Page 14 of The Fixer

To Micky, Neve said, “Joy is Helene Holiday’s daughter. She’s here to wrap up Helene’s affairs.”

Micky’s eyes popped wide. “Is that your black M3 parked in front of her place?” It wasn’t that nice cars never graced the streets of Fall River. With the work Noah was putting into making the town a magnet for rich tourists, a higher-end clientele had been trickling in. Once the depot was renovated and the train was running again, the floodgates wouldreallyopen. And while Noah was excited about this new future, Charlie lagged in his enthusiasm. He was all for fixing up the town and making it a historical jewel, but he didn’t necessarily want strangers stampeding through the future pristine setting.

Joy gave Micky a long, cool look. “It’s a rental, but yes, it’s mine.”

Micky began rattling off questions laced with terms Charlie wasn’t sure were English. To his shock, a smile formed on Joy’s face and spread from ear to ear, transforming her from a borderline shrew into someone almost … appealing. Apparently, cars were her jam because she tossed numbers right back at Micky. The two seemed to speak their own language, each one’s exuberance climbing as they motorheaded out.

“Have you opened her up yet?” Micky wanted to know.

“You bet your boots I did! That drive on the Million Dollar Highway? It’s the whole reason I rented the car in the first place.”

“No shit! Where’d you learn to drive?” Micky plopped onto the barstool next to hers.

“My uncle was into racing. When I got my first big-girl job, I saved up and enrolled myself in a performance driving school.”

More locals trickled in. Among them was Lauren, Neve’s receptionist. Unfortunately. Neve was too busy eavesdropping on Micky and Joy to notice Lauren’s arrival—not that it would have prevented Lauren from fastening her eyes on Charlie the entire way. Every time Lauren eyed him like that—as though he was a five-course meal—he squirmed, and tonight was no exception. Lauren was one of the local women who had enticed Charlie into suspending his better judgment and letting his libido take charge. She was also one of the reasons for his self-imposed celibacy. He’d slept with her—once—and regretted it ever since. She, on the other hand, had made it her mission to get himbackinto bed.

Dragging his hand over his jaw, he mentally kicked himself for volunteering to work at the tavern tonight. He returned to the car conversation, pretending to be enthralled with the topic.

Micky was still quizzing Joy. “Which driving school?”

“Spring Mountain, in Nevada.”

“Spring Mountain?” Micky chortled. “No shit?”

Joy nodded, a triumphant grin in place.

“What’d you drive?”

“A CT5-V.”

“A Blackwing?” Micky threw his head back and laughed. “Oh my God! You’re shitting me!”

Joy’s nose inched up in the haughty way she had, though it looked as though it was strictly for show this time. “I would not shit anyone about anything that serious, and before you ask, yes, of course it was awesome.”

The two chattered on like old friends. Micky was so caught up in the conversation he forgot to ogle Joy—and even more telling, he forgot to order a drink. Charlie had never witnessed anything like it.

Neve, meanwhile, was trying to suck margarita from an empty glass. She wobbled a bit on her seat, and Charlie slid a water toward her. “Hey, sweetheart. Drink this.”

She gave him a feeble smile. “You always take such good care of me, Charlie.” She took a sip, then another, and finally gulped half of it down. Her eyes softened with a plea. “Take me home?”

Normally when she asked that question—and she asked it with regularity—he didn’t hesitate. But tonight he found himself wanting tostick around and listen to Micky and Joy yammer on about race cars, even though it wasn’t a subject that ever topped his list of twenty favorites, and even though he had a mound of paperwork and an early morning meeting with his project manager ahead of him.

“And then you can takemehome,” Lauren mouthed at him from behind Neve’s back.

Jesus! Germaine, Neve—well, not really Neve—and now Lauren. Not to mention the myriad come-ons he had already evaded tonight. When he’d been younger and stupider than he was now, he used to imagine having a harem and floating in a state of perpetual sated bliss. He’d be the stallion servicing the fillies. But reality was a far cry from that fantasy. What he glimpsed through this narrow window of possibility convinced him that if such a reality was ever offered, he would turn tail and gallop away, screaming, “Hell no!” No, one was enough for him, but she had to be therightone, and while he wasn’t sure exactly what “right” looked like, he was positive he hadn’t met her yet—and possibly never would.

He’d had a number of women tell himhewas the right one for them, which completely baffled him. He couldn’t tell if they were serious or after something because, honestly, he didn’t get it. When he looked in the mirror, he was unimpressed. Sure, his profession kept him in decent shape, and he wasn’t ugly. Beyond those underwhelming qualifications, though, where was the appeal? Six years ago, when he’d been twenty-one, he’d let a girlfriend talk him into modeling for a book cover—yeah, that was a thing—and the photographer had waxed on about his bone structure, his eye color, his hair, his body in general while he’d slicked him in oil and posed him. The guy had even asked Charlie to return for another photo shoot, but Charlie had turned down the offer. He’d only agreed in the first place so he could get into the girl’s pants, and once he’d accomplished that mission, he saw no need to spend another shirtless afternoon under hot lights in front of a camera.

He had never told anyone in his family, and the girlfriend, who lived out of town, had never had the chance before they broke up. Thank fuck none of the pictures had seen the light of day. He would have been mortified.

“Charlie?” Neve drilled him with worried eyes.

“Yeah, sure. Give me a minute to let Noah know I’m headed out, okay?” He pointed at her. “Finish your water.”

Lauren pouted. “What about me?”

“You want water too?”

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