Page 11 of Winter Wish

Ezra and Aaron were finally ready to reveal their plans for Curtis Garage and the future. About ten minutes after the morning’s meeting wrapped up, Ezra would be revealing his plans to nail down his relationship with his enticing little woman too, with "nail" being the key word. Ezra could hardly wait. He couldn’t remember the last time he anticipated something so much…and it wasn’t because of the meeting.

Tobias was the first to arrive, with Manny and Jorie soon following. Ezra kept his expression contained, but he winked at Jorie as she breezed through the door. She flashed him a cheeky grin and made a beeline for the coffee pot.

When Aaron escorted the Mayor, along with the producer and attorney for the reality show, through the door, the mechanics gave them their full attention. Ezra figured they were eager to find out what all the secrecy was about over the last few months,so he gestured to Aaron to make the introductions and lay it all out for them.

Ezra stood back and observed, but mostly, he kept his eyes on his woman. At first, he could tell by the tilt of her chin that she was curious. When she peeked up at him, he saw the excitement in her gaze. Somewhere toward the end of the presentation, he stopped daydreaming about how the two of them were going to spend the evening and frowned when he noticed the changes in Jorie’s body language. What the fuck was going on?

When the attorney finished outlining the contracts and the steps each employee should take moving forward, the producer practically tripped over himself to reach Jorie’s side. I didn’t like what I knew of the guy since we started negotiations. Thank God he was the executive producer and not one of the field producers on-site during filming. When Jorie took a step away from him, I moved closer to hear what he was saying.

“…thank me for your position. I told ‘em to hire a sexy broad to boost the ratings. Damn, these boys didn’t fool around. They’ve got the other two garages beat hands down. They’re gonna have to scramble if they want to compete. Had the meeting the same day they discovered you. Stroke of luck it was. Probably stroking something else too, by the look of you. How these guys get any work done is a miracle, am I right?”

“I told ‘em, it wouldn’t matter if you can tie your shoes, let alone turn a wrench, as long as you can cause drama–and lookin’ at you, baby, I bet you’re causing a lot of drama already with theseboys, am I right, or am I right? Keep this aesthetic.” He waved his hand as his eyes traveled over her body, then frowned. “You might wanna consider a boob job before we start filming though. Big tits equal big ratings. I have a card, one of my golf buddies could do it for half price. Just tell him I…”

“Could you excuse me?” Jorie lifted her phone and glanced at the screen. “I’ve…uh, I have to take this.”

“Sure, sure. You think about what I said, baby doll.”

Jorie grimaced as she turned, but she held her head high and her shoulders straight as she walked out of the breakroom.

Ah, fuck. This was not good.

I started to follow her, but Mr. Big Fucking Mouth Executive Producer blocked my way and started spouting the same shit.

“Fuck!” Aaron practically leapt over the table to reach us. He cast a worried glance out the door toward the garage bays. “Go after her, man. I’ll handle this. Sit on Jorie if you have to and make her understand that’s not really how it happened. I know it looks bad, Ezra, and sounded even worse coming from this jackass, but you have to make this right. We can’t lose her.”

He was right, but there was no “we” about it. Ezra couldn’t lose her.

Chapter 9

Jolie had once told Jorie she was a mutant because instead of bawling like most girls when upset or hurt, Jorie got mad—and then she got mean. What was the saying her dad always spouted? Only dogs got mad, people got angry? Or some such bullshit. Well, call her a bitch then, because Jorie was pissed.

She marched to the front of the garage, grabbed a set of keys out of the drop box, and rolled up her bay door just as the first customer of the day pulled up behind the car she’d be changing out the exhaust system on.

It would serve the Curtis brothers right if she left those assholes high and dry. Maybe she’d even leave the bay door open to drive up their heating bill. That would show them. Except it wasJanuary, and she was still acclimating to the cold. What she wouldn’t give to be in South Carolina right now.

Jorie wrinkled her nose, refusing to dwell on the ache in her chest. Despite grinding her molars together, tears—stupid and useless—welled in her eyes. It was just the damned cold, she reminded herself. She was not crying over the man… men who were using her to further their agenda.

So what if this was her dream job? No one cared that she thought she’d earned the position based on her mechanical abilities. She guessed all people saw when they looked at her was a means to their own end. According to the dickweed she’d just walked away from—the one she should have kicked in the nuts when he opened his stupid mouth—her breasts weren’t that impressive anyway.

As she beeped the locks and opened the door of the car she was going to service, a guy pulled in behind her, the heat shield on his catalytic converter rattling loudly. It would be an easy fix. He jumped out of his vehicle, a severe look on his face as he shuffled his crabby ass toward her. Here we go again. Lord, why me?

“You must be that new female mechanic I heard the boys hired.” Was that a question? Or was the guy making a statement? Maybe he was just looking for confirmation. Lordy, people were stupid. It was obvious she was female, even if her boobs didn’t meet current standards. Sheesh. She needed to let it go. She was standing in front of a garage wearing the Curtis logo… freezing those tits off. How much more proof did the old sourpuss need?

“Yeah, I’m the new mechanic. What can I do for you?” Her usual friendly demeanor was AWOL. Still, she wasn’t trying to be rude, but her quota of assholes had already been filled for the day—probably the rest of the week too... and it was only Monday.

The man shook his head and hitched his thumb over his shoulder. “I don’t want a woman working on my car. Next thing I know, it’ll run worse than shit, and the warranty won’t cover it.”

Jorie’s mouth popped open as she eyed the car behind him. Based on the make and model, she had serious reservations about any warranty being active twenty years ago, let alone today. In fact, she was pretty sure the beater was older than she was.

“Okay.” She wasn’t going to argue. She slid into the car she’d be working on, adjusted the seat, and put it up on the lift. She walked back toward the man, but instead of addressing him again, she reached out and pressed the button to lower the bay door.

Ezra came barreling toward her. “We need to talk,” he announced just as the side door flew open and the old sourpuss stormed in.

“Hmm, whatever. You have a customer, and I have a job to do… for now.” Jorie turned her back on him, put on her safety glasses, and walked under the car, ready to document the inspection. Once that was done, she gathered the new parts and tools to dothe job right. As she was wiring up the old muffler to safely cut the remaining rust-eaten strap, it gave way, showering her head and shoulders with fine particles of rust before it hit the floor with a resounding clunk. Jorie instinctively slammed her eyelids shut and tipped her head forward.

“Don’t move!” Ezra’s shout scared the bejeezus out of her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her out from under the car. “Keep your eyes closed.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” she sniped back. “Hey! Put me down.”

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