Page 37 of It's Only Love

His smile dipped slightly as he realized what he said, and he looked sheepish.

“No, I meant I’m glad you called me when you needed help.”

She stared at him, why was he glad? Because he got to swoop in and save the day and feel really good about himself? Like he didn’t already. God, she hated the sexy bastard!

“So, where’s your exhaust?” he asked, looking back at the road. Turns out Beau had been right the other day, it was looking a little low, because it had been hanging off. She should’ve checked it, she could have avoided this situation but she completely forgot about it and now she was at Dean’s mercy.

She led him over to the passenger side of her car and opened the door, pointing at the seat. He stooped down, placing his hand on the roof and looking inside. His scent wafted over her and she inhaled it greedily, her stomach flipping. It was so powerful, so masculine and so…Dean. It nearly had her panting like a dog in heat. She took advantage of his averted gaze to really look at him. He was so tall, even stooped down, she still had to look up at him. He ran a hand through his blond hair, the sun bouncing off golden strands. He turned to face her and she quickly looked away.

“Christy, why have you put the seatbelt around it?” he asked, his tone laced with humor. She snapped her eyes back to him and saw he was clearly fighting a smile. She looked at the exhaust sitting in the passenger seat. It had fallen off not far into her journey, not knowing what to do, she picked it up. Thankfully, it hadn’t been too hot to touch, and she placed it on the passenger seat for safekeeping until he arrived. She stared back at him dumbfounded.

“Well, I didn’t want it to fall forward,” she said, like it was obvious. He burst out laughing, his laughter deep and rich. His whole face lit up with amusement and he looked gorgeous, so happy and carefree. Unfortunately, it was at her expense, once again. He laughed so hard that she could see tears forming in the corners of his eyes and he slapped his thigh. She felt her cheeks darken with embarrassment and she crossed her arms over her chest, feeling defensive.

“Are you done?” she huffed. He stood upright, taking in her expression and his laughter subsided into chuckles. He wiped his eyes.

“Sorry, darlin’ but that is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time.”

She felt her embarrassment rising, and tears stung the backs of her eyes. Why did this always happen around him? She spun away before he could see her, no way would she make this worse by crying in front of him. Between him and Douchebag Alfie she had enough humiliation to last a lifetime, she was so done with men making her feel stupid.

“Okay, I’ll just hook her up to my truck and I’ll tow her to the garage. I can fix her up while you wait, shouldn’t take too long. You can go and sit in the truck out of the heat if you want.”

She didn’t waste her time, she went and hefted herself into the truck, instantly feeling cooler in the cabin, which smelled so deliciously like him. She stared out the passenger window, not wanting to watch him work, seeing those muscles rippling, tempting her with what she wanted but could never have would just make her feel worse. She couldn’t believe she kept fantasizing about him when he thought she was just a joke, cringing again at how much he laughed at her. When he was finished, he hopped back into the truck. He looked over at her, she could feel his eyes boring into her, but she refused to meet them. He sighed deeply then started the engine, and they drove back to the garage in tense silence.

“I’m going to unload her; you can go and sit in the office where it’s cooler. There’s water in there if you need a drink,” he said when they arrived at the garage. She could feel him staring at her again but still she wouldn’t look at him. She nodded, got out of the truck, and headed inside. He was right, the blinds were closed to keep the sun out, it was shaded and cool. She spotted the water cooler behind the door and grabbed a cup, filling it and downing the drink in one before immediately having another.

She began to cool down, smoothing her hands down her pale blue cotton jumpsuit, checking herself for sweat patches, that was the last thing she needed. She looked around the office, it was nicely decorated with minimalist style furniture. She went over to the large wooden desk, there was paperwork strewn over the top in a messy heap, an expensive looking computer, a phone, and a picture frame. Christy walked around the desk to get a look at the picture, it was the same photo of Taylor and Dean that was in Taylor’s bedroom. She picked it up and studied the image, they both looked so happy that Christy was smiling back at the image.

Dean came into the office and headed straight for the water cooler; Christy quickly put the frame down, pretending she hadn’t been looking at his private things. He chugged down a cup of water then filled another and sipped from it looking around. She nervously smoothed her hands down her hips again, pulling the fabric of her outfit. She looked up to find him watching her, his eyes flaring until he closed them, shuttering his expression. He walked over to her and perched against the edge of his desk. She felt awkward just standing there next to him, the silence stretched on until she couldn’t bear it.

“Thank you for fixing her, again,” she said quietly. He leveled a hard stare at her.

“Do you mean that?” he asked, his voice stiff.

“Of course I do,” she replied, and they settled into uncomfortable silence again. She could see him watching her, his eyes roaming over her body. She began to feel paranoid; she usually only wore her summer clothes when she was alone in her apartment. She never dressed like this in public, too concerned with what people would think. However, since she was working on building her confidence and it was far too hot here, she tried not to care and wore whatever she wanted. But in that moment her old insecurities came roaring to life, and she couldn’t imagine what he thought of her rounded body on display like this. She couldn’t stand the idea that he thought she looked horrible, she wanted to get out of there, fast.

“How much will it cost?” she asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” he cut her off.

Her pride perked up, “I can afford it, you know! How much is it?”

“You can’t afford it! Are you forgetting that I told you I know what that asshole did?” Dean shouted, his chest rising and falling, eyes flashing down at her in challenge. She sucked in a breath as she realized the real reason he didn’t want her with Beau. Money.

“Is that why you tried to break me and Beau up?”

“What?”

“Because you thought I was going to try and get his money? Like I’m some gold-digging whore?”

“Are you serious?” he scoffed.

“Well, you got your wish.” She stormed past him and dumped her empty cup in the trash.

“No, that’s not why I wanted you to break up-” he started, but she cut him off.

“Aha! So you admit it, you did want to break us up.” She spun to face him and marched forward, her pent-up anger and hurt overflowing. “You did want us to split, you think I’m not good enough for him, don’t you? Not thin enough and heaven knows I know you think I’m not pretty enough and now I need money too? Well fuck you!” she shouted in his face, her chest heaving. He stepped forward, getting in her space.

“No that’s not why. I didn’t want you with Beau because...” he started, but cut himself off and mashed his lips together. He moved back but she followed him.

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