Fully Restored (4 page)

“You really think I am beautiful?” I stood, shocked

“Out of all of what I just said, you choose to hear that part? Of course you are. Anyone who has ever met you knows you are. You light up the room just by being in it. You’re like the light to my darkness.  I feel terrible that I never saw you and your amazing beauty in high school. I feel like if I had, if I had found you and your beauty and your amazing heart, things would have been so different for me. I just, I am lost in my head.” He finished his little speech.

Well I wasn’t lost; I reached up and kissed him. Being that the men I had kissed in the past sucked, I had no clue what I was doing but I did it. Then, all the sudden, he took my kiss from me. What had started out as an easy kiss quickly became life affirming. I needed him for air. We kissed until I think someone called for him. We kissed until I knew my lips showed it. We kissed. I kissed!!! I stepped outside of my shell and took initiative and kissed him! Meghan would be so proud of me! If my insides weren’t currently a pile of mush, I was pretty sure I would be dancing.

When we finally pulled back for air, he looked shocked. “Was that okay?” I asked

“Okay? Did you just ask if your kissing me was okay? Babe, you can kiss me like that whenever the hell you want to.”

“I’m… inexperienced in the ‘physical’ department,” I told him. “I’m a book and car girl. I tend to be a little sister to all the guys and nothing more. The guys I have dated, well, they sucked. They were either using me until someone better came along, or using me to get to my friend Meghan. I never go up to guys and initiate. Ever. With you though, I couldn’t help it. The want overwhelmed me. So, I kissed you. I hope that was okay?” I asked

“Okay? Baby that was the best moment of my life. Ever. I’m gonna go see what they need and then I’m gonna speak with your dad. You wait here for me, yeah?”

His look told me saying no was not an option. And, really, it wasn’t; like I would say no to this beautiful man who had turned how I saw myself upside down? I nodded my head yes.

He shook his head like he couldn’t believe what just happened and then reached for me, pulling me in for another kiss. Quick as it was, it was still amazing. He walked towards the bay doors while I stood there stunned. I did a quick look around to see if anyone had seen us and upon seeing that I was now alone in the bay, did a quick dance in my spot. I really needed to text Meghan. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and started texting her.

Me: Hey girl! I hope the fair is going well… I am at work. I don’t know if I will be heading over after tonight, something big just happened!

Crazy: Bitch, what could happen that is better than hanging with me and watching hot guys?

Me: Kissing them??

Crazy: WHAT?!? Spill now!

Me: Long story… but remember the guy that came back over and over yesterday?? Well… I met him again later. And he works with me. And I kissed him. Oh… and maybe you remember him? Brock from our graduating class?

Crazy: BROCK! OMG. Ok…. You have fun tonight. Do things that I would do…. And TEXT ME IN THE MORNING!!!

Me:

luv you

I slid my phone back into my pocket and decided I had waited long enough. I turned and headed back into the main building in the direction Brock had gone, kinda dreading the fallout if the other guys noticed. They didn’t. Apparently I didn’t even rate on the little sister scale I thought I did. I grabbed my sheet and went back to work, easily putting the guys to shame for the rest of the day.

Brock

I really wanted to get to know Teagan and it was killing me lying to her as if I had no clue in the world who she was. And, as much as I liked that Teagan had told me she was pretty inexperienced, it kinda also ticked me off. What kind of men lived around here that saw her and had access to all that beauty and kindness and let it go? To use her to get her crazy friend, that was just insane to me. Crazy was a good looking woman, but one look at her and I could tell she was more focused on herself than any man she might date. There was no soft kindness in her eyes, just hard planning. But Teagan, she was walking, talking sex. Beauty and grace, everything I could ever wish for in a woman, she had. How come the one woman I find attractive, no, addictive, is the one I should stay away from? One who also doesn’t seem to see the need to stay away from me?  That her kiss lit me up that much was amazing. I had never had a kiss like that and believe me, before prison, I was the king of fooling around. I fucked around and slept with pretty much any girl I came across.

Kissing and fucking were my thing. For a while, after I was released, I also fucked around a lot but I never felt what I did before. Before, I felt that peace after and there was no regret kicking the woman out. They knew the process going in. The boundaries were clear. Now, I felt nothing but guilty and hollow when I fucked them and then I felt even more guilt kicking them out.

Teagan, she was a completely different creature. I stopped at the desk to get paperwork for the BMW I had to work on today and grimaced. God I hated those cars. Give me an oldie any day, not one where I had to order parts that took weeks to get there and where the engine itself was hidden from the owner. I think an owner should be able to work on their own car, specifically since they own said car. Speaking of, out in front of the shop there was this amazing Barracuda that I was dying to get my hands on. This was originally my reason for stopping at the shop. I had come in to see the boss, inquiring about the availability of the car and ended up with a job. Now, it looked like I had a new, more terrifying meeting with said boss. I had kissed his daughter.

Throughout the day I found my eyes constantly roaming the shop to find out where Teagan was working and what she was doing. If she looked like she needed help, I immediately dropped my job and helped, despite the fact that the entire shop was full of men who thought of her as either daughter or sister. Thankfully, that wasn’t my problem. She was mine. This discussion later with her dad had to go my way.

When I finished with the BMW, I cleaned my work station and organized my tools neatly in my tool chest. I hated having to waste valuable time searching through messy piles to find the one tool I needed all the time. Then, I cleaned myself up and prepared for war. It felt like I was walking to my death, down the small hallway to the boss’s office. I nearly expected to hear someone yell out “walking the green mile” and snickered in my head.

Before I had even opened the door the whole way I heard a, “Hello Mr. Scott, have a seat. What is it you wanted to talk about?”

I braced myself and decided to start easy. “That Barracuda out front, I’ve noticed no one has been working on it. Is it taken?”

He laughed. “Son, if I had a penny for everyone that asked me that, you wouldn’t find me here! But, that’s not really why you’re here is it?”

I looked around and finally was faced with the fact that I was going to have to do this. “Mr. Steele, I just wanted to ask your permission to date your daughter. Being that we are co-workers and you are my boss and all, I felt I needed to see you about this before it became anything. I respect you and I respect your daughter.  I don’t know how to go about this but she’s all that I can think about. Even when I am sleeping, she is there. She’s beautiful, kind and funny as hell; she keeps me on my toes and I never know what she will do next and I love that about her. Something about her screams to me. I just want to be around her. I really want to get to know her.”

I was rambling. Holy hell. I was making a fool of myself in front of the man that was my boss, the father of the girl I wanted, and a man I respected. And then he made me stand there, silent while he sat with his hands steepled in front of his face.

Finally he smiled, then laughed, then began to cry from laughing so hard. I was at a loss. Was my request funny? Did many ask and I was just another to be turned away?

He finally composed himself enough to say, “If she wants you, you can have her.” And then he went back to working on whatever spreadsheet he had been up until our meeting.

I stood there, waiting, until he finally said, “I meant it, now go, before I change my mind.”

I turn to walk out the door and he finally spoke again, “Maybe you can get her to work on that car of hers.” He mused as I left.

So, there it was, I had her father’s approval to date her AND it was her car! Double win. Sure, she had kissed me, but I still had to win her. I knew nothing about her other than what she showed the world as her mask and the bare basics we had discussed on our “date”. I needed to learn about her to truly get her and I had a sneaking suspicion that was going to be hard. I had a feeling no one really knew Teagan, not her dad or her crazy friend.

I walked down the stairs to find her working on yet another car, this time bent over the engine so far I was afraid she was going to fall in. I cleared my throat to get her attention and she looked up. “Need something? You told me to wait but God, that was hours ago, so I assumed you changed your mind. I get it. No harm, no foul, it was a good kiss but I can live.”

She turned and went back to work but I could see the moisture in her eyes. Damn, I wasn’t starting out so well here.  I held my hand out for her and she hesitantly, not knowing what I was doing, took it. I walked her out front to the ‘Cuda. “This is yours?”

“Yep. She’s all mine.” She said with a smile.

“Why’s she sitting out here, rusting away, while you work on oil changes and transmission fluids?”

“I don’t really know. My dad and I used to work on all the cars together. Maybe I just don’t want to do it alone. He’s too dang busy between the shop and the cars he is currently working on.”

“Hmm…”

I was thinking. I had a plan and this ‘Cuda was gonna help me fulfill it. I turned and looked at her.

“I didn’t walk away because I didn’t want to kiss you anymore, or because the kiss didn’t mean anything. If anything, the kiss meant too damn much. I had to see to an issue with your dad. Now that it’s been taken care of, I am good. So, are you willing to give this a shot? See what happens with you and me? Because I sure as hell am. If that kiss is indicative of anything, I can’t wait to see what happens when I get my mouth here,” and I pulled her towards me to cup her sex.

I rubbed my thumb up the seam and pressed into her clit, giving it some friction. She moaned and her eyes fluttered before I bent forward and kissed her again. Maintaining pressure on her clit, I used my thumb and palm to rub her until she was shaking in my arms.

Breaking away from the kiss I told her, “I take it back, I don’t care what you say… we’re doing this. You’re with me now, and baby, as soon as you come apart here and you head home to overthink this, know this, I’m not stopping or giving up.  I won’t let you run from this, it is too good. Too right. Your body knows it, I know it, and you just need to accept it, okay?”

She arched into my hand, eyes closed, and I kissed her again as she shattered, climaxing beautifully.

“Oh yeah babe, this is so happening.”

Teagan shuddered and regained her senses. She looked astonished and slightly awed, her green eyes open wide in surprise. “I can’t believe you just did that in front of work, in front of my DAD!” She was trying not to yell.

I smirked. “Babe, you have no idea what I will do to you. And how often. The ideas that have been running in my head since I saw you at the fair… they would make you blush. And we will be doing them. All of them. Now, I am gonna let you go for now, gonna give you the night to think. But don’t think too hard, and don’t think you are gonna change this because it is happening. Be ready.”  With that, I gave her another kiss and went to cool down. I needed a cold shower, badly.

Chapter Three

Teagan

W
hen I got home from work I was still shaking from the intensity of the orgasm Brock had given me
in the parking lot of my work
! Who does that? I am so lucky the guys didn’t see! Oh God. What if they had? Tomorrow was going to be so embarrassing. I stomped through the house to the kitchen and opened the freezer, going straight for the vodka. I needed a drink. Who did he think he was? Telling me that no matter what I decided this was going to happen? I mean GOD! Men! 

I poured myself a vodka on the rocks and sat down at the table to think. God, I had had an orgasm at my place of work. I had an orgasm with Brock. A man had given me an orgasm without even taking my clothes off! Holy shit! So, yeah, he was right, no matter how much I tried to chastise myself over the situation, I just couldn’t stop it. I wanted more. Now. Giddy, I reached for the phone to text Meghan again.

Me: You free bitch?

Crazy: Nope, but U R gonna spill anyway… Justin can wait. Besides, he needs a little torture right now. I have him tied to my bed.

WTF? I didn’t know if that was real or not, but I wouldn’t put it past her.

Me: Really? U scare me sometimes

Crazy: Spill. Now.

Me: He made me come.

Crazy: *screams and passes out* Girl! You had sex with him already? I am soooo doing a good job with you.

Me: NO – no sex. He made me come without even taking my clothes off! He used his hand and kissed me to orgasm, he’s that good! He said we’re doing this and I didn’t get a choice. Not that I would want a different option. But he did it AT WORK
.

Crazy: OOOH! Imagine how he will be when you ARE naked. And sex at work rocks. Next time use the desk.

Me: Dad has the desk

Crazy: all the more reason to use it.

Me: SMH. Go untie your boy toy.

Crazy: Yeah, he deserves to let me come now. We are having drinks soon.

Crazy: Oh yeah, shave. Men don’t like forests. TTYL. ILY.

Me: Shit. Yeah, I am on it. ILYT

With that, and a huge smile on my face, I went to shower off the sweat and grease from the day. Maybe I would go see a waxer this weekend so that I didn’t have to do the shaving thing, but then they would know my shame. I would shave myself, carefully, and not trigger anything. I could do this. I wanted to do this. Wow, look at me, planning on having sex with a man enough to think about shaving in the future. I finished with my nighttime routine and went to bed, this time sleeping like a rock all night.

*****

When I showed up at work in the morning all seemed normal except the looks I was getting. Why in the hell was everyone staring at me? God, I hope they hadn’t seen Brock and I making out last night. That would suck. I would never hear the end of the ribbing from that. Scowling, I stomped into the work bays, prepared to kick ass, and found the most beautiful gerbera daisy arraignment ever. It was stunning. How did anyone know this was my favorite flower? There was a little white card stuck in the flowers that I stopped to open and read, “You left me a note to call, and I didn’t. I decided this worked better. Tonight.  7 pm.  Dressed for Lola’s.”

Damn that man knew how to do this right. I knew it was Brock because of the tone, he was bossy like that and for some odd reason, I loved his bossiness. I smiled and tucked the card away. It smelled like him. I didn’t want to lose that.

With what I am sure was a stupid smile stuck on my face, I started in on my first car. My thoughts kept wandering to all that was Brock. I was stuck in a haze, working slower than I ever had, but happier than ever at the same time. The men were noticing that I wasn’t being pissy with them and the mood in the shop was actually light. This made me wonder if I was such a bitch normally that people didn’t relax and enjoy working with me. I know I worked hard and was focused, but maybe in my drive to show that I was as good as they were, I was also alienating myself from them and making them dislike me. I had always thought they were standoffish because they saw me as a sister, and a boss, but maybe it was just because they were scared of me. That was something I needed to work out, if it was the case.

Trying to focus, I finished up one car and started on another. After a few hours of working I began to wonder where Mr. Flowers himself was. I hadn’t even seen a glimpse of him. Maybe he had a later shift. That sucked.

Since Brock wasn’t around for me to ogle all day, I spent my time keeping busy and thinking about what to wear to Lola’s for dinner. Lola’s was one of the best modern Mexican restaurants in town. It was super small and intimate, had an amazing chef who used to work for some billionaire as a personal cook and left in search of cooking good food and giving people a great time, without the stuffy attitude. I had only eaten there a few times, not because of the price of food (the owner purposefully kept it low) but because of space. The small restaurant was extremely hard to get in to. It made me wonder how Brock had managed to get us in tonight with only a day’s notice.

I was ruminating on clothing, thinking I would go for a ‘madmen’ look when I realized I had done four cars and it was time for me to clock out. I still hadn’t seen Brock. I was still slightly worried about this new turn in my dating life, being out of the game for so long, but then I would think of his eyes and face, and God, that domineering attitude and I knew I had made the right choice. I cleaned up and walked over to my dad’s office, knocking as I entered.

“Knock knock! I didn’t see you last night dad, you get home late? Have a hot date you didn’t tell me about?” I asked, folding myself haphazardly into the cracked leather chair across from the desk. Dad snorted.

“Yeah, if a hot mess counts as a hot date.”

“Dad! How come I didn’t know you were dating! I was sorta joking.”

“Teag, I just don’t want to bring a woman into our lives until I know she is gonna be worth the time and effort to make her stay. Besides, like I said, it was a hot mess. She was three sheets to the wind before our dinner even got to us. She kept asking me if I had a grey tie? I swear women are getting weirder and weirder.”

I couldn’t help it, the laugh just came out. “She asked if you had a grey tie? I guess that’s better than asking if you have a red room!” I was snorting and crying.

My poor dad, he had no clue what he was in for if he dated that one again. He looked at me, “Is there something I should know? Why do you know about grey ties? And what the hell is a red room? Why would I need one?”

I couldn’t stop laughing. “Nothing dad, it’s nothing. Unless, are you going to see her again?”

“I wasn’t planning on it. I don’t want to date a lush.”

“Maybe she was just nervous?” I suggested

“Maybe,” he conceded.

“Did you like her other than that? Was she pretty? Smart? Have a job? A bangin’ body? Anything?”

“Did you seriously just ask me if she had a ‘bangin’ body’? I don’t think I can talk about this with you. But, to answer your question, she’s in my night class at the college. She’s getting a business degree too. So, yeah, I guess she’s smart. And pretty. So, maybe I’ll call her up and give it another shot. Only, coffee this time. No alcohol. Maybe I’ll wear a grey tie.” He smiled, “How about you? Anyone new in your life? You looked pretty happy today out there.”

“It’s too early to say, but yeah, someone new is in my life and I’ll introduce you as soon as I know where it’s going okay? He’s a good guy dad, you’ll like him.” I stopped, thinking a bit, “I’m gonna have to ask him if he has a grey tie. That woman of yours had a good idea.” I was biting my lip to keep from going crazy.

Dad laughed, “Well, whoever he is, tell him I have a gun. And I will use it if he hurts you okay? Now, I’m sure you have better things to do after work than hang with your old man. Get going.”

He dismissed me, so I stood to go, all the sudden remembering my dinner date. “Hey dad, I won’t be home for dinner. There are some leftovers from the other night in the fridge if you need them. Or, you know, you could have that second date.”

“I hear you, I hear you” He muttered as I was leaving. I swear I heard him say something along the lines of ‘nosy woman’ when the door was closing.

*****

As I got dressed for my date with Brock I found myself getting more and more nervous. I was totally in over my head with him. He was obviously experienced in the sex department, knowing how to make a girl come through her clothing, and I was practically a virgin. The handful of men I had slept with were so bad that I cringed to even think back on them.

When I was 17, I lost my virginity to a guy that was in my Latin class. That should’ve been my first hint it would be bad, who picks up a girl in Latin class? Who dates the guys from Latin class? We had gone on a few dates before we did it, but it was so bad I wished I had done what the local church board professed and waited. I mean, he groped me with what felt like bear paws, no finesse, and when he entered me, not only was he so small I couldn’t feel him but he pumped twice and came. Then he rolled over and looked at me with stars in his eyes and said, “That was so good. I never knew sex was that good.”

Ha! I may have made him mad by laughing, but really, what did he expect? So, after he screamed at me for being a bitch and left, I decided that next time would be better.

Turns out it wasn’t.  My second time was a guy I had picked up while on a girls’ night with Meghan. I had had waaaayyy too much to drink and Meghan had practically pushed me into him. “He has some seriously huge hands Teag, you know what that means, don’t you?”

So, I went with it. We went to local hotel and started making out. It was nice, the making out, and I thought “this is it! I am gonna get the big O”. Again, I was wrong. We were heavy into it, he was pounding hard into me and I was just starting to feel it when he stopped abruptly and pulled out. He stood up, took off the condom, gave me a forehead kiss, said thanks and walked out.

So, number two was almost worse. I had to lay in that hotel bed by myself and finish the job manually. When I peaked at the condom in the trash, I noticed he hadn’t come either. WTF?

After two really bad times, even Meghan was thinking I was cursed. She tried all the time to push men on me, but none of them had ever done it for me. So, I became more and more a watcher rather than a doer. But tonight, I hoped all of that would change. I was seriously gonna get some or I was gonna join a nunnery. If Brock couldn’t do it for me, I didn’t think anyone could and I may as well be celibate.

I called up Meghan to get last minute advice and, just as quickly, tossed most of it out the window. Meghan may be my bestie, but she was seriously crazy.  I was doing this my way or not at all. So, when the doorbell rang at exactly 7, I ran to let him in. “So sorry, I still have shoes and a few items to get on. There’s beer in the fridge and the remote is next to the couch.” I told him, balancing on one leg while trying to get the strap of the stiletto I was trying to get on around my ankle.

When my statement was met with silence, I looked up and noticed he hadn’t moved once from the entry.   “What?” I asked.

“You are absolutely the most stunning being on this planet” he said, sounding a little breathless.

I blushed. “Thank you. Um... I am just gonna go finish. Help yourself. The kitchen is through there, and my dad is out so you don’t have to worry about seeing him. I know, I still live with my dad. But I felt bad leaving him after all the women in his life did. I’m looking for a place close to here, but the prices are just so high.” I told him, making my normal excuse for why a 28 year old woman with a good job still lives at home with her dad.

“I’m good. No beer for me, just finish getting ready and we’ll head out. Though, I don’t know what else you have to do, you look perfect as is,” he answered.

Still blushing, I turned around and headed back to my room to finish with my jewelry and grab my purse.  I reached in to my nightstand drawer and grabbed a couple of condoms to stick in my purse just in case and went back to Brock.

When I found him waiting by the door, playing on his phone, I pulled him in for a quick kiss.

“What was that for babe?” he asked

“For calling me stunning.” I told him.

He smiled big and opened the door to usher me to his truck.

*****

Anyone else who had this truck would have had their hands full with fixes, it was so old, but I could tell, this truck was Brock’s baby. Every inch of the 1956 Ford F100 was taken care of and in prime condition. Brock had some serious restoration skills. It was beautiful.

“This is beautiful,” slipped from my lips. Bad brain.

He grinned. “Glad you like her. She’s my heart and soul. I got her from the guy who taught me to work on cars. He told me if I kept straight and fixed her myself, she would be mine. I never messed up again, with the law that is, and it was all because of this truck. Working on her was like therapy for me, it gave me time to think. It also helped me see the importance of hard work because she won’t run long if I’m not dedicated to keeping her in shape.” He was rubbing the dash of the truck like a pet, caressing it. “Ever since I got out, I’ve been alone. She’s been all I had to work on and talk to. So, let’s hope that my Gertrude – don’t ask – gets along with your... ‘Cuda”

I laughed. “She would have to run for them to get along. Last I checked she was more rust than running,” I joked.

“Yeah, about that. No more procrastinating. You said you wanted someone to work on it with. Well, you got someone. Me. We’re gonna work on her and get her ready for the road. And then we’ll take her to the track and see what she is made of. Show her off. A girl like that likes the attention. And she needs a name.” he winked.

I studied him out of the corner of my eye as he drove, “1969 Hawaiian Blue.”

“Excuse me?” he asked

“The paint, I am not keeping her classic, I want AC and heat, and power steering. And a fuel injection system. I want satellite and sounds. I want to add a hemi so I can kick ass at races.” I stopped, thinking. It had been a while since I had put any thought into what I really wanted to do with that car. “And she is gonna be called
Phoebe
.”

Brock laughed, “
Phoebe
the Barracuda it is!”

He was truly breath stealing when he smiled that big. Our conversation continued just like this, easy and natural, throughout the entire evening. We had an amazing time, sharing our dinners because neither of us could decide on just one thing, drinking copious margaritas, and laughing late into the night. It wasn’t until the restaurant was nearly empty and the staff was glaring at us that we realized we had been talking until closing. Laughing, Brock paid our bill, and we got up to leave. He offered me his arm as we walked out the door and I smiled. Such a gentleman. It was hard to balance sometime, his brash, bossy demeanor with the total gentleman.

I looked at him and sighed, “That was a perfect evening. Thank you so much for bringing me here. I’m stuffed. But I have to know, how in the world did you get us in on such short notice? This place is booked out for months! I know, I tried to bring Meghan here for her birthday last year and couldn’t get a table for a month!”

Brock chuckled, “It helps that the owner’s son had some issues with drugs and was on my cell block. In fact, I think he moved here to open this restaurant to get Blaine away from the drugs and street gangs he had gotten in to down south.”

See, I was right. Everyone has a past. I smiled and shook my head. “Well, thank you for it;” I told him, “It was amazing. I hope his son is doing well now. I don’t know any Blaine’s around here. Is he living here?”

“Naw, Blaine didn’t do as well as I did coming out. I was never addicted to the drugs or alcohol that I used, Blaine was. I am afraid, even with his dad moving here and getting him out of the life, the life found him again. He’s back in jail serving a second sentence for illegal distribution of heroin.” He winced.

I pulled him close for a hug and looked at him, “I’m sorry. I know he was probably a pretty good friend if his dad knows you. But there’s probably nothing you could have done to help him anyway. A lot of people just can’t do what you did and start over. You’re pretty amazing.”

I couldn’t tell because of the dark, but I swear he blushed.

“Thank you baby. That means a lot to me that you think that.”

With that, he helped me into the truck, walked around to hop in, and got us headed home.

*****

I didn’t even realize we weren’t pulling into my house until he opened my door and I saw my surroundings. “Not what you expected?” he asked.

I nodded and stepped out. His house was amazing. It was small, sure, but it was also beautiful. It had to have been built around the turn of the century, and not the 2000. It was Victorian and had a deck that went all the way around the entire house, held up with thick white marble columns. It looked like it belonged in “Gone with the Wind”.

“Wow!” I said. I had no words.

He took my hand and led me inside. The inside was clean, and barren. In the family room was a small couch in front of what was the largest TV I had ever seen. Around the TV were every gaming system I could imagine and a stack after stack of games and dvds. The other room, maybe the living room, was empty except for a few boxes. He continued to lead me around, showing me the kitchen, which was cute but naked. He had a microwave but no oven or stove. No dishwasher either. At least there was a fridge, though I assumed it was a bare as the house.