Undone (A Country Roads Novel) (13 page)

He groaned. “What did you want me to do? Tackle you in front of a beach full of people?”

“That sounds promising,” she said against his mouth before she kissed him.

“Mmm-hmm,” he hummed in her mouth as his hands came up and gripped her waist. “I think you should stand far, far away from me while I change your flat,” he said, pulling his mouth away from hers. “Otherwise I might lose a limb.”

“You mean you aren’t going to show me how to change it myself?”

“No, then you won’t have any reason to call me.”

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with a few reasons.”

“You’re dangerous,” he said, letting go of her and stepping back. He grabbed the stuff from the hitch and walked to the front of her car. He went back for the spare tire, and after he put it down on the ground he turned to Paige. “You have to stand at least five feet away from me,” he said, pointing to a spot behind him.

“I’m staying back,” she said, holding her hands up in surrender.

Paige watched from a safe distance away as he put the jack under her Jeep and turned a metal bar. The Jeep slowly raised and when it was far enough off the ground he pulled some tool out of his bag and unscrewed the hubcap. He moved so efficiently, doing something in minutes that would have taken her forever to do. He made it all look so effortless. She wondered if he did everything like that.

“Done,” he said, standing up and pulling his gloves off. “I’m hoping that it just needs a plug,” he said, picking up the deflated tire. “But I won’t know until I get it back to the shop.”

Her stomach dropped. She hadn’t really thought about replacing the tire. It was one more thing for her to pay for with her nonexistent money.

“I bought those tires last year,” she said, frowning at the tire in his hands.

He put all of his stuff away and hopped down, slamming the hitch shut.

“Follow me back and we’ll get it all fixed up.”

“Okay,” she said, still thinking about the stupid tire. She went to turn away but he snagged her wrist and pulled her into him.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“How do you know something’s wrong?”

He didn’t say anything, just raised his eyebrows over his sunglasses and waited for her to answer.

“It’s just one more thing that I can’t really afford at the moment,” she said, waving her hand in the direction of her car. “It stresses me out.”

“How about you not worry about it yet,” he said, coming in closer, his lips brushing across hers before he kissed her. And any concern for the tire magically disappeared from her otherwise thoroughly occupied brain.

*  *  *

“We can plug it,” Brendan said, coming into the office. He’d told her to wait in there while he checked out her tire. “It’s a tiny hole. You probably ran over a nail. We’ll get it fixed up.”

“Thanks. Just add it to my bill.”

“Will do.” He nodded. “So you want any company for the rest of the day?”

“What?”

“I can show you around. Take you to all of the best places to get pictures.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I can drive and you can observe. I’d hate for you to miss anything,” he said, reaching out and running his hands up her arms.

“So you’re going to play hooky from work?” she said, stepping into him and putting her hands on his chest.

“It’s one of the perks of being one of the bosses. You can do what you want sometimes.”

“And what do you want to do?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Oh, there’s a list of things. But none of them would be appropriate at the moment.”

“If you go with me, will you tell me about that list?”

“Only if you behave yourself.”

“There isn’t a chance in hell that will happen.” She laughed.

“That’s what I was hoping for.” He grinned.

*  *  *

Getting a flat tire was a blessing in disguise. Brendan took Paige all around Mirabelle, showing her places she’d never been before. Apparently there was a lot to see around the little town.

He took her all downtown, showing her the old brick buildings where the WWII troops had stayed. The US Air Force had used Mirabelle’s beach to practice water-invasion tactics. He also took her to all six of the lighthouses that were scattered around the town, half of which were on Whiskey River.

“So Whiskey River cuts Mirabelle in half,” Brendan told her. “It runs all the way from the Gulf of Mexico up into Georgia where it branches off into three other rivers. During Prohibition, it was used to transport alcohol illegally.”

“Of course it was,” she said, grinning.

“Mirabelle’s own Melvin Buffkin was the main supplier. But there were plenty of bootleggers down here who made their own stuff to sell. Well, one day Melvin decided to drive his boat up the river during a really bad storm. He crashed it into a fallen tree and the boat sank, filled with barrels of his famous whiskey. Random barrels washed up for the next couple of years. And that’s where you get Whiskey River,” he finished.

Brendan took her to a field full of wildflowers that housed about fifteen antique cars. They were mostly rusted out, the doors hanging off the hinges and the springs sticking out of the seats, but they were beyond fascinating and flat-out amazing to capture with a camera.

Brendan told her about growing up in Mirabelle and about all of the trouble he used to get into with Jax and Shep.

“You must have driven your parents crazy.”

“Yeah, we did. I remember this one time when Shep’s mom caught us playing with fire. We were seven and we went out onto his parents’ property and built a bonfire. We thought we were good as gold because we were so far in the woods, but she saw the smoke rising over the trees. I’ve never seen her angrier in my life, still haven’t. All of us were grounded for months. Then when we were thirteen, we stole a bottle of vodka from the Sleepy Sheep. The three of us split it, adding it to the grape soda we found at my house. God, I’ve never been that sick in my life. I still can’t drink vodka or anything grape flavored.”

Paige laughed.

“We were all hell on wheels.”

“Sounds like it.”

“What about you? What were you like?” he asked, looking at her.

“Trouble,” she said, grinning at him over her shoulder.

“So not much different than now?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, shaking her head as she peered at him from over the top of her sunglasses that had slid down her nose.

“No, seriously. What were you like? Did you drive all the boys crazy?”

“No, the opposite in fact. I was the tallest in my class from kindergarten until about the eighth grade.” She sighed, remembering how tough it really had been growing up. How many times she’d come home crying to her parents because she’d just wanted to fit in. Looks like things hadn’t changed much over the years.

“Boys were cruel for the most part until high school. Then they started to like my height. But the girls weren’t as accepting. I tended to stand out, and kids who don’t fit in usually make good targets. It was really just my best friend, Abby, and me. We were quite the duo.”

“Why’s that?”

“I was the tallest girl in my class. And Abby, well, Abby was the shortest. She’s about five foot two. Her height tends to throw a lot of people off. They aren’t expecting what she dishes out.”

“Is she intimidating?” he asked.

“Oh yeah. She has been since we were about ten.”

Brendan glanced over at her, waiting for her to continue.

“Her dad decided he didn’t want to be married with a child, so he left. Very few people get to see her vulnerable side.”

“Yeah, that’ll do it.” Brendan nodded, turning back to the road. “That’ll make you tough real fast. What does she do now?”

“PR for a firm up in DC. She really likes it; she’s just been crazy busy.”

“So are you two still close?”

“Yeah, she was my roommate for the last seven years. It’s crazy not seeing her every day. I think that was part of what made it so hard being here, not having any close friends. I mean, I love my parents, but it’s different, you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, looking at her again. “But what about now? Are things still difficult?”

“They’re turning up,” Paige said. “As it turns out, not everyone around here has a problem with my
alternative ways
.”

“Paige, if it means anything to you, I’m glad you’re not like anybody from around here.”

“That does mean something, Brendan. It means a whole hell of a lot,” she said as a large smile spread across her face.

The next couple of hours passed in the same easy conversation. The more they talked, the more it confirmed just how much she liked him. She lost all track of time listening to him. And by seven o’clock, Paige had more pictures than she knew what to do with.

“Where are we going?” she asked as Brendan turned right and started driving toward the beach instead of going straight toward the auto shop. “I already went to the beach.”

“Yeah,” he said, glancing over at her. “But not at sunset.”

When they pulled into the parking lot, Brendan pulled off his socks and shoes and rolled up the hem of his pants. Paige threw her sandals on the floor of his truck and they walked out through the sand. There was a group of teenage girls out by the water, laughing as they kicked at the waves.

“Did you always want to stay here?” Paige asked, looking out at the water.

“Yeah,” Brendan answered, playing with a piece of her hair. It was such a simple thing, his hand going around in a slow lazy circle, wrapping her curls around his finger. Every time his hand brushed her shoulder, tingles spread out across her skin. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I get it when people don’t want to stay in one place their entire lives, but I never had that bug. This has always been home, where I’ve belonged even when I really didn’t belong. And it’s where I want to stay.”

“I felt that way about Philadelphia,” Paige said. “I thought it was where I was supposed to be. That’s why I got so freaked out when everything changed. It wasn’t part of my plan.”

“And now?”

“Now I’m trying to adapt. Get used to the changes. Stop freaking out.”

“How’s that working out for you?”

“I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”

“You do that.” He laughed as he stopped walking. He pulled Paige to him, pressing his hand to her lower back. He kept his other hand in her hair, running his fingers through it and down her back. “What about me? Do I freak you out?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I like you,” she whispered, looking him directly in the eyes. The way he was looking at her…God, it made her…she didn’t even know.

“Good, because I like you, Paige. I like you a lot.”

“You know that after a week?”

“I knew that after a day.”

She took a deep breath and let it out on a smile. She was terrified; there was no doubt about it, but it was a good terrified, a thrilled terrified. Like that feeling she’d gotten the one and only time she’d gone bungee jumping. The first step had scared her beyond words, but the free fall had put her heart in her throat.

*  *  *

“Finally,” Abby just about screamed into the phone.

“What are you talking about
finally
? We met exactly a week ago. That is not a long time to wait to kiss a guy that you just met.”

“In this case it is. You and your hot mechanic saga have been driving me insane.”

“He is
not
my hot mechanic.”

“Right,”
Abby said, laughing into the phone.
“How long are you going to keep saying that before you realize it isn’t true? Did he or did he not say that he likes you?”

“He did, but liking somebody doesn’t mean that they’re yours.”

“Oh boy. You really are clueless.”

“Okay, fine. It’s true, I like him…” Paige paused, chewing on her bottom lip. “I like him a lot. I just don’t want to make this into something before it really is something, you know. I’m…I’m scared.”

“Oh, sweetie,”
Abby said, suddenly getting serious.
“I know. But you can’t let what that ass-wipe Dylan did ruin this.”

“I know. I’m trying.”

“Good. Because I’ve got a good feeling about this guy. Plus I don’t want the saga to end.”

Chapter Seven

Staking a Claim

O
ver the next two days, Paige and Brendan exchanged some flirty phone calls and some more-than-flirty texts. Every time Paige’s phone beeped she pounced on it, eager to see what he had to say. Apparently he wanted to see her just as badly as she wanted to see him, but after taking off half of the day on Monday he was playing catch up all day Tuesday and later that night he had baseball practice.