Keeper of Your Heart

One

"And you're sure it's him?" Jerry asked. We were sitting in my office drinking coffee, talking about the friend my daughter made.

"I'm positive." I answered, running my hands over my head in frustration.

Jerry and I had grown up together. After serving in the Marines and then becoming parents around the same time, I knew anything I told him would be trapped in the steel box he called his mind.

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Well I can't very well do anything, can I? He's a respected police officer. I completely back everything he's doing around here, but how am I supposed to sit back and watch him with my kid? She probably doesn't even remember his name."

"It's not like they ever met, Isaac. You can't expect her to remember anything from that long ago."

"What would you do if it were Sheila?" I asked, referencing his own daughter. She was only a couple of years older than Bentley, but no matter how hard we'd tried, the kids just didn't click. It was like night and day, and not in a good way. They preferred to pretend the other didn't even exist. It took a while for Jerry and I to come to a place where we were okay with the impasse.

"I would respect his position and sacrifice," he stated.

It really was just that simple and I knew that, but knowing the only answer and settling the war inside my head were two completely different things.

"Just hope he gets his job done quickly and maybe he'll move on."

"Yeah, right. Knowing Bentley she'll have him moved in and married to her before he knows what's happening."

Boy, was I ever right. She moved that man in without even knowing his full name, undercover or otherwise.

I almost had an honest to goodness heart attack when the brat asked him to live with her right in front of me. It didn't matter that I was two times his size either, he just agreed without even really putting up a fight.

If you want my opinion, he wanted to move in just as badly as she wanted him to. And it wasn't because it was cold.

I saw the way he watched her when she wasn't looking. A shadow would cross her path and he'd flinch, like he thought he was going to have to put up a fight to protect her. It was nauseating.

I'm not even joking about that. There were multiple occasions where I wanted to physically hurl because they grossed me out. They needed bibs just to protect themselves from all the drool they were loosing over each other.

"Oh, come on!" I said, standing in the parking lot. Christmas was only a few days away and the boys were getting antsy about their end of year time off.

I'd just walked outside when I saw Aaron hold Bentley's hand to cross the road. They were walking across a road she'd played on as a kid and he was holding her hand like she needed help. They were crossing a street, not climbing Mount Everest without equipment.

Nauseating.

"I swear, if I ever act like that, take me out," I said to Jerry. He chuckled under his breath and walked toward the shop. I figured I might as well head out there, too, just to see if they needed anything. Not that I was any help when it came to fixing cars outside of changing tires.

"Hey, poppa bear!" The pink haired brat yelled from under a car. I knew it was her not only because she was the only person in the shop brave enough to call me such a ridiculous name, but because her hair was sticking out, resting beside the front tire.

"How'd you know it was me?" I asked.

"You have a very distinct walk. It conveys great power and hostility," she laughed. "And literally every single guy in here was having some form of conversation, but they shut up as soon as I saw your boots hit the concrete."

They all groaned in unison, giving me sheepish looks.

"Get back to work, ya bunch of free loaders," I yelled. To be honest, they were the best group of guys this shop had ever seen. Their team was beyond what I ever could have asked for.

"What a rude thing to say," Came a voice from behind me. "I've not witnessed a single person slack in the hour that I've been here."

I turned to see a woman about a foot shorter than me, standing with her arms crossed over her chest. From the looks of it, she was angry.

Her light brown eyes were filled with hostility. Her dark brown hair was pulled back, away from her face in a clip and I was thankful because I probably wouldn't have noticed the red that tinged her cheeks otherwise. The combination of the look in her eyes and the coloring in her face made me put my money on her anger rather than her embarrassment. She didn't seem like the type of woman to get embarrassed easily.

"Who might you be?" I asked, stepping forward.

"My name is Maria Sanchez, and I'm a freelance Lawyer, if you must know," she huffed. I tried to hold back my grin.

"I didn't ask what you did, Mrs. Sanchez." I noticed her bare ring finger but decided to act as if I hadn't.

"It's Ms." Then, I did smirk.

"Well, welcome to Cooper's, Ms. Sanchez. Let me know if you need anything, but in the meantime let me see if I can get my crew to put a rush on your car for you."

I ignored her rising eyebrows and turned to bark the orders.

"Why don't you take your orders and shove them down your throat, old man!" Sam yelled from the floor and then she started giggling like she was the funniest person alive. I was going to have to fire this girl before she made my acid reflux flare up.

"Samantha!" Drake yelled from the office. I looked over and grinned at him. I didn't care about her mouth. As long as they did their job, I didn't care what else went on in the shop.

Sam was harmless. Being my daughter's best friend, Drake's daughter and above all else a phenomenal mechanic, I took it all pretty well.

"Hey Sam, when you get done why don't you go ahead and dock your pay for me?" I hollered back.

"Over my dead body!" Ms. Sanchez butted in. I saw a few of the guys turn to hide their smile but Raj almost blew his cover with the laugh.

"Listen, lady. Why don't you cool your attitude, okay?" I turned around to look at her. "You just walked into a family establishment. We might sound like a bunch of jerks, but that's just how this place runs." I didn't care if she was pretty, she was getting on my nerves.

She didn't respond and I felt my annoyance level rise a notch, but as irritating as she was being, I didn't want to treat any woman wrong.

"Sammy," I yelled.

"No!" she yelled back.

"Tear up the ticket for Ms. Sanchez. This one's on the house," I said before walking out of the shop and back toward my office.

I notices Bentley and Aaron making their way back to the lot and felt annoyed again.

I was going to need to go work off some steam after work.