Page 10 of Mechanic's Charming Bride

I’ve got it so fucking bad.

“Yeah, sure. Let me just call the parts shop and see what they’ve got on hand and then we can head out.”

“Okay!”

***

I end up taking her to a local diner that’s not only cheap but good eating.

She insists on paying for our meal with her single twenty, and I figure giving her back a little control of her spiraling day is the least I can do.

Before we’d left, I’d joked with her about going out to lunch in her wedding dress, and to my surprise, she pulled out a spare set of gym clothes she had stuffed in a bag in her backseat.

While it’s not the normal kind of attire the diner’s used to seeing, she looks good. I was right about her slender frame under that dress, and now with her tight spandex on, it looks even better.

Shifting in my seat while looking over my menu does nothing for my half hard-on that I’ve been sporting. As embarrassing as it is to be responding to her like a hormonal teenager, I can’t say I’m shocked.

It’s been too long since I actually found myself attracted to someone and even longer since I’ve been laid. Not that I’m expecting any of that because hell, I’ll be surprised if Sam sticks around till morning. Usually, nighttime regrets are the things that do people in, and I wouldn’t blame her if she skipped out e after realizing what a fucking weird situation this all is.

Still, she seems content to browse her menu while she hums to herself, and it relieves me to know she’s not completely turned off by my offer of a guest room.

“See anything you like?” I ask.

“Damn, everything. I’m starving. I didn’t eat at all this morning because I was way too nervous that I was going to throw up during vows.”

I’m so curious to know what happened. And even more so now that she’s brought it up casually.

But I don’t ask her until after we’ve ordered and Delilah, my favorite server, sets a couple of coffees down in front of us. Sam nurses her cup with both of her hands curled around the ceramic, steam swirling around her mouth as she blows on it.

“Can’t imagine what it was like this morning leaving your wedding.” I’m trying to go for a casual tone, too. If she wants to tell me, I’m all ears. If not, then I’ll completely understand too.

Fortunately, she seems comfortable enough to say, “You ever find yourself in the middle of a shit show?”

“More times than I want to admit.”

That has her smiling. “Sorry, I don’t want to be a downer. This morning was… rough, though.”

My eyes lock onto the way her fingers carefully tuck her curl back behind her ear.

“Maybe it’s kind of my fault, but I’ve been feeling like this way for a while,” she adds.

“Not wanting to go to your wedding?”

She nods. “I know, it’s so shitty of me to ditch like that but…”

Her words falter, eyes growing distant as she slowly sets her cup down and stares into it with a far-off look. While I don’t know Sam very well, I can tell that this has been a lot for her. She seems like the kind of girl to go with the flow, so whatever happened this morning to kick up her fight-or-flight has to be bad.

Without overthinking it, I reach across the table and squeeze one of her hands in mine. Her eyes snap up from her coffee.

“It’s okay. Whatever happened, you must’ve had a reason for doing it.”

She nods slowly. “You ever heard of crypto?”

“The online money thing?”

“Yeah. I don’t know a ton about it but my fiancé,” her hand tightens around mine. “He fucking blew his entire life savings and lost it all. I overheard him and his stupid mother talking about dipping into my savings to try and pay back his debts. That’s what made me run. Well, among other things.”

What a dumbass.

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