Page 35 of Saving the Last Heir
Carlo rolled his eyes. “I’m older than you,pendejo.”
“Hey, you know I don’t speak taco, man. I don’t know that word,” Reggie said.
Carlo flipped off Reggie, who then flipped off Carlo, followed by them laughing their asses off and agreeing to grab a beer after work. Men weresostrange.
“Anyway,” I said with a sigh after Carlo finally left. “Can you do me a favor? It’s gonna sound weird.”
“I love weird,” Reggie said with a grin, then frowned, “Except for that one time I dated the stripper with the face tattoo. She was hot, but…damn…weird as hell. You know this one time she asked me to put my?—”
“If you say one more word, I’ll scream. Please don’t give me any insight into your romantic life,” I said dryly.
“Fair enough.” He shrugged. “What you got?”
Pulling out my phone, I skimmed to a close-up shot of the Lamborghini I’d taken that morning. “Can you mix me up this color?”
He gazed at the photo for a second, brows furrowed as he studied the color, then smiled.
“Fire Red Pearl,” he said with so much confidence that I blinked in surprise.
“You know this color on sight?” I gaped at him. “Byname?”
He crossed his arms and kept grinning. “Some of us are students of our trade, Miss Shyanne. I may play a dumb blond jock on TV, but I’m actually quite brilliant, in case you haven’t noticed.”
I glanced at the jet-black hair that was braided in cornrows atop his head, then smirked at him. “You’re as close to blond as I am, and if you ever setfooton a stage, I bet your acting would be shit. Means you better not quit your day job.”
“Just for that, you won’t get mentioned in my acceptance speech when I win an Oscar one day.”
“Can you mix the paint or not?” I asked, glancing at my watch. I needed to head home to shower before meeting Jackson.
“No prob,” he said, waving a hand at me. “What are we painting?”
“Don’t worry about that for now. Just get it mixed up for me? Do four gallons. I should only need three, but I want to be sure I have enough.” I thought about how big that car was. I was being overly cautious, but better safe than sorry.
Reggie’s smile faltered a bit, but he nodded. “All right. Can do. I’ll mix it in the morning. We should have all the stuff we need to get that color.”
“You’re the best,” I said, giving him a quick hug.
“I’ve been telling you and your old man that for years, but no one ever listens to me,” he said, shaking his head in bewilderment.
That was one of the big things done; now all we needed to do was steal the upholstery and get the side mirror. Once we had it all, I could get the thing fixed by myself. Over the years, I’d learned every job in the garage, and I wasn’t tooting my own horn when I said I was good enough to handle anything. Afterward, I could tell myself that I’d done my duty and saved an innocent child…er…Hatchling? Baby dragon? Dragonette? Whatever. An innocent person.
With the shop closed up, I got into my Jeep and drove home. Dad was sitting out on the porch, enjoying the warm afternoon.
“There she is,” he said, grimacing as he stood.
“You don’t have to get up,” I said, eyeing the swollen joints of his knees and fingers.
“Of course, I do. My daughter hasn’t been home in over twenty-four hours.”
He hugged me, and I was startled at how frail he felt. Dad wasn’t that old, but the arthritis that had forced him into early retirement had sapped much of the muscle that had once corded his body. Frowning, I wondered why I hadn’t truly noticed before. Had spending the night in the company of a massive, powerful dragon shifter shown me how brittle and weak humans were in comparison?
Shaking the unpleasant thought away, I ended the hug and looked at him.
“I need to go get ready. I’m going out tonight,” I said.
“Hmmm?” He narrowed his eyes, a mischievous grin spreading on his face. “Anothernight out? Does this mean I was right? Is there a gentleman who’s caught your eye?”
I rolled my eyes. “Dad, stop. If there is, I’ll make sure you’re the first to know, okay?”
