KICK IT | JENLISA

44

Lisa

Seven minutes later, Abe's tow truck arrived. She didn't want to exit her truck, gripping the wheel with enough tension to rip it off. My hands twitched with the urge to scoop her up, but instead, I palmed her tensed knuckles.

"I'll give you a ride..." Fuck, wrong words. "... to the shop."

She was silent on the drive over to Abe's, sniffling quietly and wiping her eyes. Her presence in my car, her skin-tight yoga clothes, and the faint smell of perspiration made my heart unsure of what it was supposed to be doing. My dick volunteered to hold my body's blood supply, making focusing my eyes straight ahead difficult. Her knees hovered close to the dashboard; if I looked any higher, I would wreck from checking out her thighs.

"How tall are you?" I blurted out, palming the wheel to turn in behind the tow truck.

"Five-four or five-six." she muttered, her eyes tracking her truck pushed into the service bay.

I smiled at her level of specificity. "Why didn't you just say six?"

"Too conventional." she replied before leaping out of my car.

Jennie's pacing, to use one of my mom's sayings, was like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Hinged over, my older, balding shop owner inspected her truck. Red-faced and sweaty, he wiped his hands and gave me a warning look.

I raised my eyebrows. "Diagnosis?"

"Simple... battery died, but alternator, carburettor, fuel injector, and..." he stopped as Jennie gasped at each 'tor' problem.

"Can you fix it?" she whispered, hugging her stomach. Her lower lip quivered. "Please."

"Miss, if I can fix a squirrel-infested Durango, I can fix this." Abe shot me a smirk. For the record, it was one squirrel, and a shit-ton of wires chewed that prompted me to get a second garage built. "It'll cost more to fix than its worth."

The pain searing Jennie's eyes tightened my resolve. "Fix it."

"Ain't standard parts, so it'll take a while." Abe's eyes shifted between us.

"Don't care." My hand palmed her lower back, which she relaxed into. "Whatever she needs, I'll take care of it. Do your magic, Abe."

While Abe counted his future fortune, I rubbed Jennie's back. "Sorry, I..."

She cut me off by throwing herself on me. Her arms snaked around my neck, choking my air supply. Her breasts smashed my chest, flexing my torso back, and her wet cheek brushed my mouth. A faint bite of salt hit my tongue as I wet my dry lips. She wasn't light... she was, but she sagged her weight into me. I brought my arms around her trembling spine. Her hot, uneven breaths fanned over the base of my neck, followed by hot tickles of more tears. "Thank you."

Why the truck was so significant faded as I held her. It didn't matter. Light-headedness whirred my brain more than a blender on high, and my guts rearranged themselves, playing their own game of leapfrog. Thundering beats filled my chest and ears. Her hair smelled like... hair.

"I'll pay it back, whatever it costs." she muffled into my throat. It tightened, so I swallowed the cotton factory stuffed in my mouth. "Thank you, Lisa."

I still knew almost nothing about Jennie Kim, including her red-hot, ice-cold modes and blatant hatred of me. None of that mattered. Abe went somewhere else, and the sun didn't feel like it was burning off my skin anymore. Hugging her close, feeling her heart beating and tension leaving her body, I closed my eyes and rested my chin against her temple.

"You're welcome, Jennie."