Page 6 of The Relationship Mechanic

Aiden leaned closer. “Well, if you really want to know, Vini said you were the pret—”

“Aiden, did you finish getting those parts organized, or have you been standing around gossiping the whole day?”

Damn it,Jessica thought to herself. She was glad that Vini was here, but she would have liked to pump Aiden for a bit more information. She turned, her eyes once again drifting over Vini’s frame as the woman walked over to them. She wasn’t in overalls this time, instead sporting a tight T-shirt that showcased strong shoulders and a trim waist. Hips that had been hidden in overalls yesterday were now on clear display wrapped in black trousers that left Jessica whistling inside her head. Vini might be vertically challenged, but that didn’t mean she was lacking elsewhere.

“Jessica, what are you doing here?”

Eyes snapped back up as Jessica kicked herself into gear. It was time to turn on the charm. “I didn’t have anything going on today and figured I would get out an explore a little bit. My feet led me here so I thought I would pop in and say hello.”

Vini gestured outside. “I didn’t see Grace’s car out there. Please don’t tell me you walked all the way here.”

Sure fucking did, and I have the bunions to prove it.“Okay, I won’t tell you I walked all the way here.” Aiden’s bark of laughter made Jessica smile.

“You could have texted me.”

“I know. But I figured stopping by in person was a better bet.” Jessica leaned against the counter as she let her gaze wander over Vini again. She was perplexed when she saw her frown. Usually, people were happy when they realized she wanted to see them in person. Never had Jessica received a frown. “Did I come at a bad time?”

Vini shook her head, though the frown still painted her face. “I’m still working on your car, but it should be ready in a few hours if you want to keep checking out the town. I have your number on file so I can call you when I’m through.”

That was not what Jessica had been expecting. Nothing about this encounter was going the way she had envisioned, and now she was left scrambling to figure out how to recover. Was it possible that Vini really wasn’t attracted to her? It wouldn’t be the first time, of course, but it was the first time Jessica had dealt with so many mixed signals.

“That’s okay. I don’t mind waiting here. In fact, I sort of had a favor to ask.” After a few well-placed questions last night, Jessica had come up with a backup game plan for accidentally on purpose spending more time with Vini. She figured there was no harm in being nice. And shouldn’t she be trying to make friends while she was in town? It wouldn’t be good for Grace’s reputation if she had a friend come to town who snubbed the locals. “The whole mess with this car has shown me how little I know about vehicles, so I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind teaching me a few things.”

Vini’s frown grew deeper. “Teaching you a few things?”

“Yeah. Grace mentioned you sometimes teach a few auto-shop classes at the high school.” That had been another surprise. Vini in her twenty-two years of life seemed far more worldly than her age and left Jessica feeling a bit ashamed that she was damn near thirty and hadn’t achieved half as much. “I’m lucky the car didn’t crap out on me until I was close to Peach Blossom, but I hate to think about what might happen if it does that again on my way back to Atlanta.”

“True,” Vini agreed. She crossed her arms and looked over her shoulder where Jessica could see her rental was propped up. “Getting stuck somewhere unfamiliar with no working vehicle isn’t the greatest.”

Jessica nodded and kept up her earnest routine. “And if I’m somewhere with bad cell service, I might have to wait hours. At least if you teach me the basics, I can handle a few things that might happen.” Vini’s expression still seemed unsure, making Jessica wonder if she was pushing too hard. Maybe Vini really didn’t want anything to do with her. She wasn’t trying to force someone to be around her if they didn’t want to be. She wasn’t that desperate for human companionship.

“Never mind. It was just a thought.” Jessica shrugged before moving to leave.

“Wait.” Vini took step forward her expression clearing. She scrunched her nose as she looked to the side, and Jessica wanted to groan at how unfair it was for her to be that damn cute. “I’ll do it. I’ll help you.”

“You don’t have to. I can ask someone else.”

Vini smirked. “You could try, but they wouldn’t be as good as me.”

That had Jessica raising her eyebrows. From anyone else’s mouth, she would assume they were flirting with her and would respond in kind. When it came to Vini, though, the jury was still out on that one. Getting a read on her was quickly becoming one of the most frustrating games Jessica had ever played. She decided to keep it fairly neutral for now.

“I don’t doubt that. I look forward to our first lesson. Will we be starting today?”

“No,” Vini replied, shaking her head. “I need to finish checking out the damage, but I know it’s far outside of the basics.”

“Fair enough,” Jessica said not doubting her expertise. She didn’t know the first thing about cars, and she wanted Vini to feel comfortable so she would let her lead things. There was no point in asking for lessons and then not listening to her teacher. She looked around and spotted a small table with two chairs. Neither of them looked super comfortable but they would have to do for now. Her feet would not put up with her attempting the trek back to town on foot. “Do you mind if I post up here and get some work done?”

Vini shrugged. “Yeah, that’s fine. The Wi-Fi password isJordan212if you need it.”

“Oh? A boyfriend’s name?” Jessica breached the topic with a supposedly nonchalant question. She glanced at Vini whose face was marred by a confused frown.

“No. That’s my nephew’s name.” She gestured to a side door that led to the attached garage. “I’ll be out there working. Holler if you need anything.”

Jessica smiled widely. “I definitely will. Don’t worry about me. Act like I don’t even exist.”

Vini nodded but didn’t say anything more before heading to the garage. Aiden shot Jessica a quick thumbs-up before he, too, disappeared back into the back room, leaving her in the lobby alone to pick apart everything that had just occurred. It was true, she did have some things she could work on, namely reviewing her social media for damage control. She had locked her social media profiles down as soon as the first whispers of scandal had started brewing, but that didn’t mean people weren’t still having a field day with the whole thing. Gossip was a favorite past time for many, and unfortunately, Jessica found herself the topic of conversation instead of just observing from the sidelines.

Her mom had accepted her apologies with the grace she always seemed to have in abundance, but that didn’t mean Jessica didn’t still feel bad. Thankfully, the pictures that had surfaced of her kissing her mom’s castmates had been grainy, but she wasn’t exactly able to blend in when she was back home in Korea. Defamation laws kept the whispers at a minimum, but there had still been talk about her mom losing the role. After having been gone from the entertainment industry for so long, this should have been her mom’s triumphant return. Jessica hadn’t meant for her bit of fun to affect her mom’s career and had quickly decided that making herself scarce was the best solution to let everything die down while the management company did its thing.

---