Page 8 of Seeking Vengeance
“Want me to head up there, check it out?”
Nick looked at him, suspicion clear in his eyes. “You’d do that? Why?”
Sean shrugged. He had no clue. Maybe he was bored. Maybe his life was just too tranquil. Maybe he had a latent shining-knight complex. Whatever. All he knew was, he had to do something, and he didn’t want to analyze it because that ominous foreboding was back again, more powerful than ever.
“Because you’re the best mechanic I’ve got, and I need your mind on the job.”
Yeah, he’d go with that. It sounded both reasonable and believable and held some measure of truth. It was enough thatheknew that whatever was driving his actions had nothing to do with common sense.
Apparently, Sean’s reasoning wasn’t believable enough, however. Something passed through Nick’s eyes, something dark and wild. Sean could tell he didn’t trust him. The kid was searching for an angle, the real reason behind the offer. Sean supposed he’d better give him one, or the kid would end up running up there anyway and getting himself into deeper trouble.
It was a shame Nick couldn’t accept the fact that, sometimes, people helped each other out with no ulterior motive. Something in Sean’s subconscious whispered that the kid was right, but he shushed that inner voice.
“Besides, if your sister’s as good with engines as you say she is, maybe she can help with the overload for a while.”Fuck.His words numbed him; he couldn’t believe he had actually said them. If he hadn’t heard his own voice, hadn’t seen the reaction of the kid sitting across from him, he would have thought he had a minor brain bleed and hallucinated the whole thing.
“Christ, you mean that?” Nick asked cautiously, excitement beginning to overshadow the darkness.
For just a few moments, Sean caught a glimpse of the real Nick underneath the jaded, tough-guy exterior. When Sean didn’t answer right away, the window closed just as quickly, the hardness returning with a vengeance.
“Yeah, right.” Nick laughed, but his eyes were colder than ever. “You had me there for a minute. Good one, boss.”
“No joke, man. Unless you’re yanking my chain about her.”
“Fuck no!” Nick said, shaking his head. “That bike of hers? She built it, custom, from the ground up.”
“I don’t believe it.” If that were true, then the girl really was better than anyone he had working for him, present company excluded. Sean’s interest went nuclear.
This time, Nick’s smile was genuine. It transformed his entire face. “No shit, boss.”
“Then, I want her.”In more ways than one.
Nick’s smile faded.
“What?” Sean asked, feigning innocence as he took another pull on the longneck. Surely, the kid didn’t read minds.
“It’s just … well, it might be hard to convince Nicki that you’re on the level. Most guys, they don’t take her seriously because she’s a girl. They’re just interested in …” His eyes narrowed.
Man, the kid had eyes like ice.
Sean let his own eyes harden. Gray ice against blue. And Sean was a lot better at it.
“Do you actually think I’d put a woman in my garage just to get into her pants?”
“You wouldn’t be the first.” Nick stared hard for another long moment and then dropped his eyes. “No, I don’t think you’d do that,” he said, blowing out a breath. “But she’s my sister,” he added, as if that explained everything.
It explained enough.
Sean relaxed, feeling only a twinge of guilt. In their brief encounter earlier, the woman had gotten under his skin, and it was starting to piss him off. He was saying and doing things that he normally wouldn’t, and the lack of tight control didn’t sit well with him.
“Good mechanics are a lot harder to find than a good lay, kid.”
Nick nodded.Thatapparently made more sense to him than the possibility that Sean just wanted to help. “True enough. Think you could come by my place tomorrow, around four maybe? She’ll never believe me if I tell her myself.”
“Sure.” Sean checked his watch. “I’ve got to get my ass over to Angels if you still want me to check in on her. What time is she on?”
“Around midnight. Hey, boss … thanks.”
Sean nodded and finished his beer, wondering once again what the hell he’d gotten himself into, even as the tingle of anticipation at the thought of seeing her again started spreading through his veins.
