Seb (12 page)

I smiled, thinking about how happy I was that she’d had the courage to walk into my shop and my life. It was crazy to think that had happened less than a week ago. It seemed like a lot longer, maybe because I’d been thinking about her almost nonstop since. “Working on your uncle’s car is a lot of fun for me. It’s a nice change of pace, a new challenge. I like that.”

“So you like challenges, do you?” she asked with a flirty smile. “I’ll have to keep that in mind.”

“Not too big of a challenge,” I said, frowning. “I don’t mind doing a little chasing as long as you promise to let me catch you in the end.”

She giggled, sounding happier and more carefree, as though she’d forgotten for a split second that she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders.

“Speaking of your uncle, will he be all right being home alone during the day while you’re here?”

She nodded, her soft smile letting me know she was touched that I cared enough to ask. “Yeah, I thought I’d come in for a few hours in the morning, go home at lunch to check on him, and come back for a couple of hours in the afternoon… if that’s okay with you?”

The more she was around, the happier I’d be. “Sure, whatever works for you.”

“I know we initially talked about me just working on the website and stuff, but the truth is I’d like to get out of the house for a while, and it looks like you could use the help around here. Besides, the faster I can repay my debt, the faster you can be rid of me, right?”

I could tell she was testing me, trying to decide how much things had changed since we entered into this agreement. I wondered if the day would ever come when I’d want her to walk out the door and never come back. I couldn’t imagine it. “I’m in no hurry to be rid of you.”

“Good to know,” she said, smiling. She rubbed her hands together. “So I was thinking I could tackle your office first. That should take a couple of days. Then I’ll work on the website and your print materials. After that, we can sit down and create a list to outline my responsibilities around here. How does that sound?”

She was so cute when she slipped into professional mode that I just had to remind her I wanted to be her boyfriend, not just her boss. I grabbed her hand and tugged her into my lap.

“Hey,” she said, slapping my shoulder playfully. “I have to get to work.”

“Oh yeah?” I kissed her. “Well, your new boss is suggesting a little break.” My hand was moving up her thigh when I heard the click of the door.

As soon as Skylar saw my brother Gabe standing in the doorway wearing a shit-eating grin, she scrambled to her feet and ran a shaky hand through the tousled hair I’d just had my hand fisted in when I kissed her.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Gabe said. “I thought you were alone.”

“You’re not sorry, asshole,” I muttered, earning a chastising look from Skylar.

“You’re right. I’m not.” Gabe stepped forward, offering Skylar his hand. “Hi, I’m Gabe Steele.”

“Oh,” Skylar said, slipping her hand into Gabe’s. “You’re one of Seb’s brothers?”

“Unfortunately,” he said, still grinning. “But don’t hold that against me.”

“My name’s Skylar, Skylar West. You’re the one who worked on his house, right? You did a great job.”

“Thanks,” he said with a smug smile. “I like working with my hands.”

His eyes roamed her tight little body, letting me know he wouldn’t mind getting his hands on Skylar. Over my dead body.

“Did you just come here to break my balls?” I asked Gabe. “Or is there a purpose for this visit?”

“Oh yeah,” Gabe said, turning to face me as though he’d forgotten I was there. “There’s a work thing I wanted to talk to you about.”

Since Gabe was a firefighter, something I knew nothing about, I didn’t know why he thought I could help. But I was always willing to listen when he needed to bend my ear.

“I’ll just go downstairs and shadow the girl at the front desk,” Skylar suggested to me. “I noticed you shut down for lunch. You wouldn’t have to do that if I learned how to fill in for her when she wants to take a break.”

God, this girl would become indispensable around here if we weren’t careful. “Skylar, we didn’t talk about this earlier, but how are you going to find the time to get your own work done? You have clients, right?”

She nodded, tucking a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. “I’m an early riser. I can get a few hours of work done before I come in and a few hours after I leave here.”

“Where do I fit into this packed schedule of yours?” I asked, frowning. My brother was watching our exchange with obvious interest, but I didn’t care.

Skylar blushed before stealing a sidelong glance at Gabe. “Um, I’m sure we can work something out.”

Before I could object, she was out of the office with a muttered, “Nice to meet you,” as she passed Gabe.

“Wow,” he said, poking his head through the door so he could watch her walk down the stairs. “That is one sweet piece of ass.”

“Shut your filthy mouth, asshole,” I said, feeling a surge of possessiveness I rarely associated with my brothers. “She’s a lady, not a piece of ass, and that’s the way you’ll treat her. Understood?”

None of my brothers were exactly disrespectful toward women—our mother had taught us better than that—but sometimes they reverted to their baser instincts and acted like pigs. I wished I could say I was better than them, but I wasn’t. A hot girl walked in the room without a ring on her finger, and I was all over her.

“Tell me more,” Gabe said, rubbing his hands together. “Who is she?”

“She told you her name,” I said, questioning whether I was ready to share all the details with my meddling kid brother. “I’m restoring a car for her uncle. She’s working here to pay off the debt. End of story.”

“Judging by what I walked in on”—he gestured to my desk—“you two have more than just an employee-employer relationship. You really think that’s smart after the way things went down with Emma, man?”

“Skylar is nothing like Emma,” I said, pissed that I had to justify my relationship with Skylar to anyone. We were both single adults. What we did was our business, no one else’s. By now I would have been sleeping with any other girl, but the fact that Skylar was making me work for it, making me wait for it, only made me respect her more. “But you don’t have to worry. We’re taking things slow.”

“Glad to hear that.” Gabe walked slowly around my office, taking in the mess. “I’m glad to hear she’s going to be getting you squared away. This place is a dive.”

My shop wasn’t a dive. It was a multi-million-dollar building in an industrial area. The garage and reception areas were pristine. Only my office was a dive.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ve got things under control here. You said you got a problem?” I laced my hands behind my head as I tilted my chair back. “Let’s hear it.”

“So I was offered a promotion, and I’m trying to decide whether to take it.”

“A promotion?”

Gabe was already a captain. After years of being a first responder, he’d finally taken the desk job when one of his best friends was killed in the line of duty. He’d decided it was time for him to slow down and stop chasing danger.

“Yeah, deputy chief of operations,” he said. “The current deputy had a health scare last week—heart attack—so he’s out of commission. They need someone to fill in for him. Since I’m the next in command, I’m the logical choice.”

“Would it just be a temporary gig?”

“No, he’s been thinking about retiring for a while now. He’s put in his thirty-plus years,” Gabe said, shrugging. “He just wants to spend some time with the family now.”

“What’s got you thinking twice about it? It sounds like a great opportunity.”

He walked around, looking restless. “I know it is, but if I take this, my feet would be firmly rooted to the ground, ya know? All those people will be counting on me to guide them. It’s a big responsibility.”

Not to mention the fact he was even younger than I was. He’d moved through the ranks quickly since he was one of the best they had on the ground. Because he was always ready to step up and help neighboring districts, he’d quickly become an expert at fighting bush fires.

Gabe had always been a thrill-seeker. From drag racing to chasing waterfalls in a kayak to facing the big waves on a surfboard, he was always up for the next big adventure. Being a firefighter gave him the time to pursue all of his interests, but his appointment to captain last year had given him less downtime. While he seemed to be adjusting well to the change, I could understand his concern about taking on more responsibility.

“Kid, only you know whether this is the right call for you.”

“I know. This thing with Nex has got me freaked out, I guess.” He chuckled, glancing at me. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy for him. Jaci’s a great girl, but Nex is the youngest. He’s always been the biggest partier. How the hell can he be engaged? That’s just crazy.”

Nex did seem like the most unlikely candidate for marriage, but it was obvious to all of us that Jaci was the perfect person for our brother. “He’s not gonna be stupid enough to let her get away. He knows a good thing when he’s got it.”

Gabe finally sat across from me. “You ever regret not proposing to Emma when you had the chance? Maybe she would have stayed if you’d given her the kind of commitment she was after.”

If I’d proposed to Emma, I never would have met Skylar, and I couldn’t be sorry about that happening. “You know what Mom always said—everything happens for a reason, right?”

He smiled. “You think Skylar might be the reason?”

“Come on, man. I barely know the girl.” And I hated that he could read my mind. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“You’ve been making a lot of noise lately about settling down. After the shit that went down with Amy, I know it hasn’t been easy for you to trust a girl. Does Skylar make it easy?”

We weren’t big on talking about our feelings, but my brothers knew me better than anyone. If I was going to open up to anyone, it would have been one of them.

“She makes me think it’s possible.” I was still trying to be cautious. Skylar wasn’t Amy, and she wasn’t Emma, but I didn’t know her well enough to claim she would never do a number on me. Only time would tell for sure.

“Good for you.” He smiled. “I’m happy for you, man. We were all worried about you shutting down like that. You weren’t the same after Amy. The fact that you weren’t willing to talk to any of us about what happened—”

“And I don’t want to talk about her now,” I said, raising my hand. “Let’s just say I’m moving on, I’m happy, and leave it at that.”

Gabe nodded. “Fair enough.”

“So you gonna take the job?” I asked, anxious to talk about anything other than my love life.

“I’m thinking I’d be crazy not to, right? Most guys wait their whole lives for an opportunity like this. I’ve been with the department for less than ten years.”

“Yeah, but you busted your butt during that time.” I was proud of my little brother. He’d always wanted to be a firefighter, even when he was a little kid. He’d never considered any other possibility and never let anything get in his way.

“Speaking of busting your butt, how are things going around here?”

“Busy as hell.”

Gabe laughed. “Crazy to think there are that many people who can afford to spend a million bucks on a car.”

I wasn’t arrogant, but having one of my restorations was like having a signed original by a famous artist. All wealthy car collectors wanted to add one of my cars to their collection. “There are a lot of crazy wealthy people in the world,” I said, shrugging it off.

“You included now, huh?” Gabe shook his head. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw the article about you in that business magazine last week.” He laughed. “Are you really worth that much, man?”

I grimaced before swiping a hand over my face. I’d never expected them to go digging into my net worth when they ran that article, and I’d been pissed when the magazine finally hit the stands. “I didn’t even want to do the damn interview, but the network thought it would be good for the show.”

“You’ve never been the kind of guy who lets people tell you what to do. So if you didn’t want to do it, why agree to it?”

“I have a contract with the network. I have to do my part to promote the show.”

“Sounds like you’re getting tired of this gig.”

“I like being my own boss,” I said, cracking my knuckles. Every time I did that, I could hear my mother lecturing me about my “nasty habit.” Maybe that was why I still did it—because every once in a while, I needed to be reminded of her. Especially when I was facing a tough decision. “The network makes me feel like they’re the ones calling the shots, and I can’t say I like that.”

“So when you contract’s up, ditch them.”

“Maybe.” I still had time to think about it.

“I’m looking at a house,” Gabe said. “It’s a fixer-upper. Good part of town though. Renovated houses in that neighborhood are going for a small fortune, and I can get this one for a steal.”

“You thinking about buying it as an investment?”

Gabe lived in a one-bedroom waterfront condo that would make him a small fortune when he chose to sell it, but for the past five years, he’d spent his downtime buying little houses, fixing them up, and selling them for a profit. “No, I’d like to live in this one.”

“A house?” I whistled under my breath. “Careful now. When I bought my house, you told me I was closing in on the wife, kids, and minivan.” The smartass knew I’d skateboard before I drove a minivan. “You sure you’re ready to give up the bachelor pad?”

“I think maybe I am,” he said, ignoring my ribbing. “Gotta grow up sometime, right?”

“Amen to that, brother.”

Skylar

By the end of the day, I was really proud of my accomplishments. I’d collected all of the trash Seb said I could get rid of, and I’d tossed it in the dumpster at the back of the building. I’d figured out where to put all of the parts that had been collecting dust in his office, started a filing system for all of the papers that had been stored in boxes, bought two more filing cabinets and assembled them myself—charging them to Seb’s credit card at his insistence—and tomorrow I would tackle cleaning and the rest of the organizing.