Ty grinned.
Wood muttered, “Shit.”
Ty’s grin got bigger.
Lexie shouted excitedly across the forecourt, “You left me the Snake!” and then she did it.
Racing across the forecourt, he braced and she launched herself in his arms. This time, she wrapped her long legs around his h*ps and when he caught her, he did it with hands to her ass.
She gave him a hard kiss then pulled away and gave him a huge smile, her light beaming bright and blinding.
Good.
She’d flipped on the switch.
And she liked the Viper. A lot.
“Babe, I’m at work,” he reminded her but didn’t even twitch in an effort to put her on her feet.
To this, she turned her head to Wood and greeted, “Hey, Wood.”
“Hey, Lexie. Welcome back.”
“Thanks,” she replied. “Happy to be back.”
Wood’s eyes did a sweep of them while his lips twitched and he noted, “That actually wasn’t lost on me.”
She shot him a smile then asked, “Do you mind your mechanics engaging in public displays of affection?”
Ty shook his head, not in denial, because he found it amusing his wife was a goof.
He’d missed that too, as in missed it.
Wood answered, “Just as long as you keep your clothes on.”
“Can do,” she muttered then looked back at Ty. “Soooo,” she drew this out then went on, “the bad news is, Dominic hired someone.”
She didn’t look too broken up about it but, still, he knew she liked that job so he murmured, “Sorry, mama.”
Her smile flashed and she continued, “The good news is, he caught her with her fingers in the cash register only two days after she started and fired her ass so…” her arms that were curled around his shoulders disappeared as she threw them in the air and Ty had to lean back so his wife wouldn’t topple the other direction as she shouted, “I’m back in!”
Ty turned his head to Wood and explained, “My wife’s a goof.”
Wood chuckled.
“I’m not a goof,” Lexie protested, winding her tanned arms around his shoulders again.
“Baby, you’re a goof. Total goof,” Wood declared. “But you stick with that, you work it.”
Wood was not wrong about that.
“Okay,” she said quietly, turned to Ty, lifted her shades to her forehead and gave him big eyes that told him without words to stop telling people she was a goof.
That was when Ty chuckled.
Then he squeezed her ass, gave her a small heft to communicate his intentions, her legs loosened from his h*ps and he dropped her to her heels.
She moved her shades back to her eyes and leaned her body into Ty as Ty said to Wood, “Lunch.”
“Right,” Wood jerked up his chin. “Take your time. You been doin’ so much overtime, actually saves me money you take a long lunch.”
“Thanks, man,” Ty muttered.
“Later, Wood,” she gave her farewell.
“Later, Lexie,” Wood returned.
Ty moved, Lexie grabbed his hand and laced her fingers through his.
When she did, his tightened.
They were halfway down the forecourt when she asked, “Overtime?”
“Wood and Pop are always busy and gettin’ busier, especially in the summer,” Ty answered. “They got a good reputation for their work and got enough work that they can keep the cost of parts low and pass that on to customers so folks from Chantelle and even Gnaw Bone go outta their way to use us for regular maintenance and repairs. But Pop’s been workin’ on Harleys for goin’ on fifty years, he’s good at it, passed that shit down to all his boys so men with bikes from as far away as Aspen, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs even Denver bring ‘em to Pop. They were two mechanics down when they took me on and they held off hirin’ in order to cover me when I got out. Their desire to continue tradition of good work, they don’t hire just anyone and still haven’t found another guy. Seein’ as I had to take a few unexpected days off, so Wood wouldn’t eat that, I started workin’ late to make up the time. Then he needed me, I kept that shit up and started workin’ Thursdays. Gym stays open late, could go after the garage was closed and did ‘cause I had no reason to get home.”
It was more than that. It was all the evidence of the them he f**ked up all around that he told himself to get shot of and never could bring himself to do it that made him not want to go home. Now, he was glad he didn’t get rid of it. But just a day ago, walking down the stairs in the morning and up them at night was a form of torture.
Not to mention, considering he was an experienced mechanic therefore his salary was far from shit and Pop and Wood paid time and a half overtime, he’d made a f**kload of cake.
“Are you going to keep doing that, the overtime, I mean?” she asked and his hand gave hers a squeeze.
“Depends,” he answered then joked, “I gotta save for four college tuitions, I probably should start now.”
He felt her shades on him as they turned the corner to the sidewalk and he looked down at her.
“Is money an issue?”
She clearly didn’t take it as a joke.
“Babe, we stick together, nothin’ is an issue.”
“What?”
He stopped, stopping her with a tug on her hand then he drew her close, letting her hand go and winding both arms around her. When her shades hit his, he spoke.
“This is it, Team Walker, you and me. We want somethin’, we find a way to get it. We hit a rough patch, we find a way to get over it. We face a challenge, we find a way to beat it. It’s good, we savor it. What I’m sayin’ is, this team is a winner. We never forget to celebrate the victories and we get a lotta those because we never admit defeat.”
She stared up at him, unmoving, silent and with the dark lenses on her shades, he couldn’t see her eyes.
So his arms gave her a squeeze and he called, “Lexie?”
“Team Walker,” she whispered.
“Team Walker,” he repeated firmly.
Her hands slid up his arms, his shoulders so both could curl around the sides of his neck where she squeezed as she got up on her toes and said softly, “I like that.”
“That’s good because the position you play on this team lasts a lifetime.”
She grinned then smiled then giggled.
Then she put pressure on his neck, he bent and took her mouth.
Then he let her go, took her hand and guided her down three blocks and across the street to the diner.