Page 18 of Playing for Keeps
He almost groaned.
“I’m serious. I need an oil change and you’re the only one I trust to touch my…uh, my truck,” he finished after struggling with his wandering train of thought.
This was insane. He’d told himself this every day since that night at Margie’s. He couldn’t be attracted to Rylan Kent. There was no way. He’d known her forever. He’d seen her wearing pajamas and hair rollers and almost falling down the stairs as she tried to walk in heels when going to her first school dance. In all those years, he’d never thought of her as anything other than a little sister. In the past four days he’d thought of her constantly and not in a way that any brother should think about his sibling.
“Again, don’t play with me, Del. I know you’ve been tending to your own precious truck since you came back to town. Why bring it to me now? And for just an oil change?” Her eyes narrowed as she asked that question, meaning she didn’t believe a word he’d said.
“The weather’s changed,” he argued. “I figured in addition to the oil change you could do a complete maintenance check. You know, like your sign out front says, “Be prepared for Old Man Winter, Get Your Vehicle Serviced Now!” I don’t want to take any chances especially since Ms. Margie’s arthritis has predicted a long hard winter for us.”
Everything he’d just said was true. He only left out the part where there were two other body shops and a Cadillac dealership in Providence. He could have easily gone to one of them. But he’d come here. Going anywhere else had never crossed his mind.
Because he wanted to see Rylan.
“Fine,” she snapped after a moment of contemplation. “Leave the key in that box over there. I have two before you, but I should get to it by the end of the day. I’ll call if there’s any issues, otherwise be here by 7 to pick it up.”
She turned away from him then, once again leaning under the hood of the other car. Del stood there staring for a few moments before realizing—for the first time in his life—he didn’t know what else to say. He knew what he was feeling at the moment, lust so thick and potent that it threatened to choke him. But he also knew what was at stake. She was his sister’s best friend and a pretty important person in his life as well. Sex—or rather, more sex than they’d already experienced together—would only complicate their existing relationship. And truth be told, it could ruin it. Del had some experience with ruining relationships with women, so he didn’t doubt that.
He should just walk away. Keep today’s interaction purely professional. That was the smart thing to do. Del hadn’t done too many smart things in the last two years and he’d vowed to change that. So, he took his own advice and turned away from the delectable view that Rylan was inadvertently offering. He dropped his keys into the box as instructed and left the body shop. And because he hadn’t really thought his plan of stopping by for an oil change through thoroughly, he zipped his leather jacket and pulled out his gloves as he prepared to walk the three and a half blocks to Camy’s so he could get her to drive him to the bar.
The cold air and brisk pace in which he walked would do him good. It would cool down the heat that infused his body whenever he thought about Rylan and that thigh pic she’d sent him.
Or at least it should have.
Del cursed as he stopped, waiting to cross the street, because walking in the cold with a hard dick wasn’t the most comfortable form of exercise.
“Whose fancy truck is that?”
Rylan startled as her father’s voice echoed throughout the bay area. William Barton Kent had a thick booming voice that went perfectly with his tall, brawny build. He was wearing his usual dark gray jumpsuit with Kent Automotive written in white script over the left breast pocket. It was a well-worn outfit that matched the scuffed black boots he wore. His salt and pepper colored hair was cut low to his scalp, the beginnings of a similarly colored beard sprouting at his chin. There was no other man Rylan had ever loved.
“It’s Del’s,” she answered without looking up.
Rylan was almost finished replacing the thermostat in the Grand Marquis that she’d been working on for the past hour. Had she not taken a twenty-minute break after Del’s departure to gather her wits, she would’ve already moved on from her first task of the day. She wanted to hurry up and get to his truck, so that he could come back and pick it up and she could be done with seeing him.
Who was she kidding? Providence wasn’t big enough that she’d never see Del again. Besides, he was Camy’s brother…no, Rylan was tired of going around and around that point. She knew who Del was and all the reasons why he wasn’t the man for her. She just had to figure out how to accept it.
“I wondered when he’d finally get around to bringing that beauty in here,” Will said as he grabbed a couple of buckets and towels. He went over to the second half of the loading bay and circled the Buick that was waiting there.
“It’s just an oil change,” she told her father.
“Well, check everything out. Those Cadillacs have a list of problems that people don’t know about until they’ve already spent a bundle buying them,” he warned.
“I know, Dad,” she said and stood up. She grabbed the towel that she’d stuffed in her back pocket and wiped her hands. “I’ll do a full check, just as soon as I take care of the Ford parked out front. And then I want to give Lamborghini Guy another call.”
Will made a grumbling sound. “Asshole,” he said finally. “In thirty days, we’re selling that car, just like our service agreement says. And then we’re filing suit against him for non-payment. We’re not a parking garage, nor do we offer free services.”
“I know, Dad,” Rylan repeated. But she’d much rather get the money Lamborghini Guy owed them than to go through the paperwork and subsequent hassle of filing a lawsuit.
Even if they sold the car, her father would give her half the proceeds, just as they’d been splitting the proceeds of the shop for the last few years. With her share of the sale, Rylan would definitely be able to afford the down payment on the loan to buy the business. It was an option she was strongly considering, but first, she wanted to exhaust all methods of contact.
A few minutes passed while Rylan continued cleaning the area where she’d been working. She closed the hood of the Grand Marquis and was just about to slip behind the driver’s seat to start the engine and double-check her work, when her father spoke again.
“I’m gonna sell the place and give your mother the money I owe her,” he said stoically. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Rylan froze.
“It was your retirement fund. Not hers,” she told him.
She’d been thinking this for a few weeks but hadn’t wanted to get into it with her father or her mother. Now, she didn’t see a choice.
