Page 6 of Love in Mission City: The Shorts

All that being said, she loved her high heels and short skirts.She remarried a year ago to my accountant.He brought his bike in for a tune-up, and she strutted out of the office on those spikey heels and, voilà—as my mom would say—they hit it off and three weeks later wore matching leather bike outfits to Surrey City Hall and got married.Gia didn’t mellow and Marvin didn’t swagger, but they did all right.

I had Gia’s unconditional support to start my own place.Fifteen years I worked in her shop.Fifteen years of scrimping and saving every dime so I could build something from the ground up.

So how dare he?How fucking dare he come by and ask me to keep the noise down?Really?People drove down First Avenue, and they weren’t quiet.More than a few motorcycles passed by—one of the reasons I knew this location was perfect.Trains went by all day and night.They rumbled and blew their whistles.More than once the past few nights I’d awoken to the sound.It’d take getting used to.

Just like fucking Dickens would get used to my revving engines on occasion.Wasn’t like I was doing it to intentionally irritate him.

Tempting as that might be.

I washed my hands and then dug into the box of Timbits, demolishing all but the birthday cake one with sparkles.I’d save that for dessert.I eyed the Harley with a mixture of frustration and envy.She was a beauty, but she was being a beast.

Time to tame her.

And put the gorgeous, blue-eyed blond out of my mind.

Or at least try to.

Chapter Three

Dickens

“What kind of a name is Spike?”Not that I’d spent most of the day obsessing over the hot new neighbor.

Sunshine gave me a long, level look.

“Well?”

Slowly, she smiled.

Seriously?“What are you smiling about?”

She quirked an eyebrow.“I think you like him.”

“Preposterous.”

“And I think he likes you.”

“Sun, you haven’t even met the guy.”

“Who says?”

My brain screeched to a halt like a needle scratching a record.“What?”

“You think I didn’t go next door to introduce myself and welcome him to town?”

She smiled that serene smile that always drove me nuts.Like she knew something I didn’t and wasn’t likely to share.“And?”A demand she wasn’t likely to obey.

“His name isn’t really Spike.”She held up her hand to ward off my questions.“But he didn’t share his birth name, and I didn’t push.He’s been a mechanic for fifteen years, used to work in a shop in Surrey, and recently crossed the Fraser River to take up residence in our fair city.”She tapped a finger to her lips.“And you guys are more alike than you think.”

Was she…?

Her eyes sparkled.“And no, he didn’t tell me that either.Tries to keep it hidden, so respect that.Not all guys are out and proud like yourself.”

She didn’t need to mention I hadn’t always been.My parents paid for me to attend the University of British Columbia in Vancouver to study business administration.

Sure, I could’ve commuted every day, but they wanted me to have the full college experience, so I’d lived in a dorm for those four years.And experimented.Plenty.By the time I turned twenty-two and was ready to graduate, I felt comfortable coming out to my parents.

And since Sunshine was like a member of the family, she was looped in.

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