in my favor.

As we pulled out onto the winding track, I felt the power growing underneath me. Within seconds, we were ripping past the stands, already surpassing my top running speed with José. I couldn’t believe it; Amber had done something to Theresa to make her run better than she had when I had first bought her from the factory. The thrill of hitting her top speed was almost more than I could take as I eased off the gas.

“What’s wrong Desmond?” asked Amber. “Are you scared of a little extra power?”

I glared at her, I didn’t like being goaded. “Not at all.”

“Maybe I should drive, poor girl wants to open up!” she said, her voice full of laughter.

Smiling, I gripped my shifter and put my foot to the ground, feeling the wind surging all around us. I watched as the gauges climbed higher and higher until I reached a speed that I had only dreamed about days before.

It was thrilling and amazing, I felt like a schoolboy who had just met his first crush. My heart was racing right along with Theresa. Finally, after soaring for a few minutes, I backed off the gas and struggled to catch my breath.

Looking at Amber, I knew that she had enjoyed the ride as much as I had. It was unbelievable to see a woman sitting next to me. Of course, that brought up another problem that I was struggling with. As I pulled back into the temporary garage, I sighed.

“It looks like I owe you an apology. She’s running great,” I muttered.

Amber smiled. “See now? That wasn’t so hard now was it?”

Before I could respond, Amber was getting out of the car. I couldn’t stop myself from chuckling softly. She was something else that much was for sure. Climbing out, I saw that she wasn’t going back to work on the car some more, but instead she was giving direction to the second in command.

Her leadership skills were just as good as her mechanic skills. It seemed like the more time I spent with her, the more I wanted to get to know her.

“Well, Keys, it’s been fun, but I am going to turn in for the night,” she said.

“Really? I was hoping you maybe wanted to grab a drink?” I stammered.

Kicking myself for how childish I sounded, I watched as she raised an eyebrow.

“No, thanks. If you need me, I’ll be in my bunk. But you go ahead and have fun,” replied Amber.

As she turned to walk away, I couldn’t help but watch her go. Her overalls hugged every curve of her body just right, begging to be set free. Her plump rear bounced a little with each step that she took. I felt my shaft growing hard just watching her leave.

It took me a second to catch my breath after she turned the corner. I looked around to make sure that no one else saw me. Amber was affecting me in ways that no other woman ever had. I couldn’t be certain if it was her walk, her talk or her knowledge of cars, but something about her was driving me insane.

When I heard Glen’s chipper voice coming from outside the tent, I quickly shook myself free from the mental grip that Amber had on me and plastered a smile on my face for my friend. Walking outside to meet him, I noticed Amber once again but this time I wasn’t the only one. It seemed that everywhere she walked, she commanded the attention of other men.

Jealousy rose up inside of me, it was a strange feeling and one that I didn’t like. One way or another, I was going to need to control my desire for her. Otherwise, we would both be in trouble.

“Damn, that’s one hot chick,” exclaimed Glen.

I glared at him, “That’s my mechanic.”

His mouth dropped open. “You’re joking!”

“Nope, I wish I was,” I said earnestly.

“You have all the luck,” said Glen, looking like a wounded puppy.

I laughed. “Sure, let’s call it luck.”

We turned around and headed back for the parking lot. With each step that put distance between myself and Amber I hoped that some pretty little thing at the bar would take my mind off my new mechanic. Glen piped up and asked if José had found her. I nodded my head, remembering that I would have to call my old friend and give him a piece of my mind. Amber must be some sort of punishment for me, something to tame my wild ways.

Maybe neither of us would be interested in the other. She sure didn’t seem interested in me at least. Maybe José knew what he was doing after all, or maybe he was just trying to give me a dose of my own medicine. Either way, I knew it was going to be an interesting race at the Grand Nevada Cross-State.