Page 16 of The Older Brother
I cover her hand with mine and fight the temptation to weave my fingers through hers and lift her arm above her head along with the other one. Her fingers flex lightly under my palm, so I pat her knuckles twice and take a full step back from danger.
“I’ll get you the part for free. Don’t worry. And I’ll do the work for free of course,” I say, turning my attention to how I’m going to keep Brady’s ass away from this place when he finds out who the part is for. I’m sure he’d give it to her for nothing, but the last thing I need is to give him some sort of connection to exploit.
Brady’s a good guy, but he’s not the kind of guy Saylor needs to hook up with. He’ll smother her. While he’s not a player simply looking to hook up with a hot girl once, he does love a beautiful toy he can show off. And he likes to choose Brady before anyone else. Saylor isn’t anyone’s trophy. She sure as shit wasn’t Caleb’s.
I press Brady’s contact info, and he answers on the second ring. He’s probably hoping I changed my mind about giving him Saylor’s number. I have not.
“Hey man. I need you to do me a solid,” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose as I meander out the open garage bay doors toward the roadway. I don’t need Saylor hearing this part.
“You mean like the way you cock-blocked me this morning?”
Yeah, he doesn’t need to know this is for Saylor.
“I told you, she’s like family. It’s a hard no, dude. You’ll live. I’m calling about a part, and it’s kind of rare.” I try to shift him to business, and thankfully he follows my lead.
“Let me guess . . . it’s for a rush job?” There’s a slight waver of laughter threaded through his words. I guess I do hit him upwith a lot of rush requests. But we always pay, or, at least, our clients do.
“Ideally, I’d love to grab it today.” My request is met with an earful of laughter.
“I’ll do my best. It’s gonna cost, though.”
I open my mouth, pausing for a short breath as I weight the cost-benefit of dropping Saylor’s name as the client or forking out the cash myself. It’s been a good month at the shop. We can afford it, and I know Miguel would agree. Jersey can barely balance his own checkbook so he’ll never notice. I’ll pay it back in two weeks.
“I can cover it. I’ll send you the serial number. Let me know what you can do.” I end our call and head back into the garage, grinding to a halt when I spot Skyler bent over the hood in front of me. She’s making this—me—hard.
“Thinking of changing it yourself?” I tease as I pass.
She flips her hair over her shoulder to glance at me, still bent over the fucking engine bay. She’s literally mimicking the poses from my favorite hot rod posters of my teen years. Hell, there’s one up in the business office right now. I grab the back of my neck and dig my fingers into my skin, forcing my head straight as head to the laptop on the work desk.
“I’m just impressed with this stuff. With you, I mean.”
I blink up from the computer screen, and thankfully she’s facing me now. She’s still leaning against her car, however, somehow, making leaning sexy.
“I’m not that impressive, believe me,” I laugh out, suddenly hearing my father’s voice telling me how I’m wasting my talents on trivial things.
Dropping my gaze back to the computer, I try to push those negative thoughts back to the fringes. Seems Saylor has different plans, though. I sense her approaching about a half secondbefore she pushes the screen down. I was literally on her part listing.
“Say—”
“Why do you do that?” she breaks in.
Her gaze dives deep, like she’s probing me from the inside out, somehow knowing I’m about to feed her a line of bullshit. Her brown irises are cut into golden slices that grow smaller with the expansion of her pupils. It’s as if she’s a witch casting a spell, and I have to shake my head to break her hold before nudging the computer screen upward again.
“I know this is a blue-collar life is all. I don’t pretend it’s anything more than it is. I’m not saving the world,” I chuckle.
“You’re saving me.” Her soft voice tugs that place in my chest that’s weak for her, and I give in and flit my eyes up until our gazes meet.
“I’m not saving you. I’m making your air conditioner blow cold.” I click the mouse without looking and blink twice before returning my focus to my screen.
“In Arizona, cold air is precious thing. Believe me, Rowan. You’re a hero.”
I breathe out a soft laugh at her continued praise. It’s sweet of her to say, but I come from a family that works in several commas and zeros, in crypto and cool cash. I’m secure in my place in the pecking order because I have my soul. That’s enough for me. It’s more than my brother can say.
I type the number that comes up into my phone then set it on the counter before giving into this sudden, constant pull to look Saylor directly in the eyes.
“I should know if I can get this done today in a few minutes. If so, I can give you a ride home if you want. Or if you want to call Miguel’s sister. Or?—”
“I’d rather stay here. Maybe watch you work? If that’s okay?” She tucks the corner of her lower lip in her teeth, and I know I’m losing this battle. I’m not certain I ever stood a chance.
