Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Rubbing at her temple, Beatrice came over and Aria placed the order. Lidia tacked on a quick order as well.
Aria sighed.
“I got two dogs,” she said, quickly changing the subject.
While they waited she talked about Bruno and Ernie.
“I can’t wait to meet them. You always did want a couple of dogs. I figured you would get them eventually.”
Beatrice brought out their order and Aria paid. She stopped Lidia from getting her money out. Lunch was on her.
They walked back to her car and Aria froze when she saw her tire was down. She handed the food to Lidia and then crouched down, seeing that it wasn’t just air out of her tire, but it looked like it had been cut. It was clear to see there was damage to the outside of the tire.
“Aria, what’s the matter?” Lidia asked.
“I think someone has punctured my tire…”
She looked on the ground. She didn’t roll over anything. Rubbing at her temple, she groaned. First, she had no choice but to call into work. Andy said she’d be there in a moment.
She turned to Lidia. “Andy’s on her way. You’re going to have to ride with her.”
“Aria, what happened?”
“I must have rolled on something, right?” Aria looked up and down the street. If someone tried to puncture a tire in broad daylight, that was risky.
“You’ve got to call the tow truck. Reynolds’ place. Ah, a certain boyfriend is there, right?”
“Grant doesn’t work there,” Aria said. “It’s his brother Bull’s place.”
“Huh, I thought Grant did work at the shop.”
“He does, I think, I don’t know. He works at the gym, at the mechanic shop.”
“The diner,” Lidia said. “Where does this guy not work?”
Aria put the call through. Someone named Sweets answered. She told them what she thought might have happened. He told her to wait, they’d have the tow truck out to her.
Before the truck arrived, Andy came to pick up the food. Lidia wanted to stay with her, but she insisted on her friend being taken back to collect her car. Andy told her to keep them updated. Finally, the tow truck arrived.
“Aria?” the driver asked.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“Rusty. Sweets told me you’ve got a slashed tire?”
“I think it’s slashed or punctured, I’m not sure.”
He climbed out of his tow truck and then rounded her car to where the damage was. He whistled. “Sweetheart, did you know this has been done on both tires?”
“What?”
“Yep, front here, and the back one, opposite.” Rusty clicked. “Do you want me to take it to Bull’s?”
“Er, yeah, of course. Please.”
“No problem.” He started to whistle as he got everything loaded onto the back of his tow truck.
Someone struck her tire. There was only one person she could think of who would do that—Sean. Why did Sean have it in for her? Was there any way to prove it?
She rubbed at her temple, feeling a headache start to develop. Glancing around town, no one stopped to pay them attention. She didn’t see any sign of Sean, not that she’d been looking for him. Sean didn’t exactly register on her radar. He’d been her friend’s boyfriend, nothing more.
Rusty got the car loaded up and then helped her into the truck.
He was still whistling as they rode down the main street heading toward the garage. She knew it was the best one in town, and even though her parents drove out of town to get their car serviced and fixed whenever they needed to, she always used Bull’s. She rarely had any problems with her car as she used it mainly in winter, or when she absolutely had to.
Rusty pulled into the main lot at the same time Grant ran around the main gate inside, with Wanda following behind him.
Aria climbed out of the truck and frowned. “Grant?”
“Rusty texted me. Someone slashed your tires?”
“Huh? I didn’t…” Rusty whistled a little louder. “Might have sent him a quick message before I loaded up. Figured he’d want to know what was going on with his woman.”
She didn’t have time to enjoy being referred to as “his woman.”
“You don’t have to worry,” she said. “It’s probably some prank.”
Grant stepped up toward her and cupped her face, tilting her head back. “Pranks involve toilet paper and knocking on someone’s door and running away. They use eggs, not knives.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Let me check.”
He let her go and she licked her lips looking up to see a couple of the mechanics who were also members of the Chaos and Carnage MC. She felt her cheeks heat. It was the first time, apart from him going a little crazy with Sean, that Grant had shown her affection in public. This was all new to her.
It was a good thing she had invited Grant to Thanksgiving dinner. Her parents were going to find out about them sooner or later.