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She waited for the few seconds it took Lori to retrieve her phone from her bag and set up a fancy gadgety little tripod. When she went back to work with the final few bolts, she made sure her flexing biceps were in clear view of Lori’s lens. Maybe Gabe could get the garage some business from the lusty women who lurked around TikTok, drinking up all the thirst traps on offer.

She removed the final bolt, and Woodchuck took the weight of the hood while RB scooted out of the driver’s side to help. Shay went around the car and indicated where they should lower it onto the large soft tarp that she’d laid out for all the pieces they’d be removing. Gabe watched while Lori moved around the car to follow the action.

Rosie cleared her throat beside her.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Gabe asked, hoping to cover the fact that she’d been staring at Lori’s sweet form as she filmed.

“Beautiful but incredibly fragile,” Rosie said.

Gabe bit her tongue softly to stop from grinning. So this was going to be the “Hurt my friend, and I’ll hurt you” spiel from a woman eight inches shorter and about sixty pounds lighter. But Gabe knew better than to underestimate the power of a feminine woman, particularly one with such lengthy, weapon-like nails. “It’s okay, Rosie, you don’t have to give me this speech. Lori and I are just friends.”

“Friends can be the ones who have the ability to hurt us the most,” Rosie said.

Gabe motioned to Shay. “Should I get my bestie to have the same conversation with Lori?” she asked and laughed lightly.

Rosie tilted her head slightly and arched her eyebrow, clearly not amused. She looked Gabe up and down slowly, and not in the appreciative way she was used to by ultra-feminine women but more like the way someone would when they were sizing her up to try to knock her down.

“You don’t look like the kind of person who needs extra care from her bestie.”

Gabe tried to stifle her amusement by biting harder on her tongue. She had to get Rosie on her side to have any chance of keeping Lori as a friend. They were obviously tight, and Gabe didn’t want to alienate Rosie by laughing in her face. “Looks can be deceiving,” she said, struggling for anything other than a cliché, then she decided to just try being upfront. “Seriously, I understand your concern, but you don’t need to worry. Lori’s told me about the breakup of her marriage, and she’s made it clear that she just wants a friend. And honestly, I’m good with that because I could use more friends now that I’ve left the Army, and I’m trying to settle into civilian life.” She gave Rosie her most genuine smile. “And then there’s Max. I don’t want to do anything that might jeopardize my access to him.”

Rosie nodded and looked like she might believe her. Obviously, Gabe wasn’t about to share the reason why she was no longer in a position to make a move even if she wanted to. That kind of information would give Rosie the power over her friendship with Lori, and she didn’t want to give her anything else to be suspicious of.

“Okay,” she said slowly, perhaps not yet fully convinced. “I’m going to cut you some slack for now, but?—”

“I know; if I do anything to hurt her, I’ll have to answer to you.” Mom, she wanted to add but was sure it wouldn’t land in the way she intended.

“What are you two deep in conversation about?” Lori asked as she approached with her camera still attached to its tripod.

“We were just discussing your TikTok channel and how great the response has been to this joint project of yours,” Rosie said without missing a beat.

Gabe smiled, as much in admiration as agreement. There was no way anyone could’ve suspected that she’d just pulled the protective mama bear act.

“Spoilsport.” Lori pursed her lips briefly and frowned. “I wanted to tell Gabe about that.”

“She didn’t get to the details,” Gabe said. “She was just warming up the crowd for you to swoop in with the big news. So what’s been happening? Are we good to progress with the schedule I sent you yesterday?” Gabe saw the miniscule twitch of Rosie’s eyebrow, and she took that as a nod to her playing it cool.

Lori clasped her hands together and smiled widely. “Yes! And I love that schedule, by the way, thank you.”

Gabe shrugged. “Who doesn’t love a good spreadsheet?”

Shay stopped short of a full guffaw. “You don’t, for starters. You should’ve seen her tapping out each line one finger at a time while I dictated it.”

Rosie’s laugh was genuine, and Gabe saw her lightning-fast appraisal of Shay’s body from tip to toe. She wasn’t sure if Shay had caught it too, but she’d be sure to tell her as soon as their well-heeled guests left.

“Is that true?” Lori asked, arching her eyebrow.

“Busted,” Gabe said. “I figured that you’d like that kind of detail to go with the contract.”

“Oh.”

“Hey, no, I didn’t mean anything by that,” Gabe said, hearing a hint of disappointment and possibly even hurt in Lori’s tone. “I’m just learning that you like things to be organized, and Shay said you’d appreciate it.” Gabe raised her eyes to the ceiling. “Though the color-coding thing took forever.” She smiled at Lori, and the grip around her heart released a little when she smiled back.

“Ah, that’s okay then,” Lori said. “For a moment there, I thought you were still annoyed by the whole contract thing.”

Gabe touched Lori’s arm gently. “Definitely not. I totally get that, and I’m glad it’s in place.”

“Me too.” Shay nudged Lori’s shoulder. “We wouldn’t want you taking advantage of us poor mechanics, would we?”