Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“Go on.” She grinned. “Let me see ye get inside.”
Lilly drove a brand-new car. She traded hers in and upgraded every year … but the woman only ever bought clown cars. Even with the seat pulled all the way back, my legs were bent painfully, and my head hit the ceiling. I had to hunch forward and tilt my head every single time.
“You’re a cruel woman, Lilly Doherty.”
She tittered to herself, clearly amused. I struggled but got the car into the bay and onto the lift. As soon as I climbed out of it, I stretched. Harley looked my way and shook his head.
“Better you than me, lad.”
“Harley, honey? Is that you?” Lilly called from the reception. “C’mere and gimme a big wet one, son.”
I grinned as Harley stuck his finger up at me but went jogging towards Lilly a second later. We were all a slave to her word, and she knew it. I turned my attention to her car. I checked everything under the bonnet, then raised it on the lift. Nothing was out of place that I could see. I knew Lilly was taking the piss, but I gave the car a good once-over before lowering the vehicle and testing the engine. The gear stick shifted smoothly.
“Runnin’ like clockwork.”
I reversed the car out of the bay and parked it in front of the reception entrance. I yawned as I entered the reception and caught the end of Lilly’s conversation with Harley. I snatched a bottle of unopened water from my brother’s hand, ignoring his leg when he tried to kick me, and leaned my hip against the counter and listened.
“Lil.” Harley looked absolutely horrified. “D’ye even know what crabs are?”
“Do I know what crabs are?” Lilly repeated with a blink. “Son, with the way I carried on with men in me twenties and thirties, I’m pretty sure I fuckin’ invented crabs.”
I spit out the water I was drinking and promptly began to choke and laugh at the same time. Harley laughed so hard he had to hug Lilly and go back out into the hangar because he couldn’t talk. I heard Gavin and JJ ask him what was so funny, but he just laughed harder.
“Your car is spic and span, Lil,” I told her, wiping my mouth. “If ye have any problems, just bring it back on in, and I’ll have another look at it.”
“You’re a good lad, Date Collins. How much do I owe ye?”
I bent down, turned my head, and tapped my cheek. “A wet one.”
“Men.” She clicked her tongue. “Always after some kisses.”
She giggled a little after kissing my cheek and happily held my arm as I escorted her out to her car. When she was settled inside and all buckled up, I winked at her. “Don’t be a stranger.”
“Not in me nature, sunshine.”
She drove off with the head banging sound of Slipknot blaring from her car, and I couldn’t help but smile. I realised at that moment that I had broken Lilly’s second rule … I had fallen in love with the woman. With a chuckle, I returned to the hangar and found all my brothers laughing.
“She really said that about crabs?” Gavin shook his head. “Lilly?”
“On God.” Harley wiped under his eyes. “Ask Date.”
All eyes fell on me.
“She did. She said how she carried on with men in her twenties and thirties, she’s sure she invented crabs.”
“Merciful Christ.” JJ chortled. “That slip of a woman is unreal. I love her.”
Gavin’s shoulders shook as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands as our father’s voice came bellowing from the reception doorway. “Do I pay you ladies to stand around and chat or fix cars?”
“Fix cars,” we answered in unison.
We got back to work, and our father returned to his office.
“I’m still partial to havin’ a chat now and again,” I commented as I worked. “Like a good little girl.”
The others chuckled as we focused on getting through the rest of the day. I worked through my lunch break to clear some of Gavin’s log since I was supposed to help him work on yesterday’s backlog that morning. I was ahead of schedule by closing time, so I didn’t have to stay and pull any overtime for the couple of hours I’d missed. Just as I had finished signing off on my final service of the day, Harley surprised me when he clapped his hand onto my shoulder and dug his thumb into my stiff, aching muscle. It hurt like hell, but it felt incredible at the same time. There was a sudden pop, and my legs went weak. I had to grab the countertop where I was filling out the service form to keep from falling to my knees.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.” I swallowed. “Where did ye learn to do that?”