Begin to Begin (17 page)

“Hey, Liam,” I call after him. He turns to face me again. “Want to go to a party at a bookstore with me tomorrow night?”

“Depends,” he says with a smirk.

“On what?”

“Am I gonna get any pussy?” He waggles his eyebrows at me, and I roll my eyes.

“My guess is no. It’s at a bookstore, dumbass. Besides, is that all you care about? When is the next time you’re gonna get your dick wet?”

“Um …” He looks from side to side. “Well, yeah. I mean, I’m a single guy. In my twenties. And pretty fucking hot if I do say so myself.” He rubs his hands down his chest like he’s some hot model or something.

This gets another eye roll from me.

“Like I said, it’s a bookstore, Liam. Not the fucking Diamond Club.”

“Can’t get laid at the Diamond Club,” he replies quickly, and I quirk my eyebrow at him. I don’t even want to know the story behind that comment.

“Whatever. There will be women there. But it’s a going away party for Gwenn, Marin’s employee that is moving to New York.”

“She hot?” I stare at him. I can’t deny that Gwenn is hot. Six months ago, I probably would have been more drawn to her than Marin. Well, at first, anyway. I probably wouldn’t have even wanted to get to know her. I don’t know her well but she seems nice and she’s got to be smart since she will be attending NYU. Way too good for Liam.

“Yeah, she’s hot. Blonde, tall, leggy. You know, completely out of your league.”

“Sounds like she’s completely my type. So when you picking me up?” He grins proudly.

“Not sure yet. I have something to take care of tonight, but I’ll let you know. Probably seven or eight.”

“Sounds good. I can’t wait. I need laid something fierce.” He lets out an animalistic growl, and I laugh as he walks back in the garage.

I’m sure he isn’t lacking in the bedroom department. The dude usually has a line of chicks out the damn door. A different one every night if he wanted. He’s a player, but I think Gwenn could hold her own with him.

I used to be just like him when it came to women. As long as there was a nice set of tits and a nice round ass attached to them, I didn’t care what else they looked like or whether they actually had a personality or not. I actually preferred if they didn’t. The less they talked, the quicker I got what I wanted and got rid of them. But Marin is different. Not only is she the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, she’s smart and funny and caring. Everything I never knew I wanted. She’s perfect.

As if she can sense that I’m sitting here thinking about her, my phone dings.

Marin: Just wanted to say hi. Hope your day is awesome :)

I smile at her cute little smiley face.

Me: It would be better if I was with you.

I respond back thinking how much better her being here would actually make my day. She would make me happy but I’m sure that I wouldn’t be getting too much work done because when she’s around I lose all focus. My eyes are glued to her.

Marin: Soon …

Not really sure what she means, I decide not to respond. I have a car I need to finish up and I’m sure Sonny will be calling soon with the rest of the details. He will want to meet up tonight or tomorrow night to discuss the details of the new drop, and I have to make sure I’m available.

The rest of the afternoon passes by uneventful but busy. After agreeing to go with me to the party, Liam promptly got back to work on the Ford Escape he was tuning up. Mrs. Gillman would be stopping in around closing time to pick it up, and I knew she would be in a hurry since she would be picking up her kids from daycare afterward. She’s been coming to the garage for several years now after we were recommended to her by her cousin Ralph. She gets along great with Aunt Dot and they exchange recipes and all that crap. So, we do our best to get her in and out of here to keep her happy.

I’m working on two different cars. Mr. Hooper brought in his old Cutlass and said, “Fix it, it’s clunking.” It doesn’t matter that I have tried to tell him a million times that this car is a clunker and
that’s
why it’s clunking.

I normally wouldn’t tell a person that they need to just go buy a new car because that’s bad for business. But in his case … he needs a new damn car.

The other one is a Dodge minivan that was brought in for an oil and filter change by some older lady that my aunt Dot knows. I can’t remember the lady’s name but I will make sure I look at the paperwork before she shows up.

Liam and I work silently, only humming along to the radio that screams and scratches the local rock station. Before we know it, people are showing up to pick up their cars and Liam is packing up his stuff to leave for the day.

“Can I just change here before the party?” he calls before he walks out the door.

“Yeah, sure. I’m sure you could even shower and change at Uncle Mel’s if you wanted. There’s more space there than in my place upstairs.”

“OK. See ya tomorrow, D-Man,” he yells right before the door slams shut.

I finish putting my tools away and am getting ready to head back in the office to close down there for the night when I hear a small knock on the door.

Figuring that it’s a customer that stopped by too late, I slowly make my way over. When I pull the door open, I’m shocked by the sight standing before me.

Marin. And she looks incredible.

She’s dressed in skinny jeans, a form-fitting tank top and a small jacket over it. Not that she doesn’t always look incredibly hot but this look … Well, this look is over the top, blow the freaking roof off the building on fire hot. I have never seen her in anything but the conservative or what I would call “preppy” look. And to top it all off, she’s holding a bag of food.

“Well, to what to I owe this surprise,” I ask as I step aside so she can walk in.

“I thought you might be hungry, and well, I don’t know … I just wanted to surprise you,” she answers shyly.

“Well, I am, and you did.” I reach over to take the food from her and sneak in a kiss to her cheek. “Thank you. This has made my night.” I’m awarded with a proud smile, and I would give anything to make her smile like that every day for the rest of her life.

“Where would you like to eat? We can go upstairs or just eat in the office. I was getting ready to close up.”

“I’m good here. But I understand if you want to get home for the night and head upstairs.”

“Upstairs it is then.” I don’t tell her that I really just want to get her beautiful body out of this dirty garage. “Just let me run in the office and turn everything off.”

Making my way around the office, I start switching off everything, and as I turn to leave, I see a light on the corner of the desk. “Fuck,” I say under my breath. Hurrying over, I glance down and see that Sonny wants to meet at ten tonight. I shoot a quick text back.

“See you then.”

I shove the phone in the drawer of the desk and decide I will deal with that when she leaves. I have plenty of time to figure out what to tell Marin. She will most likely be gone by the time I need to leave anyway. But, what if she’s not?

What if tonight is the turning point in whatever this is that we have?

What if she has decided that she is ready to open her heart to me but then I have to leave?

What if tonight ends up being the night I lose her?

Oh, my god. What was I thinking coming here like this? What if he had plans and I totally ruined them? I mean … he didn’t act like he had plans.

Right when I’m about to talk myself out of whatever I am doing here, he walks back out of the office.

“Ready?” he asks.

Slowly, I nod yes and he softly takes my hand and leads me out the door. His thumb absentmindedly brushes across my palm and it sends a chill down my spine.

I wish I understood what he was doing to me. Why my body feels the way it does when he’s around. I love it and hate it all at once. I feel guilty that I never felt this way with Benji.

With him, it was a warm comfort. He was home to me. I’m starting to wonder if our love would have even lasted forever like we always said it would.

I shake my head to rid myself of the thoughts I’m having. Of course we would have made it.

All this is with Dalton is an attraction. Pure lust. Amelia helped me see that when I talked to her earlier today.

“Really, Marin. It’s not a big deal if you screw him.” I about spit my coffee across the store at her words

“Um … yeah. It kinda is,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“He’s hot, you’re hot. He wants you, you
clearly
want him. No one will think poorly of you. It’s been over a year. Because you need laid doesn’t mean you stopped loving Benji. Hell, no one even has to know. It’s nobody’s business who you have sex with and when you plan on doing it. Well, except me, it’s totally my business.” She winks and continues on, “I mean, you have needs. It’s OK to fulfill them. Benji wouldn’t expect you to become a born-again virgin.”

I huff out a laugh. “Yeah, I know you’re right. I know it in my head. It’s my heart that’s having a hard time understanding that concept.”

After I left for the day, I don’t know what had gotten into me. I kept replaying our conversation over in my head, and the more I kept thinking of Dalton, the more I wanted him. Maybe I did need to get laid. So, I decided to throw on a sex kitten outfit, buy him some food, and head over to his place to seduce him.

But there’s one problem. I have no idea how to seduce a man. I’ve
never
seduced anyone before. So now here I am second guessing myself and everything that I was thinking.

The sound of Dalton’s voice brings me out of all the arguing with myself in my head.

“Sorry about the mess.”

“It’s OK. You’re a bachelor and busy with the garage; I wouldn’t expect your place to be spotless.” I walk over to the table and move a few muscle car magazines to the side to clear a place for the food.

“Here, hand me the food and you go clean up. I will get everything ready.”

“You sure?” he asks, uncertain. “You have already done plenty just by surprising me in this sexy as hell outfit and bringing me food.” He looks me over with a heated gaze.

A blush creep into my cheeks and I smile. “Yes, I’m fine. Now go.” I shoo him away, and when I turn, I can’t help but smile again. I guess he liked the outfit.

Busying myself while he’s in the shower, I find some paper plates and plastic forks. This should be perfect since I stopped and got burgers and cheese fries. I chuckle at his lack of dinnerware, though. He doesn’t strike me as a guy that would slave over doing dishes, so it makes sense.

Once everything is on the table, I open up the fridge and find two beers. I’m not a huge beer fan but I can handle one every now and then. Especially with burgers or pizza.

I busy myself looking through the muscle car magazines while he finishes up. It isn’t long before Dalton is walking out of the bathroom and taking my breath away in the process.

He’s rubbing his towel through his hair to finish drying it, and I don’t even hear what he’s saying because my eyes and brain are too focused on his body, which is only covered with his jeans that are zipped but still unbuttoned. His chest is bare, and if I didn’t know better, I would think he spends all his time at the gym. His muscles are defined and tanned and I have to swallow the lump in my throat when I hear him call my name.“Marin? You OK?” He asks with a smirk.

Shit
.

I was totally caught checking him out.

“Yeah!” I say a little too cheerily. “I have everything ready. Let’s eat.” He chuckles a little under his breath but I still hear it. Walking over to his bed, he reaches down and grabs a t shirt out of the bin. Just a plain white t-shirt, and I decide right then and there that plain white t shirts are my favorite shirt in the whole wide world. He shoves the front of his shirt down inside his jeans and buttons them. He looks up and catches me watching him again but this time he doesn’t call me out on it.

“Wow, Marin. This is really awesome. Thanks for doing this.” He beams as he looks over the food that is now sitting on the table.

“It’s nothing … I just, well … I just wanted to see you, and I guess I didn’t want to show up empty-handed.” Shyly, I drop my head. I hear him move around the table to where sit.

“Come here,” he says gruffly.

Raising my head, I look up into his eyes. Their normal emerald color has intensified. His hand is reached out for mine, and I reluctantly take it. He pulls me up and into his arms and hugs me warmly then places a soft kiss atop my head. I wrap my arms around his broad chest and bury myself in his warmth.

“You don’t ever have to feel like you need to bring me anything to come here. You want to see me, all you have to do is ask and I’ll be there. In a fucking heartbeat.” I stare up into his eyes and can see the seriousness in them.

He
would
be there for me in a heartbeat.

“OK,” I whisper.

His hand slips underneath my chin and tips my face up a little more. “I’m going to kiss you now, Marin. Because … Well … I really want to.” He smirks right before his lips meet mine.

They’re cool and soft and they move in sync with mine. Almost like someone made them to be the perfect match to mine. God, how I’ve missed kissing someone. I used to steal kisses from Benji all the time.

Dalton has been the only person I have kissed since Benji, and, well, Dalton kisses like a freaking champ. I don’t even want to think about how he got so good at it right now.

He groans as he deepens the kiss and he swallows the small sigh that escapes my lips. He breaks the kiss, and before I can protest, he lifts me off my feet and sets me down on the table so he can stand in-between my legs.

“You OK?” he asks. Not so much out of concern but more so to verify that he can continue.

“Mmhmm,” I barely choke out.

“Good, because even though this food looks amazing, all I want right now is you,” he says as he threads his fingers through my hair at the nape of my neck. He swiftly moves his lips back to meet mine and I can’t agree with him more. Right now, this is all I want as well. His kisses travel underneath my chin and he moves my jacket to the side just enough to kiss down my neck and over to the small spot on my collarbone that drives me wild.