Page 41 of Finding You

“Really?” Devin replied sarcastically. “Because I’m so prone to taking days off for no reason?”

“Normally, I’d say no. But today was going to be a semi-short day because it’s a Saturday, and we’re all going to the reunion tonight. There wasn’t anything here that couldn’t wait.”

“The radiator…”

“Dude, youtotallyhad a reason–multiple reasons, actually–and no one would blame you. Hell, you’d be doing us all a favor by staying home.”

Devin looked at him in confusion. “How is that?”

“You’re distracted. She’s distracted. I’ve had to go into the office about a dozen times because MacKenzie’s jammed the printer or she’s forgotten how to do even the simplest of tasks. It’s kind of amusing.”

Annoyance and then anger filled Devin–he didn’t want anyone making fun of MacKenzie. He could handle it about himself, but after their conversation this morning, he certainly didn’t want anyone making stupid comments around her that were going to upset her. “Don’t you dare say…”

“This is what I’m talking about,” Will interrupted. “You’re not a defensive guy, Devin. Hell, you go with the flow. Nothing ever upsets you. But ever since MacKenzie arrived, you’ve been a little more…on edge. I would have thought last night…”

“Shut up,” Devin growled.

“Devin…”

He stepped menacingly close to Will and had to refrain from grabbing him and shaking him. “I don’t want you or anyone around here talking about MacKenzie or about anything that happened last night. Do I make myself clear?”

Will’s eyes went a little wide and his grin slowly faded. He took a step back. “Crystal.” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean any harm, Dev. Honestly. I…” He held out his hands helplessly. “I just thought it was great. You deserve to be happy and…well…it looked like MacKenzie was the girl to make that happen. I’m sorry.” And then he turned and walked away, leaving Devin feeling like shit.

Turning, he shut the Mustang’s hood and stalked across the garage and nearly pulled the door to his office off its hinges in his haste to escape. Slamming the door behind him, Devin collapsed in his desk chair and groaned. What the hell was he doing? Arguing with his friends and employees…coming in late to work…and for what? A relationship that was going to be over practically before it even began.

He pulled off the cap he was wearing and tossed it across the room. Glancing at the clock he saw it was after four. The day was basically over and maybe if he played his cards right, he could just stay in here and hide out until everyone left.

The right thing–the fair thing–to do was to go back out to the garage and help out where he could so that everyone could get out on time and get ready for the big dance tonight.

To kill time, he turned on his computer and took care of paying bills and some invoicing he’d been putting off. He made notes on the inventory and what he was going to need to place orders on soon. Then, out of sheer desperation, he turned to Solitaire to pass the time.

Devin had no idea how long he’d been playing when he heard a soft knock at the door. When he looked up, MacKenzie was peeking her head into the room. “You busy?” she asked.

He stood and stretched. “No. Just doing some paperwork.”

“Everyone’s gone,” she said, sounding a little hesitant. “They’ve been gone for a while and I didn’t want to disturb you, but…”

“It’s okay,” he interrupted. “I lost track of time. Sorry. I’m sure you’re ready to get out of here too.” It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her that her car was done, but that could open the door for her to leave sooner.

So he kept it to himself.

And reminded himself that he was better than this. And yet…he didn’t speak up.

But her thoughts were on the same thing. “How’s my car coming along? Almost done?”

“Almost,” he lied. “Monday I’ll finish the work on the radiator and then take it for a test drive to make sure everything’s running smoothly and the temperature stays in the normal range.”

She nodded. “Oh. Okay.”

Devin noticed her looking over her shoulder at the car–almost longingly. And that look was enough to almost make him admit he lied about it being finished.

Almost.

Rather than focus on that, he took MacKenzie by the hand and led her over to the car and then gently lifted her and placed her on the hood. “You know, the first time I saw you, you were leaning over the hood and I thought…damn. I almost thought you were a mirage.”

His words took that serious look off of her face and had her grinning. “Seriously?”

He shook his head. “Now I’ll admit the car grabbed my attention too…”

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