Page 6 of Hooked on a Demon
“It’s the closest, so it will have to do.”
“Alright,” he replies. His words are brief, but not untoward. As a relatively young woman, Eliana knows she can never be sure how these kinds of situations will go. She probably should have called Everest, but the last thing she wants is for him to know he was right. As protective as he can be, he’s still her brother and will take any opportunity to tease her.
Thankfully, the ride to the shop is brief and the driver isn’t overly chatty. Eliana hates making small talk with strangers as it is, but today in particular, she isn’t in the mood for it. She needs her car fixed; that’s all she cares about.
When they arrive, he backs her car into a spot out front and unhooks it before giving her an invoice for the service. She digs her wallet out and pays, and then the man hops in the truck and disappears as if he were merely a figment of her imagination. Maybe he is, and this is all just a twisted game her brain is playing on her.
Her head is down as she walks to the front door, placing her phone and wallet back in her bag. She pulls the door open, still too focused on trying to close her bag with one hand and keep it slung on her shoulder. The door chimes overhead, and a gruff voice sounds from somewhere in front of her, “Hi. I’ll be right with you.”
Her head pops up. She knows that voice. She hasn’t heard it in some time, perhaps even years, but she knows it. She’d know it anywhere.
“Declan?” she asks, looking at the boy, noman, behind the counter.
“Yeah,” he responds nonchalantly, clearly having not noticed her yet.
Fuck, he looks good.
CHAPTER5
Declan
Eliana.
His eyes meet hers, and it’s like time stops. Fuck, he hasn’t seen her in years. Despite being his best friend’s little sister, she had moved away before he became friends with Everest. They’ve managed to run into each other the odd time at their family home, but it’s always been in more of a passing than anything substantial. He places his hand on the desk to steady himself. The feel of the wood under his hand brings him back to reality. The one where Ellie stands in his shop.
“Eli… ana. What brings you here?” he says, sharper than intended, trying to swallow the strange urge to go to her, and the power rises to the surface of his skin. He doesn’t mean for it to come out that way.
“Well, this is a mechanic’s shop, and I have a car that needs repair.”
“And you chose my shop?” he asks, eyes wandering down her body, making a mental note of the curve of her hips. Did she always look this fucking good in tights and oversized sweaters?
“I thought the name sounded familiar, but I didn’t know this was your shop. I chose the closest one to where I broke down.”
Still stunned and trying to process how she wound up at his shop, he can only say, “I see.”
“Now that you’re up to speed. I’m already late for work and would prefer not to spend longer here than needed. So can you take a look and let me know what the issue is and how much it’ll cost?”
He shakes his head, clearing the way his brain has short-circuited.
She wants him to look at her car.
Yes.
He’s a mechanic.
He needs to go and look at her car.
Finally coming back into himself, he switches into mechanic mode. She’s a regular customer. He can do this.
He steps out from behind the desk, moving toward her, but she steps to the side, allowing him space to move past and keep distance between them. Eliana unlocks the door for him, and he pops the hood. He does a quick check and then asks her to try starting it. It whirrs sadly and then dies. He walks over to the driver’s side where she opens the door, thankfully not whacking him with it. “It could be a starter or battery. I’ll have to get it into a bay for a better look.”
She flops her head back on the headrest. This is clearly not the answer she wanted. “How long will that take?”
“Probably a couple of hours.”
She gives a resigned sigh. “Fine.”
“Come back inside, and we can get you into the system,” he responds, trying to sound positive despite the unusual nerves churning in his stomach. She follows him in and within a few minutes, she is all set up. “I’ll give you a call when I have a confirmed answer, and you can decide from there.”
