Page 111 of Forever Relentless

“Yeah, it happens if the lights get left on.” The mechanic was saying. “An easy side of the road fix, but when she wasn’t there, they couldn’t get into the engine to boost it. We did what we could, but another blast won’t hurt.”

“I didn’t leave the lights on.”

They both looked like they didn’t believe me. I decided not to argue. Especially as I was lying anyway. “So what happens now?”

He told me he would give the engine another boost, and then said the more I drove it, the more the battery would recharge itself.

“So I can drive it home?”

“When it’s finished, sure.” He was hooking things up that I didn’t understand. I looked at Noah. “You could go?”

He watched me with that dark stare of his, his arms folding casually across his chest. “I could.”

The mechanic popped his head out of the side of the hood. “Best have someone follow you just in case. You heading back to Wrighton?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s a short journey,” he reasoned. “Need more miles before you turn the engine off.”

Noah wasn’t hiding the wickedness in his smirk.

“So I just drive around aimlessly?”

“Yeah, take your boyfriend out to somewhere deserted and—”

“Leave him there,” I snapped.

The guy squinted at me. “I was going to say drive around in circles if you had to, but hey, you do you.” He went back to the engine, and I stood there like an idiot, refusing to look at Noah Matthews, who looked far too entertained with the whole conversation.

The mechanic poked his head out again. “You can settle up at the counter. Almost done.”

“Thanks.”

I didn’t balk at the bill; it was more than I wanted to pay, but I knew it was my own fault. I swiped my credit card and then went back out to my car, which had the door open and the engine running, while Noah and his new best friend talked about the defense of the Alabama Lions.

Ugh. Football. It’s all anyone in this place talked about.

“I’m ready.”

The mechanic tapped my door. “She’s ready too. Be more careful with those on-off switches in the future.”

I bit my tongue and said nothing, getting in my car.

“I’ll follow you.”

I looked up at Noah. “Erm . . .”

“See you soon.” He closed the door before I could comment. I had no choice but to wave goodbye to the mechanic and reverse out of the shop.

I was barely on the road before the phone rang. I answered through the car’s Bluetooth.

“Where do you want to go?”

His voice was like molten chocolate. I knew he was always soft-spoken, slightly gruff, but over the phone, inside my car? He was a romance audiobook narrator on steroids.

“Briar?”

Nope. He was absolutely not allowed to say my name like that, and I was going to need him to stop immediately.