Page 4 of The Devil's Revelation
I’d say I almost want a woman like Sage, King’s woman, but I’m not really into crazy. Sage Armstrong is nothing if not an enigma. She’s nothing like who I thought my brother would end up settling down with. She’s loud, brash, and has no problem speaking her mind. She also keeps my brother on his toes, and that’s one headache that I don’t need or want.
Still, I’m not going to lie that I don’t envy them a little bit. They make it work, and it’s clear that as much as they love to give each other shit, they also truly love each other. The kind of love that our parents have shown us our whole lives.
Fuck, I need to stop thinking this shit. I sound like a pussy.
I push all those thoughts out of my mind and focus on finding Izzy’s building. When I come up on it, I’m pleased to see that it’s not a dump. The thought of her living in a shit apartment doesn’t sit well with me, even if I shouldn’t care. I’m here to apologize and offer her a job, not worry about her living situation.
I check her resume again before folding it up and putting it in my back pocket as I make my way inside. I frown at the fact that there’s no security on the door, but again force myself to ignore it. Not my business.
When I reach the second floor and get to her door, I take a deep breath before I give it a brisk knock. I wait and listen carefully as I hear movement on the other side. When the door opens, I’m once again struck by the blue of her eyes, and the way her full pink lips pull down into a hard frown. “What are you doing here?” she demands.
“I’m here to apologize,” I tell her honestly. I might be a biker, but I know when to apologize and be sincere about it. “I was an ass.”
“No shit,” she sneers. “What? Did your mother show up and tell you to come and apologize to me?”
“No, she reamed me a new asshole and told me I’m an idiot. I’m in the doghouse,” I add with a sheepish smile. “Rightly deserved. I shouldn’t have judged you on the way you look and said the things I did.”
“You mean how you’re not looking for a receptionist, but you’d be okay with a roll in the sheets with me? Was that it? That you could have me screaming your name in no time?”
I wince. “Fuck, I’m sorry,” I say with every ounce of sincerity I have. “I really am. I don’t have an excuse, and I really wouldn’t blame you for slamming the door in my face. I hope you won’t,” I add quickly when she shifts slightly. “I’d like to offer you the job at the shop. Your resume is impressive for someone without a lot of hands-on experience, and our shop does need another mechanic.”
She’s quiet for a moment, eyeing me. Her eyes are shrewd as she stares at me, and I give her my best easy going smile. Finally she sighs. “Look, I know that there aren’t nearly as many women as men in the mechanic industry, but my gender has nothing to do with my skill.”
“You’re right.”
“While I appreciate your apology and the offer, I’ve accepted a position with another shop.”
I frown, not liking that at all. “Where?”
She just says, “See you later, Torque.” Then she shuts the door in my face and I’m left standing here, confused as hell.
Where the hell could she be working? Fuck, I really screwed this up.
Turning, I leave her apartment building, and head back towards the shop. I mentally make a list of all the other shops in town, and the further I get down the list, the more concerned I get. This town isn’t known for above board shops. Most do shoddy work or charge way too much.
I can only hope that Izzy realizes that whatever shop she’s at won’t be like ours and will come to her senses. That, and I hope my mother won’t kick my ass when she finds out Izzy isn’t coming to work at the shop.
When I get back to the garage, Dad is waiting for me, Mom nowhere in sight. “I convinced her to go see Raven,” he says when I reach him, obviously knowing where my head is at. “From the look on your face, I’m guessing that’s probably a good thing.”
I sigh. “She accepted my apology, but she’s already been hired by another shop.”
Dad says nothing, just eyes me. “You going to leave it at that, or you going to work on convincing her to come here?”
“I don’t know,” I reply in frustration, running my hand through my hair. “Part of me wants to leave her the hell alone because I’m liable to screw shit up again, while the other part of me knows we need someone. Even if it turns out she’s terrible, I can at least have her do other smaller stuff that won’t cause someone to die or get hurt.”
“You said she’s a looker?”
I look at him with narrowed eyes. “Where are you going with this?”
Dad smirks at me. “Don’t get yourself all tight-assed, boy. I’m merely saying that if you have a woman working with you, it’s bound to stir some of the brothers up. You sure you want that headache? Our guys will be respectful, but that won’t stop them from acting like fools and saying shit that probably will make her more than a little pissed off.”
“If she’s in this industry, she’ll have to get used to it. That’s in every shop. I can tell the guys to cool it, but we both know they won’t or they’ll forget. It’s a moot point, because she’s not working here.”
Dad chuckles. “I’m sure if you put your mind to it, you could have her working here in no time. Unless you’re worried you won’t be able to handle her.”
I glare at him. “Unlike you, I don’t think with my dick,” I snap at him as I turn to head inside.
“You meet a woman like your mother, and you’ll be eating those words, son,” he calls after me, laughing. “Nothing better than a feisty woman.”
I walk inside, not bothering to answer. Right now I have a shit ton of paperwork and payroll to figure out before Viper gets here to collect the books. As Treasurer, he oversees the books for all the businesses, and personally, I’m happy as hell about that because it’s my least favorite part of the job.
I would rather strip down an engine and rebuild it like one of those furniture stores that make you build everything from scratch, than do paperwork. Hopefully it will keep my mind off the fact that I fucked up bad and my mother is probably going to ream my ass,again, when she hears about this later tonight.
