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“Wow. Thank you. For taking care of my car,” I stammered, dropping the keys into my apron pocket. I stood there in shock for a few beats, then my senses kicked in. “You have the bill? How much do I owe you?”
“Don’t worry about it. Nothing.” Liam ran a hand through his dark hair, fixing his eyes on mine.
“What? Don’t be crazy,” I said, my voice rising. “I’m no one to you; I can’t let you pay for my car repairs. That’s insane.” I shook my head, dumbstruck.
“No, it’s not; trust me, I’ve got it.” Liam reached out, touching my bare arm, and my skin burned with the contact. Chill bumps immediately rose on my arm the instant his hand left my flesh, my entire body humming with excited energy.
I inhaled, trying to wrap my mind around this development.Why would a guy I hardly knew repair my car? What was he expecting in return?
Smoothing down my apron, I collected myself. I didn’t like the idea of owing anybody anything. “I can’t let you do that. Really, it’s too much.”
“Honestly, it’s not. Promise.”
“I’ll pay you back,” I said, ripping my notepad from my apron pocket. “How much was it? I might have to pay you over two weeks, but I can definitely get you the money.” I poised my pencil over the pad, steeling myself for the number.
“Fine. If it makes you feel better. It was one hundred dollars.”
I jotted the number down, mentally calculating how long it would take me to squirrel together an extra hundred bucks. Rent was due soon, so I didn’t have a lot of wiggle room in the bank account at the moment.Not like I ever did...
“Hold up—a new battery only cost one hundred dollars? You sure it wasn’t a used one Chevy recycled from the back?” I scrunched up my nose, squinting at him.
He chuckled, and I noticed he had a dimple in his left cheek.
Gawd. So cute.
“Positive. Anyone ever mention trust issues to you before?” Liam joked.
“Once or twice.” I had a mile-long list of reasons not to trust people, beginning with my own absentee parents, so a car mechanic—no matter how friendly—had exactly zero credibility with me.
“Any chance I can get a menu?” Liam eyed the stack of menus lying on the wait stand.
“Uh, sure. You want a table?”
“Nah. I should probably grab it to go. Quinn took my spot at the store so I could drop off your car.”
“Oh, okay.” I tried to hide the disappointment in my voice.Geesh, I was acting crazy right now.I had no time to get involved with someone, especially when he wasn’t even local. Besides, Liam was here to help his family out; I shouldn’t be taking up any more of his time.
“What’s good here now? I remember I used to like the grilled cheese and tomato back in the day.”
“Still a solid choice,” I said, tucking the pencil back into my pocket. “I prefer the open-faced turkey sandwich myself.”
“Sounds good. I’ll take two of those then.”
I nodded. “Got it. You can wait at the counter.” I gestured behind me, towards the long green surface and the few empty stools.
“Thanks.”
“Want something to drink?”
“I’ll take a sweet tea.”
“Coming right up.” I turned on my heel and headed back towards the kitchen. Table four was probably good and hungry now, since I hadn’t put their order in yet.
“Stanley!” I shouted through the window to the kitchen. “Order for table four and a to-go. Hustle up, too, they’re in a rush!”
Stanley shot me a dirty look from the griddle, grumbling something under his breath. I ignored him and hung the tickets, then filled a tall glass with ice and sweet tea, sliding it across the counter to Liam.
A noisy group of construction workers piled into the diner. Much as I hated to, I left Liam sitting alone with his tea. Placing the workers at adjacent tables, I handed out menus, frantically scrawling their orders down. Every few seconds, my eyes darted over to the counter, indulging in the strong, straight lines of Liam’s back, his broad shoulders. It’d been a hot minute since I’d had this sort of reaction to anyone. Maybe never.
