Page 30 of Secret Squirrel

“You could do worse than a mechanic.”

“I could also walk on broken glass, but you don’t see me running out to join the circus.”

His eyebrows shot up. “What is it with women and mechanics?”

“They’re a dangerous species. Not many women can handle them.”

“You’re not most women,” he pointed out. “Why is it that women fawn all over mechanics?”

I shrugged as if I didn’t have a clue. It was all for show. I knew exactly why women fawned all over them. Duke was the epitome of sexy, and when he walked out of the garage after working on a car, my lady parts jumped for joy at the sight of his grease-stained hands. Call it insanity, but those hard working hands were enough to make any woman have a spontaneous orgasm.

“Yet, you’re going to great lengths to prove you don’t,” Cash continued.

“I wasn’t aware I had to fawn all over Duke just because I’m a single woman and he’s a single mechanic.”

“You could do a hell of a lot worse.”

“I could do better,” I retorted.

“You know, you really are your own worst enemy.”

I plopped my chin in my hand and studied him. “You know, you really do look just like Rafe now that you’re missing part of your ear.”

That shut him up.

6

DUKE

Tires on gravel had me looking up from my paperwork. I hoped it was Rae. Hell, for the last couple of weeks, every time I heard a woman’s voice, my head spun to catch a glimpse of her. But it was never her. She was avoiding me like the plague after our night together. She marked her territory with me and then walked away as if I meant nothing. That should have been enough to set me straight, but yet I kept hoping.

Sadly, when I looked up, I saw Carly instead of the woman I really wanted. Sighing, I let the paper I was holding float back to the desk and I got up to go deal with the woman that just wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Carly, what are you doing here?” I asked as she got out of her car.

With sunglasses on her face and her hair pulled up in some weird hairband, she walked over to me in sky-high heels. “Dukey, my car has a flat tire.”

My eyebrows shot up as I made my way over to her car. There was a nail in her tire, sticking out from the side. I looked back at her, wondering if she thought I was stupid, or if she was just stupid enough to hammer a nail into her tire and not realize I would know that’s exactly what she did. And it must have taken her a while, because getting a nail through all that rubber wouldn’t have been easy.

“I don’t have time to fix it right now.”

“Shoot,” she frowned. “I have to be at work in half an hour. Do you think you could take me, Dukey?”

I heard Bowie snicker from the garage where he was clearly eavesdropping on my conversation. I would take her just so I didn’t have to hear any shit from him. “Fine, get in the truck.”

She smiled brightly at me and pranced over to my truck. I glared at Bowie before stalking over there. This was the last thing I needed today. We were slammed at the garage after having to put some projects on hold to fix all the minivans that were wrecked when the plane exploded. Catching up had meant putting in long hours at the garage.

Now I had to deal with Carly for the fourth time this week. Every other time she stopped by, it had been easy enough to get rid of her. She obviously stepped up her game since she wasn’t getting anywhere with me. I should have never slept with this woman. I was going to pay for it for months on end if this little incident said anything. I should have known it was a bad idea to get involved with her when she insisted she was on birth control and I didn’t need a condom. After what happened with Carolyn, that was never happening again. Yet, I still fucked her, despite my reservations about her cavalier attitude toward sex.

“Dukey,” Carly said, enhancing the whiny act. “I’m starting to get lonely. You’re never around anymore.”

I sighed heavily as I rested my head against the headrest. “I’ve been busy with work, and even if I wasn’t, I told you this wouldn’t work between us.”

“Maybe you can come by later and pick me up.”

“I told you I’m busy.”

She shifted closer to me, her perfume just a hint too strong. “I can ease the tension, Dukey. I could come over later and make you feel really good.” Her hand snaked over my jeans and cupped my dick. Flashes of her using her mouth on me made it hard to say no. What did it matter anyway? Despite having tried to get in contact with Rae, she was steering clear of me. It wasn’t like we were dating. She made it perfectly clear she didn’t want anything to do with me. I shouldn’t feel guilty about wanting Carly’s mouth on me. Hell, I should be sowing my wild oats.

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