Bad Boy Best Friend - Hope Ford Page 0,13

many times I try to steer the conversation away from how it feels working with Austin again to scheduling a car service, she can’t seem to spit out what it is she’s come for.

She keeps looking through the windows in the office that give a view of the garage, so finally I ask her if she’s here to speak to one of the mechanics.

She blushes. “I don’t want to interrupt Austin while he’s working. Can I have a piece of paper?”

I totally resist rolling my eyes and hand her a piece of plain copy paper.

She writes him a note and hands it back to me. When I look at the piece of paper, I take note that she drew a heart around his name on the outside of the folded paper.

Real smooth, Sandrine.

I play with the idea of tossing the note into the waste basket, but my conscience won’t allow it, so I put it in his paperwork slot on the wall. Sure, it may have sunk to the bottom where it isn’t visible, but I’m not a wizard who can defy gravity.

At four-thirty I begin the stages of closing up the office for the day, the biggest step being cashing out the till so that the money can be taken and deposited at the bank.

When I cash out the till I’m confused because somehow, I’m five dollars short.

How did I mess this up?

I get out my wallet and put one of my own five-dollar bills into the deposit bag just as Shawn comes into the office. I haven’t seen him since he walked me home the night before last. He asked me out, but I told him the truth, that now wasn’t a good time, and even though I turned him down, he was still friendly and is smiling today.

“You have to pay Austin to work here?” he asks playfully.

“No, I must’ve miscounted someone’s cash. I was five bucks short. But I fixed it, so shhh,” I tell him, holding my finger to my lips. “Are you scheduling or picking up?”

Shawn shrugs. “I’m due for a tune-up. Got any openings for tomorrow?”

9

Austin

The pace at the shop has been brutal. It’s a busy shop, but not usually quite this busy. I had planned to take Laney out for lunch but we were so slammed that I would’ve skipped it altogether if she hadn’t brought me back a sandwich from the café when she returned from her shortened lunch break.

I planned to tell her that she can be finished for the day at four since she came in to work early and only took enough time for lunch to order the sandwiches and bring them back. I’d seen her taking quick bites from her own sandwich up at the front desk between customers.

The reminder alarm I set on my phone to take the deposit to the bank goes off and so I explain to Rod what I want him to do to finish up on the Ford Taurus. Then, as I turn to head to the office, I spot Shawn standing in the front office with a stupid fucking smile on his face.

I charge toward the front to tell Shawn to stop harassing Laney, but when I see her smiling and happily talking with him before I reach them I just can’t justify throwing Shawn out of the shop like I want to, even though I want to really bad.

With my fist clenched at my sides, I tell her, “Laney, you did great. I can help this customer since you’re over on time already.”

“No worries, Laney took great care of me,” Shawn says with that stupid smile still on his face. “See you tomorrow,” he says, looking at Laney.

I watch him leave and it takes everything I have to not tell him to leave and not worry about coming back.

“Bye,” Laney says to Shawn as he leaves and then turns her smile toward me. “I’m not in any rush to get home. Would you like me to make the deposit for you? Or I could stay here and run the desk while you’re gone.”

I feel better seeing that she is giving me her full attention even though Shawn is taking his sweet-ass time to get into his fucking car and he keeps looking back inside trying to get one last glance at Laney.

Like a jealous boyfriend, I move around and block his view. Fuck him. Laney’s still smiling at me, telling me she’s still as clueless as she was in high