Page 46 of Turn Up The Heat

Okay, so he hadn’t been expectingthat. Shane opened his mouth twice before finally replying, “I, ah. Okay.”

She looked at him, just as calm as you please, but her eyes flickered when he met them, giving away the slightest hint of uncertainty. “I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you don’t charm every girl you know into the backseat of your car.”

Shane’s gut tightened. He might not know exactly what was going on between them, but he sure as shit knew what wasn’t.

“No, I don’t.” His look was as unwavering as the truth behind it.

Bellamy nodded once. “Alright, then. Seeing as how we’re better acquainted now”—she paused to let a tiny grin settle on the curve of her lips—“and it looks like we’re both on the same page since I don’t make it a habit of being charmed by every mechanic I get snowed in with, maybe we could agree to forego the weird, post-sex pretenses. For the sake of being stranded and all.”

Huh. Who knew the no-bullshit thing could be so hot?

Unable to resist, Shane asked, “I charmed you?”

She arched a brow and reached for the coffeepot, so close to him he could smell the clean, intoxicating scent of her hair. “I think that’s a pretty good assessment. You’re rather charming when you want to be.” She poured two cups of coffee, then stood on her tiptoes to examine the shelf over the pot.

“Thanks,” he said, reaching over her head to pluck two packets of sugar from the container at the back of the shelf.

Bellamy blinked as he folded them into her hand. “You’re welcome. How did you know how I like my coffee?”

“Because you’re not the only one who’s smart around here, that’s how,” Shane said, savoring the look on her face.

Oh, they were in for a verrrrrry long night together.

Shane leaned back against the workbench, watching her stir the two sugars into her coffee just like she’d done the night he took her to the Ridge. If she wanted no pretenses, he could deliver. “So, what’s a smart girl like you going to do when she goes back to the city? You think your boss will be calmed down by then?”

Bellamy’s shoulders rounded slightly before she pulled them back to stand tall. “The only way that woman will calm down is with pharmaceutical assistance. I’ve made my bed, now I’ve got to lie in it, I suppose. As soon as I get back to the resort, I’ll call HR to officially resign.”

“You’re not going to try and work things out?” he asked, and Bellamy sighed, leaning against the workbench.

“No. As crazy as it sounds, working at the bank as an analyst isn’t for me.” She knelt down next to the mini-fridge and pulled it open, unearthing the bag containing the food.

“Why is that crazy?” Shane fell into a rhythm next to her, unfolding a couple of paper napkins and popping open the box of granola bars.

She tilted her head, concentrating on the food in front of her, her expression turning soft for just an instant before she covered it with seriousness. “Because it’s what I went to school to do, and my parents paid my way from day one. They’ve never said it out loud, but they run a lucrative real estate company. I’m sure they won’t be thrilled I’m changing my mind so impulsively. Plus, I don’t exactly have a contingency plan for hating a career I spent a ton of time and money to prepare for.”

Warning bells clanged in Shane’s mind, but he ignored them. “You can’t spend your life doing something you weren’t made to do. You’ll be miserable.”

She took the granola bar he handed to her, exchanging it for an apple and a surprised glance. “Easy for you to say. You love what you do. For me, it’s not so cut and dried.”

Shane took a bite of his apple, half out of hunger and half so he didn’t have to answer her right away. “How are you so sure that I love what I do?”

Her laugh pinged around in his belly along with his food. “It’s obvious. I could see it on your face that very first day you looked at my car.” She paused. “Can I ask you a kind of personal question?”

His gut knotted further, but still, he said, “Shoot.”

“Well, the mechanics in the city make an absolute ton of money. If you love it so much, why stay here, where there’s less opportunity to advance?”

Shane’s blood seized in his veins, and he put his best effort into a nonchalant shrug that felt anything but. “I belong here. Plus, as much as neither one of us wants to admit it, Grady needs the help. It took me and Jackson everything we could work up to yank your transmission out, and Jackson’s a house with legs.”

Bellamy laughed again, and his words kept pouring out. “You know who Cesar Millan is, right?”

“The dog whisperer guy?”

He lifted his chin in a single nod. “Yeah. Well, without getting too woo-woo on you, Grady’s like that with cars. He’s unbelievable. I mean, half the time he doesn’t even need to look at what’s in front of him. He can listen to a car, or go by feel of an engine, and bam! He knows what it needs or when it’s right.”

“That doesn’t sound woo-woo,” she said, honesty threading the words together. “It sounds like he’s just meant to work on cars.”

Something flickered in Shane’s chest, and the words continued to flow. “Grady had a heart attack last year, and now the physical stuff is hard on him.” He paused when Bellamy’s eyes creased around the edges in concern, but she didn’t interrupt. “He thought he’d have to retire, but it didn’t seem right to close up shop when all he needed was a little help.” Shane’s mind drifted, spinning back to that first day in the shop and how he knew by lunchtime that he’d never leave.

---