Super Nova (14 page)

Instead of attempting to talk, he nodded.

For close to an hour, they pored through her conglomeration of his suggestions and the roadmap they’d drafted over the past week. Fascinated, he couldn’t believe how she’d brought his concepts to life. Even the reconfiguration of the shop, incorporating efficiency improvements and the specialized equipment they’d need for some of the new lines, had seemed so real he thought he could stick his head out the door and see the revised layout for himself.

Hell, the garage could use someone like her to do the same for proposals to customers. Clients would be enthralled; unable to say no when they saw what butterflies could emerge from the caterpillars they’d driven in.

Hot Rods would never lose a bid with her by their sides. Kaige added another dimension to his plan.

“Well, there you have it,” she declared. “The secrets to Hot Rods’ continued success. I honestly believe you guys and Sally have a great shot at doubling your profits within a year.”

“After seeing that, I don’t doubt it either. What you did was spectacular.” Man enough to admit it, Kaige continued, “I never could have shown the gang what I had dreamed up. Not in a way they could really understand. So convincingly. Like this. You’re brilliant.”

“You did the hard work.” Nola surprised him with a quick hug. “I made it pretty, that’s all.”

“You’re being too modest.” He squeezed her back with interest. “You helped me brainstorm solutions to some of the sticking points that’d been bothering me for months. Whatever Eli is paying you, he’s getting his money’s worth. Thank you. Really.”

“Well, that’s a far cry from the glower you greeted me with Monday.” Nola peeked up at him. This close he could see the pretty gold dusting on her lids and the dark liner she’d applied to her already gorgeous eyes.

“I was an idiot. It happens from time to time.” Thank God she hadn’t seen his temper tantrum the night before that.

They laughed together.

Leaning in, he almost broke his pact not to blur their lines anymore.

All work and no fun made Kaige a horny guy.

With a snap of his wrist, he shut her laptop. Business was over.

“So…about that date…” Suddenly he knew he couldn’t make it a whole extra week to the wedding. Waffling on taking Dave’s advice since Monday, Kaige had debated the merits of bringing someone so out of the loop to the most important day of his friends’ life. It seemed selfish to drag her into such a complex situation, especially if Dave’s helpful hints turned out to be true and the happy trio had something grand in the works to include their unconventional friends in their ceremony.

Kaige had to put Eli, Alanso and Sally first.

But he could take things a step further with Nola. Erase any doubts about how they’d mesh before worrying about fitting the new duo they’d create in with the gang. One step at a time and all.

“Yeah, about that. Where are you taking me?” She gathered up her papers, trying to act cool. Too bad the tension in her shoulders ratted her out. Nola was nervous.

Could this be as important to her as it was becoming to him?

“How about the movies? I think there’s a chick flick playing at the drive-in. Mustang’s been bugging Cobra and Al to take her.” Kaige had overheard Sally telling Nola about it during one of their breaks this week. Both women had seemed excited by the ultra-hot leading dude.

“That sounds fun.” She smiled over her shoulder. “Your car was comfy with that big bench seat. Way better than a theater. Plus we’ll have the coolest ride there, I’m sure.”

“So you about wrapped up here? There’s probably a seven o’clock show.” Kaige rose and stalked closer to her, drawing a deep breath filled with her peach scent. “We could grab some food at the diner next door before it starts.”

“What? Now?
Tonight
?” She nibbled on her lip, again making him wish he could taste the gloss there.

“Why not?” He didn’t care to spend another evening typing to her instead of talking. This past week had been an exercise in staying in low gear when he wanted to pound the gas to the floor and fly.

Unless…

“Do you already have plans? With someone else?” He gulped at the thought. A striking woman like her wouldn’t lack for attention.

“Only if you count Amber.” Nola smiled. “We usually watch some solid reality TV before bed.”

Kaige laughed. “I’ll try to be more entertaining than that.”

“I don’t know. Some of those shows are top notch.” She shook her head. “Okay, fine. This is crazy, but…let’s do it.”

“Great.” He held out his hand and led her from the room, pausing only briefly to kiss her. A promise of more to come. Getting on their way before she could change her mind took precedence over stealing an extra taste of her.

Okay, so he didn’t make it halfway to his car before he needed another sample to hold him. He thought that was pretty good. After all, he didn’t bend her over the hood and make love to her with the rest of the garage watching, the way he’d dreamed of last night.

Restraint. He had some.

Not much when it came to her though.

As they were buckled in and rolling out the open bay, he shouted over to Bryce, “Yo, Rebel, we’re hitting the movies. See you guys later.”

“Have fun, kids. Don’t behave yourselves!” The big guy winked as he waved them off.

Kaige enjoyed every second of the ride through the bright summer evening and the easy conversation they kept while scarfing down greasy burgers. Nola seemed every bit as content as he was to take their email discussions further in person.

The professional he’d come to know gradually melted and left behind a funny, smart, sexy woman he couldn’t help but imagine licking as clean as his ice cream bowl. She must have had a similar thought when she grew still and flushed while observing his efforts. Either that or his lack of manners horrified her.

Somehow he didn’t think that was it.

With a smack, he finished off the last of the sweet cream, then dabbed his lips with his napkin, all proper and shit. She nearly busted a gut laughing.

The unapologetic ringing satisfied his senses nearly as much as his dessert had.

He found himself thinking the same thing again when the flickering illumination of the drive-in highlighted her strong profile. Being with her made his heart light and his smile a near-permanent fixture on his face.

He didn’t even give a crap that the movie was corny. Hell, the romantic parts kind of got to him with Nola resting her head on his shoulder. She’d kicked off her shoes and curled up on the front seat of his car like a contented cat, practically purring where they nestled together.

Kaige could relate.

At least until the credits began to roll. He was about to suggest they wait until the screen had gone dark and everyone else had left for a little encore of their own when something pinged off the rear quarter panel.

His head whipped around and he shot from the Nova so fast Nola sprawled on the green leather. A gaggle of teenagers sat off to the side, acting like they didn’t know about the fucking nick in his pristine paint job. Except their twitching and inability to look in his direction as he approached gave them away.

“Which one of you punk bastards threw a rock at my car?” He crossed his arms and spread his feet, unwilling to acknowledge that he’d been far more of a shit than them when he was their age. “I could take a chunk out of
your
hide.”

Rage bubbled in his veins.

He forced himself to infuse logic into the chaos, not that successfully.

They didn’t know how much the machine meant to him. How much hard work had gone into lovingly restoring the Nova from the ground up. Kaige’s brain understood that, but his instincts roared at him to teach them a lesson.

In the end, he didn’t have to. When faced with his ferocious snarl and the bulging muscles of his crossed arms, covered in tattoos, the pricks realized they’d fucked with the wrong guy. They hopped on their bikes and rode off in a cloud of dust.

Their sudden departure left him standing there like a loser grown-up who ought to know better than to threaten kids. Hell, they’d probably peer pressured the littlest one into the prank. He knew what that was like too…having to do things you shouldn’t to keep from getting your ass beat.

A gentle hand squeezed his shoulder. “I’m no expert, but it doesn’t look too bad. I bet Sally can fix it tomorrow. Right?”

“Ah, fuck.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. Ashamed of his short fuse and the way he’d snapped like the section of fifty-year-old plastic trim he’d tried to salvage this morning. “I’m sorry about that, Nola. I should know better than to holler at some pimply-faced teenagers. I’m a grown fucking man. I could squash them like bugs.”

“You didn’t. Although they deserved it for what they did. Maybe they’ll think twice about daring each other to do something so stupid again.” She had a way of rationalizing that helped him deescalate. Funny, too, that they should think something so similar.

Or not, since she really seemed to understand him.

Usually people told him he was wrong to get angry, which only spiraled his sense of injustice higher and outraged him more.

“Come on, don’t let them ruin our date. Sit with me.” She led him to the car and crawled in first, giving him a spectacular view of her denim-clad ass.

Settling beside her, he let the red mist settle from his vision as Tom had taught him to do.

The stroking of her hand on his thigh helped a good bit too.

Well, it fired him up, but in an entirely different way.

“You didn’t hurt them. Just barked enough to scare the shit out of them.” She shrugged. “Probably a good lesson to learn before they come across someone with less self-control than you have.”

Kaige laughed his ass off at that one. “You have no idea. I’m not good at keeping my lid on. They got lucky tonight.”

“Have you ever hurt someone when you got angry?” She tipped her head as she studied him.

“Like thrown a punch? Sure. At the Hot Rods when we were younger. We’d scuffle all the time. A couple bar brawls here and there.” He shrugged. “Got arrested once for clocking a guy who’d shoved his girlfriend into my car in a parking lot. She cut her head open on the side mirror. And I think he might have raped her if we hadn’t come along. I should have held him for the police, but I couldn’t stop myself from teaching him what it was like to suffer someone’s fist.”

The woman had reminded him of his mother. And the man had mimicked his father’s poor treatment. There’d been no holding back. A night in the slammer had reminded him that he didn’t plan to end up there permanently. Fortunately, the cops had listened to Tom’s pleading on his behalf and had set him free the next morning.

Everyone seemed satisfied with that.

Not one of his proudest moments either.

“No, I get that stuff.” She shrugged. “Typical guy shit, mostly. Unless you’re telling me you beat someone to a pulp with a baseball bat and put them in the hospital or something.”

Not yet. He’d wanted to a few times.

“Jesus.” He shuddered. “No. The guy I told you about had some world-class shiners and a missing tooth, though.”

The things he imagined sometimes when angry were horrible. Was that normal? He didn’t think so. But he was afraid to tell even his closest friends, or Tom, about the evil hiding inside him. A gift from his biological father.

“So what’s this about?” Nola laid her fingers on his pulse, then rubbed the tension from his shoulders.

And before he knew what lie he’d concoct, he’d blurted his darkest secrets. “I’m pretty sure my dad killed my mom. I have a temper. Like him. They don’t call me Super Nova for nothing. I can’t stand the thought that someday I could slip. Go too far and do…that…to another human being.”

Huge rasping breaths sawed from his lungs. Would she run now? She should.

“Kaige, look at me.” Instead of putting distance between them, she closed the gap. Cupping his chin—covered in five o’clock shadow—in her palm, she turned his face toward her. “If your dad did that… God, I can see it in your eyes. You truly believe he did.”

He nodded tightly. “My father. Not my dad. Tom is my dad.”

“You’re
nothing
like the man who created you.” She kissed him gently, leeching the last of his fury from his lips. She devoured his pain and anger, replacing it with desire and comfort. After a while, she climbed into his lap, straddling him on her knees so she could peer directly into his eyes. “Hey. I may have only known you a little while, but that’s enough to be sure. Okay?”

“I guess.” He didn’t concede easily. Not when he’d lived with the fear for ages.

“Don’t lie to me. We can work on it, but only if you tell me the truth.” She rubbed her thumb over his knuckles.

In years past they might have been bruised and bloodied after an altercation. Either by him pounding the offender or some inanimate object afterward. Hell, hadn’t he done exactly that on those poor tires last weekend? Faint proof of that scuffle lingered.

He needed an outlet.

But had it been shame that had kept him from acting like a barbarian in front of her or had she counteracted his vile nature with her sweet one? He wasn’t sure. And maybe it didn’t matter if the end result was the same.