He narrows his eyes. “I don’t know.”

So Tazen worked alone? I find that hard to believe.

“It was a prank that went wrong.”

Kellan’s eyes go big. “Shit, are you hurt?”

“I was. Where’s Tazen?”

“He had to go out to pick up some bits for this car, he’ll be a few hours.”

Great.

He does a runner as soon as he’s fucked me. That makes my chest feel tight, but I shove it aside and turn to Rick. “What am I on today?”

“Tazen said you can help me out today, you up for it?”

My chest swells. He’s giving me a chance to work on something bigger. Maybe things aren’t as bad as I first thought. He’s putting some faith in me.

And for that, I swear I will make Tazen Watts proud of me.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Fuck!” Rick barks, throwing his spanner down.

I lift my head from the engine I’m helping piece together, and see Rick storming across the workshop.

“What’s going on?” I ask as he passes me.

“That piece of shit is refusing to start. I fucking give up.”

He charges outside and I can’t help myself. I stand and walk over to the engine that Kellan, Toby and Drasco are all standing around, studying. Rick has let me help on it all day, but he hasn’t let me do any hard work. I guess he’s afraid I’ll stuff it up.

“You connect everything right?” Drasco asks.

“Yeah,” Toby says, scratching his head.

“Maybe one of the lines isn’t connecting properly,” Kellan adds.

I stare at all of them and then I stare at the engine. “Have you checked the gas lines?”

Their heads swivel to me. “You’re not allowed to work on these cars, you can help out but Tazen only lets Rick work on them when he’s not here,” Toby points out rudely.

“Well, I’m not touching it, I’m just asking a question.”

“We know what we’re doing,” he snaps.

“Listen, buddy,” I growl, stepping up into his space. “I get it, you don’t want me here, but you don’t get to speak to me like I’m trash. Do it again and you’ll find your balls in a place you really don’t want them to be.”

Drasco snorts and Kellan chuckles. Rick comes charging back in with a phone pressed to his ear. “Yeah, we can’t figure it out and they want to see it running by close of business. Where the fuck are you?”

He’s talking to Tazen.

“Yeah, well, get in here.”

Silence.

“Of course I fucking checked that.”

More silence.

“Whatever, just get back here.”

Rick slams the phone down and glares at me. “You got any ideas?”

His question stuns me, and surprises me so much I open my mouth to answer but nothing comes out. Impatient, Rick shakes his head, clearly too frustrated to wait. Instead, he barks at the guys. “Toby, go and get the plans for this engine. Kellan, check everything again.”

“Give me a minute, I might be able to help,” I say, thinking hard about what the problem might be.

Rick is obviously finished giving me my chance. This pisses me off. Toby and Kellan rush off and Rick starts talking to Drasco, so I slip in behind him and study the engine. I run my fingers over all the pieces, checking to see if they’re connected right. I check the gas lines, and they seem to be correct. I look at all the fuses, and they seem fine. While Rick and Drasco are chatting, I slide underneath the engine, and mess around with the battery. Then, clear as day, I see the problem.

The starter connection is broken. With a snort, I slide out to see Drasco and Rick bickering about something, still not having noticed I’m under the engine. I find the correct tooling I need and slide back under the car to fix what is quite simple. I tinker carefully, not wanting to cause any more problems. I’m just about finished when I hear, “What the fuck?”

I ignore that and do the last adjustments on the connections, and then slide out to see Tazen, Rick, Drasco, Toby and Kellan all staring down at me. I stand up, slap my spanner into Tazen’s hand and then turn, flicking the engine over. It roars to life. I face them again with a smile. “You’re welcome.”

Then I walk off, but really, I want to skip.

I just showed them all up, and in front of their boss.

Finally.

*   *   *

I’m in the female restroom, washing my face and fixing my hair when I see Tazen appear in the mirror. He’s standing behind me, leaning against the door frame. I meet his eyes in the glass and he gives me a lazy, gorgeous half smile. “That was impressive what you did back there.”

“I told you,” I say, lifting my hair into a neater ponytail. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Just how experienced are you, angel?”

“I’ve been doing it since I was under five years old, Tazen. My dad before, ah, we lost my mom, was one of the best mechanics around. He taught me every single thing I know. I did an apprenticeship underneath him when I was fifteen for five years. Then I became a fully qualified mechanic.”

“Jesus,” he mutters.

“Yeah,” I say. “And you thought I was just a stupid girl.”

“Never thought that.”

I meet his eyes again. “Well, it’s beside the point now. You’ve seen for yourself what I can do.”

“Yeah I have, and it’s why I’m in here.”

I feel excitement bubble in my chest, but I keep my casual expression. “Oh?”

“I want you on my team.”

I want to scream inside, but I don’t.

“You … do?”

“Yeah,” he says, studying me. “I’ve been impressed with your work. Not just today but every day. It’s neater and more precise than any of the guys on my team. Men have heavy hands, but your work is delicate. In the business I’m running, that’s important. People want perfection. So, I’m offering you a full-time job as one of my mechanics.”

I’m inwardly screaming with joy.

“Will I get to help on the builds?”

He nods. “Yeah, you will.”

“And you won’t treat me like an idiot?”

He grins. “No, angel.”

“Then I accept.”

Happy dance. Happy dance. Happy dance.

“Good, then fix your hair and get back out there. You’re part of the team now.”

I let my hair go with a massive grin. I turn and his smile gets bigger when he sees how happy I am. He steps forward and his arm lashes out, curling around my waist. “I don’t fuck employees,” he murmurs, staring at my lips.

“I’d like to hope not,” I laugh softly. “They’re all men.”

He grunts, but he’s smiling. “Exactly. But this time, I think I’ll make an exception.”

“That might not be a good idea,” I say.

“It’s a great idea. There’s a fuck load of hoods to bend you over out there.”

My cheeks get pink.

“But,” he says, looking away. “We can’t make it known to the guys.”

“I get that.”

And I do get it. Relationships in a close-knit garage like this can cause everyone tension if they go wrong. Besides, right now, I just want this between us.