Dare To Run (The Sons of Steel Row #1)(30)

“Oh.” She wrapped her arms around herself, her untouched whiskey hanging from her fingers. “I didn’t know you actually worked on the cars, considering . . . you know. Your real job.”

“I don’t have to. I like to. And no one knows I do it.” I dropped my arm to my side. It was true; no one else knew. Just one of the guys who worked for me, and he kept his mouth shut. Unlike me. Why had I told her that about myself? She didn’t give a damn what I did for a hobby. No one did. “Anyway, go to bed. I’ll be down there till it’s done.”

She watched me, those blue eyes of hers seeing too much. Her blond hair rested in front of her eyes, and she flicked it out of the way with a toss of her head. One strand stuck to her lips, and I almost moved it for her. But I forced myself to stop midreach.

“What about sharing the bed? Will you do that?”

Panic rose, choking off the words I tried to get out. I couldn’t open myself up to attack like that. Not even for her. “Not happening,” I said, my voice harder than before. She was asking me to let her closer than I’d ever let anyone before. To let my guard down and have her by my side when I was at my most vulnerable. It wasn’t going to happen. I gave her a grin, knowing I was showing just how badly I didn’t want to let her in. “Just sleep in my bed and stop worrying about me. I’m fine on the couch. It’s a hell of a lot more comfortable than the bunks in lockup.”

“But—”

I headed for the door, cutting her off midargument. “Be ready to go out late tomorrow afternoon. We need to sell this relationship.”

“What? Where are we going?”

I scanned my brain for date ideas. Damned if I knew of any good spots to hit. I’d been out of the game for longer than I could remember. A couple of years in lockup did that to a man. “Ball game.” I winked at her. “Wear something nice for me.”

Her cheeks flushed. “I’ll show you something nice, but then you can shove it up your—”

“Gotta go. That car isn’t gonna fix itself.” I headed for the door, whistling as I went. I broke off to add, “I’ll lock the door behind me. Don’t leave this apartment. Got it?”

She pressed her lips together. “Yes, sir.”

“That’s more like it,” I said, grinning. “Sweet dreams, darlin’.”

I closed the door, putting a very real barrier between us. As I walked down the stairs, I kept up my cheery whistling tune. Once I was in my shop, in front of the car that needed a new radiator, I dropped the act. This was the one place I could be myself. The one place I didn’t need to pretend for the rest of the world.

Working on cars cleared my head.

Saving Heidi was a nice distraction, but it was a distraction I didn’t need right now. I needed to focus on bigger issues. My little brother was trying to kill me, and I needed to decide exactly what to do about that. Of course, first I needed to verify Chris’s intel. Then, and only then, I needed to create a plan. I no longer had an easy escape. I had cash, sure, but it was enough for only one. Not two.

And I wasn’t about to leave Heidi to the mess I’d pulled her into.

Rolling under the Mustang, I sighed. Whether I liked it or not, I had to believe that Chris was right. He’d been right about the promotion part, anyway. When I’d gone to see Tate this morning, he’d hinted at giving me the position Chris had mentioned, and he’d invited me to some big dinner as a guest of honor at the end of the week. That meant I had a week, at most, before Scotty took steps to get me out of the way.

The stakes were higher than ever. I had to stay alive, keep Heidi safe, and attempt to avoid killing my brother, all while conducting business as normal. It had been twenty-four hours since I’d learned of Scotty’s plan, and I’d made absolutely no progress on a solution. I didn’t want to kill him. I wasn’t going to let him kill me. And I couldn’t talk sense into him without escalating this to a level I wasn’t sure I wanted to visit just yet. Scotty had always had a hell of a temper, just like me. But unlike me, he didn’t know how to control it.

If I made him snap, there would be no going back. No stopping him . . .

Or me.

By the time I came back up from underneath the car, my eyes burned with exhaustion. I rolled out and grabbed the rag off the side of the hood, wiping my hands clean. As I lay there, I squinted up at the clock. The numbers mocked me, in their bright red colors. It was well after five, which meant I had four hours until I had to be at the warehouse. We had a big shipment of AK-47s going out, and I was supervising.

Tate had dropped that bomb on me this morning, too, likely some sort of audition.

I pushed myself to my feet and made my way to the door. After one last look over the shop, I shut the lights off. Wearily, I went up the stairs, each step heavier than the last. Once I entered my apartment, I froze. The TV was still on, and I could see the top of Heidi’s blond head resting on my pillow.

What the hell was she still doing awake?

I made my way over to her. “Shouldn’t you be—?” I broke off, coming to a stop at her side. “Sleeping,” I finished on a whisper.

Because she was.

Her hands were folded under her cheek, and her blue eyes were hidden from me in slumber. Her cheeks were rosy, and she had my blanket pulled up over her shoulders.

She looked like an angel come to earth.