Page 8 of Only Ever Yours

Chapter Seven

Jase

“I’ll have a tea when you’re ready, Princess.” I stuck my head into the office where Hollis was hunched over her laptop.

She gave me the finger without looking up. “Little busy right now, Jase.”

This had become our little routine over the past week. I’d tease her about making me a drink; she’d usually tell me to fuck off and then relent and present me with a mug about ten minutes later. Today didn’t seem any different.

I approached the desk. “What are you doing?”

“If you want to get paid this month, you’ll leave me alone.” Her nose wrinkled as she looked at something on the screen.

“Are things that bad?”

Hollis let out a sigh and leaned back in her chair. “I don’t know what my brother has been doing, but his paperwork and accounts are all over the place. I can’t reconcile a bunch of the parts he’s got in stock with the relevant suppliers. How do you usually order stuff? ”

I shrugged. “Depends. Sometimes, we’ll do it through the system; sometimes, one of us will call up.”

She stretched, lifting her arms above her head. The movement made her already tight T-shirt emphasise her breasts, and I had to make sure I kept at eye level.

Fuck, she’s a distraction .

“We need to set something up so everyone follows the same process. I think that’s where things are falling down.”

Biting the inside of my cheek, I nodded. “Yeah, makes sense, I guess. I’m not sure how well it’s going to go down with Rod. He’s been doing it his way for such a long time.”

Letting out a little moan as she stretched out her shoulders, Hollis sat back in her chair. Our eyes met, and I had to stop my mind from focusing on how good the noise sounded.

“He’ll have to get used to it, like you and Finn will.” She fixed me with a look that said she wasn’t going to be flexible just because we were all friends.

“Hello?” a male voice called from the main garage area.

Dragging my gaze away from Hollis, I turned and stalked out of the office. This ‘working in such close proximity’ malarkey was tough on a guy.

“Morning, Mr Thompson.” I greeted one of our returning customers with a smile.

He’d recently been sold a dud of a vehicle and had come in several times with a starter motor problem.

Each time I thought I’d solved it, something else seemed to go wrong with it.

Sometimes, I wondered whether he’d be better off trashing the vehicle and starting over. “Don’t tell me it’s happened again.”

“Not this time.” He shook his head. “One of the delivery drivers pushed me off the road, and I ended up in the hedge. My wing mirror got smashed clean off.”

“Good to hear.” I held up my hands. “ What I meant was, good that it’s not the same problem. It should be a relatively quick fix.”

He laughed. “I knew what you meant. At least the starter motor has lasted a good two weeks this time.” He gestured to the door. “Do you want to come and take a look?”

“Sure.” I followed him outside to the car.

It was a fairly quick diagnosis. Mr Thompson had managed to salvage the original wing mirror, and while I wouldn’t be able to fix it straightaway, it was a fairly standard part to be ordered.

I chuckled to myself. Hollis would be able to show me her new order-processing system.

After a few minutes of polite chat, I went back inside.

Sure enough, there was a mug of tea waiting for me on the side. Smirking, I took a sip.

Our little ritual.

The aroma of home-cooked food slapped me in the face as I walked through the front door, transporting me back to the times when Finn would invite me over for tea.

His mum, Sara, would make a delicious meal from scratch—something my own mother was incapable of—and usually gave me a Tupperware dish of whatever she’d made to take home for the next day.

I shook my head against the surprise wave of emotion that washed over me and followed my nose to the kitchen.

The table was set for dinner, a bottle of red in the middle already open and breathing.

Hollis had her back to me, frantically stirring the food in the saucepan and muttering to herself under her breath.

“You got a hot date tonight?”

“Shit!” The spoon slipped from her hand onto the floor, and she turned, red-faced and covered in what looked like Bolognese sauce.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” I moved closer to the cooker and leaned over, taking in the smell of beef mince. “He must be really special if you’re going to this much effort.”

I swore her cheeks coloured even more at my comment.

Hollis threw the dirty spoon into the sink and grabbed another one from the drawer. “It’s not a date; I’ve made dinner for the three of us. Thought it might be nice for us to sit down and eat together for once.” She held out the spoon, loaded with sauce, for me. “Here, see what you think.”

The flavour definitely reminded me of the one Sara used to make although Hollis’s version wasn’t quite the same, despite still being tasty. There was more of a full-bodied flavour to this one, and I wondered how much of the red wine had made it into the recipe.

I chewed and nodded. “This is good,” I said once I’d finished the mouthful. “Is there any more?”

A small smile spread over her face. “There will be once you’ve got cleaned up for dinner.” She reached out and touched my cheek. “Engine oil, probably.”

“How long have I got?” I savoured her touch, almost craving more.

Now isn’t the time.

“Maybe ten minutes. I’m about to pop some garlic bread in the oven.”

My mouth watered. “I’ll be five.”

Finn was on the landing as I got there. “Any idea why my sister’s cooked us dinner tonight?”

I laughed. “You think she’s got an ulterior motive?”

“When was the last time Hollis did anything ‘just because’? ”

He had a point. “Honestly, I’ve tasted her Bolognese, and I don’t care.”

It took me closer to ten minutes to be showered, dressed, and back downstairs for dinner. Hollis and Finn were already seated at the table, dishes of food in front of them, when I entered the room. Hollis lifted the bottle of wine.

“Would you like a glass?”

I nodded and took my seat opposite her while she poured, once again appreciating the treat of home-cooked food.

We had fallen into the trap of ready meals and things you could heat in the oven or the microwave because neither Finn nor I really knew our way around a kitchen.

On occasions, we rustled up a full English—the works with bacon, sausage, egg, hash brown, beans, and toast—or a stir-fry, but that was about the limits of our cooking ability.

“A toast.” Hollis held up her own glass. “To the people who took me in when I most needed it and for putting up with all my crazy ideas for the businesses.”

Finn laughed. “To be fair, Sis, you actually came back at the right time for me, too. Maybe we should be toasting you.”

I’ll definitely drink to that.

For the first time in a long time, we ate dinner, chatted, laughed, discussed plans for the garage and the gym, and enjoyed a chilled-out evening. Finn started to clear the table and gestured for me to help.

“There was something I wanted to ask,” began Hollis.

“Ha, I knew there were strings attached to this meal.” Finn carried on rinsing the plates and putting them into the dishwasher. “Go on, spill.”

I stood up, one eye on Hollis as I picked up the empty wine bottle and put it in the recycling bag.

“Two things actually. ”

“Did you get dessert, as well?” I asked. “One course for each question.”

Hollis glared at me, sipping on her wine. “Funny, Jase. There’s ice cream if you’re that desperate for something sweet.”

I sucked in my lips. I know what sweet thing I’d like.

She ignored me and went on. “Now I’m staying long term, I talked about decorating the bedroom. Can either of you hang wallpaper? I want to do an accent wall.”

“A what now?” I wasn’t up on the latest trends in interior design.

Hollis rolled her eyes and stared at me as if I had asked her the most difficult question on the planet. “An accent wall,” she repeated, with a small shake of her head. “One wall is different to the others, for effect.”

“Oh, got it.” I opened the freezer door to check out the ice cream options; I was still hungry.

“The wall behind my bed, for example. To make it stand out.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. Thinking about Hollis’s bedroom was the last thing I needed to spend too much time on. “Right. Not sure I’m going to be much use to you, though. I can paint a wall; wallpapering is not in my repertoire, I’m afraid.”

“I think Barney’s brother, Liam, knows someone who could help,” Finn chipped in. “And he’d probably do it as a favour. I’ll find his number for you later.”

“Thanks, Finn, I’d appreciate that.”

I let the freezer door slam shut and held up my hands. “Hey, I don’t want to do a crap job and have you hate me forever for it.”

She tilted her head. “I couldn’t hate you, Jase. But you’re right. I wouldn’t want you giving me nightmares with wonky wallpaper.”

Oh, but the dreams you could give me…

Internally, I shook my head. Now was not the time for those kinds of thoughts.

Finn had started washing up the million pots and pans Hollis had used to create dinner. “You said there were two things. If we’ve agreed neither of us can decorate, maybe we can sort out the second favour.”

Hollis huffed out a breath. “I need to get my stuff from London. There are only so many clothes I can borrow from Ella. I think she needs her wardrobe back.”

Finn glanced over his shoulder. “I thought I recognised the top you were wearing yesterday.”

“As long as you didn’t buy it for her.”

A deep chuckle escaped from me. “It would be funny if you had.”

My best friend shot daggers at me. “The second request I can help with. I can borrow a van from Rod, and we’ll go up and back in a day.”

“It would be much appreciated. Thanks, Finn.” Hollis beamed. “And if we can go soon, even better.”

“Whatever you want, Sis.”

Suddenly overcome by a wave of tiredness, I let out a huge yawn. “Thanks for making us dinner, Hollis. I really enjoyed it. We should do it more often.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Don’t get too used to it.”

“Until you need another favour.” I grinned. “Don’t worry, Princess. I know your game.”