I could barely keep my mind on what I was doing the next morning as I helped my brother with the car. I was constantly daydreaming about my evening with Marcus.
“Do you still have a headache, Jaz?” my brother asked as he came into the garage.
“No. Why?”
“You’re not in the game today. I need you. This is qualifying.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I guess I’m just tired.”
“I don’t see how. You must have been sleeping like the dead last night. I called the house phone but you didn’t answer.”
“I told you I would be sleeping. Why did you call? You’re so…overprotective,” I accused. When lying, it’s always better to deflect the guilt to another person.
He sighed and wiped his hands on a rag. It was just he and I in the garage so far. The others were most likely working on their hangovers.
“I have to tell you something.” He looked up at the ceiling as if he was trying to find strength.
“Okay.”
“After the accident,” he started and I flinched. I had no idea it was going to be about my mom. “You were still not breathing on your own. They were working on Mom, trying to get the bleeding stopped when Dad and I ran into the emergency room.” He took a deep breath.
“That is what we saw when we went in there. It looked like both of you would die. You were gray. Mom woke up briefly. I was standing next to her and she grabbed my hand. She could see you lying next to her and she was scared for you. She told me to go to you and take care of you.” He ran his fingers through his dark hair.
“I didn’t want to leave her, Jaz. She insisted. She said no matter what happens, I needed to take care of you.” He pressed his lips together tightly, while I tried to hold back the tears. “I haven’t always done the best job. I’m at least going to call you when you’re sick to check in on you. Got it?” He pointed at me authoritatively.
“Got it. Thank you.” I went and hugged him.
“Okay. How about a little taking care of me now?” He lightened the tone.
“All right. I’m on it.” I looked down at my papers. I calculated out his lap speeds and made a suggestion. “You’re losing speed in turn three. It’s got a cut in the end that’s causing you to slow down. Maybe take it a little wider avoid the cut all together.”
“I’ll try that on the next run. Thanks, Jaz.” He gave me a big hug as the rest of the crew came in together.
“What is this, hug-Jazzy time? I’m in.” Dunner started. They passed me around for hugs and then got to work.
After qualifying, Chase came up to thank me for my assistance. My help in turn three had cut almost a second off his time.
“We’re all going over to McCleary’s,” he announced.
“Really? Shocker!” I laughed. For most of these guys, if they weren’t at WellGen or the racetrack, they were at the pub. A lot of them had wives who they either didn’t want to be with or their wives didn’t want them at home. I wasn’t exactly sure which. One more reason I was glad I never got married. Not that I ever had any offers.
What was the point if you ended up wanting to change the person or not want them around? Or, in the case of Staci, you ended up cheating on the most beautiful creature that had ever walked the planet.
“I’m just going home. Thanks anyway. I’ll see you here tomorrow at eleven?”
“Right. Eleven,” he confirmed. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked again, worrying about me.
“Yeah. I’m good.” I turned and walked to my car before he could tell I was lying.
I watched a pile of romantic, crybaby movies and went to bed after I felt completely pitiful and bummed out.
I was at the racetrack by eleven. Chase seemed fine, but everyone else was moving a little slow thanks to their hangovers.
That meant I would have to be on guard for mistakes.
As the guys pulled the car out of the trailer, a little shiver ran through me at the sight of the WellGen logo across the hood.
The race started at noon without a hitch. It was hot. I pulled off my WellGen button-down shirt and was just in a tank top when Marcus walked into our garage.
I actually looked down to make sure my heart hadn’t leaped from my chest at the sight of him. He was wearing khaki cargo shorts with a navy WellGen polo shirt. He also had on a ball cap. I’d never seen him wear a hat before but he was absolutely adorable in it.
“Hi!” I smiled uncontrollably.
“Hello! Is it okay that I’m in here?” he asked and held up his hands.
“All access.” I smiled again and he nodded.
The crew came in and stopped dead.
“Hello, Mr. Weller,” they all said like schoolchildren being prompted by the teacher. In this case, I was the schoolteacher giving them all the evil eye behind Mr. Weller’s back.
“Just call me Marcus,” Marcus insisted. “I brought sodas and beer.” He pointed to a cooler behind him. It was like scratching a dog between the ears. The whole race team was his new best friend.
“You might want to wait until the end of the race for the beer, guys.” I reminded them that my brother’s safety was on them. They all nodded and took a soda before going back outside by the pit wall.
I checked in with Chase on the radio. He was having fun, which made me smile.
“He’s pretty good,” Marcus said.
“You wouldn’t say that if you knew how many times I’ve had to pull him away from the wall.” I rolled my eyes.
“You can pick up cars?”
“No. Well, not the whole way. I can lift the front while I change my oil.” I shrugged. “I can push this car. It’s light.” He nodded in understanding. “If I try too hard to move something, I’ll get a nosebleed,” I said.
“Me, too.” He smiled as if this made him feel better in some way. I guess it’s nice to know you’re not a freak, even when it comes to freakish things.
“Can you lift yourself?” I asked very interested.
“No! Can you?” he asked back just as interested.
“No. I wonder why that is? It would be cool to be able to use it to fly around.”
“Yeah, that would be cool.” He caught me looking at him. “What?” He grinned.
“It’s nice to have someone to share this with after years of keeping it inside. I can understand why you took the risk with your wife. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
“Thanks to you and your tip about Scott, it’s going to be working out very well actually. I spoke with my neighbor, who recognized Scott’s truck and said it had been parked at my house a lot. Then I had a chat with Scott regarding his absences. He confessed and resigned. Staci and I had a prenup in which she gets nothing of mine if she were unfaithful.”
“Wow. She is not bright.”
Marcus laughed. “No. Brains were not one of her selling points.” I looked down at my dirty jeans realizing what was. My hair was in a neat ponytail, but I didn’t have any makeup on. “So, you saved me a lot of money. I was wondering if I could take you out to dinner to thank you properly?”
I blinked a few times while he waited for me to answer.
“In public?” I could feel the deep creases in my forehead making wrinkles.
“Yes, usually restaurants are in public.”
“What if someone sees us together?”
“Someone could see us together right now,” he countered with a crooked grin.
“What if her lawyer tries to say you were unfaithful, too?” I explained because he wasn’t getting it. I frowned when I realized he probably hadn’t thought of that possibility because he would never be with me like that in a million years.
“Oh. Right. Good thinking.” He looked down at the ground to reflect on what I said.
I excused myself so I could inform Chase of his lap times and tell him how many laps until he would need fuel.
“Robby? Two laps and he’s coming in,” I instructed while Marcus watched. “Dennis, he needs a shim for the right front wheel. He says it feels loose.” They both nodded and made the preparations for the pit stop.
“Could I get a rain check on dinner then?” Marcus asked when I was finished.
“Don’t worry about it. You don’t owe me anything for passing on gossip.” I laughed and went to turn on the air compressor.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?” he inquired and moved out of my way.
“Seriously, I’m just glad you’re getting to keep what is rightfully yours. You’ve worked very hard to get what you have. She has no right to it.”
He looked around nervously as the guys raced around him getting ready for Chase to come in for a pit stop.
“Well, thank you, again. Maybe I should get out of the way.” He chuckled and stood back. The guys were all out on the wall again, so we were alone.
“You don’t need to leave. You can have a seat.” I pulled a stool next to him using my gift. He smiled and sat down to watch the pit stop.
My brother was out before anyone else. I smiled and walked back to the garage.
“Good job.” Marcus said, impressed.
“Thanks.”
We chatted whenever I was free for the rest of the race. I would catch him looking at me every once in a while. Studying my freakishness, I guessed.
Chase came in second. He could have been first with my assistance, but he had pissed me off with the whole I-could-look-good-if-I-tried comment the other morning.
“Are you doing anything next weekend?” Marcus asked me when we were alone again.
“I will be doing this every weekend until the end of August,” I answered.
“What about Saturday evening? I was wondering if we could meet at the plant and try some experimentation.”
“Uh, sure,” I said cautiously.
“It won’t hurt.” He smiled, reading the worry in my face.
Marcus turned down Chase’s offer to come to the bar after the race. I could tell he didn’t want to consort too much with the working class.
“So are we on for next Saturday night?” he asked as I walked him to his car.
Of course we were on. I would have gone to watch cockroach races just to stand next to this man. I wasn’t sure exactly what we were doing. Once again, he must have been able to read that on my face.
“I thought it would be fun to see who could lift the most stuff.” His lip twitched.
“You want to see if I’m stronger since I’ve been like this longer?”
“Or maybe because you got zapped with more juice than me.” He winked. I wished he would stop winking at me. It was messing with my stomach. I nodded and he left with plans to see me the next Saturday.
* * * *
Marcus walked through the plant on Monday when we were on our morning break.
“It was weird having Weller at the track yesterday,” Dennis said.
“I heard he’s going through with the divorce. The lawyers are writing it up. She’s saying the prenup should be void since she had to cheat because he can’t get it up,” Dunner said scandalously.
“Dunner!” I chastised. “Don’t say stuff like that!”
Everyone laughed.
“It’s okay, Jazzy. He’ll still be able to get it up in your dreams!” Dennis joked as I glared.
“Leave her alone,” Chase said severely and they backed off. It pissed me off they would degrade Marcus just because he was the boss. Not to mention, I didn’t like them saying things about him because he was just a good guy.
I avoided eye contact with Marcus the rest of the week. I bought a new shirt on Thursday. Each day I got more and more nervous about Saturday night. Which, again, was not a real date.
On Friday he stopped down before I left. He pulled me aside as the rest of the guys walked toward the time clock.
“Are you still planning to come here tomorrow night?” he asked quietly.
“Yes. Are you?” I hoped he wasn’t going to bail.
“Yes. Definitely. I’ll see you then.”
“The race is at one on Sunday,” I said as Clucky walked closer to us, pretending he forgot something.
“Okay, maybe I’ll see you there.”
“Maybe.” I smiled and went to punch out.
“What was that?” Dennis asked as soon as we were outside the building.
Chase had been waiting and he was looking at us wanting to hear what was going on.
“Weller came down to talk to Jaz,” Clucky spilled.
“He just wanted to know what time the race was on Sunday,” I lied in a huff.
“Why did you tell him? Now he’ll show up again,” Dunner whined.
“He gave us five thousand dollars. He’s allowed to come to the damn race if he wants to!” Chase scolded them for their poor behavior.
I rode to McCleary’s with Chase after work for the Friday night ritual. I had a few beers and listened to the stories while Chase worked around the bar. At ten he came back to our table and handed me his keys.
“I’m getting a ride home. You can take my truck,” he whispered.
“Who’s giving you a ride?” I asked like the bratty little sister.
“Tonja Denton,” he said matter-of-factly.
“She’s your boss’ niece!” I warned him. Tonja Denton worked at the plant in general assembly. This was where the majority of the women in the plant worked. Tonja was tall and bony and—as I pointed out—was also related to Jed the crew leader for the paint department.
“Why do you think I’m whispering, Jaz?” He rolled his eyes.
“Well…have a good time,” I said and scrunched up my nose in disgust. I didn’t like to think about my brother having a good time. Especially with one of the girls from general assembly. Most of those women had a reputation for having a good time with a lot of different men. They also didn’t talk to me very much. I think they saw me as an outsider because I hung out with the guys. It was fine with me.
* * * *
I slept in on Saturday and went to the track at eleven for time trials and qualification.
Chase looked a little worse for wear. “The next time I come to you with my keys, just thump me over the head with something and take me home,” he said with a moan.
“You didn’t have a nice time?” I couldn’t help but giggle.
“She asked me to move in with her,” he said flatly.
“Was that the first time you…went out with her?” Went out was not really the right terminology, but I didn’t want to get into the details.
“Yes.”
“Wow, that was quick.” My brows raised in consideration of this predicament.
“I know. What are women thinking, sis? They’re all over you and you can’t get away quick enough,” he said.
“I don’t know, Chase. As I’ve been told several times now, I’m not like a real girl.” I frowned slightly at the remark. I remembered my discussion with Marcus at the diner when I fixed my car. He had said I was better off. I still wasn’t sure about that.
Chase didn’t do so bad with his lap times.
“You coming to the bar?” he asked as we packed up everything.
“No. I’m going to go home and watch some movies.”
“Okay. That’s probably the smart thing to do. See you tomorrow afternoon.”
“Be careful,” I warned him as I got in my car to go home.
I walked upstairs slowly to get ready for my nondate. I took a shower in my small bathroom. I tried on a few outfits, finally deciding on jean shorts, a V-neck T-shirt, and my sneakers. I didn’t want him to think I thought it was a date.
I hung the other options back in my tiny closet.
Everything in my house was small. There were only two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a linen closet upstairs. At the bottom of the stairs you were in the living room. You could go straight out the front door, or you could turn and go through the living room into the kitchen/dining room.
Through the next door you would be in the laundry room and then to the back door out into my tiny backyard. There was a thin strip of cement from the back door to the garage.
I lived on a dead-end street. My neighbors on each side, and most of the street were retired. It made for a quiet neighborhood.
I was content there.
I was ready for my meeting way too early so I watched CNN until it was safe to leave.
When I pulled into the plant parking lot, Marcus’s car was parked in its reserved place in the executive lot. It felt weird to park beside him, but surely I wouldn’t need to park in the other lot tonight.
I walked up to the door and went in. I was greeted with the familiar smells of solvents, paint, and manipulated steel.
“Hi, Jasmine,” Marcus said as he waited for me by the door. I smiled, a reflex reaction at the sight of him. “Thanks for coming. I hope I’m not keeping you from anything,” he said sincerely.
“No. Nothing,” I answered, realizing that may sound a bit pathetic.
“Still haven’t got an invite to the girl meetings?”
“No.”
“Well, I thought we could just be ourselves tonight,” he explained. My eyes popped open in surprise and then I realized he meant our gift. I nodded.
He picked up a screwdriver from a workbench and tossed it into the air. “Catch!” He laughed and I caught it in the air with my mind. “How many can you hold up at a time?” he asked. I shrugged. He started picking up more tools and throwing them in the air. I caught each one.
I closed my eyes so I could concentrate better and I moved the tools around above our head like a mobile over a baby’s crib.
“Okay, now can you do something specific while you’re doing that? Like turn something on?” he suggested. He, of course meant I should turn on a machine or a light, but my thoughts flickered to me turning him on sexually for a short second.
“Oh. Uh…” I heard him stammer in surprise.
I opened my eyes to see I had unbuttoned two buttons on his shirt.
“Shit!” I blurted and covered my face in embarrassment. The distraction caused me to lose focus on the tools spinning around our heads and they came down, clattering to the floor.
“Ow! Damn!” he yelped and I looked to see that a screwdriver had caught him on the forearm. He was bleeding pretty badly.
“I’m so sorry!” I ran to him at the same time I moved a roll of paper towels to my hands from the wall. I pulled a few sheets off and pressed down on the wound as he winced. “I’m sorry. I’m such an idiot! I should take you to the hospital,” I said in panic.
“No. It’s fine. Let’s just clean it off and see what it looks like.” He pointed as I followed him up to his office.
I waited by his desk as he went into his private bathroom. I heard the water running. I looked around at the photos on his bookshelf. There were none of Staci. I guessed he cleaned them out about eight months ago. There was a photo of our race team from two years ago, and the new picture was sitting in front of it.
He came out of the bathroom blotting off the cut with a new paper towel. “It’s going to be fine. I think a bandage will work.” He sat at his desk and his drawer came open without him touching it. I picked up the box of bandages and pulled one out.
I tucked my hair behind my ear as I bent over his arm and removed the wrapping. As I pulled off the tabs, my hair fell back down. Marcus tucked it behind my ear again and studied my face for a moment while I adhered the bandage.
“Thanks,” he whispered somewhat distracted as he smiled and released me from his gaze.
“I’m very sorry about…” I looked down to see his buttons were still undone. I could see down his shirt to his bare chest. Wow. I closed my eyes and looked away.
“It’s fine. Our minds sometimes wander don’t they?” His smile was bright. I nodded, unable to make eye contact. “I wanted to show you something,” he said as his bottom drawer opened. A file came out and opened on his desk. “Have you ever had an MRI?” he inquired as I shook my head.
He pointed down at the image of his brain. My eyebrows pulled up in surprise. I had no idea what I was looking at.
“Once I had insurance I requested one. Do you see this green area over here?”
I nodded.
“I’m told that is an area of the brain that’s not normally used. The green on the scan would indicate brain activity.”
“Oh,” I said lamely.
“The neurologist who reviewed this said it was brain damage, but we know differently don’t we?” He winked. Again with the winking. If he knew how close he was to losing another button on his shirt, he would stop.
I went to the window and opened the blinds so I could look out over the shop. I needed to get away from him before I made an even bigger ass of myself.
“Can you pick up that generator down there?” I asked to get us back on task.
“Probably not. It’s too heavy.” I saw him look down as he tried.
“I wonder if we can boost each other’s power,” I mused as I focused on the generator he had only moved slightly. It came up off the floor about a foot.
“Try taking my hand.” He held his hand out to me.
When he grasped my hand, I almost fell over from the overwhelming surge of thoughts in my head. It took a few seconds for me to realize the other thoughts and memories swimming around in my mind didn’t belong to me.
I could also hear what Marcus was thinking. He was just as overcome by the thoughts in his head as he figured out they were mine.
We looked at each other for a moment, still holding hands.
“This is weird,” he thought.
“Very,” I thought back to him.
He smiled at me and it reminded me of a few moments ago when he brushed my hair from my face. I found I could remember the way I felt at the moment. Nervous, excited, happy. But, I could also remember how Marcus felt, too.
He had been thinking I was pretty. He had wondered what it would feel like to kiss me. He liked how short my shorts were. He remembered how I had unbuttoned his shirt and began thinking about doing other things with me. Then he thought it would be a really bad idea because I worked for him. Then he thought it was wrong that knowing he shouldn’t be with me made him want to be with me more.
We both jumped at the loud bang outside the window. The generator—that we had both forgotten about—had knocked against the roof and put a small dent in the metal.
“Let’s put it down,” Marcus thought and looked over at me.
Once the half-ton unit was safely on the ground I looked at him wondering if he would let go of my hand. He didn’t.
Instead he turned and looked at me more intently. What is he seeing?
I focused on his thoughts, trying to read back what he was getting from me.
To my horror he was seeing all the times I’d stared or watched him as he walked into the plant. He must have thought I was a stalker. I concentrated to see how he felt about this information. He wasn’t upset. He was actually pleased I had noticed him.
I saw how he had checked me out when we met at the diner. He was attracted to me physically, and he respected me for the job I did as a woman. He thought it made me strong.
He thought about how he hadn’t had sex with anyone since Staci had moved out eight months ago and he wished he could be with me right now. When he thought of Staci’s name, I could get a clear feeling of the pain from her betrayal. I could also see that he had been using her, too. In a way.
He didn’t want to have to troll through tons of women trying to find one who sincerely cared for him, so he took the easy out. He found someone attractive who he could tolerate instead. He didn’t really love her. He just didn’t want the hassle, and everyone had been expecting him to settle down. Then he started comparing me to Staci.
He was sure I was smarter than Staci, and kinder. Obviously, I was more tolerant of his ability, but he gave me credit for that anyway. He thought I was funny but insecure.
Physically, I was surprised by how well I measured up in that department. He decided it wasn’t a fair analysis because he hadn’t seen me naked, though he wanted to very badly by this point.
He had moved closer and was still holding my hand.
His eyes seemed to darken. I played back the thoughts I was sending him to see what had caused this change.
I was thinking that if he wanted me and I wanted him, we should just go for it. We were both consenting adults. No one would ever know. We weren’t doing anything wrong. And his sofa looked comfortable.
“Please just kiss me,” I heard my own voice requesting in his mind. I closed my eyes, too embarrassed by my thoughts.
I heard him say, “I want to kiss you.” And then his lips touched mine. My eyes opened again in surprise. He hadn’t released my hand. He was thinking I was a good kisser. Better than Staci.
That was pretty much all it took. I kissed him again. Longer and deeper. As the rest of the buttons on his shirt unbuttoned, he smiled and thought it was exhilarating to be with someone who could be with him like this.
He looked toward his desk and the work lamp came on. He looked over at the wall and the main light in the room went out. My shirt started to come up. I raised my arms without letting go of his hand. We switched contact points so I could get rid of my shirt entirely. My bra, which was normally like kryptonite to men, came off in a flash as his pants started to unbutton and zip down.
His thoughts now were all about me. How he wanted to touch me while trying not to disconnect from my mind. He enjoyed hearing my thoughts.
He looked over toward the closet. The door opened and a blanket came out and draped itself over one of the leather sofas. His thoughts were mixed with all the times he’d slept in his office to avoid Staci, of all the grimy men who sat on that sofa during meetings and how the leather might feel too cool against my skin. It was a very chivalrous gesture. I smiled.
I was suddenly unable to concentrate on his thoughts as I was busy having my own. He had pulled me over to the sofa and after the rest of our clothes were gone, he laid down next to me. Kissing and running his fingers through my hair. I didn’t need to know his thoughts when I heard his soft moans as he pushed against me.
I gasped, struck again by the overload of feelings and emotions coming through our bond. I tried to store all of the information from the moment in my brain so I could think about it later.
I wanted to be able to remember this forever. His touch, his body, his kiss. I ran my hands up his back and down his chest, memorizing every detail. I was having sex with Marcus Weller and it was phenomenal.
More than phenomenal. It wasn’t just sex. We were sharing every thought and feeling both physically and mentally. He knew how much I liked it when his fingers traced down my ribs because he was able to pick it out of my mind.
I knew he liked how I changed positions so I was on top, so he could look at me. But when my pace picked up and he worried he was losing control, he switched us back. He didn’t want it to be over.
When he finally collapsed next to me, he didn’t break contact with my skin. We were still connected as he kissed my shoulder and my neck. We laid there for a long while, not talking, just reading each other’s thoughts. So much more intimate than talking.
Eventually, I could feel him wind down as sleep started to snake through his thoughts.
The last thing I heard before he fell asleep was that he thought this was the hottest sex he’d ever had, and that he hoped Staci wouldn’t find out.
I flinched away from him and his thoughts drifted out of my head like a fog lifting.
A thick, choking cloud of doubt, worry, and fear moved in to take its place as I stared at Marcus. Even though she had cheated on him with his employee, he didn’t want her to know he was unfaithful to her. It would hurt her.
What had I done? I’d slept with my boss. My beautiful, godlike boss. My beautiful, godlike boss, who was on the rebound from a divorce. Ugh! I leaned down and kissed his lips one last time. I ran my hands through his blond hair. This would most likely be my last chance to live this dream. He would wake up with regrets.
I sighed and got up as I called my clothes and my shoes to me. I closed the blinds from across the room as I dressed. I walked silently out of his office, making sure to lock the door behind me so no one would walk in on him. I ghosted down the stairs and out to my car.
When I got to the traffic light a block from the plant, I rested my head on the steering wheel for a moment. I wished I could have stayed with him all night, but I couldn’t stand to be there when he woke. The awkwardness would be unbearable. This was better.
I’d made it out without having to hear the reasons why we couldn’t see each other anymore. I would never tell anyone. Staci wouldn’t find out. Good for Staci.
I took a long, hot shower when I got home and fell into bed. Being connected and moving large objects with my mind wiped me out. Not to mention the sex.
I drifted off to sleep while thinking about the things floating around in Marcus’s head. The taste of his grandmother’s cookies, playing football in college, warm sand against his feet at the beach. It’s amazing the things your mind is recording when you think it’s doing something else. I smiled at the memories. Unlike Marcus, I would never regret this night.
When I woke, I had a missed call from Marcus on my phone, though I didn’t remember giving him my cell number. I saved his number in my phone but didn’t call back.
What would I say? I got ready and headed out to the racetrack.
“What’s with you today?” Chase asked me with a smile. Then his smile faded instantly. “Did you go out with someone last night?” he demanded.
“No! Not that it’s any of your business.” I smiled again, unable to help it. I must have looked like I’d had a good time last night. Such a good time! I could let myself be happy, even if it wasn’t going to happen again. “Good luck, have fun!” I said as he headed toward the car. He turned and shot me a suspicious glance again.
I could barely manage to keep my head in the race. I had been trying, rather unsuccessfully, not to think about the night before. Chase was going to be coming in to pit in four laps. I readied the team and they headed for the wall.
I turned to get something from the toolbox and Marcus was standing there watching me.
“Hi,” was all he said. He smiled nervously as he looked me in the eye.
“Hi,” I said back and took the ratchet over to Dennis.
“You left,” he whispered when I came back. He was looking around to make sure no one would hear us. I shrugged. There wasn’t anything to say to that. “Can we talk then, when you’re finished?” he requested as he tried to stay out of my way.
“We don’t need to talk. I already know. It was a mistake. It was just the heat of the moment. It was wrong. All the above. I get it. I’m not going to say anything to anyone, I promise,” I said calmly. I looked up at him and he didn’t look relieved. He looked…mad. “Please don’t fire me. I really like my job. I swear, I’m not going to—”
“I’m not going to fire you because we had sex, Jasmine! Damn it!” he cut me off, obviously insulted. “Not only would that be horribly wrong, I’m pretty sure it’s illegal in some way!” He ran his fingers through his hair and adjusted his volume.
“Thank you,” I said with a loud swallow. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything wrong.” It would have been easier to believe that if he still didn’t look pissed off. Apparently, he was planning to take all the blame for this.
Chase came in for his pit stop and I ran to the wall to help. I was a little rattled, so there were more bumps than normal.
I went back into the garage to face my distraction after Chase pulled out. I took a breath.
“Look, I’m fine with what happened. I’m not expecting anything. I understand your situation. I appreciate you coming here to smooth things over, but it was really unnecessary. It was nothing.” Just hot sex in your office, I added in my head. I started rolling up the hoses and cords while the rest of the crew moved the old tires out to the trailer.
“It wasn’t nothing, Jasmine! I felt something last night. I had access to your thoughts. I know you felt it, too,” he said quickly in a hushed voice. “We can’t lie to each other.”
“I did feel something,” I admitted and turned to him. “I know that you’re not over your wife.” I told him one small element of what I had felt. The irrelevant piece that would most likely make him leave. His brows creased and his shoulders fell slightly. “If you don’t mind, I’m kind of busy.” I pointed to the radio in my hand.
He nodded and gave me a strained smile. “Sure.” He raised his hand in a wave and walked away. I closed my eyes tightly. This was better. We couldn’t be together. No matter how much I might want that. I shook my head and the thought away so I could focus on Chase again.