Drive Me Wild (Bellamy Creek #1)(15)

I bit my lip. “More than usual?”

“A lot more. He’s in a real mood. But that might be because of the bank.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Business isn’t so great these days because of Swifty Auto. And he’s been trying to get this loan forever, see, and—”

“Hand me!” bellowed a deep voice.

I looked over Andy’s shoulder and saw Griffin’s huge frame filling the doorway. Hand me what? I wondered.

“What the hell are you doing up here?” he demanded, his eyes shooting daggers at Andy, his forehead creased with anger. It was the most intimidating I’d ever seen him.

“I was just giving Mrs. Stephens her keys.”

Griffin crossed his arms over his bulging chest. “I don’t see Mrs. Stephens here anywhere.”

“She only left a minute ago. I was introducing myself to—”

“Yeah, well I don’t pay you to stand around running your mouth,” Griffin barked, moving into the lobby and jerking his head toward the garage. “Get back to work.”

“I’m going, sorry.” Andy hurried back into the service bay.

I felt bad for him, and I was about to apologize and take the blame for keeping him out here, but I didn’t have a chance.

“Your car won’t be ready today,” Griffin announced abruptly.

My heart plummeted. “It won’t?”

“No. I don’t have the parts. And I won’t be able to get them quickly.”

“How . . . how long?” I swallowed hard. “A day or so?”

“Probably more like a week.”

“A week!”

He cocked his head. “You think parts for fifty-year-old British cars grow on trees around here?”

“No, I just—”

“You’re just used to getting everything you want exactly when you want it because no one has ever said no to you. I get it, princess. Welcome to the real world.” And with that, he stormed back into the garage, pulling the door shut behind him.

I stood there for a moment in complete shock, one hand over my mouth, one flattened against my stomach. No one had ever spoken so rudely to me before. I sank onto the chair behind the desk, my face burning.

What had I done to make him so angry? Wasn’t I the customer? And wasn’t the customer always right? No wonder business hadn’t been so great lately, if he spoke to people like that. And how dare he make fun of me!

This Griffin was nothing like the guy from last night—obviously, he had a mean streak. Or maybe last night had been an act. Figured! No one was ever who they pretended to be, millionaire or mechanic.

My first instinct was to get the hell out of there, leaving him high and dry without a receptionist, but as I was grabbing my purse, I realized I couldn’t leave.

Not only did I have nowhere to go and no way to get there, but I’d offered to do a job, and I wasn’t the kind of person to go back on my word. Not to mention the fact that I needed him to repair my car and give me a fair price on it—if I abandoned the desk, he’d have no reason to offer me a discount. But I didn’t have to let him speak to me like that. He had no right! And since I’d never been one to stay quiet when I had something to say, I marched into the garage all fired up to speak my mind.

I spotted him at a tool cabinet in the back. “Excuse me!” I yelled.

He turned around and frowned at me. “What now?”

I stuck my hands on my hips as I approached him. “For your information, I’ve been told no plenty of times in my life.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes,” I snapped. “Just because I grew up with money doesn’t mean I always got everything I wanted. I told you yesterday how my parents ran my life according to their rules—what I wanted never even mattered!”

He sneered. “Tell me you never had a pony.”

“I never had a pony!” I paused and sniffed. “I had a horse.”

Griffin rolled his eyes.

“But that’s not the point!” I yelled, throwing my arms up. “Okay, yes, it took losing everything I had to realize I had to stop letting my family call all the shots. And yes, I am somewhat clueless about mechanical things like cars and how they work. Yes, I had a horse.”

“You realize all those yeses are making my point, not yours.”

I stopped moving and held up my palms. “I know there’s a lot I need to learn about the real world. But I’m trying, okay? I want to start a new life, one where I don’t depend on other people’s money or connections to fix my problems, so it really stinks to be so broke and stranded and helpless right now.” I crossed my arms over my chest and lifted my chin. “I don’t need your rudeness on top of it.”

Griffin stared at me, his scowl deepening. “Fine.”

“Fine!” Angry that I hadn’t heard an apology, I whirled around and stomped toward the lobby door.

“Are you leaving?” he shouted.

“No!” I called over my shoulder. “I said I’d do the job, and I’ll do it!” Then I yanked the door shut behind me with quite a bit more force than necessary.

I’d never slammed a door before. It actually felt pretty good.

But the satisfaction dissipated pretty quickly. In fact, I started to feel bad about mouthing off to him. He’d been so nice to me last night.