Page 90 of Knot Convenient

My jaw dropped, eyes going misty. “I really don’t think you have to worry about that,” I whispered, kissing his cheek.

Marshall smiled, holding me close. “Good. That’s really, really good.”

Chapter 39

Marshall

Paperwork was the bane of my existence. I had thought when I decided to work with cars that I wouldn’t have to deal with pesky paperwork again, but I was sorely mistaken. Owning a garage came with a great deal of paperwork. Paperwork that fell to me because there wasn’t anyone else to handle it.

Summer had been a great help with my late-night attempts at organizing it all… that was, whenever we weren’t screwing on the table like a pair of horny teenagers. I usually prided myself on being restrained, but something about my mate shredded any last scrap of restraint I had.

“Do you want me to give Old Widow Hayden’s car a complete check over?” Stuart asked from the doorway.

“Definitely.” I nodded. “But just charge her for the spark plugs she brought the car in for. You know the drill: make sure her window washing fluid is filled, her oil is changed, and the car is in the best condition it can be.”

“Of course, man. I got you. She’ll leave in tip-top condition.” Stuart nodded, as aware of how much help Mrs. Hayden needed as I was. “I’ll get on that tonight. Mrs. Hayden isn’t coming back for the car until tomorrow.”

Ever since I opened the garage, I'd made sure every car that left my doors was in good condition, especially when it belonged to older, more vulnerable members of our town. Mrs. Hayden once had her husband take care of all the routine car maintenance. After he died a few years back, I had taken it over silently. I would much rather she came to me than to a franchise where they'd rip her off and upsell her on services she didn’t need.

“Good—and don’t stay too late tonight, otherwise your mate may hunt me down.”

Stuart waved me off. “Kylie is out of town with her sister. The boys are with my mother. Ky needed the break… Speaking of kids, I heard that this omega you’ve recently mated comes with a child. How are you finding fatherhood?” he asked, resting against the doorframe and crossing his arms.

I paused, taking a moment before answering him. “It’s… good. I’m not sure I’ve quite had the full experience yet because, as you can imagine, Summer is a little protective of her boy, but man, there’s something about it.”

“Kids. They deprive you of sleep and cause you permanent headaches, but then they smile at you, and everything is right in the world. Once, my boys snuck into the kitchen at like three in the morning and decided they wanted to bake a cake. Now, I’m sure you can imagine, but six-year-olds are not exactly baking wizards.”

I winced. “My sympathies are with Kylie.”

“Hey, I helped too. No way I’m just pinning that all on her.” Stuart jerked his head at me. “And the boys have been asking for another spaghetti night with Marshall. They’re missing their victim for Nerf target practice.”

We both chuckled, and I was about to answer when someone interrupted me.

“Hey boss, you have a visitor,” another voice said behind Stuart.

Cole had been working for me for two years since he finished high school. He had an unmatched affinity for vehicles, and he quickly became one of our best mechanics, despite being the youngest.

“Who?” I asked with a frown.

Cole’s brows went up. “Your mate.”

Stuart raised his brows. “Oh, shit. She’s here? Well, then I simply have to make her acquaintance!”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh lord, please don’t just go—” I watched Stuart beeline it for the front. “And he’s gone. Amazing.”

Sighing, I stood up from my desk and followed him, both excited to see Summer and nervous about what exactly Stuart would say. Subtlety was not his strong suit.

Summer was standing in the middle of the garage as I walked up, looking out of place in one of those sundresses I was quickly becoming obsessed with, pushing Milo in a stroller. Stuart was under a car to the left of her.

“Hey, what brings you by?” I asked, pulling her into a hug.

“I just wanted to get out of the house,” she said, smiling up at me. “Also, I wanted to bring you these!” She pulled a large Tupperware out from the back of the stroller.

“What are these?”

“Cookies. A buttload of them. I decided to try a new recipe for monster cookies—you know, the cookies that have lots of things added in—but I didn’t exactly check the amounts on the ingredient list and accidentally made far, far too much. More than we could ever eat at the house, so I thought you guys could make use of them!” Summer held out the container, beaming.

My mate was bringing me cookies so I could share them with my employees. Every mechanic in my shop was a fiend for sweet treats. Bakery trips were a regular occurrence. This was going to go over very well with them.