Trick - By Lori Garrett Page 0,4
Harlow. It’s been years. What were you hoping to get out of showing up here?” Looking like that, I want to add. Instead, I let my eyes linger on all of that tan skin.
“I just wanted to talk. I’ve never really gotten over how things ended. With us, I mean.” She finishes her drink, and it must help with her boldness because she takes another step closer. Close enough that I can smell the all-too familiar sweet scent of Harlow— amber and pomegranate, it hasn’t changed. “And when I found out you were working here, I just... I wanted to say hi. See how you were. Friends can do that, right?”
And just like that, I’m back to summer, three years before, the smell of ripe peaches in the air, and it’s the very first time I’ve ever seen Harlow Mills.
“Hey, fuckhead, go get another case before Dad gets here,” my brother Greyson shouted across the room, tossing me the keys to his Camaro.
I would have asked ‘why me,’ but I knew it was because I was the most sober. And also because Greyson knew I had a hard-on for his car and wouldn’t turn down a chance to drive it.
It was the kind of hot summer day that made waves of heat shimmer off the asphalt. A perfect day for a game of pool in the air conditioning, never-ending cans of beer, and a bonfire late at night. I was ready for exactly that, plus hoping some sweet pieces of ass would show up to keep me busy in bed, and that’s where my mind was when I happened upon a sporty red Jeep stranded on the side of the road, a pretty blonde standing next to it, cell phone in hand.
I may have been in a rush to get back to my day of being a lazy fuck, but I’d never pass a pretty girl in need of help. My mama raised me right.
I pulled to the side and watched as she bit her lip nervously. I put my hands up to let her know I wasn’t planning to do anything stupid. “Hey, darlin.’ I saw you pulled over and wondered if you needed a hand.”
“I can’t get ahold of my father,” she said, shifting her weight from one foot to another. Her body was all sweet curves covered with a tiny sundress, light green and ruffled. She had on sexy cowboy boots, and kept pulling one foot out and rubbing it along the back of her calf. Her blonde curls tossed around her shoulders whenever the breeze picked up. “I don’t have the number for AAA in my phone. I don’t even know what’s wrong. It was in the shop the other day, so I don’t get it.”
“Mind if I take a look? My brothers are hardcore mud boggers, so I may be able to help.” I watched a smile of relief break over her face, and I decided right then and there I was gonna fix this damn Jeep no matter what it took, just so I could see her smile again.
One glance under the hood, and I knew it was the spark plug wire. Fool auto shop monkeys must’ve knocked a wire loose. It would be a two minute fix.
Two minutes, and she’d be back on the road.
“Is it something you can fix?” she asked.
“Sure can,” I said. I debated telling her it’d take awhile. Or that I needed her to ride to the parts store with me to get some part I’d pretend to use. Or that I couldn’t fix it, but I could give her a lift wherever she was headed.
Any of those would’ve fit my usual scenarios with a pretty girl. But I shocked myself by reaching in and fixing it, and even double checking to make sure everything else looked fine.
“Well, this sure as hell isn’t some beater you’d mud bog in, but a Jeep’s a Jeep, and this one is good to go.” I slammed the hood and wiped my hands on my jeans. “Wanna start her up?”
The girl nodded, ran to the driver’s side, and turned the key. The engine roared to life, and she grabbed the wheel and hollered, “Woot!”
Her excitement loosened something in me, and I found myself not wanting to leave. But I had to. This gorgeous girl in her shiny new Jeep didn’t need me in her life. That was for damn sure.
“Glad to help.” I smacked the hood and tipped my hat at her, then