Beyond Broken (The Bay Boys #3) (21 page)

“Alone, I’ve done eight.
 
With my uncle, maybe three times that.”

So, this had been their hobby.
 
Well, perhaps ‘hobby’ wasn’t the right word, considering it was half of their—or rather Caleb’s—business, judging by the sign out front:
Montgomery Restoration & Repair
.
 

“This is a client’s car?”

He nodded.
 
“He found it in a field.”

“But where do you get all the parts?” she asked, furrowing her brow.
 
“They’re old cars.”

“Some companies still sell reproductions of the real thing.
 
Otherwise, we upgrade,” he said, stepping away from the chain.
 
“Either way, they don’t come cheap.”

“Doing this is good money then?” she asked, and then she flushed again.
 
“Sorry, that’s nosey.
 
My brother always says I’m too nosey.”
 
And then she felt uncomfortable because she realized that Caleb still didn’t realize who she was and didn’t realize that her brother had been a friend of his in high school.
 
She also wondered if he’d recognized Kyra last night.
 
She’d been a flirt in high school, after all, and had certainly tried her hand when it came to Caleb.
 
But last night, he hadn’t even blinked an eye when they’d both emerged from the restroom.

Caleb unhooked a part of the chain from the suspended engine.
 
“Restorations bring in more than the garage some months, depending on the work load.
 
Haven’t you come across them in the books?”

“Maybe,” Maddie said, shrugging.
 
“Like I said, I don’t know much about cars.
 
I noticed significantly larger payments every now and then.”
 
She glanced down at the paper in her hand and stepped over a toolbox to approach him.
 
“Speaking of which, I’m not sure what to group this under.”

Caleb glanced at the sheet in her hands, wiping his hands on his jeans.
 
This close to him, she could smell him.
 
That same woodsy smell, but now there were undercurrents of oil and salt, a surprisingly pleasing smell.
 
Maddie wanted to lap at his skin, her body giving a throb of approval at the direction of her thoughts, but she ignored it and cleared her throat.

“I’ll have to sit down and research this one.
 
Just put it on my desk with any others you find,” he told her, thrusting the paper back in her hands, this time with little black smudged fingerprints decorating it.
 
She stared at them, at the swirls and ridges that were solely Caleb’s, and then lifted her head.
 
She watched as he began to push the car’s body backwards, metal blocks and all, so he had space to unchain the engine.

The question was out of her mouth before she realized it.
 
“Can I watch you for a bit?”

Maddie suspected that she could watch him for hours doing this and the thought of going back upstairs to an empty office and old laptop when he was down here doing
this
was mildly depressing.
 
She didn’t even know why she found it so intriguing, but she strongly suspected that an equation of Caleb plus cars plus hard, sweaty work that displayed his generous muscles had something to do with it.

You’re supposed to be getting over him
, she reminded herself.
 
Watching him would most certainly
not
help.

Caleb shot her an unreadable look, but he didn’t say no.
 
He didn’t say yes either.
 
He didn’t say anything actually, just continued on with his work, so Maddie perched herself on the work bench, jumping up to get comfortable.
 
Briefly, she worried about stains getting on her dress, but the sideways glance that Caleb gave her legs, even though she had tights on, made her forget all about it.
 
He flipped on a light switch, since the sun was already setting and the garage was darkening quickly.

A comfortable silence took hold.
 
Although, Maddie thought that perhaps it wasn’t the same kind of comfortable silence she shared with her brother, or mom, or Kyra.
 
She didn’t feel antsy and her throat didn’t start to close up.
 
With Caleb, she knew she didn’t have to say anything if she didn’t want to.
 
Hell, he probably preferred it if she didn’t talk, but there was always an awareness between them.
 
So, while it was comfortable, it also felt
charged,
like they were both saving up energy for something bigger.

Maddie watched as he lowered the engine onto a wheeled flat platform and then pushed it off into the corner with the hood.
 
And then he went to work on the doors, unscrewing them with a fancy looking tool.
 
His back muscles rippled under his t-shirt as he heaved off the passenger door and carried it to the wall, setting it down gently.

After watching him do the same thing on the driver’s side door, she finally worked up the courage to say, “I think we should talk about last night.”

He glanced at her, wiping his forehead with his forearm.
 
“What about it?”

“I’m mad at you, you know.”

He cocked an arrogant brow.
 
“You don’t seem too upset with me, princess.”

“I want to know why you kissed me in front of Paul.”

“Why did you let me kiss you?
 
Maybe
that’s
what you should be asking yourself,” he shot back, scowling.
 
“Obviously, you weren’t too concerned about
Paul
.”

Her face burned because he was right.
 
She
had
let him kiss her and she’d kissed him right back with the same amount of enthusiasm.
 
The moment Caleb had stepped into her line of vision, all thoughts of Paul had gone catapulting out the window.

Maddie squared her shoulders, not wanting to back down.
 
“Are you jealous of him?”

Caleb’s head snapped up so quickly she wondered if it hurt his neck.
 
“No,” he snarled.
 
“Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Then why does he bother you so much?” she asked, studying his reaction.
 
Maddie might not have much experience when it came to men, but Caleb looked a little
too
furious for something he was denying.

He sucked in a breath, staring at her.
 
Maddie sensed he was about to lay into her, but at the last moment, he exhaled a few whispered curses instead and turned his back, snatching up another tool from the opposite bench.

Maddie realized she was right.
 
He
was
jealous.
 
The thought unleashed a whole flurry of butterflies in her stomach and she had to bite her lip to keep from smiling.

Caleb still saw it though and he glared.

“Listen to me, princess,” he started, his tone low and angry, stalking around the car until he stood right in front of her.
 
One step closer and he’d be nestled between her legs.

“I’m listening,” she chirped in a cheerful tone because she knew it would grate on him.
 
A part of her liked to tug on the tiger’s tail.

Caleb was caught off guard for a moment, but then his features darkened.
 
“You are just something that amuses me at the moment.
 
A toy.
 
A plaything.
 
Don’t think for a second that you’re in any way special to me, especially something that I’ll get
jealous
over.”

“Tell me more,” she said, propping her head on her fist.

That
surprised him.
 
Maddie watched him falter.
 
“You—you…”

“You’re so full of it, Caleb,” she told him.
 
She leaned closer to him until their faces were level with one another.
 
“This is what you do.
 
Your
modus operandi
.
 
You try and say things that you think will hurt me to push me away.
 
But I don’t think for a second that you actually mean them.
 
You told me yourself that you have a temper, that you say things you regret.
 
Why would this be any different?”

Caleb went furiously silent.

“I know you feel something for me,” she told him softly.
 
“You asked to come home with me last night.”

He interrupted.
 
“Maybe because I just wanted an easy fuck.”

Maddie tried not to flinch and clenched her jaw.
 
Rolling her eyes in exasperation to cover it, she retorted, “Not so easy, after all, considering I told you
no
.”

“For now.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

Caleb smirked and pushed away, returning to his work.
 
Maddie saw the way his shoulders were bunched, muscles so tight they bulged, and she knew she’d gotten to him.
 
She’d hit a nerve.

“Why do you do it?” she asked.
 
“Why do you try and push people away?”

“Not people,” he corrected.
 
“
Women
.
 
And you know why?
 
Because they’ve never given me anything but fucking
problems
.”

“So that’s it then?” she asked.
 
“You’ve had bad relationships.”

“
That’s it
?” he repeated, incredulous, blazing eyes turning on her.
 
“You have no fucking idea what I’ve gone through, princess, so don’t try to compartmentalize my life so you can understand it.”

“That’s not what I meant, Caleb,” she said, frowning.
 
“You’re right, I don’t know what you’ve gone through.
 
You won’t tell me.”

“And don’t count on me
ever
telling you.”

Maddie took in deep breaths, pausing, because she knew this conversation would go nowhere fast.
 
She’d lied a little.
 
She’d heard a rumor in high school.
 
Perhaps she’d known a little of what he’d gone through and it made her both sad and angry.

Suddenly, she wondered if this was the right time to tell him.
 
She was starting to feel like she was lying to him by
not
telling him.
 
Would he be angry?
 
Would he lash out at her?
 
Probably.
 
But they were already arguing.
 
Why not get this out in the open while she had the courage?

Taking a deep breath, she asked quietly, “You don’t remember me, do you?”

He stopped what he was doing.
 
His brow furrowed as he stared at her.
 
“
What
?”

She looked down at the floor of the garage briefly to avoid the intensity of his gaze and then met his eyes.
 
“I’m Thomas Ashby’s sister.
 
We all went to the same high school together.
 
I was two years younger, a freshman when you guys were juniors.”

Caleb’s lips parted but he didn’t say anything.
 
Maddie could see his mind working, trying to place her, but couldn’t.

A small, bitter smile came over her lips.
 
“I guess I was quite forgettable,” she said, looking down at her palms.
 
“But I didn’t forget
you
.
 
One time, I slipped in a puddle of water in the school cafeteria and face planted in front of hundreds of students.
 
They all laughed and whispered, but you were the only one that helped me up.
 
You told them all to ‘fuck off,’ I believe.”
 
Recognition finally dawned on his face.
 
“But what I remember most,” she began slowly, “was that you sat with me in an empty courtyard and let me cry when my father died.”

Breath blew from his lips.
 
“That was you?”

“I guess I was chubbier back then,” she said, forcing an awkward smile, “and I had glasses, but yes, that was me.”

Caleb went silent again as he ran a hand through his thick, dark hair, looking around the garage, trying to process it all.
 
“Jesus.”

“I’ve never forgotten you,” she told him softly.
 
“So, imagine my surprise when my car breaks down and it’s your garage that I happen upon.
 
I thought I was seeing a ghost.
 
I hadn’t seen you in years.
 
Thomas hadn’t heard from you since high school.
 
For some reason, I never expected to see you again.”

“Why are you telling me this?” he asked, not looking at her.
 
He was looking out at the dark sky as the last streaks of the sunset were fading fast.
 
“What are you playing at?”

“I’m not playing at anything, Caleb,” she said, pushing herself off the bench to land on her feet.
 
She approached him, warily, like he was a spooked animal who’d attack at any moment.
 
“I just wanted you to know that…that…” she paused, wondering how to say what was on her mind.
 
“That I may know more than you think.”

Immediately, the second it was out of her mouth, Maddie knew it had definitely
not
been the right thing to say.
 
He knew that she was referring to the rumor that had been circulating Caleb’s last few weeks of school, the one that his own girlfriend, Charlotte Callahan, had started.
 
She could see it on his face.

His lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes resigned.
 
And something about his expression broke something inside her, because a part of her wished that the rumor hadn’t been true.