Page 40 of The Christmas Catch
Ali slammed the back door, annoyance still buoyant inside. “Glass half empty, my arse,” she muttered as she walked to the front of the car and lifted the bonnet. She secured it with the metal rod, then leaned over and pulled out the dipstick to check the oil levels. When she turned her head, Morgan was right next to her.
Ali jumped and cracked her head on the rod. She stumbled backwards. “Fuck me! I wasn’t expecting you there.” Ali rubbed the heel of her hand on her cheek and steadied herself. She rolled her eyes at Morgan. She couldn’t stay mad at her for long. It wasn’t in her DNA. “You pick your times to get interested in cars.”
“Sorry about that.”
When Morgan looked her in the eye, Ali couldn’t look away. When she spoke, Ali watched the cold air dance in front of her face. Morgan moved closer as if huddling for warmth, then gave a shiver. Snow still fell in soft flakes all around.
Ali leaned over the open bonnet again.
Morgan followed.
“I’m just checking the oil, but it seems okay.” She held up the dipstick. “Now I’m going to put the dipstick back in place.” She put it back where she found it and screwed it tight. She then checked the engine coolant levels, although she was pretty sure that wouldn’t be an issue today. They were hardly in the middle of summer.
“It could be the battery. It could be the alternator. It could be several things.” Ali blew out a raspberry.
“Your dad was right,” Morgan said. “We should know how to do this, so I thought I’d learn. Even in this inclement weather.” She looked her dead in the eye. “I’ve only heard good things about this particular trainer.”
Ali leaned in so their shoulders touched. She raised a single eyebrow. “What have you learned so far? If you had to present a deck, what would your key slides be?” She licked her lips, which had suddenly gone very dry.
Morgan thought for a moment. “I now know where the engine is. Also, what a dipstick is. It’s one of those words you always hear, but I never really knew what it was.” She held up her index finger. “But my key takeaway would be to make sure you take a woman who knows about cars so you can fall back on her far superior knowledge. Because problem-solving is a team activity. That’s what I teach at all my workshops.”
Ali took a step backwards and straightened up, then closed the bonnet. Somehow, she’d got oil all over her right hand.
“Teamwork. What’s your part in this, apart from winding me up in the car?”
“It wasn’t what I was trying to do.” Morgan held up her palms on either side of her head. “I apologise. But I like to think my being here spurred you on to fix the issue far quicker than if you’d been solo.”
“The snow and being lost in the middle of nowhere were the major driving factors.” She walked around to the side and kicked a tyre. If all else failed, that was always her dad’s signature move.
Morgan’s gaze flicked up and down Ali’s face. Was it Ali’s imagination, or did it land on her lips?
Ali’s internal furnace turned up a notch. Was this Morgan’s idea of flirting? It certainly felt like it. On every part of this trip, with every decision made and every sentence uttered, their relationship moulded and changed. Like the snow, it was swirling and unpredictable, and Ali couldn’t tear her eyes from it. Every setback tested them, but so far, they’d come through.
Ali wanted to know what happened next.
There was only one way to find out.
“Would your slide also say that said lesbian was alluring while she was leaning over fixing the car?”
Morgan gave her a look. “That goes without saying. A lesbian who can fix things is always appealing. Extra points for a tool belt.”
“I left mine at home.”
“Maybe we can actually have that drink when we’re back in Glasgow. I can show you my techniques. You can show me your tool belt.”
Outside, Ali was calm. Inside, she was screaming.
Maybe flirting was the ultimate distraction for them both. She was more than happy to play her part.
CHAPTER13
Morgan wasn’t sure what had just happened under the bonnet, but she knew Ali had a massive oil stain on her one and only top. Once they were out of the snow and back in the car, Morgan pointed it out. Ali looked down.
“Great,” she replied. “That must have happened when I was leaning over. Just what I need. To turn up at home looking like I spent all day rolling in oil.” She stretched out her top. “I think this is beyond saving. Put that on your deck: trying to save the day can be messy.”
“That’s the nature of risk and vulnerability.”
“Okay, Freud.” Ali blew out her cheeks in cartoon fashion, then gripped the wheel like she was Lewis Hamilton. “Right, we need the power of positive thought. I would guess that’s your bag, seeing as you’re a people person, right?”
