Page 4 of Grumpy Mechanic

"Maddie?" I ask with a face I'm certain is contorting in disbelief.

"Yes, Chase."

"What the hell happened?" I step aside to let her into the kitchen. "How and why are you at my back door?"

Every step squishes with moisture as she drags herself into the kitchen. "Spare me the ‘I told you so’ bit."

That statement jars me, forcing me to ask, "What did I tell you?"

"To not drive to the Garrett farm. My car got stuck in a ditch on the way back into town. I didn't even make it back to your body shop before I spun out. So I trekked my way through?—"

A sneeze interrupts her, and I don't want to talk right now.

"Tell me about it after you get out of this wet gear. The water is still hot, and you're welcome to a shower. I'm going to put some clothes on and get some food on the stove. You need to warm up," I tell her as I guide her up the stairs and into the bathroom. "Just leave the muddy stuff out here, and I'll get the washer going. There's a linen closet in there, and if you don't mind, some of my Ma's old stuff—it's clean but probably a tad bigger than what you wear."

"I'm exhausted and just thankful it was you here and not some weird zombie looking to eat my brains."

I laugh a little, but I can't stop my mind from wandering about what she tastes like.

"I was gonna throw some steaks in the cast iron, and I got some veg if you're hungry," I tell her while pulling linens out for her to bathe. I don't wait for her to respond before walking into my mother's old bedroom and grabbing some clean clothes from her dresser.

My voice is low as I watch Maddie peel out her soaked socks and shoes. I can't stand by and immediately move to turn on the water for the tub.

"I haven't taken a bath since I was seven. There's something disturbing about turning this beautiful clawfoot tub into a bowl of Maddie soup," she says with a smirk.

"Well, consider this your reintroduction. You should relax and warm up. Besides, a bath will do ya good. It will help heat your bones. If it makes you feel better, shower first, then bathe. It will be less human soup and more of a warm blanket."

Maddie doesn't fight me on this the same way she fought my warning to go back into town. Instead, the weariness of whatever she went through to get here settles around us in a calm silence. Exhaustion pours out of her at the same pace as water, and mud slides onto the bathroom floor.

Somehow, I see beyond her beauty, beyond my instant attraction, to simply help her get warm again. Every movement from Maddie's frame looks riddled with soreness and hesitation. I help pull her shirt over her head and her pants down to her ankles.

There are cuts and bruises from where she probably trudged through the brush to get to my back door. Suddenly, guilt impales me because if I trimmed the yard the last time I was here, she wouldn't have had to fight the landscape in search of help.

After setting everything out and leaving her in the bathroom, I make my way into my old bedroom to put on some clothes. The realization of helping each other while separated by the slimmest pieces of fabric isn't lost on me. But the fact remains, as much of a flake as my mother may be, she didn't raise me to be a pervert.

I'm more than capable of respecting Maddie's boundaries, and I'd do myself a favor by implementing my own. The best way to keep my sex drive in check is to keep my mind focused on our safety. She's a perfect stranger—emphasis on perfect. Whileshe's caked in mud, there's nothing that I want to do to make her uncomfortable.

I busy myself with dinner as she bathes in my bathroom. My eyes drift up toward the ceiling, knowing that just above the half-foot of space, there's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen dripping water down her body to wash away the filth of the storm outside.

My groin tightens at the mere fantasy of taking a sopping wet sponge, dredged in soapy suds, and wiping every smudge of dirt off her curvaceous body. A husky breath pushes from behind my lips as I sear steaks, make mushroom gravy, and roast some assorted vegetables I found in the freezer.

The more I concentrate on making this the best dinner I've ever had, the less I focus on Maddie being naked in a room a few feet above me.

"She didn't march through the fields of who knows how many properties to get molested by you, Chase," I mumble to myself.

"What if I did?"

3

MADISON

The shock radiating across Chase's eyes let me know he didn't anticipate me walking in on the conversation he's having with himself. To encourage him and let on that I'm joking, I offer a smile.

"It's okay if you want to molest me a little bit, Chase," I quip with a slight shrug of my shoulders.

His face is stoic., "I don't want to molest you, Maddie. I am not that kind of man."

"I was joking, Chase. You know that, right? I was just trying to lighten the mood."

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