“Wow, nice to finally meet you. No offense, I assumed you were a guy.” When Justin stuck out his hand, she automatically shook with him. “We keep hearing good things about your shop.”
“Well, we haven’t been out much lately,” Cody said. “But yeah, after I finished with this and started going to shows and car clubs and stuff, I had people telling me I should have come to you for some of the restoration.”
She shrugged. “Looks like you did a great job without me. It’s nice to see someone not butcher one of these.” She wasn’t a fan of chopped rods. Yes, she could appreciate someone modding the engine and drivetrain, but she was more of a purist when it came to the body. Even modernized interiors didn’t make her eye twitch.
Too much.
But she hated when a chopped rod came in. They reminded her too much of close quarters, view slits, and around-the-clock edginess of being in-country. She’d work on them, but usually had Bob or Carl do the test drives, if required. Otherwise, it left her drained, shaky, and struggling not to dry-swallow a couple of Xanax to calm her nerves.
Brooke carefully shut the hood. “They make aftermarket hood security latch kits,” she said. “So you can only open it from inside.”
“Yeah,” Cody said, “it’s on my to-do list. Normally, it’s garaged, so I don’t worry too much.”
Eliza gently grabbed Brooke by the shoulders and turned her around, steering her toward the restaurant’s entrance. “Me needy food, girlie. Now. Talky inside, por favor.”
Brooke glanced over her shoulder and caught the men’s amused smiles.
Maybe tonight won’t be so bad after all.
* * * *
Brooke had been to this Italian restaurant a couple of times before. Quite a few of the people had arrived earlier, because there weren’t many seats left. Eliza ended up steering Brooke, Cody, and Justin toward the back, sitting them at the end of a table and against a wall.
Which, actually, was fine with Brooke. She preferred sitting with her back to the wall.
And at least she had something immediately in common with the two cuties to talk about besides her old SCA and archery days.
Or her time in the military, which she usually went out of her way not to talk about or mention, whenever possible.
Rusty had ended up next to Brooke, with Eliza on his far side and sitting close to her friend, Noel. Brooke knew—or strongly suspected—that Noel and the two men always with her, Scott and Keith, were kinky. But at least Brooke had enjoyed several interesting discussions in the past with Keith, who was a boat mechanic.
She also recognized Mike and Jenny, who were sitting farther down the room and at a different table, from the D&D crowd. But now that she looked at the necklace Jenny wore, Brooke wondered if they also crossed-checked the kinky column. Although Cody and Justin worked with Sean and Max, more of Eliza and Rusty’s kinky friends she’d met, so it could just be a coincidence.
She pulled her focus back to Justin and Cody, asking them more questions about their truck, getting them talking about the restoration process, happily answering their questions about what she did and some of the projects she was currently working on.
By the time the group broke up a couple of hours later, it was well past dark, nearly ten o’clock. It actually surprised Brooke, because she realized she’d pretty much sat there and talked only to Cody and Justin the entire time.
Okay, so maybe this was a good idea. I’ll have to thank Eliza.
With the checks paid, as they headed out, Brooke realized she didn’t want to say good-night to the men. When they asked her for her phone number, she also didn’t hesitate to give it to them.
She’d never risk pissing off a potential customer. Yes, Sarasota was a small city. And bad reputations—or snooty ones—could spread like wildfire. Besides, she never knew when giving her phone number out to someone might mean leading to another job. Most of her business was word of mouth. She didn’t have to do any advertising, between her website and the local car clubs doing it for her.
Even in the slow summer months she was still booked solid, much less the winters, when the snowbirds returned from up north with their classic show cars…and their money.
She stood next to the truck, saying good night to the men as they got in.
She had just turned to open the back door of Rusty and Eliza’s car when she heard the distinctive click-click of an engine not starting.
Turning back toward the Fairlane, she spotted the frustrated look on Cody’s face as he tried the key again.
Without even asking, she tossed her purse into Eliza and Rusty’s car and headed for the Fairlane, popping the hood open. The battery terminals looked tight and clean, the cables practically brand new, as was the battery.
Click-click.
“Rusty, do you have jumper cables?” Brooke asked him.
“Yeah. Hold on.”
“Wait a minute.” His little four-cylinder Toyota likely didn’t have enough cranking power to start the V-8 engine. Glancing across the parking lot, she spotted Kel and Mal, more of Eliza and Rusty’s friends. “Grab them.” She pointed at them, where they were getting into their pickup. “See if they’ll let us jump from them.”
Five minutes later, the Fairlane still wasn’t starting.
“I’ll call AAA,” Cody said, sounding disgusted. “Dammit, I knew I should have put the charger on it last week. I don’t have time for this.”
“I don’t think it’s a dead battery,” Brooke said. “It would have started when we jumped it if that’s all it was. If you want, have them take it to my shop, and I’ll take a look at it for you in the morning.” She realized how pushy that might have sounded, and quickly added, “If you want. I mean, you won’t hurt my feelings if you say no. It probably is a really easy fix you can do yourself.”
“I’d love for you to work on it for me,” Cody said. “I honestly don’t have the time to do it. It’ll just sit in the garage for a few weeks or months until I get the time, and then it’ll need carb work for sitting so long.”
“You sure it’s not an inconvenience?” Justin asked her.
“No, not at all. As long as Eliza and Rusty don’t mind driving us there. I’ll have to let the wrecker in. We can push it inside an empty bay.”
Eliza smirked from where she was relaxing against their car, arms crossed over her chest. “Hey, barbarian?” she said to Rusty.
“Yes, Ma’am?”
“Remind me that sometimes my evil plans work too damn well.”
He snickered.
Chapter Four
It took the wrecker nearly forty-five minutes to arrive. Brooke didn’t blame Cody for the way he nervously watched as the driver winched the Fairlane onto the flatbed.
She also didn’t mind sitting firmly sandwiched between the two hunks in Rusty’s backseat as he drove them over to the garage. When they arrived, Cody got out so she could get out and open the gate and the shop.
Twenty minutes later, with everyone’s help, the Fairlane was safely stowed in bay 6, and she had a signed work order from Cody, allowing her to do whatever she needed to get it running.
“Hey, you said something about a hood kit?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“Can you add that on, too?”
“Sure. Might mean I need to keep it a few extra days. I’ll have to special order it.”
“That’s fine. As long as it’s not a problem to have the truck here? I don’t want to mess up your schedule or bump anyone.”
“No, no problem at all.” She added that to the work order. Bob or Carl would love taking a crack at that. An easy project not requiring any diagnostics, they’d both installed dozens of the retrofit kits in cars over the years.
“You know,” Eliza said, “Brooke doesn’t live too far from you guys. We could drop all three of you off at your place, and you guys could run Brooke home.”
Brooke glared at Eliza, but from behind her, Justin said, “Sure. We’d be happy to. Least we can do for us in
conveniencing her tonight.”
That was something else. These two guys weren’t just hunks with a nice classic truck, they were also sweeties. That much was obvious during her dinner discussions with them.
“Thank you,” Brooke said, knowing it’d be impossible to argue with Eliza anyway. “I appreciate that.”
Brooke would, however, get her revenge on Eliza. She wasn’t sure how, but she would. And when she turned and glared at Eliza, her friend flashed her a pleased grin that told Brooke Eliza damn well knew what she was doing and was willing to risk Brooke’s ire over it.
Why Eliza was so hot to hook her up with these two guys confused Brooke. They were obviously gay partners.
Whatever.
If nothing else, Brooke wouldn’t mind having a couple of safe friends with something in common. If it got Eliza off her case in the long run, it’d even be worth tonight’s aggravation.
Not that she would have had anything better on her agenda tonight except watching TV with Dixon.
* * * *
Cody readily admitted he wasn’t always the sharpest knife in the drawer when it came to reading people, but he had the distinct impression Eliza was trying to fix Brooke up with them.
Which, okay, he didn’t mind that, either. The slim woman was over six inches shorter than them, and pretty. Blue eyes, long, brown hair, and she knew her cars.
What he couldn’t figure out was if she was kinky or not. Nothing she’d said indicated she was. Although, while at the garage and out of Brooke’s earshot, Eliza had hinted to the two of them that Brooke was kink-aware. And Brooke had known several of their kinky friends.
Once again crammed tightly into Rusty’s back seat, they set off. Despite his earlier discussion with Justin, now Cody kind of wished they could spend more time with Brooke. Even if she wasn’t kinky or looking for fun, she was nice to talk to. Someone different, for a change. He enjoyed watching the way her usually somber expression lit up, animated, when talking about what she did for a living, or discussing cars in general.
It truly was her passion.
Eliza spoke up from the front seat. “Did you tell them about the archery?”
“Huh?” he and Justin asked, but apparently Eliza’s comment had been directed at Brooke.
“Why would I do that?” Brooke asked. “We were talking cars.”
“She’s really an awesome archer,” Eliza continued, as if Brooke hadn’t spoken.
“That’s cool,” Justin said.
Eliza wasn’t finished. “She used to compete in SCA way back when. That’s how we first met. She’s really good. You should see her with a bow.”
Now I have that question answered.
Cody could now deduce which column of Eliza’s friends Brooke firmly fit into. Non-kinky. Still, it didn’t automatically preclude that she might also be a kinky friend, even though he couldn’t remember having seen her at any events before.
Of course, they hadn’t been to any events lately, either.
“I’ve always wanted to try that,” Cody said.
“It’s been a while since I’ve shot,” she said. “There’s a place down in Venice with an archery range. They also sell camping and hunting supplies.”
“Would you mind showing me?” Now where had that come from?
Apparently Justin wanted to know the answer to that, too, because he leaned back and shot Cody a questioning look over the top of Brooke’s head.
Not a bad one, but more a “dude, what the fuck” kind of look.
“Um, sure. I guess,” Brooke said.
“She’s not doing anything this weekend,” Eliza volunteered.
Now it was Brooke’s turn to shoot a “what the fuck” look at the back of Eliza’s head, Cody noted with amusement.
“She’s just watching The Walking Dead on Sunday evening,” Eliza continued.
“It’s my favorite show,” Brooke mumbled.
“Oh, I love that show!” Okay, score, something else they had in common. “I have all the graphic novels, too, in print.”
“I haven’t read those.”
“I’d be happy to loan them to you. I’ll get them for you when we get to the house.” He ignored Justin’s furrowed brow from the other side of Brooke. “The show doesn’t stay true to the comics, but it’s interesting to compare and contrast the two. Did you know that Merle and Daryl weren’t even in the comics?”
“Really? I named my cat Dixon. Daryl’s my favorite.”
He grinned. “Daryl. Kicks. Ass.”
* * * *
Oh. My. God.
Did I really just admit I named my cat after a TV character?
Shoot. Me. Now.
Well, at least they were gay, so Brooke didn’t feel like as much of an idiot embarrassing herself. It wasn’t like they were interested in her as anything but a friend and she was mucking up a romantic opportunity with her complete and utter geekiness.
When they pulled into the driveway of a yard that wasn’t perfect, but neat enough, Brooke relaxed a little more. She paid a lawn service to take care of her yard, so it wasn’t showcase-gorgeous. At least now she could cross off one more thing from her list of shortcomings compared to the men.
In the driveway, Rusty and Eliza both got out to give everyone hugs and say good night.
Eliza whispered in her ear, “See? This was a good night.”
“Yes, you told me so,” Brooke said. It would do no good trying to argue with her friend, so it was best just to concede the battle and spare the energy.
Eliza gave her a smile and wave before getting back into the car and heading off.
She followed the men to their front door. “I’ll get you those books,” Cody said. “It’ll only take me a second. Come on in.”
“Did you want a drink or anything while he gets those?” Justin asked.
“No, thanks. I’m okay.” She didn’t want to be rude and refuse Cody’s offer to loan her the books, even though comic books weren’t really her thing. Yes, she knew about the show’s origins, but hadn’t really cared to pursue the books.
When she followed them inside, she was happy to see that while neat and tidy, their home also felt lived in. It wasn’t any neater than her own place, which was fine. She hated going into a home where it felt like a museum showcase as much as she hated slobs.
“Nice place,” she said.
Justin shrugged. “It’s a rental, so we really can’t do anything to it. We’re going to eventually build a house, one day. We’ve got the property, we just haven’t had time.”
She smiled. “Sort of like the cobbler’s kids have no shoes and the mechanic drives a beater?” Okay, so her Cherokee wasn’t a beater, but it was old. It had been her mom’s, it ran well, it was paid for, and she didn’t have the heart to part with it.
Justin nodded. “Something like that. The construction guys who build for everyone else don’t own a home of their own. I think that’s irony, or something.”
“How did you guys end up building houses?” she asked.
“Well, we did a lot of work with the guys who started Sarton. When they formed their company, they asked us to come to work for them as their electrical and plumbing contractors. We handle the plans, permitting, inspections, subcontracting, all of that kind of stuff.”
“No hands-on work?”
“Not anymore, thank god. Not for several years now. I don’t miss crawling around under a house looking for pipe leaks, let me tell you what.”
“Amen,” Cody said as he returned. “Nothing like crawling around in a hot attic during a Florida summer while chasing down an electrical problem.” In his arms he carried a tall stack of several tomes.
“Holy cow,” she said, shocked. “That’s a lot of books.”
“These are compendiums. I’m sort of a geek when it comes to these. I have the individual issues, the smaller compendiums, and these.” He hefted the books. “Don’t worry, these aren’t collector’s editions. These are my loanable readers.”
“You’r
e not the first victim—I mean person—that he’s foisted his comic books on,” Justin teased.
Cody shot him a dark look. “Graphic novels,” he corrected. “And these aren’t all the issues,” he added. “There are three smaller compendiums that were put out after these, as well as several individual issues. When you’re done with these, I’ll loan you the rest.” He set them on the dining room table.
“Thanks.” She didn’t want to be rude, especially not to a customer, and definitely not to two very nice guys who seemed to quickly be moving into the friend category for her.
Especially since she could count the people in that category on both hands with fingers to spare.
“Hey, I’m sorry,” Justin said. “I’m being rude. Let me show you around.
That really wasn’t necessary, either, but she didn’t want to be rude in return by refusing. The rest of the house was as tidy and comfortable as the living and dining room area. She didn’t see any signs of a home dungeon, and he didn’t skip any rooms, so she was starting to lean more heavily toward the not kinky side of the scale about them.
Even better.
“Do you like The Walking Dead?” she asked Justin.
“I do, I’m just not as obsessed over it as he is,” he said. “You should have seen him during the Terminus episodes. He was scouring the Internet for every hint about what was going on, who they were—he was nearly impossible to live with.”
“Says the guy who watches Mountain Monsters,” Cody shot back.
Okay, she had to laugh. They were adorable in their bickering. “I’ve seen that show. I’m surprised they haven’t accidentally killed anyone yet.”
“Yeah,” Justin said, now more animated. “How would you like to be the new PA on that show? ‘Hey, new guy. You get to take the boom box into the woods to play the spooky monster sounds. We promise, they won’t shoot you.’” He laughed. “It’s a riot.”
Cody arched an eyebrow at him. “Don’t dis the zombies, bro.” He hooked a thumb at her. “Hey, she’s an archer. She might be the only thing keeping us alive when the zombie apocalypse hits.” He tossed her a wink that made her laugh.