Twice Loved (18 page)

“This about Tate?” the question in her tone is hard to miss even over the phone.

“Yes it is.” I take a deep breath before highlighting how I felt with Brandy being on my class roll when I received it but that I felt there was a reason for it. Yes I had some fears, but I loved her being in my room and didn’t want that to change. “But this weekend my relationship with Tate changed.”

“You’re back with Tate?”

“Yes, and I wanted to be upfront with you about it. Give you the opportunity to change Brandy out of my room if you felt it was best.” my hands grip the steering wheel tighter then I realize.

I hear a heavy sigh on the other end. “Is that crazy bitch out of the picture this time?”

“As far as I can tell on his end he is done with her.” I sigh. “But she is still harassing him. Honestly it’s kind of creepy in my opinion.”

“Is Brandy in danger?”

“I don’t think so.” I really don’t think LuAnn will bother Brandy she hates kids.

“I want Brandy to stay in your room. She loves you. You will treat her fairly no matter what. And I eventually have to trust Tate with her again don’t I?”

“Rachel you’re her mother and want what’s best for her. Trust me I totally get that, but yes he misses her.”

“This is so fucking hard. Tate was always good to me. It was just the other women I couldn’t handle.”

“That’s my biggest fear with him. He’s promised me there will be no other women, but you know…”

“Wow if he promised he must be serious.” Rachel knows Tate as well as I do. A promise from him is a big deal, he takes them seriously. “I always thought you were different. You’re not his normal type. He talks about you differently for what its worth.”

Stopped at the last red light before the school I look around my surroundings seeing people already hustling about town this morning.

“Thank for that Rachel but only time will tell if I’m making the right choice. Plus the bastard hired my son to work for him.”

Her laughter rings out on the other end. “He wanted you back bad didn’t he?”

“Yea I guess he did.” I turn into the school parking lot as Rachel and I finish up our conversation.

“Thanks for calling me Lori. It means a lot that you are upfront with me and that’s one of the many reasons why Brandy will stay in your room. When the time comes we’ll sit down and talk with her about you dating her dad.”

“Thank you Rachel for trusting me with your child.”

We say our goodbyes and hang up. I place my phone back in my purse and gather my bag out of the front seat. I step into the parking lot my best friend yells across the parking lot at me.

“Good morning…. Princess!” Such a smartass!

Chapter Twenty

The day moves quickly. It happens once the “real” teaching begins in the classroom. Twenty-five eager students are sent home excited to have their first homework. It’s a shame their love of homework will fade with time. Brandy got a special hug from me before she left the gym this afternoon even though she had no clue I was doing it for her dad. I knew, and that was what was important.

Haley walks beside me as the last of the students in our lines leave the gym. “So what are your plans this evening?”

“Apparently I have to go by the shop before I’m allowed to go home.”

Her eyes waggle at me. A grin splits from ear to ear. “A little workplace romp?”

“I should hope not my son will be there part of the time.” Yet I can’t help laughing at my friend and her vivid imagination.

“Oh that would be interesting.”

“No! It was weird enough at the house last night.”

“Do tell…”

I nudge her away from me. “Go away you’re trouble.”

She laughs as she ducks in the door of her classroom. I walk a few more doors down to my own room still smiling at her antics. I grab the stacks of papers out of the classwork basket and walk over to my desk with them. I flip through them and separate them into piles and paper clip them together. I make sure to grab my answer key folder for the week and place it in my bag along with the papers to be graded. I pack up my school issued laptop and make sure to toss a couple of red pens before heading out to my car.

It doesn’t take me long to drive the few blocks to the garage. As I pull up in front three of the four bays have cars in them. I park over in the side lot next to Tate’s truck. As I walk toward the building Mike starts yelling out.

“Tate she’s here! She’s really here!” I am already snickering at the crazy man.

“Who’s here?” Tate hollers back.

Mike looks dead at me and begins batting his eyelashes like a girl who doesn’t flirt properly.

“The One!” he says in some swoony type voice with a girly falsetto.

I crack up then, Mike is a card. He is always good for making you laugh even when you had the shittest of days. He may not be right in the head either. I haven’t decided even after knowing him a little over a year now.

“Shut up Mike!” Tate calls out while throwing a rag at him.

My man walks out the bay door and straight towards me. I make myself keep moving because honestly I just want to stop and stare at the tatted biceps sticking out from the black tank style T-shirt. The way I’m acting it’s like I’ve never seen him before. However, I’m intimately familiar with every square inch of this man’s body.

“Hey Princess…” peck “Have a good day?” a lingering kiss is placed on my lips. I just stand there like I’m stupid.

“Uhh yea.”

He laughs at me. “You okay?”

"I’m good.”

He places a hand on the small of my back and pushes me gently toward the shop.

“I got a call from Rachel this morning.”

“Oh yea?”

“Yea, I don’t know what you said to her, but she’s considering letting me see Brandy this weekend.”

I am shocked because I didn’t really say that much at least not when it comes to letting Tate see his daughter.

“Oh it’s probably because I confirmed LuAnn is no longer a part of your life.”

He smiles at me.

“Nope …only one woman in my life.”

“Yea THE ONE!” Mike calls out in his falsetto voice again standing right beside us now.

“Go away Mike you’re ruining my moment.” I tease the man who I have come to think of as the shop clown.

All the men in the shop have stopped working to listen to our exchange, even the one customer waiting for his car. They all begin chuckling. When did my love life become the garage gossip?

“Sit here.” Tate instructs placing me on the stool at the counter in the shop where they check customers out at.

He walks back over to the car in bay one and starts working again. Mike and Tate are doing a routine oil change on the car and the man on the bench is obviously the owner of said car. I look around the garage taking in the various machines that I have no clue what they do and actually as it crosses my mind I wonder what they do and if I would even understand it. The shelves on the back wall hold auto fluids of all kind as well as a few stock parts. Everything else is ordered as needed and delivered fairly quickly once ordered. I understand that much of how the shop operates.

I sit quietly watching the guys work and listening to them joke around with each other. At one point Jake walks over to speak to me.

“Hey Lori. How’s it going?”

“It’s great but your girlfriend is in trouble.”

“What did she do now?”

I grin at him as I bat my eyes at him innocently. “She was making lewd suggestions to me this afternoon at school.”

Clicking heels are heard across the garage floor, my best friend is headed toward me. A mock look of horror on her face. “I did no such thing!”

“You so did.”

She huffs and places her hands on her hips. “What did I say?”

“Something about a workplace romp.”

Jake cracks up laughing and Tate who has obviously been listening in pipes up.

“I’m game... wanna go to my office?”

I briefly glance over to the customer who is watching and waiting expectantly for my answer.

“Perve! No! My son will be here anytime now to start his shift!”

“We can be quick.”

I full on belly laugh at him then. I shake my head. “Not happening dream on.”

“Why not?”

“Um because everyone here would know what we’re doing now. And knowing half of them they’d have their ears pressed against the door.”

“True that.” Mike hollers out. Laughter echoes throughout the garage at Mike’s words.

The customer smiles over at Haley and I once the guys go back to work. “They’ve been entertaining me for the last twenty minutes or so it only got better when you two showed up.”

“Oh this place is in need of an adult sitter to take care of this motley bunch.” I answer the customer while looking around at all the guys.

“Hey I resemble that remark.” Mike always has to say something.

“This is my first time here, but the service has been wonderful and entertaining so far.”

“I’m sure they will appreciate your future business.” I turn to Haley “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming here after work?”

“I wasn’t planning too… but since you’re here I thought why not.”

I smirk at her. “You were just afraid you’d miss out on something good.”

“Maybe…. or I’m avoiding packing more of my crap at home.”

I giggle. “You’ve only what another week to get it done?”

“Yep.” Haley pulls a chair up beside me behind the counter. She plops herself in it.

“Guess we need to have another packing party huh?”

She bats her eyelashes at me.

“Would you?”

I laugh at her. “Of course you know I will. Maybe the guys’ll help this time instead of distracting us.”

“How dare they show up last time and want to cook for us?”

We lapse into silence Haley’s eyes are on her man. My eyes go to mine. We watch them work. Tate and Mike finish up the oil change and Tate brings the customer up to the counter. He wiggles himself in front of me which puts us in pretty close quarters. Too close. I glimpse over at Haley to see her smiling at me smugly. I stick my tongue out at her which makes her giggle. Thankfully Tate or the customer neither one can see me.

I try to push back a little but I’m wedged in tight. So I decide I might as well enjoy the view Tate’s shoulder tat peeks out and I study it for a bit. My eyes travel done to his nice firm ass that fills out his jeans just right. I stop there and stare for a while. Haley playfully kicks me as she mouths she knows what I’m doing. I silently shrug my shoulders. I don’t care.

She shakes her head while grinning at me. I’m very tempted to smack that ass in front of me right now. The only thing stopping me is that he is dealing with a customer.

I wouldn’t want him to do that to me at my work so I shouldn’t do it to him. Of course I have twenty five, six year olds in my room watching everything I do. Each one who would go home and tell their parents what happened in class that day. I could only imagine the poor principal’s face if she got those phone calls.

Once the customer is gone Tate turns around and places his arms on either side of me his hands planted on the wall behind me. My breathing picks up.

“Princess….”

“Yes…”

He leans in closer to me “If you ever think about doing what you were thinking about doing again…. I’m going to make it where you can’t sit for a few days.”

O. H. M.Y.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Right like you weren’t thinking about smacking my ass?”

How the hell does he do this shit? Is he a mind reader all of a sudden?

“Babe I know you, I don’t need to read your mind.”

He just did it again.

“Stop doing that it’s creeping me out.” He laughs but then sobers quickly as he bends down and plants a long deep kiss on me. He turns and walks away.

I look over at Haley who for a moment I forgot was sitting there. She is fanning herself.

“That was hot as hell.”

“Yea… umm...”

“Now I truly get why that man pushes your buttons like he does.”

I’m glad she does because I sure as hell don’t. I still can’t figure out why I react so strongly to him. Each and every time. It’s like it’s new each time. There is not much we don’t know about one another. We spent over a year together. Granted they were stolen moments, but each one counted for something. They mattered to both of us. I shouldn’t react so strongly to him.

“I really hate when he does that.” I finally manage to spit out while crossing my arms across my chest like a toddler pouting.

“Sure you do honey. Your panties are probably so wet right now you are leaving a wet spot on the stool.”

“That’s gross Haley!”

“But oh so very true. Hell even I’m a little turned on.”

That’s too much. I lose it. I laugh until tears are streaming down my face. The guys keep looking over at us. Questioning looks on each of their faces. Haley tries to play innocent and shrug her shoulders like she doesn’t know why I have started laughing like a hyena.

Once I calm myself a little I turn toward Haley some more. I lean in closer.

“I wonder what Jake and Tate would think knowing you got turned on by that?”

“You wouldn’t!” She sits up straight in her chair. Panic crosses her face. If I say something the guys will never leave her alone.

“Wouldn’t I?”

Haley is saved from finding out as Noah saunters into the garage. He’s already sweaty from football practice and now here he is to work for an hour or so before heading home for the night.

“Hey mom, Aunt Haley.”

“Hey Noah.”

We chorus back at him. We both sober up at Noah’s appearance. Can’t behave like horny teenagers in front of the horny teenager. I’m supposed to set a good example for my children. I probably failed a little at that when Steve and I decided that I could take on a lover. Not only did I take on a lover I fell in love with him. I started a one year relationship with him. Then I left him. It hurt both of us when I walked away. I didn’t realize how much until recently.

I will do my best to never hurt Tate like that again. I also was counting on him to uphold his promise to not hurt me again. This was our second chance together and this time we had no other significant other. Nothing to keep us from fully embracing what we could have together. This was our time to soar among the stars.