Page 13 of Finding You

She sat on one of the barstools and watched as Devin opened the box and pulled out several varieties of muffins–blueberry, banana nut, and chocolate chip–and arranged them on a plate. Then he pulled out a slice of glazed lemon pound cake and one marble, and lastly, a large piece of crumb cake.

“Holy crap, Devin!” she said with a laugh. “How much did you think I was going to eat?”

“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I just grabbed a variety.”

“Thanks.”

Without taking anything for himself, Devin turned and busied himself with making a cup of coffee. The one cup at a time deluxe machine seemed like a ridiculous purchase at the time, but it really came in handy. “Would you like a cup?”

“Please.”

Holding up two mug sizes to her, he asked, “Small or large?”

“Large.”

He hung his head. The one-word answers were really starting to get to him. Figuring it would be easier just to make her a regular coffee rather than going through all the flavor varieties, he kept his back to her until both cups were ready. When he turned, he noticed she’d already eaten the slice of marble pound cake and was halfway through the chocolate chip muffin.

“Sorry,” she murmured and gave him the cutest apologetic smile he’d ever seen. There was a small spot of chocolate on her cheek and, without thinking, he reached over and gently wiped it away.

And immediately pulled his hand back as if he’d been burned.

Her skin was soft.

Incredibly soft.

And so warm that he wanted to keep on touching her, but…that would be incredibly awkward.

And presumptuous.

She gave him an odd look before grabbing a napkin and wiping the spot he had just touched. He wasn’t sure if he was offended or not and decided not to harp on it. “Would you like milk and sugar for your coffee?”

“Sure.”

If it were possible to strangle a carton of milk to death, Devin was pretty sure he would have. He wasn’t sure if MacKenzie wasn’t a morning person or if she was just pissed off about the car, but her one-word answers were really making him crazy now. Turning toward her, he slammed the milk down and felt a twinge of satisfaction when she jumped.

“Okay, I get it,” he began levelly. “You’re upset about the car, but that’s not my fault. I came here so we could talk about it privately and figure out all your options. I’m not looking to rob you or do unnecessary work, MacKenzie. I’m seriously just trying to help here.” He paused for a moment. “The car has been seriously neglected and this is what happens.”

The eye roll was small and she looked away kind of fast, but it was definitely there, and he’d had enough.

Stalking around the island, he stopped next to her and spun the stool so she was forced to face him. “What’s going on here?” Her eyes were huge as she looked up at him and suddenly Devin felt like a complete jackass for snapping. “MacKenzie…I’m…”

“Do you have any idea how many offers I get for that car?” she asked, cutting him off. “On any given week, I get at least three offers to ‘take it off my hands.’” She jumped off the stool, forcing Devin to take a step back. “And you know what? I’m sick of it! The offer comes in all different varieties–flat-out offers of cash, snarky comments on how it’s not a car for a woman, and my favorite,” she added sarcastically, “comes from shady mechanics who try to convince me it’s not worth fixing. Well newsflash, buddy,” she went on, stabbing him in the chest with her finger, “I love that car and I don’t care how much it costs or if I have to camp out in the damn bushes for a month to pay for it, I’m fixing it and I’m keeping it!”

Ah…now they were getting somewhere. No matter how nice he was being, she still didn’t trust him. Well, not him personally, but pretty much people in general.

Okay. That he could work with.

Gently, he took her by the shoulders and guided her back into her seat. Then, reaching for a muffin, he stepped back around to his side of the island. Devin saw the confusion on her face and almost found it comical–but now that he knew what he was up against, he figured he could relax for a minute.

MacKenzie stared at him, and he could see the impatience just radiating off of her. She was cute as hell when she was mad–bordering on sexy–but he wasn’t going to think about that right now. She already didn’t trust him, so he had to tread carefully.

“Devin…”

“Sorry. I’m starving, and Billie makes amazing muffins. We’ll work this all out, but…after I eat my breakfast.”

A snort was her only response while she put her attention on finishing all the chocolate chips that dropped on her plate.

Once he was finished with the muffin, he took a sip of his coffee and put it back down and looked calmly at her. “It seems to me you think I’m looking to take the Mustang from you. I’m not.” When she made to argue, he simply held up a hand to stop her. “I’m not going to lie to you–I’ve always wanted to restore a classic car. But not to the point I’m willing to lie, cheat, and steal one away from someone. You love that car? Good. You should. It’s amazing. But if you want it to get you to Oregon and keep it running for a while, there are some things that have to be done.”

---