Page 67 of The Harborer
Shane lurched forward, but she flung her forearm across his chest, and he rocked to a stop. Not because she was stronger but because Shanerespectedher wishes. “I’ve got this,” she growled.
She tore from around the counter and came face to face with the man she’d shared her life with for years. Clenching her fists at her sides, she angled her body forward. Micky leaned back. “You have some nerve saying something like that after belittling me by coming on to every woman you’ve ever set eyes on, you asshole! I have not beenfucking himthis whole time. I never fuckedanyonebut you while we were together. Choose to believe whatever you want, but donotgo accusing me of things Inever did, unless you have proof, which of course you don’t becausethey never happened!” Fury flowed through her veins.She raised her arm and pointed toward the door. “I always treated you well—certainly better than you treated me. Well, thanks to you, I now see what a waste of time that was. You are done badmouthing me and calling me names. Now get the hell out of my store before I have your ass thrown out!”
Her forefinger shook, but she kept her arm locked in place.
Micky blinked. He darted his gaze from her to Shane and back again. Calculations seemed to be scrolling through his head, as though he was deciding whether to challenge her. His bloodshot orbs once again zipped to Shane, and he appeared to come to a decision. Dropping his cap on his head, he tugged his bill down, pivoted, and walked toward the door. Pausing, he glanced backward but didn’t look directly at her. “Don’t expect me to work on your car.” The friendly little bell tinkled when he slammed the door behind him.
Her entire body quaked, and before she could fold in on herself, Shane’s strong arms were cradling her, holding her up. “C’mere. You need to sit down.” He walked her to one of her bistro chairs and helped lower her into it, stroking her back reassuringly. “It’s the adrenaline.” Then he bent over, hands on his thighs, and peered at her with concern in his soft cinnamon eyes. “Breathe, sweetheart. You’re going to be fine. Can I get you anything?”
She shook her head, the movement jerky, and her neck made a popping noise.
One side of Shane’s mouth hitched up.
“You’re smiling. What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. I’m smiling because you, woman, are. Bad. Ass. Remind me to never piss you off.”
“I’ve waited a long time to tell him off. But damn, that wasn’t easy. And I just lost a mechanic.” A laughing sob escaped her, taking her by surprise, and the floodgates burst open. She laughed so hard she cried, or maybe she cried so hard she laughed. It was impossible to tell one from the other. When she was done, she felt as though an elephant she’d been piggy-backing had finally slid from her shoulders.
When Amy closed upfor the day, Shane took off for Durango, and she headed for her new apartment. The wind lifted her scarf in the frosty air, belying the sky above that was a blue so brilliant she had to shade her eyes to look up at it.
Gratitude filled her.
Winona clattered out of the shop as soon as Amy popped out of her Explorer, Dixie behind her in a ridiculously poofy silver coat. The garment reminded Amy of one of those aluminum domes on an old-fashioned Jiffy Pop pan when the popcorn had finished doing its thing. Amy braced herself.
Winona tightened her wool sweater-coat around herself. “How’s it coming, honey?”
“Slowly.” Amy gave the women a wan smile.
“I hear you didn’t spend the night here last night. Is everything okay? Do you need anything?”
Dixie pushed up on tiptoe and peered over Winona’s shoulder.
When Amy hesitated, Winona went on. “The place was vacant for a long time before I put it up for rent, so you be sure to let me know what needs looked at.” Winona tapped a long, curved lapis-blue nail against her mouth. She and Dixie probably both got their manicures at the same time. “If you aren’t settled in enough to stay here tonight, do you, ah, have somewhere else you can stay?”
If Amy hadn’t been so exhausted, she might have burst out laughing at the hopeful gossips and their not-so-subtle probing, but she wasn’t in the mood to people right now. “I’m covered, Winona, but thank you.”
“I expect you won’t be spending it with Micky,” Dixie chimed in. “He just lit outta here like a bat out of hell, and his garage is locked up tighter than a drunk’s lips on his last bottle.”
Amy schooled her features, masking her surprise at both Micky’s departure and Dixie’s interesting turn of phrase.
Amy shuffled up the stairs—after politely refusing Dixie’s help to unpack—wondering if her confrontation with Micky had prompted his abrupt departure. She also told herself to make a note to change the locks on the store. Just because she hadn’t given him a key didn’t mean he didn’t have one.
Shane thumped the bagdown on the counter. “Damn it, Andy, these are the wrong ones!”
“What? No way.” The clerk behind the counter shook his head.
“Take a look for yourself,” Shane gritted out. He was running on fumes, and patience was in short supply. “Charlie and I spec’ed the very same system he installed for Joy. We both double-checked the order to make sure we had it right.” Shane pointed at the bag. “This stuff is not what I paid for. Are you sure my order didn’t get mixed up with someone else’s?”
“Let me see that.” Andy opened the bag and riffled through it. Looked at his computer. Pulled out one of the boxes and looked between it and his computer screen. He popped up from his stool and checked through a row of cubbies that held orders. Turning back to Shane, he dragged his hand over his beard. “Looks like we screwed up. I don’t know how the order got messed up, but you know we’ll make it right.”
“I know you will, but I needed these yesterday!” Between Micky’s dick behavior in the shop this morning and the disturbing discoveries in Amy’s office, Shane wanted eyeballs on the activity around her store. Agitation ate a hole behind his breastbone. Once he got the cameras up, it was possible he’d see more than he wanted to see—like proof she was tangled up in whatever the hell was going on. Proof that she and her store were at the center of it.
No, she can’t be involved in this, whatever “this” is.
When she’d taken Micky apart earlier, she’d shown Shane a side he’d never seen nor expected from her. That steel she’dflashed had been hot as hell, but it also meant she wasn’t all fluffy sweetness. What if there wereothersides to Amy that his attraction had blinded him to?
No, I’ve known her for six years. She’s no criminal.And yet, people sometimes committed acts they never thought themselves capable of when they were forced to. Humans had an uncanny ability to hide certain parts of themselves.
