Page 111 of Violent Little Thing

When he left each morning, we locked the doors and armed the alarm. When I left, I either left with him or with someone who could keep an eye on me.

I hadn’t been to work in two whole months.

And, the sad fact was, I couldn’t say that I was sad about it.

I’d spent a lot of time with Kenny at the shop, and I found that I had a lot of fun running everything from the office of Pop’s Garage. Running both office work for the Condors and the Cowgirls, as well as fielding calls for the shop and handling any customers that came in, while also not having to visit either place was a lot of fun.

I hadn’t had to go to a board meeting in just as long.

If Dottie needed me, she came to me at the shop.

I didn’t have to drive, and I could make the office exactly what I wanted it to be with zero stairs.

The only downfall of it all was that I was apart from Court a lot.

I saw him every night. He stopped by during the day if he was in the area. But we no longer had the constant closeness that we did in the very beginning of it all.

I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

I stood up off the perfectly placed chair—Court had placed a chair in the kitchen nook for me so I could look out over the yard and the mountains while reading when he wasn’t home—and walked toward him.

He grinned. “No more limp.”

“I’m trying,” I said as I walked straight into his arms.

He wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me into him, smashing my face between his pecs.

When he finally let me go enough to look up at him, my eyes immediately went to the scar on the side of his face. The one that went from the corner of his eye to the top of his ear.

The one he’d gotten saving me.

I ran my fingers underneath the scar, stroking him lovingly, and said, “You’re home early.”

He nodded, his face serious.

“What is it?” I asked. “Did they find him?”

He scowled. “No.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

His eyes studied my face for a long second before he said, “How would you feel about selling the Condors?” He hesitated. “And the Cowgirls.”

I blinked. “But you just bought them.”

He nodded. “I did. But the only reason I bought them was because of you…and I feel like you’re not even remotely interested in dealing with the Condors. The Cowgirls are great now that Beau got them back in line but…still. I don’t think that it’s my path in life anymore.”

I made a face. “I’ll do whatever it is that you want to do. I just…”

“Hate it.” He laughed. “I liked working at the shop. I’ve done the whole rigmarole of being a professional athlete. There’s a reason that I’d been on the way to retiring before Lauri died. It’s a lot of work and…”

“And?” I asked.

“And Kenny told me he didn’t want to buy the shop. He started full-time here over the last few weeks, and he hates it. He wants me to find someone to help run the business aspect of the shop. He just wants to be a mechanic.”

“That kid…” I snorted. “He said it was hard. But I figured he was just being extra like he always is.”

“He said the last few weeks with you there have been great, but he still wanted to let me know that he’s not interested in buying it anymore.” He drew in a deep breath. “And I guess it just hit me. I’ve been away from you so much these last few weeks, and I fucking hate it. I want to be where you are.”