Page 70 of Call it Reckless

“Good night, cupcake.”

I gave her another kiss and snuck out of her room before she could ask any more personal questions.

But as I climbed into my own bed later, I found myself doing exactly as she asked—thinking about all the possibilities where Bristol was concerned.

Bristol was good for me. She wasn’t constantly afraid for me on my job as Abby had been. The biggest difference was Bristol didn’tneedme. She wanted me, sure, but she would be fine on her own.

Abby was the kind that needed someone to take care of her, and for her to take care of in return. I’d loved that feeling of being the big, strong protector in her life while she softened my rough and wild edges. But I’d matured since then. Bristol felt more like a partner in anything I wanted to do.

Did that mean I hadn’t really loved Abby? Was I betraying the kind of man she thought I was by being someone different now? Was I betraying how she wanted Lexi raised? Our daughter certainly had my free spirit. So did Bristol.

Lex was already half in love with her. I realized I was, too. It was time to stop seeing things through Abby’s eyes and open my own before it was too late.

CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE

Bristol

Irolled my shoulders and stretched. The last of my mechanics had gone home after a day of orientation. I felt good about the bunch I’d hired. Two came with a good amount of experience, and the other one was fresh out of school. Between the three of them, we had most of the specialty certifications covered. I could cover anything else.

We’d spent the day going over my expectations, including how I planned to look over their work until I was satisfied they worked to my expectations. I still planned to get my hands dirty, but I also needed to manage the business, so I would be reliant on them to do most of the grunt work. They all seemed impressed with the organization of the tools and their accessibility, so, hopefully, we were off to a good start when we opened in two days.

June would be able to coordinate the salon appointments with routine car maintenance, but more complicated repairs would be managed by me. As much as I’d loved what I did at the racetrack, I was excited to get back to the roots that had launched my love of making machines run.

June had left early for a doctor’s appointment after showing everyone from both sides of the business how to use the system we’d put in place for billing. I double-checked everything on our extensive list to make sure we hadn’t missed anything.

From my periphery, I saw a car pull into the parking lot. The passenger door opened, and Lexi got out, her curls bouncing as she skipped to the driver’s side of the SUV. I could tell from her expression that her dad wasn’t moving fast enough for her.

When her teacher had first contacted me to ask if I’d be willing to participate, I’d been quick to accept. I loved sharing my experiences, and Lexi was just the icing on the cake. She was a keen learner, polite, and asked questions based on my answers, not just ones she’d already written down. Today, I was going to give her and Reid a sneak peek at our business.

Reid’s long legs finally stretched out of the car, and he took his daughter’s hand as she practically dragged him inside. “Hi, Miss. Bristol.”

“Hey, Lex. How’s it going?”

“Good. Are we going to fix a car today?”

I laughed. “Not yet. But you’re never too young to start learning a few things. Knowing how to take care of your car will help keep you safe.”

She bounced on her toes as she clapped her fingertips. “I can’t wait until I can drive.”

Reid groaned. “Let’s not grow up too fast, okay?”

His comment earned him an eye roll, but he shrugged it off as he looked at me. “Hi.”

“Hi.” I wished I could kiss him. He stared back with a hunger that I knew meant he was thinking the same thing.

“This is so cool! Dad, can I hang those thingies on my wall?” Her eyes were wide as she stared at one of the walls.

Reid chuckled. “They’re hubcaps, sweetie. They’re off the wheels of cars.”

Her jaw dropped. “Seriously?” She ran to the window, looking at the cars parked outside and then back to my walls. “But these are clean!”

I laughed. “That’s because these are new. My sister, Cam, is a designer, and she picked the decorations. She had a lot of fun finding things made out of car parts. See that table over there?” She looked in the direction I pointed. “That’s made from gears, wrenches, nuts, bolts…all things that are used to build engines.” I pointed to the different items as I mentioned them. “The bench outside is also part of a car.”

“Wow. That’s so cool. This is the best assignment ever.”

“Speaking of, how would you like to do this?”

Lexi opened her backpack and pulled out a clipboard with paper on it. I could see a lot of writing. She’d come prepared. I was impressed at how seriously she was taking her assignment.

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