Page 5 of It's Going to Be a Chrome Christmas
Her eyes narrowed. “I can protect mymerchandisejust fine without you, Mr. Russo.”
He loved her wit, almost as much as the double entendre. “I’m sure you do, Ms. Romero, but I can do it better.”
“TìoGreg,” she said with her eyes still narrowed on Cayden, “it was really great to see you.” She turned to go, paused, and then said, “I just remembered I already had plans for Sunday. Raincheck.”
Mr. Wynn, who was now standing even with Cayden, nodded once. “Of course, sweetheart. I’ll let Peggy know.”
And then Trixie Romero was gone, escaping through a side door after inputting a four-digit code. Yeah, she definitely needed to increase her security.
Mr. Wynn grabbed his arm and practically dragged him out of the showroom. Cayden couldn’t help but feel disappointed as they exited. Surprisingly, it wasn’t because he hadn’t had a chance to look at all the beauties within.
His attention was more interested in their owner.
Mr. Wynn not-so-gently tossed him against the side of his Chevy truck. The maroon paint was hot against his back. Rather than pissed at his obvious flirting with Trixie, though, the halfway-house owner looked…thoughtful. Cayden blinked in confusion and waited. Mr. Wynn hadn’t told him to get in the truck, and he also hadn’t brought Cayden to the passenger side.
“Um, Mr. Wynn—” The man held up a hand to stop him.
That same hand went to his chin as he continued to think. Cayden shifted on his feet uncomfortably. What was Mr. Wynn thinking about? Was he trying to think of a way to send Caydenback in? He hadn’t broken any rules, but if Mr. Wynn claimed he had, it was his word against Cayden’s. That thought did not sit well with Cayden. He couldn’t get sent back to jail. The disappointment alone would kill Gran.
“Were you serious?” Mr. Wynn asked, breaking his silence. “About helping her?”
Cayden blinked. “Um, yes.” He’d been more flirting than serious, but he certainly wouldn’t back out of the offer.
“Trix is smart, too smart sometimes for her own good, and she’s cocky. I’ve never liked that she made one of the offices above the showroom into her apartment. She’s here alone all night with all that temptation just sitting under her. She might as well be sleeping in a bank vault.” Cayden stiffened, his eyes flashing back to the showroom. She slepthere? Alone? That didn’t sit well with him either. “Mind you, I wasn’t lying before. Peg and I have been busy helping you boys?—”
“Fuck that,” Cayden snapped. He and his fellow housemates were grown men. They were not single women living alone above a thieves’ treasure trove. Completely forgetting the Wynns’ no-cursing rule, he continued hotly, “You say what you have to say to convince her to let me help. There’s no fucking way I’m leaving her in there with that piss-poor security system she’s got set up. A four-digit code to enter the bay?” He snorted. “It’s easy pickings.”
None of his concern was for the cars and motorcycles within that store. Every fiber of his being was against the idea of Trixie living there so unprotected.
Mr. Wynn didn’t seem fazed or upset about his cursing. In fact, he almost lookedproud. “Don’t worry, son. I’ll sic Peggy on her. Like you boys, Trixie won’t risk the wrath of the wooden spoon.” He patted Cayden on the shoulder, seemingly pleased with himself. “I’ll talk to Mr. Jones for you too. Maybe we can swing you a job as a security consultant.” He opened the driver’sdoor of his truck as he added offhandedly, “It worked for Leo in that movie with Tom Hanks.”
Despite not wanting to leave Romero’s, Cayden got into the truck and slid across the bench seat to the passenger side. He stared in the passenger side mirror as they pulled out of the parking lot. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but maybe Mr. Wynn could pull this off. Either way, he knew one thing for sure: he wasnotready to put Trixie Romero in his rearview mirror.
He wasn’t sure he ever would be.
Chapter
Two
Trix grumbled to herself as she walked up the sidewalk to the Wynns’ house. She’d been here numerous times in her youth, but rarely since they’d converted it into a halfway house. The Wynns were as protective of her as herpapá,abuelo, andhermanos. As if being the only girl wasn’t bad enough, she was also the baby. The only time she had ever been treated as an equal or respected for her own thoughts was when she’d been working on a car.Thatwas her domain.Thatwas where she was Queen B. Even herhermanoshad brought her their cars to work on long before she’d inherited the shop.
Being at the Wynns’ house again reminded Trixie of all the family meals and get-togethers she’d been accustomed to as a child. The Wynns’ house had been her second home. Everyone knew that if she wasn’t at the shop with her head under the hood of a car, she was atTìaPeggy’s getting something to eat. After the Wynns had renovated and turned their three-story house into a halfway house, Trixie had been warned that she was not allowed to stop by randomly anymore. IfTìoGreg or herpapáorabueloweren’t with her, she was not allowed inside. At the time of this announcement, Trixie had been angry. She’d loved coming here to seeTìaPeg. But later in her teens, she’d put asidethat anger. Without her time split between the Wynns’ and the shop, her full attention had been put into her cars. She’d finished her first restoration at sixteen.
Boys were second to her love of mechanics. After graduating high school, herpapáandabuelohad pushed her to attend college. But Trixie had dropped out before her first semester was even over. She’d never excelled at school. She needed to be where she felt valued and powerful, and there was no place she’d rather be than that shop.
Trixie righted her skirt, kicking herself for wearing the stupid thing. She knew she didn’t have to dress up for a Sunday dinner with the Wynns, but she’d told herself she needed to put more effort into her appearance for Peggy.
Not for some rugged, cocky biker she had yet to get out of her brain. Ugh, she hated that. She was not some lovesick girl who dreamed of her knight in shining armor. She was a grown woman with her ownsuccessfulbusiness. Her trust issues aside, she had no desire to fall head over heels into a man’s arms… No matter how muscular those arms were or how good he’d smelled or how that cocky smile had made her loins clench or how lickable those beautiful tattoos wer?—
Stop!Trixie flinched, closing her eyes as she ordered her brain not to follow through with that very dangerous line of thought. Damn, she needed to get her head on straight before she walked into that house. She didn’t even know if Mr. Cocky Biker was in there. Boosting cars was not a point in the plus column on his resume. And he couldn’t even bethatgood at it if he’d been caught.
That thought snapped her out of her dreamy state. Good, she’d concentrate on that. With renewed determination, Trixie walked the rest of the way up the sidewalk and into the house. She’d never had to knock when entering the Wynn house, and that hadn’t changed with its new inhabitants.
Peggy was cooking something with garlic. Having been raised never to attend a gathering empty handed but also knowing alcohol was not allowed in the house, she’d brought Peggy a store-bought cheesecake. Trixie loved cheesecake. Store-bought wasn’t as good as Peggy could have made, but it was a hell of a lot better than anything Trixie could have made.
Trixie paused in the kitchen doorway.
Hewas there, standing over a steaming pot of something. Her heart started racing again. Well, that was just great. Apparently, he didn’t even have to look at her for him to have an effect on her. This was going to be an extremely long evening.
