Page 84 of Something Tattered
Finally, to my infinite relief, Joel smiled back. "What? You wanna inspect?"
I felt myself swallow. That smile was almost my undoing. With a conscious effort, I pushed aside any thoughts of Derek. He wasn't here, thank goodness. But Joel was.
In the long shadows of the fading day, he looked utterly amazing. I didn't want to stare, but it was hard not to. Everything about him was pure perfection – from his beautiful face to his finely-cut shoulders and chest.
My gaze slipped lower, and I tried not to notice that his flat, defined abs glistened just enough to accentuate all those interesting ridges and valleys, the ones that, until now, I'd only been seeing in my dreams.
Catching myself, I forced my gaze to keep on going, as if I'd merely been looking down to inspect the chipped, white paint of the oversized porch.
Trying to get a grip, I studied the paint more closely and worked hard to focus on house repairs or something equally unsexy. But it was no use. The only thing I wanted to think about was Joel.
"So?" he said. "Do you?"
Did I ever.
I gave a little shake of my head. "Do I what?"
"Want to inspect the lawn?"
"Should I?"
He gave a flick of his head. "Come on."
Soon, we were in the back yard, with its panoramic view of Lake Michigan. But now, I wasn't looking at the water, or even at Joel.
I was looking at the lawn. Like the front yard, it looked amazing. Confused, I turned to study the lawnmower, which he'd parked near the shed out back.
I turned my attention back to Joel. "How'd you do that?"
"Do what?"
I pointed to the mower. "Getthat…" I pointed to the lawn. "…to dothat?"
It was an honest question. Every timeImowed, the lawnmower sputtered in and out, making the yard look like a giant cat shaved by a monkey.
That was one reason it always took so long. Sometimes, I had to mow huge sections of it twice, just to make it look decent.
Joel shrugged. "It just needed some adjustments. That's all."
"Like what?"
"Nothing big," he said. "Fuel filter, air filter, sharpened the blade." He paused. "Also, the self-propelling mechanism was off, needed some tweaking."
"Tweaking, huh?" I smiled up at him. "Whatareyou? Some kind of mechanical genius?"
"Nah, I'm just a guy."
Whatever he was, he wasn't just a guy. He was amazing in too many ways to count. His magic with the mower reminded me of how quickly he'd diagnosed the problem with my car, assuming he'd been right, that is.
Reluctantly, I said, "Hey, can I ask you a question?"
"About what?"
I bit my lip. "My car, actually."
"Yeah? What about it?"
"I just need some advice, that's all." I hesitated. "Derek said it might need a new engine. Do you think that's true?"
