Author: Jill Shalvis

Ben shook his head, cleaned up, and left out the back door. Then he stared at Aubrey’s car in the lot.

Which was minus its coil wire.

He wrestled with his conscience and lost. Blowing out a sigh, he popped open the hood and began to put it back.

“Whatcha doing?”

He nearly jumped out of his skin, then gave Luke a long look across the engine compartment.

Luke grinned. “Scared ya. You committing a misdemeanor for any reason in particular?”

“I’m not committing anything. And why are you here?”

“Got a call that a suspicious-looking character was lounging around back here and screwing up cars that belong to pretty blondes.”

“Bullshit.”

“Okay, I didn’t get a call,” Luke said. “I stopped by Ali’s shop to say hey.”

No, he’d stopped by the shop to get laid. Because Luke had an unmistakable I-just-got-laid look to him. Ben sighed. He’d like to have that look…

“So want to tell me what you’re up to?” Luke asked.

“Hell, no.”

Luke grinned. “That’s okay. I already figured it out.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Sure I did. You kissed Aubrey last week, and now you’re doing something stupid to fuck it all up.”

Ben narrowed his gaze. “Let me guess how you know about the kiss. Facebook?”

“Ali.” Luke shrugged. “You were the one stupid enough to do it up against the wall and visible through the window. Rookie mistake,” he said, and tsked.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Ben asked.

“Nope. So. You and Aubrey, huh? You two going to…?”

Well, at least he didn’t know that much. Ben didn’t answer. Instead he made sure the coil wire was back in place and shut the hood. Then he headed toward his truck.

“Hey,” Luke said. “Waiting for the details here.”

“Ask your fiancée.”

Ben did a morning run with Sam, who, unlike some of his nosy-ass friends, did not press him for details on the Aubrey situation.

After their run, Ben headed to Seattle. He found Bob’s Auto Shop, parked, and walked to the first open bay. A linebacker-size guy rolled out from beneath a lifted truck, wearing overalls and no shirt. He didn’t need one; he had tat sleeves down both arms and over his chest. The patch on his overalls read BIG ED. “Can I help you?” the giant asked.

“I’m looking for Dan Ingalls,” Ben said.

Big Ed gave a chin jerk toward the next car over. The guy working on it was built the same as Ed the Linebacker, though he was wearing a shirt. He had tats, too, including a teardrop beneath his eye.

The patch on his overalls read BIG BOB.

Ben was sensing a pattern here. “How you doing?” he asked Big Bob.

Big Bob didn’t smile, just looked at him as he slowly cracked his knuckles.

A real friendly bunch. Terrific. “Looking for Dan Ingalls,” Ben said again.

Big Bob did the same chin jerk Big Ed had done, toward the back of the shop this time. Ben headed back there, very aware that he now had the two guys at his back and most likely yet another one in front of him somewhere. He found a truck, hood up, and indeed there was a guy standing on a step stool, head buried in the engine compartment, torquing something.

“Dan Ingalls?” Ben asked.

Dan didn’t stop what he was doing or even look up. “Who wants to know?”

“A friend of your kids.”

Dan went still, not even pulling his head out of the compartment. “What?”

He didn’t repeat himself. Still keeping track of the big boys, Bob and Ed, at his back, Ben kept his voice low. He wasn’t too worried; he’d been in worse spots—far worse—but there was no reason to be stupid.

Dan straightened. He was easily one-third the size of his two co-workers. No muscles. No tats. What he did have was crazy, wild hair, the exact color of a copper penny, flying around his thin, angular face and stark blue eyes. He was skinny as a toothpick and short enough to barely meet Ben’s shoulder. “Who are you?” he asked.

“Ben McDaniel. I live in Lucky Harbor, where your girls live in a foster home. A shitty foster home,” Ben added harshly. “And I wanted to see why they aren’t with you.”

Dan looked a little shaken. “I don’t have kids.”

Ben arched a brow.

Dan came down off the stepladder and hitched his chin to indicate Ben should follow him out of the garage. They passed the very large Big Ed, and then the equally large Big Bob, both of whom were watching Ben with stony expressions.

Ben ignored them completely.

“Sorry about that,” Dan said when they were outside. “They’re…protective of me.”

“Why? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

Dan looked away for a moment, then gained a slight measure of Ben’s respect when he met Ben’s gaze straight on. “I was.”

“And your kids?”

Dan shook his head. “I told you, I don’t have any.”

“Odd, since you have two mini-me’s in Lucky Harbor who are your spitting image.”

Dan gave a sharp exhale and walked away, going about ten feet before pacing back. “I waived my rights so that they could get adopted.”

“Then why are they in a foster home?”

“Because their mom died,” Dan said.

“And you didn’t feel the need to take them?”

“I couldn’t.”

“Why?”

“I’m not father material.”

“Should have thought about that before you had them,” Ben said.

Again Dan paced. “What do you mean, the foster home is shitty?” he finally asked.

“You don’t know what ‘shitty’ means?”

Dan sank to a concrete planter that had nothing it in but dirt and cigarette butts. He shoved his fingers through his hair and studied his knees. “I didn’t want this life for them.”

“Well, what the hell did you think would happen when their mom died and you didn’t step up?”

“I—I don’t know. I…I was in jail for a while.”

“Yeah, your daughters told me.”

He looked sick. “They know?”

“I’m not sure what they know, but they said you’re up for, and I quote, ‘the big one.’”

“Jesus.” Dan rubbed a shaky hand over his mouth. “They’re five.”

“They’re growing up fast.”

“Jesus,” Dan said again.

“What did you do time for?”

“Being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Dan said.

Ben gave him a go on look.

He let out a long breath. “They got me on armed robbery and involuntary manslaughter.”

“Christ.” Ben shook his head. “Never mind, then. I’ve got the wrong guy for those girls.” He turned to go.

“Wait.”

Ben turned back. “What?”

“How are they?”

“What do you care?”

Dan winced but held eye contact. “Listen, you have no reason to believe me, but the whole arrest…it was a mistake, okay? But regardless, I did the time. I paid the price. I’m out. Making myself a life.”

“Without them,” Ben said harshly.

“I thought they were safe. Happy. Why would I mess with that?”

“Because they need their dad.”

“I’m not equipped to handle kids,” Dan said. “I wouldn’t know what to do with them.”

“How about caring about their welfare? You have a job. You’re a mechanic, so I assume you have wheels. You could get visitation. Hell, you should have custody.”

“I have visitation rights. But I’m not good with kids.”

“You’re their dad,” Ben said again, voice hard. “That means it doesn’t matter that you’re a pussy—you man up.”

“Hey,” a low, angry voice said. “You don’t talk to him like that.”

Ben turned to Big Bob and got sucker punched in the eye.

It was the only punch Bob landed.

Five minutes later, both Bob and Ed were on the ground, Bob holding his ribs and Ed holding his jaw. Ben brushed off his hands. Ed had landed a good blow to the kidney, but Ben was okay. Still, he should probably get back to a gym. Breathing a little hard, he turned to Dan.

Dan, eyes wide, raised his hands. “Hey, I warned you. I told you they were protective of me.”

“Yeah.” Ben touched his already aching eye. “Thanks.”

“You’re pretty fucking badass,” Dan said, impressed. “You were in prison, too?”

“No. I was in hell. Go see your kids.”

Chapter 16

Aubrey woke up to a grumpy Gus staring her down. She got up, fed the demanding cat, and then went to work. She unpacked and shelved her new stock. She placed next week’s order and spent an hour on hold with her phone company to complain about having Internet only in the western half of the store.

Afterward, a customer came in and spent half an hour walking the aisles and occasionally lifting a book up and looking to Aubrey. “What’s this one about?”

Aubrey had ceased to be surprised about the fact that people actually assumed she’d read every book in the store. She’d also learned that the people who browsed the way this woman did almost always left without actually buying a book at all, so she’d started amusing herself by making up plots on the spot. Still on hold with the phone company, she covered the receiver and said, “That one’s about an alien who comes to the Wild, Wild West.”

The woman nodded and put the book back. One aisle later, she picked up another.

Aubrey searched her brain’s database. After half an hour, she was beginning to run out of material. “That one’s about a guy who goes a little crazy after a failed marriage and ends up in a dancing contest with another woman.”

The woman put that book back, too, and Aubrey told herself she really needed to find a new hobby. But finally the woman came to the front. “Do you have anything like that Fifty Shades?” she asked.

“Now, that I do have,” Aubrey said, and led her to the romance section.

After the woman left—without buying anything—Aubrey began doing what she’d put off doing all day yesterday: searching for a mechanic. Her selection was limited, as there were only a few in Lucky Harbor, and most likely she couldn’t afford any of them. At that thought, she went to her brand-new coffee nook, which she’d already stocked. There was a small flask there for Lucille, who liked brandy in her tea. Aubrey preferred a little tea in her brandy, but she didn’t touch either one of them now. No, she went straight for the box of sugar cookies she’d put away for a high-stress day.

Breakfast of champions.

“Hey.”

At the sound of Ben’s voice behind her, she jumped. “Where did you learn to walk so quietly?”

“Work.”

She thought about what that might mean, given that he’d been working in places far more dangerous than she could possibly contemplate. She craned her neck to look at him and gasped. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing gave you a black eye?”

He shrugged.

She went to the freezer beneath the counter and pulled out a small bag of frozen peas.

He looked at the bag. “Why do you have frozen peas in a bookstore?”

“They’re for cramps.” She placed the bag over his eye, smiling when he sucked in a breath at the cold. “Baby,” she said.

His look might have had another man wetting his pants and any woman on the planet licking her lips, but she told herself she was unmoved.