Page 34 of Love in the Wild

Beau’s truck was already parked outside Blackwater Automotive. Gage headed straight for the office where his boss was busy staring at a computer screen like it held the secrets to life.

“What’s the word, boss?”

Beau picked up a stack of job orders. “The F-150 needs new brake pads, oil change and filter change on the Altima, the Tacoma needs a head gasket replacement, and the Ram needs a ball joint replacement.”

Tim walked in as Beau was finishing up the job list. The older man worked hard and never caused problems–probably because he kept his mouth shut and did his job.

“Tim, you can start on the Dodge.”

“Mm-hmm,” Tim hummed as he punched the time clock. He turned to Gage and spit tobacco juice into a bottle. “Who was that young girl hangin’ out here yesterday?”

Great. Gage was depending on the guys not asking questions, and now he had to come up with answers on the fly.

“Nobody.” He stepped around Tim to clock in.

“Isn’t that Hadley? Cheyenne Keeton’s sister?” Beau asked.

Shoot, Gage had also been counting on no one knowing her. And Brett hadn’t mentioned Hadley’s sister. “Not sure. We just started hanging out.”

“Looks a little young for you,” Tim added.

Mayday. Mayday. He knew absolutely nothing about Hadley, and he was failing the interrogation. “She’s legal.”

At least he hoped she was legal. Brett wasn’t stupid enough to send a minor into this dumpster fire.

Tim spat into his bottle again. “Might need to see her license, just to be on the safe side.”

“I’ll do that.” Gage headed straight for the door and out into the garage to get to work. The last thing he needed was to get caught in another lie.

No matter how much he tried, focusing on anything other than Hadley was difficult. What if she was a minor? He didn’t need anyone looking at him too close, even if they were only wondering if he was dating a minor.

Gage stretched his neck and shoulders. There was a tension in his upper back that wouldn’t go away, no matter how much he tried to forget about Hadley.

The lunch bell rang, and the rest of the guys drifted off to the break room. Gage kept working on the Tacoma, since Hadley wasn’t expected to show up for a little bit. When he’d replaced the head gasket, he washed his hands and walked out to his truck.

He grabbed his cap off the dash and started to reach for the pack of cigarettes in the console and hesitated. He was lucky enough to be a social smoker. Despite his family’s tendency to drink and smoke themselves into early graves, Gage could pick up a pack and put them back down just as quickly. It was probably the only thing that kept him above ground.

The crunch of tires on gravel turned Gage’s attention. Hadley’s purple car was creeping up beside him.

He looked back at the cigarettes. He could push her away with one light. He should push her away.

She turned her car off and shut the door as she got out. “Hey, you.”

Gage stood and shut the truck door. “Hey.”

Coward.

He really needed to turn around and get a cigarette. Hadley was looking up at him like he’d just offered her a cupcake, and he needed to squash that hope in her eyes.

For her sake, of course.

She shoved her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. “I thought you said your mom’s appointment was this week. I didn’t know you meant it was happening yesterday.”

Gage adjusted his cap and scanned the parking lot. “Yeah, I got the dates mixed up.”

“No problem. Thea will be excited to get an update so soon.”

Tim strolled past the garage bay whistling an upbeat tune. Instead of heading over to the car in the third bay, he hung around the truck in bay one, making no effort to act like he wasn’t spying.

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