The Mechanics of Mistletoe - Liz Isaacson Page 0,20
ignored him as she jogged through her shop and burst through the door and into the front where the counter and waiting area was.
Bear stood there, a gloriously dark cowboy hat on his head and strength pouring from him. He could help her. He could fix anything, including the broken mess her life had become.
“Bear.” She smiled and continued forward and right into his arms.
He grunted as she arrived, but she didn’t care. She just held on tight, hoping she could get her voice to work when she once again needed to tell him how she felt that he’d come.
Chapter Seven
Bear sure did like holding Sammy. She hadn’t showered, and she smelled like dust and antifreeze and that floral perfume that made his male side perk up in interest. “Hey,” he finally said softly. “You okay?”
“Yes,” she said, pulling away. She tucked her hair behind her ear and looked him straight in the eye.
“Things look okay here,” he said. “A few things, but nothing that will keep you from opening up again.”
“Almost,” she said. “We’ve got a pile-up in the back.”
“Ah.” He nodded to the door she’d come through. “Want to show me?”
A smile bloomed on her face. “Can you handle meeting my mechanics?”
Bear blinked, wondering why he wouldn’t be able to handle such a thing. “Of course,” he said.
“Great.” Sammy reached for him, and Bear dumbly extended his hand toward hers. Her fingers filled the empty spaces between his, the empty space in his whole life, and he stared at their joined hands. “I’m really sorry about this week. I should’ve called you.”
“You don’t need to apologize to me,” Bear said, not quite able to meet her eyes. “I have a phone that works too.”
“Our date was just…I don’t know where my head was.” Sammy smiled, and she literally looked like an angel straight from heaven with that radiance streaming from her face.
Bear didn’t know what to say. He wanted to ask her out again, but he didn’t want to put her in that same head space again. He met her gaze, and they simply looked at one another. The moment was sweet and tender, and yet charged in a way Bear had never felt with another woman. He sure hoped Sammy could feel it too, and it wasn’t just him and his messed up, middle-aged hormones.
“Come on,” she said, leading him around the counter and through the door that led back into the area where she worked on cars.
Bear looked around as he went, noting the shelving units with neatly organized boxes and parts. They were labeled, and that screamed of a female touch. “This doesn’t look bad at all,” he said.
“The building is cement,” Sammy said. “We lost our sign, but no windows. The boys and I boarded those up before we left. But the cars back here….” She trailed off as they approached two other men standing on the threshold of the garage.
Bear arrived last and took in the jumble of cars and trucks. “I see the issue.”
“Some of these are loaners we give to people while we have their car here,” Sammy said, adjusting her fingers in Bear’s. His pulse thumped extra hard for a few beats. “The others are the vehicles that were next-in-line to get fixed.”
“So you’ll fix them,” Bear said.
“Who pays for that?” Sammy asked. “I feel bad making the customer pay, but it’s way more work than we originally would’ve done.” She glanced at her mechanics and stepped back. “Jason and Logan, do you know Bear Glover?”
The two men looked at him, and Bear at least recognized the first, and he knew the second.
“Bear,” Sammy said, smiling at him. “Jason Essex and Logan Lower are two of my mechanics. Jeff Walters works here too, but he’s probably dealing with a lot on his little farm.”
“Howdy,” Bear said, reaching to tip his hat to the two men. Jason was more of a mystery for him, as Bear had never dealt with him or his family. Much. The Lowers were old blood in Three Rivers, and Bear had grown up with Logan’s older brother. All of the Lowers had a bit of temper, something Bear had been accused of from time to time, so he tried not to judge others on the matter.
“Good to see you, Bear,” the two men said together, and the four of them had a good chuckle.
Jason looked at Sammy, his right eyebrow cocked. “I didn’t know you were seein’ anyone, Sammy. You’ve been holding out on us.”