Page 4 of Saved By The Mechanic

“Alright then,” he says, sliding the key fob into his coveralls. “I’ll be outside if you need me.”

He waits for my nod before heading out, and I wait until he’s left before falling back on the chair with a sigh. I reach down and tug off my stilettos, moaning in relief as I stretch my feet.

These are not the shoes I thought I would wear when I escaped the tight hold of that monster, but they were the first shoes I could find, and I didn’t exactly have the luxury of time to look around for something comfier. Once I’m out of here, I’ll probably purchase sneakers for ease of movement.

I sit in the office for what feels like an eternity before I grow restless once more. I grab another cinnamon roll, and another, and when I reach in next, the box is empty.

Oh my God!

I did not just eat four cinnamon rolls that weren’t even mine in the first place, did I?

“He said you could have them, relax,” I console myself, looking around the office, and my eyes widen when they connect with the clock. It’s half past noon. I’ve been here for four hours!

Restless, I walk to the window and peek through the blinds, my heart falling to my stomach when I notice just how many people are out there, and none of them happen to be my hot mechanic.

Hot? Mine? I blush at the unbidden thought.

Christ, what is wrong with me?

I shouldn’t be thinking about the mechanic, but instead about where I am going after this. The goal was to get away fromhim, and now that I have, I don’t know what to do next. That’s what I need to be thinking about, not the hot mechanic with a manbun and eyes so intense, they send a pulse building up in my core.

Come to think of it, I haven’t met anyone who can pull off a manbun and a thick beard and look equally hot and scary. Not to mention the tattoos I noticed peeking from under his coveralls.

Almost as if summoned by my thoughts, he steps into my line of view as he approaches someone. He motions in my direction, and that has me pushing away from the window before the two men can spot me watching them.

I barely make it back to my chair before the door is pushed open, but this time, it’s not the mechanic who walks in. It’s the other guy from earlier. The one who brought the cinnamon rolls I just devoured.

His lips part in a wide grin when he spots me, and I expect him to just come in and grab whatever it is he came in for, but hedoesn’t move past the door. “Miss Moore, I’m Ralph,” he says in greeting. “We’re about to break for lunch. Ray told me to ask if you want anything to eat, and I’ll bring it back for you.”

I blink owlishly at him. Ray? Is that what the hot mechanic is called?

“Do you buy lunch for all your customers?”

“No.”

“Then why—”

“Ray mentioned he’ll be working on your car for a while, and he worries that you might starve while waiting for him to finish up.”

I bite nervously at my lips as I stare at the stranger, taken aback by his words. There isn’t really anything to fix, why is Ray drawing this out? Or maybe there’s actually something wrong with the car. No, that can’t be it. The monster barely had the car for a month before I stole it. I’m sure it’s in perfect condition, so why is Ray pretending that it’s not?

“Miss Moore?”

I look up to find the stranger staring at me, so I shake my head, politely turning down his offer to bring me lunch. I don’t intend to be here that long anyway. He nods in response and exits the office, closing the door behind him when he does so. I give it a few minutes before rushing back to the window and tugging down the blinds to watch the staff slowly file out of the auto shop.

Once I’m sure they’ve all left the shop, I slide back into my stilettos and hurry out of the office, hoping that Ray left with the others to grab lunch and that, by some miracle, I’ll find my car key in my car and I can just leave without having to admit my lie to the man.

Maybe coming here was a bad idea.

I should have kept driving and hoped the tail I’d picked up on was just my panicked brain overthinking.

“Okay, don’t panic, Penny,” I whisper as I creep around the empty auto shop. “You stole the car once. You can do it again.”

I make it to the car without spotting a single soul, letting out a sigh when I find the door open. I lean in and look around for the car key but come back empty.

Did Ray take it with him?

Someone clears their throat from behind me, and my heart nearly stops. I straighten and quickly close the car door before slowly turning around to find Ray standing too close for comfort, his eyes crowded with something akin to heat, but I am too afraid to look too deeply into it.

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