Page 62 of Purr For Me
Chapter Nineteen
Afew days later, at work, after finishing up changing brake pads and rotating some tires, Lexie took her tools to her rolling tool chest. On a table next to it, there was a small basin of Dawn water and another that held rinse water. The guys teased her about it sometimes, but Lexie was fanatical about keeping her tools clean since she couldn’t afford to buy more.
She started washing her socket wrench, concentrating on removing the grease from each of the grooves. A shadow fell over her, and she looked up to see Marcus standing there. Unease slid through her veins because it was rare for him to approach her except in passing.
“You busy?” he asked.
“I’m cleaning these, and then I’m helping Sully with a couple things, so, yeah, I’m busy.”
One side of Marcus’ mouth lifted. “Sully can wait. I need to talk with you.”
Lexie’s heart rate went up. “Why?”
His small smile disappeared. “In my office would be best.”
He turned and walked away, and Lexie hurriedly finished washing her socket wrench and let it sit out to air dry. Refusing to trot after him like a little puppy, Lexie walked at a regular pace while watching him enter the office. When she went inside, he had his butt perched on his desk.
“So, we’re gonna talk about your job performance.” He held up a silencing hand when Lexie bristled. “When Tom hired you, you know I wasn’t happy.”
“Pffft! Not happy? You were pissed as hell. I’ve worked my ass off to justify him hiring me,” Lexie responded.
Marcus’ gaze intensified. “I know.”
Lexie glared at him, but she remained silent.
He sighed and motioned to the chair that sat by his desk and then took his own. Once Lexie sat down, he said, “You’re right. I wanted to kill Tom for bringing you on, but I’m glad now that he did.”
Did she just hear him correctly? Her expression must’ve said it all because Marcus let out a shout of laughter. “Wow, I totally shocked the shit out of you.”
“That’s like the mother of all understatements.”
“I like keeping you on your toes.”
Lexie’s temper rose. “I know.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll get on with it,” Marcus said, pulling open one of his drawers. He pulled out a folded piece of paper and slid it across the desk to her.
Lexie glanced at it and then at him. “I guess it’s not a pink slip. It’s the wrong color.”
Marcus smiled. “Look at it.”
As she reached for it, Lexie was as leery about what it contained as she was about touching a snake. She unfolded it to find the numerals for twenty percent written in large letters on the page.
She shook her head a little. “What does this mean?”
“It’s your raise. Twenty percent more a year, starting two months ago.”
Lexie’s heart lurched, and she felt so faint she put a hand on the desk to keep from falling off her chair. “What?” Her voice came out in a hoarse squeak, and she cleared her throat. “What did you just say?”
“And that ain’t all, folks,” Marcus said in a game show host’s voice. “Let’s see what else Lexie has won!”
In a daze, Lexie watched him set an envelope on the desk.
“Open it.”
Somehow, she kept the trembling in her hands to a minimum as she picked it up and ripped the envelope. She pulled out a Bad Boy Autos check—and gasped at the amount printed on it. “Te—ten th—ousand dollars?” She counted the zeroes, sure that her eyes were doing funky shit. “Ten thousand dollars?”
“Yeah. You netted us some serious profit over the last three months with not just your mechanical work, but your detailing work, too. In fact,” his TV host voice came back, “let’s go see what’s behind door number three!”
