Page 13 of One Touch

“You noticed my spaniels?” Her eyebrows shot up, a hint of her usual spark returning.

“Hard to miss the damn things. I’m all for vintage stuff—I’m practically an antique myself—but some things should be consigned to history.”

“Careful,” she warned playfully, “or I’ll set them on you next time you come to my store for coffee. They’re extremely aggressive guard dogs.” She paused. “Vlad hated them.”

“Well, I guess he wasn’t all bad.” I grabbed a clean glass and filled it with cool water, pressing it into her shaking hands. “Drink this. It’ll help.”

As she sipped the water, I let my eyes roam over her, checking for injuries. I did my best not to notice the shape of her. It wasn’t easy, especially in that dress. A funny choice for a wedding dress—very gothic, not to mention revealing.

Eyes up, McCoy, eyes up.

Trouble was, her face was even more dangerous.

Lily had a ferocious beauty to her. Wild, but delicate at the same time. Rose-petal pink lips shaped like bows. Pale skin,flirtatious freckles, and eyes such a clear, pale blue they almost looked unreal.

Her hair, for some reason, did a total number on me. Long, wavy, red. Whenever I saw her, I got this ridiculous urge to run my hands through that hair. I literally couldn’t stop thinking about how good it would feel to twist my fingers into the gold-fire-colored mass, to pull her in close and breathe in deep.

This morning, Ava had teased me about having a crush on Lily. The thing was, she was kind of right. I’d always assumed it was because Lily had been so kind to me in the past, and my screwed-up brain had confused gratitude with attraction, or grief with lust, but there was definitely something there. I could feel it now, crackling between us. Which, of course, meant that I did absolutely everything in my power to push it away and seal it up inside a box labeled, “Don’t even think about it, buddy.”

“Everything okay, Ethan?” She looked up at me with innocent blue eyes, and I ground my teeth so hard I worried about cracks.

“Yep. Just . . . checking you over.”

Checking you out.

“Never seen a runaway bride before?”

“Can’t say that I have.”

Just then, I noticed a small cut at her right temple. Not terribly deep, but slightly swollen nonetheless. Her hair must have hidden it up until now. “Your head hurt at all?”

“Nope. Not even a little. In fact, now that you mention it, I feel kind of amazing.” She smiled dreamily up at me. “Like, considering I just crashed into your shop, I feel really, really good. Despite the whole fiancé cheating on me issue.” Lily spoke so quickly, that it sounded as though her words were running into each other. “You know, in a lot of ways, this is one of the very best days of my life. Yup. When I’m an old lady, and my great-grandkids—who will probably be robots by then—say to me, ‘Grandma Lily, what was the best moment of your life?’ I’llreply, ‘Well, Child-Bot, it would probably have to be the day my world totally fell apart.’”

I frowned, unease prickling along my spine. “Lily,” I said, crouching down to her eye level. “You’ve been through a trauma. It’s normal to feel a bit . . . off. I think we should get you checked out by a doctor, just to be safe.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Ethan. What am I going to do? I’ve ruined everything. And now I owe you a bazillion dollars for trashing your car and ruining your garage.” Her eyes widened as reality seemed to sink in. “My business is screwed. I’ve got no money left.”

My heart clenched at the despair in her voice. I felt an overwhelming impulse to pull her into my arms, to comfort her, and tell her everything would be all right. But I held back.

“Don’t worry, Lily. We’ll work it out. I can fix up my Ferrari. Lucky it’s mine and not a client’s.”

“Oh, it’s a Ferrari. I crashed into a Ferrari. I crashed a vintage Chevrolet into a priceless Ferrari.” She put her head in her hands. “I have to pay you back, Ethan.”

I sighed. “Listen, I’ve got a small shower in the bathroom. Why don’t you go clean up? Take a minute. I’ll assess the damage to the vehicles in the meantime. I bet it’s nowhere near as bad as it seems.”

Lily glanced down at her ruined wedding dress. She nodded slowly. “That would be great, actually. I feel all . . . powdery.”

“I can lend you some overalls. Not as glamorous as that dress, but practical.”

“I look like a disaster.”

“You look beautiful,” I blurted out before I could stop myself. Heat rushed to my cheeks as Lily’s eyes widened in surprise. “I mean, you know, considering everything you’ve been through . . . I just mean, don’t worry about the way you look. Icould care less about it. About the way I look, I mean. Not you. I don’t care how either of us look.” Smooth, McCoy. Real smooth.

A small smile played at the corners of her mouth. “Thank you, Ethan.”

I ducked my head, embarrassed by my outburst. “It’s no problem. Come on, I’ll show you to the bathroom.”

The restroom wasn’t much, but it was clean and functional. My work at the garage got pretty messy at times, and I often showered before I went to pick up Lily from school. Didn’t want the teachers thinking I was a garage goblin.

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