Duke, page 19
“I wanted to go work on Charlie.” Olivia pouted her lower lip which was more adorable than she knew and Ava attempted to keep a serious face. “But Grandpa said you were coming to get me, so we decided to wash the trucks instead.” She tilted her head and gave her mother one of her cutest toothy smiles. “Can I work on Charlie after the beach? Please? Just for a little while?”
The vintage black Impala, AKA “Charlie”, sat in one of the bays next door in the Colyn shop. It had been Rowdy’s car in his teenage years. From the moment Olivia could walk and talk, the two of them had spent oodles of hours working to restore it.
Ava kissed her daughter’s button nose before looking at Rowdy. “I could stop by after we grab a bite to eat. Do you want to stay after six?”
Rowdy shrugged. “Either we work on Charlie or go home and talk about working on Charlie. Might as well get the work done.”
She looked back at her daughter. “You better thank Grandpa with a seriously massive bear hug.” She set Olivia on her feet and the girl darted across the distance between her and Rowdy for a hug. Rowdy launched her into the air, spinning her around.
Old man, right.
“I’m going to change. Can you watch her a few more minutes?”
Rowdy nodded and Ava walked toward the day room, smiling at the conversation behind her.
“She can finish washing the truck, the whole side, before she goes.”
“Grandpa, that would take too long.”
“Oh, Ava!”
She turned to catch Rowdy jogging up to her. “Yes?”
“When you drop Olivia off at the shop, can you check Dax’s shoulder? Maybe ice it with that cold or heat gel stuff or an ice pack if it’s still swollen. He really buggered it up when the truck flipped two weeks back. The ambulance managed to get him to the hospital that day, not sure how, but he needs a follow up and he cancelled this week.”
Ava quietly eyed the man before her, wondering if she’d mistakenly heard him. Why would she check his son’s shoulder? She wasn’t a professional doctor or nurse and she certainly wasn’t on close enough terms with Dax to ask him to flash his bare shoulder without it getting awkward quick. The man exuded a ruggedly aloof persona and she doubted her opinion mattered much to him.
“Are you joking?” she asked.
“Is my son’s damaged shoulder funny to you?”
Ava frowned at him. “You know you’re the fire chief, right? You can instruct him to give you the follow up papers from the doctor or threaten to suspend his volunteering until you receive it.”
“We both know how stubborn Dax is. He’d take the latter. Just do me a favor and check his shoulder and report back to me.” Rowdy turned and walked away.
“Rowdy—”
“Grab a few supplies at the drug store on the strip and I’ll reimburse you.”
So that was settled.
Taking a deep breath, Ava pushed through the door. She couldn’t say no to Rowdy after everything he’d done for her the last seven years, taking her in when she’d been pregnant and had nowhere to go.
But darn it, this?
It was clear which parent Dax got his stubbornness from.
Chapter Two
“WHO THE HELL is responsible for this shit?” Dax stared at the half-labeled motorcycle parts from the dissembled custom cruiser spread across the floor of his shop.
Dax wanted to strangle someone. What kind of dimwit only labeled a fraction of the parts removed from a vehicle? No one on his payroll should be this irresponsible. Whoever was responsible deserved an earful, or a kick in the ass, or both, but not necessarily in that order.
Stone Pearson, his best friend and top employee, stopped beside him. Dax didn’t need to look at him to know he’d be sporting a tight white T-shirt that bared the tribal tattoos scribbled up his arms and over his bulging forearms. He’d also be wearing his jeans with more rips and holes than a sifter. His friend called the old denim pants his “good luck jeans” and he could name when and where each hole, rip and stain had occurred.
Right now, he’d better name the idiot responsible for this disaster. Dax had thought after sending away the co-op student, his day would have been a breeze. Clearly, he’d been mistaken.
As if reading his thoughts, which wasn’t uncommon when it came to the job, Stone said, “Newbie.”
Dax cursed. “When did we hire a newbie and who let him near a bike to be disassembled? Do you know whose bloody bike this is?”
“Yes, boss. Jake Stow, boss.” Stone only called him boss to mock him. The term was a long-time inside joke between friends turned boss and employee. Normally Dax rolled the taunt off his shoulders, but today mocking a situation he didn’t find amusing, dug annoyance into his core. The bike belonged to business owner Jake Stow and the rich bastard liked his bikes almost as much he liked life itself.
Dax slanted a look at his friend. “Then why is some newbie working on Stow’s bike?”
Stone crossed his arms over his broad chest, eyeing the mess under dark, thick lashes. “The ‘newbie’—his name is Ross, by the way—labeled half the parts, ran out of labels and decided to finish disassembling and grab labels afterwards. He’s in the storage room now.”
Oh bloody hell, a destructive mouse had been left loose in the parts room. And why did that name sound familiar?
“Weren’t you watching him?”
“From the office.” Stone nodded at his office which was right beside Dax’s, at the top of the metal stairs, and overlooked this area of the shop.
“And you didn’t think to stop him before he tore the bike apart?”
Stone nodded his head of shaggy brown hair and rubbed the scruff along his jaw line. “Yes.”
“And yet...here we stand.”
“He has to learn, boss.”
“Not on my watch.” Dax didn’t hire undependable screw-ups. “Fire him.”
“Not your call.” Stone slapped his shoulder, a chuckle trickling out. “Ava convinced the old man to give him a job, remember?”
No, he didn’t remember.
“Well, then the old man takes full responsibility for that decision,” Dax grumbled.
Stone grunted. “If you say so. Had Ava asked you, I’m sure you wouldn’t have been able to say no.”
Dax’s deadly look made Stone drop the smart-ass look he wore. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I got this under control.” As he reassured Dax, the scrawny little newbie walked into the shop, stumbling in his high top sneakers.
Bloody hell, he was clumsy too.
The boy straightened at the sight of Dax, motionless except for the unmistakeable fear exhibited by his fingers tightening around the labels.
Rusty.
Same shoes. Same boots. Same irresponsibility.
Dax opened his mouth, ready to rip him a new one for messing with his customer’s bike unsupervised, but then realized he wanted to know why the hell the co-op student was in his shop, getting paid.
Stone stepped in front of Dax. “Have you ever taken a bike apart?” His bark echoed across the room, causing the kid to drop the labels on the floor, several smacked down atop one of the bike pieces.
Stone waved his arms in the air. “Right on a part!” he roared. “How would you like it if I took you apart then started dropping shit on your insides?” He took two large steps forward and pointed his finger around the room. “These vehicles are the owner’s babies. Treat them with more caution than your life or it’ll be me you’ll be answering to. Got it?”
Dax held in a smirk as the boy stammered a “Yes, sir.”
Stone waved at the door and shouted, “Get the hell out of my shop before you break something else. I think there’s a toilet waiting to be scrubbed with your name on it.”
The boy’s shoulders slumped and his lips drew into a thin line, but he said, “Yes, sir” again and then turned back out the door he’d come through.
Stone turned to Dax, a smug smile across his lips, making the scar on his upper lip almost disappear. “He won’t make that mistake twice.”
Dax glanced around him at the clutter. “Yeah, but you have quite the job ahead of you.” He slapped his friend’s shoulder. “Get to it before I tear a strip out of you.”
Stone chuckled as Dax left in search of his father. Short search. Rowdy sat comfortably at Dax’s desk, drinking a coffee and reading a newspaper.
“Your newbie just tore apart Stow’s bike without labeling the parts.”
The news didn’t faze his father. “I’m sure Stone can handle it.”
“I don’t pay Stone to babysit and how did I get the same irresponsible co-op student from the fire station in the shop, but now were paying him?”
His father chuckled, not bothering to move from Dax’s chair as if it were his office. “It’s a good thing I own fifty-percent of this company and have half the say. Ava’s dropping Olivia off to work on Charlie.” Rowdy could change topics with ease, not wasting his time talking about things he had no interest in.
Dax shook his head as he grabbed a pile of mail and numbly read through the envelopes. He’d voiced his opinion about Olivia being too young for the shop and suggested keeping her at the fire station where she was easily the center of attention. Plenty of family members popped in and out of the fire station all the time. They were like one big family over there. But her age had never stopped Rowdy from bringing her to the shop, too, even when she’d been waddling around in diapers. Her coos and burp-filled giggles had won the hearts of every last one of his big, bad employees. Now, her extensive knowledge regarding vehicle restoration garnered her the men’s impressed smiles. The knowledge she’d gained at the shop undoubtedly surpassed the co-op student on his payroll. Even Stone had a soft spot for the little girl.
“Dad, what kind of name is Charlie for the Impala? Maybe Chastity or Chelsea. But Charlie? No.”
“Olivia named him.”
“Him?” Maybe the kid wasn’t as smart as everyone gave her credit for.
“To Olivia the car’s a ‘he’.”
Dax tossed the envelopes back on the desk. “Well, get at it. What are you doing in here when you have a date with Charlie?”
“Inviting my son to come work on the Impala.”
“Dad, someone has to work around here.”
Rowdy stood then and waved a hand at Dax. “Horse shit. You’re going to stew in here for the next hour over Ross.”
“Ross? Who’s Ross?”
Rowdy rolled his eyes. “The newbie.”
Dax sliced his hand through the air. “No more newbies.”
His dad stepped around the desk. He was identical to Dax in height, mass, dark eyes, crooked nose and angle of mouth. No one could deny the father and son similarities. As Dax aged, the resemblance had amplified further. However, two things had changed with his dad’s age. His once dark hair was now silver and the stern, tough, no tolerance attitude he’d instilled in Dax had fallen into a soft, gentler nature.
It had happened the moment Ava had stepped into the old man’s life—seven years ago to be exact. Rowdy had been attending a conference in another town when he’d met Ava. She’d been in her early twenties at the time, alone with no family—her family had died during a house fire—and pregnant. Rowdy had offered her a room in his house until she got back on her feet. However, a couple months had turned into years and it didn’t look like that arrangement would change anytime in the near future. Ava had stepped into the daughter role Rowdy never had and Olivia the granddaughter he’d always wanted.
Whatever. Dax sure as hell didn’t plan on having kids, so at least that expectation had been lifted from his shoulders. However, when the two girls had become a part of Rowdy’s life, they’d become a part of his too. Supper at his dad’s soon changed from swearing and shop talk to tea parties and school events.
He looked back at his dad now and crossed his arms over his shoulders, waiting for a new reprimand.
“You know, son, there was a time when you were a newbie.”
“And you fired me more times than I can count.”
“You learned from your mistakes and my punishment. Just like Ross will learn from Stone.”
Dax had learned more than car lessons from his dad. He’d learned strength, fearlessness and that his feelings were better off buried than exposed. The latter lesson being the best one his father had ever taught him. Even if Rowdy had grown soft over the years, Dax knew better than to follow those foolish footsteps.
“Grandpa!” Olivia barreled into Dax’s office and ran straight into Rowdy’s arms. Today, she’d swapped her dress and tights for jeans and a plain T-shirt. A braid down her back gathered her hair together to keep it from dipping into liquids or catching on equipment. Rowdy lifted her and smacked a kiss on her cheek.
Dax heard Ava’s voice before he saw her, the sweet sound causing the stomach flip he hated so much. Damn woman had an uncanny effect on him that even night after night with spicy redheads couldn’t reduce. He needed one night with Ava, to rid his speculation of what her luscious lips would taste like and how her body would feel pressed up against his. Just one night.
He heard Ava warning Olivia not to go into Dax’s office, but she was a little too late. Carrying a pink and purple knapsack, Ava stopped in the doorway.
Her shapely eyebrows furrowed at her daughter’s disobedience. “Olivia, I told you not to interrupt.” She pushed her fingers through her thick, ash-blonde hair. The curls bounced down her shoulders in silky waves. Dax wanted to touch the locks of hair to discover if they were as soft as he assumed. More than that, he wanted to kiss her frown away and suck on her pouty bottom lip.
Damn it.
“I’m sorry, Dax.” Mesmerizing blue eyes, like the swirling waves of water on a windy day, met his in a sincere apology. Those same eyes exuded kindness—that’s who she was. If a neighbour needed a cup of sugar they could depend on Ava’s welcoming smile and if some clumsy little twit of a student needed a job, she’d go out on a limb for him.
“She just gets so excited about working on Charlie.”
And, damn, he liked how natural her goodness came to her. What he didn’t appreciate were the lustful feelings he had while in her presence because he damn well knew there would be no one-night between them. So he stomped them down like his dad had taught him.
“This isn’t a playground,” Dax barked, making his way around his desk. He needed the split-second away from her stare to regain his composure. When he turned back, Rowdy had set Olivia on her feet and they were headed toward the door.
“Don’t worry about it.” Rowdy said.
“We were in the middle of a meeting.” Dax placed his flat palms on the wood surface, eyes firmly planted on his father.
Ava reached for her daughter’s hand. “It’s okay. Take your time and we’ll wait in your office,” she said to Rowdy.
The old man shooed her away from Olivia. “He doesn’t like the newbie. Thinks he’s king shit and has never made a mistake in his life.”
Ava’s pleasant face dropped. First, she sent Rowdy a scolding look for his language choice in front of Olivia and then she looked back at Dax. “Did something happen with Ross?”
“Yeah, something happened. He ripped Stow’s bike apart without labeling it. Do you know what that means?” Of course she didn’t know what that meant. “It means—”
“Someone’s going to have to label all the parts before they’re painted,” Olivia said. “And more than likely they won’t all make it back into the bike. Way to go, Mom.”
Rowdy’s chesty laugh filled the room. “Nice kid.” He looked back at Dax. “Smart ass—” He stopped and looked at a disapproving Ava. “Smart aleck there reversed old man Caliendo’s car into the front end of the mayor’s car when he was Ross’s age.”
He’d been fired for that. “This isn’t about me.”
“It never is. Can you imagine me trying to explain those two smashed vehicles to the richest arch-enemies in Willow Valley?” Rowdy shook his head, but his smile revealed how the memory amused him. Back then, Rowdy would have torn a strip out of both of them if they’d talked back to him. Not anymore.
“Come on, kid,” his father said to Olivia. “Let’s go say hi to Charlie.”
“Okay. Bye, Mommy. Bye, Dax!” Olivia chattered Rowdy’s ear off as they made their way out the door. Dax could hear her voice as it trailed down the hall. He still didn’t know why his dad was stretching out the restoration of the Impala or why he’d decided to restore it in the first place. His dad had locked it away after his mother died and hadn’t pulled it out until Olivia had wanted a project. But why the Impala? Why bring back painful memories instead of choosing one of the many other cars they bought and flipped?
Ava stepped into his office now, shutting the door behind her.
Dax pulled his eyes away from her tight rear end as she turned back to him. “Is Ross not working out? I know your dad underplays everything so just be upfront with me. Do I move him over to Otto’s Garage?”
“Otto’s is a dive.” Dax didn’t actually have an issue with the town’s local repair garage. He’d even sent customers there when they’d accidentally stumbled into his shop thinking they repaired mufflers or gas lines. But, right now, his irritability had taken over and his mouth followed.
Ava narrowed her eyes on him, folding her silky smooth arms under her chest and pushing her breasts up to peek through the open space of her button-up blouse. “There’s no need for insults.” Her teacher’s tone brought a whole different fantasy world into his head. If only he’d had sexy, hot teachers like her when he’d been regularly sent to detention: big breasts, firm ass and one hell of a curvy body. He certainly wouldn’t have skipped detention then.
“It’s fine,” he snarled. “Dad and Stone are dealing with him. If he screws up, it’s on them.”
Dax sat down, dismissing her. He moved the mouse to activate the computer screen, feigning work. Her intoxicating perfume made it impossible to concentrate on anything, though. And now his office was doomed to smell like her for the rest of the evening.
