Page 3 of Grumpy Mechanic (Grump Town #2)

3

MADISON

T he shock radiating across Chase's eyes let me know he didn't anticipate me walking in on the conversation he's having with himself. To encourage him and let on that I'm joking, I offer a smile.

"It's okay if you want to molest me a little bit, Chase," I quip with a slight shrug of my shoulders.

His face is stoic., "I don't want to molest you, Maddie. I am not that kind of man."

"I was joking, Chase. You know that, right? I was just trying to lighten the mood."

"How do you feel?"

"I'm warmer than what I was," I reply. "I have to admit that I thought I had more time before the rain came."

"Come and eat so you can tell me how you ended up out here." Chase holds his hand out to hold mine. Warmth and strength pull me gently into the kitchen I just sludged into.

I find myself adjusting the loose sweatpants around my waist. However, I'm thankful Chase answered the door and let me in. He doesn't have to take care of me, and even after I ignored his warning, he's still making sure that I'm safe.

Chase is the first guy to readily care about me, who is not my dad and isn't expecting anything in return. Honestly, even if he wants something for everything he's doing for me, I'm not opposed to giving up my time or talents to help him … professionally, of course.

We sit at a small, round dining table in the cozy kitchen, which has off-white appliances and light yellow subway tiles. The cabinets look more orange than brown, and the parquet floorboards creak under our feet.

A running list of renovations emerges in my head for things I'd change around here. However, when Chase sets a plate of piping hot food in front of me, my mind switches off to indulge in the food he's prepared.

Thunder cracks and lightning flashes as rain continues to beat against the house. There's a rumbling that resembles the sound my car made, but it's coming from above us.

"It sounds like you can use a roof inspection," I mention between delicious bites of steak and vegetables. I moan as the savory food delights my tongue and belly.

"This whole damn place needs to be torn down." He jabs his fork into his food.

"Nothing that drastic has to happen. From what I can see, it has some good bones. I'd love to get my hands on a place like this. That's why I scooped up the Garrett farm as soon as it went up for auction. Did you know the family?"

"No. The bank did some crazy money-moving maneuver to grab up the land out here."

"What do you mean?"

Chase finishes his food and leans back in his chair. "You know that we're about twenty minutes outside of Cincinnati. They got the Bengals stadium and wanted to take this land for like a private air strip and hotel play-land for athletes. They kept saying stuff like it will be like Aspen for country folk and football."

I can't stop my brows from knitting together. "That sounds like a horrible idea. The noise pollution alone would destroy the environment, the wildlife out here, and the aesthetic of quaint country living. Besides, the football season is only, what? Eighteen to twenty-six weeks, including the preseason, playoffs, and Super Bowl? And with the way athletes are supposed to behave, I doubt they'd be taking leisurely trips to a barren playground outside Cincinnati."

He chuckles, which shows off the slightest crinkle in his soft brown eyes. The rugged handsomeness and a few creases between his brows. A slight dimple is hiding under the scruffy beard that will probably be shaved off by the morning. I like the hair on his face, but clean-shaven wouldn't be bad either. He has the attractiveness of a movie star or model but with the down-to-earth hometown feel of a small-town boy.

Chase's voice is deep and unintentionally loud, but that's probably to combat the noise of the storm thrashing outside.

He says, "I don't think that the bank and their fancy corporate partners care about the environment for the other half of the year. Once the soil tests wouldn't allow an airport of any size to function on this terrain, that was the nail in the coffin for their playground."

I nod as he continues, "But, the bankers had already gone around offering to buy folks out. My mom wanted to hold out, thinking she'd get more money if she were the last one standing."

"What happened?" I ask.

He shrugs. "The big money left the bank holding the bag. They'd already bought out the Garrett place and a few other properties. The taxes nearly tripled for the next year before they teetered out and fell back down. But it was already too much for my mother to pay, and she moved to sunnier pastures."

"Damn, that sucks. Well, good for your mom to get out of Ohio, but you're stuck here paying for a house you don't want."

He sighs as he picks up our plates to bring them to the sink. "I'll pay it off, eventually. I really don't want to let this place go. My pop left it to us when he died. Mom said she could handle it while I started my business. For the most part, she did until she couldn't. Some slick-talking realtor let her think she'd get a huge bag of gold for this property."

The dig at my profession doesn't go unnoticed, but I know I wasn't the one to sell his mom on a financial windfall. Instead of letting his blunt bias unsettle me, I get up to help wash the dishes. I understand his attachment to this place and his judgment of the bank taking advantage of his mother, along with the other properties around here.

"Where's your car at, Maddie?" His question disrupts my train of thought.

I find myself shaking my head from side to side slowly. "I don't know exactly. I definitely got turned around out there. I was headed back into town, hydroplaned, and spun out. My car is wrecked. I'm sure of it."

"How'd you find this place?"

We move in a rhythm of washing and drying the dishes together. "I don't know. At first, I thought I was walking back into town. My phone is soaked to the bone and won't turn on. I tried to head back to the Garrett place, but I saw the lights on in the distance. I didn't realize I was coming toward the back of the house."

"Sorry about the brush. I'll take care of it once everything dries out after the storm."

I scoff. "You don't have to apologize to me, Chase. I owe you an apology. I should have listened to you, and my dad, and everyone else who told me to get rid of that car. But it means a lot to me."

"I get it. That's one reason I love fixing them. It's hard to let go of certain things when they hold memories, smells?—"

Thunder booms, cutting off his words as it shakes the house and startles me. My body reacts, causing me to jump and turn into Chase's muscular chest. He holds me as another rumble and boom of the storm rattles the windows, and I bury my face against him.

His quiet strength wraps around me like a weight of safety that helps me relax. My heart races under his firm touch. He smells divine and no longer looks like he's been fighting oil spills under the hood of my car. The longer Chase holds me, the longer I want to stay right here with him.

Cooler minds prevail as we part once the storm reminds us that it's still barreling against the house.

"I'm going to head upstairs and make sure the windows are secure." Chase backs away but lets his fingers stay on my waist for just a moment longer. A low moan vibrates out of him as he pulls away, adjusts his sweatpants, and walks out of the kitchen.

Breathe, Maddie.

It doesn't matter how hot he is. It’s inappropriate to take advantage of his hospitality. Chase has overextended himself enough today. Even when his demeanor appears to be against the notion of a friendly neighbor. He didn't turn me away when he could have, and he let me inside this house when he could have left me outside.

The briskness of his attitude could be from many things, but I don't want to add myself to that list. After blowing out a few deep breaths, I get back to cleaning up the kitchen. The idea of Chase kissing me senseless sits in my mind, adding itself to a long list of sexual fantasies.

The overwhelming need for me to apologize again compels me to finish tidying up and head upstairs. I find Chase standing at the end of the hallway in front of a window. The rain pelts the side of the house while the winds blow through the tall grass in the backyard.

"Listen, Chase, I just want to apologize for down there, for today altogether. I've been barging in on you since I pulled into the shop, and I was inappropriate downstairs. You were just trying to calm me down, and I made it weird. You weren't going to kiss me or anything like that. As soon as the rain lets up, I can call my sister or my dad to come get me."

Chase turns around to face me, tipping his head slightly. "You don't have to apologize to me. The truth is that I wanted to kiss you but felt like I was taking advantage of you being in distress."

"Distress?" The word feels like an insult. "I wasn't in distress."

He chuckles. "We have two very different definitions of distress. You showed up at my back door looking like you dragged yourself through a swamp."

"The swamp was that yard out there," I bite back in defense. "Besides, I trekked over a mile in this storm to find help. I was not in distress. That makes it sound like I would have died. At the most, I was in need of assistance."

He laughs louder this time. "Tomato, to-mah-toe. You could have died out there. Didn't you say your car spun out? You're lucky those bald tires didn't pop on you. The car could have flipped and landed in a ditch."

"Since you insist on bringing it up, I'll give you another apology for that, too. You were right about my car, its tires, the storm—all of it. You were right, and I was wrong. There. Are you happy now?"

"I'm happy you're here, but I'm not happy that I was right about you almost dying, Maddie. I like you intact, safe, dry, and in one piece." He pauses, eyeing me from head to toe, and licks his lips as the tension between us shifts from combative to sexual. There's something powerful brewing. "Well, having you a little wet is better than dry."

The admission makes my nipples perk with desire, and I run my tongue over my lip, waiting for Chase to do what we both wanted to happen downstairs.