To Win a Rebel

Chapter Six

Three Days Later

Molly wrinkled her nose at her current story, hit “Save,” and then slammed down the lid of her laptop. She couldn’t write, or at least she couldn’t bring herself to form any words. In less than a week, so much had already changed in her life. The school had already called and thanked her for the impressive donation.

It had been such a large amount because Nate had pretty much paid for himself, but none of the board had complained about that. She didn’t know if she should have accepted the check or not. The board had.

Oh, and she had discovered that the guy she had a massive crush on also wanted her, and rather than be sexy and normal about it, she had acted like a child. She was mortified just thinking about how she’d reacted on Saturday night and Sunday.

He’d given her an orgasm, and she was no stranger to having a release, but it was always at her own hand. Nate had done it better. There was no way she could deny it.

Nate seemed to do a whole lot of things better, and, well, she … didn’t.

He spent the whole day with her Sunday, until he’d gotten a call. A small minivan had broken down. The family traveling needed a tow, a place to stay, and a mechanic to help fix their car. Nate had the tow truck and was also the mechanic.

He’d kissed her good night and promised to call. She stayed up, but she hadn’t expected him to keep his word, but she should have known Nate was proving to be a different kind of guy. Even though he had the “bad boy” and rebel reputation, he was someone to be relied upon.

And over the last two days, she’d stopped by the garage to see him. They had dinner together at the diner, as well as breakfast at the bakery. She knew several people had been staring and pointing. Also, Nate had made a bit of a scene by grabbing her hand, pulling her against him, and holding her as they walked down the main street, heading toward his shop.

Now, as she sat at her computer, getting ready to write that moment where her main hero and heroine are building toward their first explosive climax, she experienced writer’s block.

Her and Nate’s hadn’t exactly gone smoothly. Their dinner date had been messy. She’d discovered he knew her biggest secret, and then she’d told Nate her other bigger secret. She knew absolutely nothing about any of his.

Running fingers through her hair, she stepped away from her computer and saw it was getting close to five. She didn’t want to leave her house as she had the AC on, and it kept the house at the perfect working temperature, not too hot or too cold. It was just perfect.

The only problem was, she’d promised to meet Nate after work. He’d also promised to close early, and she’d only had a light lunch and was getting hungry.

There was no point in staring at her blank screen, hoping the book would write itself, because that is not the way anything happened, at least in her world. She gathered her stuff together, closed the house, and then headed out into the hot air.

She spotted several kids wearing bikinis or swim trunks, playing with some water guns, spraying each other. The moment she stepped out, she felt a bead of sweat dribble down her back, and that was not fun.

“It is all going to be fine,” she said, attempting to keep a smile on her face. It was so hot.

According to forecasters, this would be the last heat wave of the year, and by the end of the week, fall was going to officially arrive. After this, she was going to look forward to fall, being cold, wearing sweaters.

She walked all the way to the garage and Nate was standing outside, dressed in a sleeveless T-shirt. The top of his coveralls was around his waist, where he’d clearly removed it.

There was a woman talking to him, and Molly noticed the other woman was getting closer to him. Nate held onto his clipboard, listening, and then started to move around the car. As he did, Molly was able to get a clear look at the woman. It was Rachael Carter, who had been recently divorced from her cheating husband. The rumor mill had been circulating about her lately. Molly didn’t like listening to gossip, but while she was in line, waiting for her coffee, she wasn’t going to ignore anyone who was willing to talk.

She learned that so far, Rachael had enjoyed at least seven of the single men in town. There had also been a rumor that a certain married man had been caught sneaking out of her bedroom window.

Molly didn’t know if she should believe gossip or not. A few years ago, a rumor circulated that an alien was roaming free, but it had turned out to be a little five-year-old boy in a very authentic-looking costume. She’d liked the outcome of that gossip train. It turned out the boy’s mother had been practicing his Halloween costume, using makeup, and some crafts. Molly had been too busy with work to see the final result, but had gotten the pleasure at Halloween, and she had not been scared. He’d looked amazing, but then, all the kids had looked so cute, coming to get their candy.

Rachael reached out and stroked a hand down Nate’s arm, and Molly decided she had seen enough.

“Hey,” Molly said, drawing their attention to her.

She didn’t like Rachael, they had gone to school together. The other woman was used to being the center of attention. Molly had wondered how Rachael would handle being dumped. It was usually the other way around. Rachael was the one known for doing the dumping.

Now, as she looked at the other woman, she knew she had set her sights on Nate.

She forced a smile to her lips, especially as Nate came to her, putting a hand at her back, and pulling her in close to kiss her.

“Evening, beautiful,” he said.

Molly didn’t look back at Rachael, and instead looked at him. “Is everything okay?” she asked.

“It is now that you’re here.”

****

Nate finished his order and sent the waitress off. He glanced across the table and looked at Molly. He’d never been so happy to see someone. Rachael had arrived just as he was about to close his gates. She refused to stay in her car, and had insisted on getting out, showing him the problem with her car.

The only problem he saw was that she was a liar. There was nothing wrong with her car, as he’d been the one to service it for her less than a month ago. Actually, he’d gotten his friend Randy to deal with everything as he always tried to avoid Rachael. He didn’t like her. She’d always had a mean streak, and age hadn’t changed that. Nor had a cold marriage and a divorce, so he had no doubt nothing would ever change her.

He wanted to make this work with Molly, and seeing as he didn’t have the greatest reputation to begin with, he knew he had to do a lot. He wanted Molly to trust him.

“Are you okay?” Molly asked.

It was hot as hell outside, and the diner wasn’t much better, but they did have the AC working.

“I’m fine, glad you turned up when you did.”

Molly laughed. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

“No, and never,” he said.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask you.”

He raised his brows. “If I had ever been with Rachael, before or after her divorce. The answer is no.”

“Oh,” Molly said. “You did know.”

“Look, I wasn’t a good man. I get that. I know I’m not the kind of guy women want to bring home to see their parents.” He cringed and ran a hand down his face. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, and besides, my parents did like you,” Molly said.

This surprised him and he looked up to see if she was messing with him. “You’re joking?”

“I’m not.” She shook her head. “I can joke about a lot of things, but not when it comes to my parents. They did like you and said you were one hell of a mechanic. They also said something like, ‘young people do crazy stuff in their early years.’” She offered him a smile. “They were trying to tell me I wasn’t doing enough crazy stuff.”

He reached across the table and it pleased him when she placed her hand on top of his. “I’m not going to fuck this up.”

“We’re having fun, Nate, remember that.”

They were not having fun. They were dating, and Molly could attempt to dress it up however she needed to, but it didn’t change what they were. They were going steady, and there was no backing out.

“But I believe you. Rachael can be quite intense, and I know she doesn’t like getting no for an answer. Be careful around her.”

“I will.”

“Also, I’m not going to ask about your past. It’s not my place and it’s not about what you did before, and we’re starting new. It just so happens that you know I don’t really have a past.”

“Actually, if I recall, you’re good friends with the mother of one of your dates.”

Molly had told him all about her and she burst out laughing. “Yeah, you’re right about that. She has already called and asked me if it’s true that I’m dating the hunky mechanic with abs like steel.”

This made Nate laugh. “Abs like steel.”

And there was that blush.

“Her description, not mine, but I do believe they are quite strong, right?”

He winked at her. “The strongest.”

“You’re trying to embarrass me, aren’t you?”

“Not at all, but red is a beautiful look on those cheeks of yours.”

She bowed her head.

“And it makes me wonder what else I can get a blushing shade of red,” he said.

This made her look up at him, and she quickly glanced around the diner, but he already knew no one was paying them any attention, which is why he talked about spanking her ass, and driving her wild with need. There was so much he wanted to do to her.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about you today,” he said. He spent a lot of time thinking about Molly, but he didn’t want to scare her.

“You did?”

He nodded. “Yeah, but what I am curious about is … which book you’d love me to try first? I know you’ve written a lot, and you have a lot of sex in your books.”

Molly stared at him and he saw her chest rising and falling.

“I don’t think it is any one book, but how the man behaves, so I was going to try something tonight. Do I have your consent?” he asked.

“Do I need a safe word?”

He shook his head. “No, I’m man enough to handle when you tell me to stop.”

Nate sat back as their food was delivered.

He’d opted for the fully loaded burger complete with two delicious beef patties, battered onions, bacon, cheese, and even hash browns, along with a house special sauce. It was so good, and his favorite.

Molly had gone with the burger salad, which was also a great option, and he watched her dive in.

He loved that she wasn’t afraid to eat in front of him and he found it refreshing to watch.