Page 14 of A Gift for her Festive Firefighter

“Yep, to all of it?”

“Nope,” she said simply, reaching up a filthy hand into the engine compartment and grunting with effort to reach something – glaring at him. Her mulishly grim expression as she stared at him was combined with her lips pressed together giving her a mouth a distinct ‘frown’ as a line appeared between her brows.

She was mad.

It didn’t take a genius to realize that. It was just a matter of figuring out what really made her so angry that she was holding a grudge several days later. The woman was obviously going to let him stew or figure it out on his own by giving him one-word answers. Women were frustrating, he thought silently, plastering on a very tight smile on his face.

“How’s Butter?”

“Fine.”

“How are you? Are you injured or any lasting effects of the accident?” he said simply, trying to keep things positive between them and saw a couple walking past the shop, gawking at the two of them. They were standing as far apart as possible that two people could be and still be considered close enough to have a conversation.

“Afternoon y’all. Nice weather, isn’t it?”

“Hey, Bennie and Marianne,” Beary called out with a completely different tone. The woman sounded happy, gentle, almost downright friendly toward the couple pushing the stroller. “How’s Adam?”

“Growin’ like a weed, Beary,” the woman called out politely, smiling.

“I’m glad to hear it. Keep my little Sweet-Pea-Adam outta the sun, or he’ll freckle like you, Bennie…” Beary called out, chuckling, as she sprayed some chemical on her hands cleaning them off and wiping them on a shop rag that she tucked in her pocket. The couple and this mysterious yet frustrating person, Beary, were downright chatty, yet she barely spoke to him.

What kind of backward crush was this?

For a moment, Cade wondered if he misunderstood what the guys had been saying at the fire station. The woman named Marianne elbowed her husband and angled her head, giving him a stare as if to say, ‘The gossip is true! They are talking!’. Yeah, he hadn’t misunderstood at all, but something was definitely ‘off,’ and he was still trying to put his finger on the pulse of it.

As the couple walked past, casting another look over their shoulders before whispering to each other, Cade turned toward Beary. Her hard eyes were watching him as she unwrapped an oil filter, stuck her finger in the pan getting a bit of oil on it, and dragged it across the gasket before shoving her arm up into the engine compartment again – again giving him the silent treatment.

“So,” he began again, praying for patience. “You are okay, your car is going to be okay, and you heard the noise from the belt on my truck? Did you see the coolant leak?”

“Yep,” she replied flatly, pressing her lips together. “I’m kinda working here.”

“I see that.”

And nothing.

She simply gave him a hostile look and then yanked her arm out of the engine compartment, spraying that chemical she’d sprayed on her hands earlier all over the undercarriage.

“Do you think you might be working on my truck soon or…”

“Nope,” she retorted, not even looking his way as she continued to spray the brake clean along the bottom of the car.

“And why not?” he snapped, trying not to become hostile as he jabbed his hands into his pockets, looking at her. The handle of the grocery bag was pinching his wrist, but he had to put his hands somewhere to keep from balling them up or throttling the frustrating woman.

She turned and gave him a long stare before speaking.

“I am refusing to service your vehicle – until you apologize.”

Cade was pretty sure his eyes nearly popped out of his head, and if a nurse or doctor took his blood pressure right now, they would hospitalize him. He could hear his heart pounding in his head and was beyond furious, and this curvy woman before him was getting under his skin in the worst way possible.

“Fine,” he spat. “I’m sorry.”

“Apology not accepted.”

Oh. My. Gosh! Cade made a small noise that was obviously loud enough for Beary to hear it. The irritating woman lifted an eyebrow and kept working on the car, ignoring him.

“I meant it sincerely,” he ground out between his teeth.

“Noooo,” she retorted. “You said the words because you want me to work on your truck – and you most assuredly did not mean it at all. You are manipulating me to get your way.”

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