Page 35 of Where You Left Me

I snatch a beer from the mini fridge that hums in the corner. It seems to be on its last leg. I can fix just about anything on my old truck, but appliances? Forget about it. This is anotherreminder of why taking over the family hardware store was a bad idea. Among other reasons.

Cammie seems like she was born for it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so happy. I try not to think too hard about the fact that it could have something to do with Maverick. It all happened around the same time.

Taking a pull from my beer, the liquid bubbles on my tongue. It’s not nearly as cold as the beer in the bar. But somehow it suits my mood. I lift the hood of my truck and get to work.

I’m two beers in and elbow-deep in engine oil when I hear gravel crunching in the alleyway. I peer around the hood of my truck and my breath hitches. Mia Cappella is standing in my garage.

She’s dressed in a pair of tight, black biker shorts and an oversized T-shirt. She looks like temptation and sin. Like everything I crave and desire but know I can’t have. Know Ishouldn’t have.

But it doesn’t stop me from wanting her all the same.

CHAPTER 10

Mia

Somehow, standing here in this old garage, peaking at Jones while he’s bent over the front of his truck, his muscled forearms covered in engine oil, it’s like déjà vu. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t have come. I don’t have the right.

Yet, when I lay in my bed restless and then decided to put my sandals on and go for a walk, my feet brought me here. As if from memory.

“What are you doing here, Mia?” Jones’s scratchy voice growls in the quiet of the night.

I shrug, my heart rate picking up speed as regret slices through me. “Couldn’t sleep.”

My feet guide me further into the garage without an invitation from him. I didn’t expect one. Not after I told him I couldn’t even stand to look at him. Not after the cruel words we exchanged on the hiking trail.

But then there was that kiss.That fucking kiss.

He eyes me skeptically, his expression scrunched in a scowl that makes him appear sexier rather than less.

“Yeah?” he says with a sigh. “Guess that makes two of us.” He wipes his hand on a towel before grabbing two beers from the small fridge and handing me one.

I don’t really want a beer. Not after what happened the other night. But I take it. I accept it like it’s an olive branch. Even if it’s not. I expected him to yell at me or tell me to go home.

But once again, I’m reminded that this is Jones. And he’s never been mean or harsh toward me. Even though he’s got every right.

I lean my back against the long wood counter that stretches along the width of the garage and crack open the beer. My stomach flip-flops after the first sip, but by the second, it’s already settled.

Jones leans against his truck, crosses his ankles, and stares at me while he chugs his beer. It sends an electric current flowing through me. All those intense feelings I had for Jones re-surface so powerfully, that it causes my knees to buckle and my heart to race faster.

A smile pulls at my lips, and I finally open it and take a sip. My heart beats faster the longer we sit in this weird space. It’s territory we’ve never experienced before. Things were never awkward between us.

I figure I better say something before I act on impulse and regret it. I clear my throat. “Tell me about the bar. How’d you end up with it?”

He swipes a greasy hand over the back of his neck as he glances down at his feet, finally breaking the tension. “At first, Ben was looking to sell. He was in the hole financially and it seemed like his only option. I’d been working here for fun for about six years, but not really giving two craps about it.” He takes a pull from his beer. The sight of his Adam’s apple bobbing distracts me and sends a humming through my core. “Okay, maybe that’s a lie.”

“Which part?” I ask.

“Most of it.” He gives me an impish grin that’s got me intrigued. “I wasn’t just working here for fun. I was hiding out here. After barely graduating college, my dad was pressuring me to take over the hardware store. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but I knew I didn’t want that. And once I got my head out of my ass, I realized I actually cared about this place. A whole hell of a lot. Last year, Ben told me he wanted to sell. I talked to my dad and got my finances in order and offered Ben part ownership.”

“And you’ve been living here ever since?”

“Uh no,” he hesitates, “I’ve actually been crashing here longer.” He gestures to a couch in the corner of the garage.”

“Why? Your dad kick you out or something?”

He chuckles and it sets fire to my insides. The sound is so pure, so familiar, and relaxed.

“No, but he should’ve long before I left. I chose to stay here. I was hiding from him. From everyone. From my life.”

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