Page 13 of Suits and Spark Plugs

“He calls you babe?” she said to me with a giggle. “When did that happen?”

“I’ve been shanghaied,” I said in response.

“Take the offer, appease your man friend, and move on,” she stated and went to the kitchen to get her orders.

When I went to start my car after my shift several hours later, I had to admit that Blaine may have had a point. It took several attempts to finally get the engine running, and as I pulled onto the street I cringed at that suspicious grinding noise. I’d barely paid attention to it until it had been discussed publicly, and now it was as subtle as a fog horn. I’d had every intention of going straight home. I had classes I needed to study for, a few papers to write, some instructional videos to watch for school, and most likely some cleaning to do. I didn’t have an hour to take out of my day. The universe, as usual, had different plans. Biting my lip, I changed direction and drove a couple of blocks to the small gray building where automotive voodoo happened in our little town.

The three big bay doors were closed against the January snow, and even though I could see movement in the shop area there was no one in the foyer when I entered. The smell of lemon cleaner and some sort of vanilla scent reached my nose as I walked to where a small bell stood on the counter. I gave it a cheerful little ding and took off my mittens so I could rub my hands together. One price of small-town living was that the car never had time to warm up between stops.

Connor came through the glass side door that was connected to the shop. He was wearing full coveralls and wiping his hands on a rag. “Didn’t think you’d actually come,” he said, catching me off guard with his bluntness.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” I replied, returning honesty with honesty.

He nodded. “Your boyfriend must have realized that.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. He gestured and I turned to look behind me. Blaine was parking his shiny BMW next to my compact car. We watched in silence as he got out, straightened his bow tie, and buttoned his suit jacket. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said under my breath.

“I wouldn’t have though you needed babysitters anymore,” Connor said in a lightly teasing tone.

“Shut up,” I retorted. Then I was forced to blush because the only words I’d ever spoken to Connor in my life had been “I don’t have any money” and “shut up.” I was supposed to be a grown up. “Why is he here?” It was a rhetorical question, but Connor answered anyhow.

“I’d guess he’s making sure his girl does what she’s supposed to do.”

I spun back around, knowing full well that my irritation would show in my expression, and gave him a look. “I am not his girl and he doesn’t give me instructions to follow.”

“Someone should probably tell him that.”

The door opened on a rush of cold air before I could reply, carrying my well-groomed love interest through the door. He smiled as he came to stand next to me, but then glanced to Connor and went into business mode. I groaned inwardly as I watched Blaine straighten his posture. That kind of stuff probably worked on other guys, but it wasn’t going to work on Connor—especially in Connor’s domain.

“Afternoon.” Blaine took off his brown leather glove and extended a hand to Connor. Rather than shaking it, Connor held up his own hand to show Blaine that it was stained black from his work. Blaine gave him a polite nod in acceptance and tucked his hand back into the glove. “Are we ready?”

“For what?” I asked.

Blaine finally turned to me. “For Connor to diagnose your car.”

“I thought you were working with a client today,” I said.

“I was. We finished early and I wanted to make sure everything went well here.” He put his arm around me and gave me a light squeeze.

“That’s a hour round-trip just to check up on me,” I said out of the side of my mouth.

“Worth every mile,” he replied in a similar manner.

“I’m ready. Are you ready, Liv?” Connor looked to me. His expression was one of polite interest even though based on the light in his eyes I could almost guarantee he was loving this little interaction between Blaine and me. I nodded tightly. “Great, I just need your keys and I’ll pull your car into one of the bays.” I dangled the keys from my fingers and dropped them in his hand when he held it out palm up. “Give me about fifteen minutes to look things over. I’ll come out and tell you what I find.”

I nodded, and a little perverse moment of satisfaction hit when I realized that my seat would be much too far forward for someone of Connor’s height. Imagining him banging his knees on the steering wheel after having teased me about being Blaine’s compliant little girlfriend wasn’t kind, but it made the situation slightly more tolerable.

“Thank you,” Blaine said as Connor walked back into the shop to open one of the bay doors. He turned to me. “I know you’re frustrated, but you shouldn’t take it out on Mr. Hunt. He’s doing you a favor, diagnosing it for free. Most shops charge for that.”

I let out a deep breath and nodded. He was right about the fee, but I wasn’t about to go into my reasonings for being frosty to Connor. There was history there that he’d never understand.

We sat on two hard plastic waiting room chairs, and I listened politely while Blaine told me about his latest client and the ongoing politics of his office life. I usually found of lot of what he did really interesting—plus I cared about Blaine even if he was being heavy-handed—but my mind was chewing over what Connor was going to report back. He’d pulled the car into a bay and had it lifted in the air. Whatever was wrong, I knew it wasn’t something a five-dollar roll of duct tape would fix.

True to his word, Connor spent the next ten minutes poking all around my car before lowering it back to earth and using the last five to look under the hood. He emerged from the shop, once again wiping his hands as Blaine stood, but I stayed sitting. After my eight-hour shift at the diner, sitting felt wonderful.

“Have you been having a hard time getting your car started?” Connor asked me.

“Recently, yes,” I replied.

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