Redhead Blitz (8 page)

“I’m sorry it made you late to practice.”

“No big deal.”
 
His shoulders relaxed again.
 
“I’m glad it was a simple posting error.”

“I got it corrected this morning.”

“Good.”
 
Sean lost himself in her rich green gaze.
 
They stood silent for a long moment before she shifted her feet, bringing him out of his trance.

“The second matter I needed to discuss with you was a misunderstanding we’ve had.”

Huh?
 
They’d had a misunderstanding?
 
That was news to him.
 
“I’m not following.”

“I’m talking about the note with my name and phone number on your windshield.”

Sean had finally let go of the guilt at her discomfort, so he was sorry the subject had to come up again.
 
Especially since there was nothing on this earth he’d rather do than go out with
Gigi
.
 
And have sex.
 
Lots of it.

She nervously twirled the ring on her finger.
 
“I didn’t put it there because I wanted you to ask me out.”

The meaning of her words took a second to sink in.
 
“Then why
did
you put it there?”

Gigi
nibbled her plump bottom lip, her obvious unease helping him look past desire.
 
“I’ll preface this by saying how very sorry I am.”

His pulse quickened and the fingers of foreboding gently squeezed his throat.
 
“For what?”

Gigi’s
gaze flicked up over his shoulder and then back to his face.
 
A little wrinkle marred her forehead and her eyes glistened. “The day I came for my interview, there was only one parking spot left in the lot.”
 
She inhaled a deep breath. “I...”
 
She looked behind him a second time.
  

And he immediately knew.
 
Her visual slip brought on realization.
 
Dread sank heavy and low in his gut.

Chapter Seven

“I accidentally put a little ding on the passenger side of your car.”

Shit
.
 
He hadn’t given his car a thorough once-over in over a week.
 
Between class work, after-school practice and tutoring Butch, he’d been half asleep when he got to his car in the evening.
 
What an idiot.

“You left your name and number so I could call you about an insurance claim?”
 
Luckily she was an honest person.
 
Great
, add that to her growing list of admirable traits.

She nibbled on her bottom lip and nodded.
 
“Yes.”

Little did she know how many
frickin
’ times he’d read and reread that note.
 
I should have known she wasn’t interested in me
.

“But I did mention the note the next day.
 
You should have straightened me out then.”

She folded her hands in front of her, and the sweet green of her eyes softened his irritation. “You’re right, I should have.
 
And I meant to.”
 
Then
Gigi
averted her gaze and lightly scratched at a pit in the surface of his desk with a crimson-painted nail.
 
“To be honest, you bruised my pride when you assumed I was hitting on you.”

Of, course.
 
The woman probably had more men asking her out than she could handle.
 
Why would he have thought she needed to solicit dates?
 
His shoulders slumped.
 
I’m an idiot
.

His remaining energy drained out through his shoes.
 
“
Gigi
, I’ve been putting in so many hours in the evening, I’m just not thinking straight sometimes.”
 
He resigned himself to embarrassment as well as the rest of the news.

“Just how bad is this ding?”

“It’s small, very small.
 
And I promise I’ll take care of the damages.”
 
She studied him. Was she waiting for him to lose his temper?

But he couldn’t.
 
Gigi
wasn’t some careless stranger who’d tried to skulk away.
 
She was a conscientious coworker who was admitting to the accident of her own free will.
 
Funny, he’d anticipated the first damage to his car would make him furious.
 
But he couldn’t muster up the energy.

“Okay.
 
I’ll have to get some estimates for the repairs.”
 
Just when he’d find the time to squeeze that in, he wasn’t sure.
 
December, maybe?
 
“Have you called your insurance company, yet?”

“No, I was waiting to see if I could afford to cover the repairs myself.
 
That way they won’t jack up my rates.”
 
Her brows rose.
 
“Is that okay with you?”

The bell signaling the end of fifth period rang.
 
Sean transferred the stack of essays back into his bag.
 
So much for getting the papers graded.
 
“That’s fine,” he said.
 
“It’ll take me a while to get that done, though.”

“I’m not going anywhere,”
Gigi
said, giving him an uncertain smile.
 
“I’m really sorry, Sean.”

“I appreciate you telling me.
 
Most people would have driven off and never given it another thought.”

“I wouldn’t call myself a candidate for sainthood...”

Looking the way she did, that was unlikely.

“...and my parents never bothered taking my brother and me to Sunday school, but somewhere along the way I learned the Golden Rule.”
 
Her smile began slowly and spread until it lit up her face.

The sound of a teenage girl’s squeal from the hallway snapped Sean back to real time.
 
“Shi—” He shook his head.
 
“I’m late.
 
Gotta
go.”

Why was it he was always running late, and
away
from
Gigi
?
 
He took off down the hall, hoping none of his sixth period students set a fire before he could get to the classroom.

Gigi
parked Heidi’s car in front of Rafferty’s Auto Repair and dropped the keys into her friend’s hand when they met at the door.
 
“Thanks so much for letting me use your car the past few days.”

“No problem.
 
Rafe
and I still want to spend every minute together, so I didn’t really need it.”
 
The look on Heidi’s face was pure bliss.
 
Being married to
Rafe
was making her happier than
Gigi
could ever remember.
 
She pretended to hunt for something in her purse while envy-triggered moisture pooled in her eyes.
 
She blinked it away.
 
“So the honeymoon’s not over yet?”

“Far from it.”
 
Heidi waggled her eyebrows but didn’t elaborate.

Although
Gigi
would love to hear all about Heidi’s love life and live vicariously through her experiences, her friend’s sexual escapades with her new husband were none of her business.
 
And with the challenge of this fundraiser project, she didn’t even have time to curl up with a good romance novel and pretend she was married to the perfect hero who couldn’t get his fill of wild, passionate sex.
 
And now that she thought about it, why was it every romance hero she pictured in her head looked exactly like Sean?

“Uh, oh.”
 
Heidi gave her an all-too-knowing stare.
 
“I know that look.
 
How’s abstinence going?”

“It’s hell and would be a waste of breath to even talk about.”
 
She and Heidi had been through some tough times, so she knew her friend wouldn’t be offended.
 
“So,” her gaze scanned the garage, “where’s this cream puff of a deal?” Heidi and
Rafe
had been looking for an inexpensive used car to replace her
junker
.

“In here.”
 
Heidi turned toward the office.

“Huh?”
Gigi
followed.

“
Rafe
found it on line.”

Heidi opened the door and her husband rose from the desk chair.

“Hey, baby.”
 
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the tip of her pixyish nose.
 
Then Heidi rested her cheek against his chest, her head tucked under his chin.

“Oh, hi,
Gigi
.”

She understood that
Rafe’s
greeting wasn’t an afterthought, but it was clearly lower on his list of priorities than physical contact with his new bride.
 
Gigi
grinned, remembering how difficult it had been for the man to admit he was in love with Heidi.

“Hi,
Rafe
.
 
Heidi tells me you found something for me?”
 
The pitiful amount in her savings didn’t give her too much hope but, then again, she didn’t know anything about shopping for a car on-line.
 
“It had better be cheap.”

“We can always loan you the money,” he said.

Heidi knew better than to offer, but she must not have mentioned
Gigi’s
feelings on the subject to
Rafe
.

Her friend smiled up at her new husband.
 
“You’re a sweetie, but
Gigi
would rather dip all her shoes in used motor oil than take our money.”
 
Heidi kissed
Rafe’s
chin and then pushed him back into the chair.

“Just as stubborn as you, huh?
 
Maybe that’s why you’re such good friends.”

Heidi winked at
Gigi
and kissed
Rafe’s
temple.

“Why don’t you pull up the car and show her.”

Rafe
tapped the keyboard and motioned
Gigi
closer.

“Here it is.
 
It was part of a rental fleet.”

Gigi
looked at the nondescript sedan and stifled a yawn.
 
At least it wasn’t bright yellow.
 
“Aren’t rentals driven pretty hard?”

“Possibly.
 
You’ll never know for sure about the driving, but that’s true with most used cars, too.
 
The service record is here, though.
 
If you bought a used car from a private owner, it probably wouldn’t have been serviced as frequently as this car has.”
 
Rafe
pointed out specific details of the listing.

“And it’s only got thirty-eight thousand miles on it,” Heidi added from behind them both.

The sticker was a bit higher than
Gigi
had hoped, but both
Rafe
and Heidi assured her it was priced to sell.

“And you can finance through the dealership,” Heidi said.

“But I can’t buy a car I’ve never seen.”

“Of course not.
 
Rafe
and I will go with you.
 
We’ll drive it and check it out.
 
If you’re satisfied and we think it’s in good mechanical condition, then you can decide.”