"Uh, yes ma'am," the bigger of the two mumbled out.
My eyes rolled and my hand motioned to the truck. "So why are you taking it? It isn't illegally parked, this is my house and I always park here! So why don't you tell me what the issue is and what you are doing!"
They exchanged a glance and all at once both started talking. Words came out, not sentences, just random babbling; all while their eyes moved from my bare hips to my chest and back to my face.
"Stop, I don't understand what you're saying." The smoker cleared his throat and stepped forward.
"We were just taking it to our shop to fix it, ma'am."
Pudgy pointed at him and nodded. "Yeah, we were going to bring it right back."
I threw my head back in a dry, sarcastic laugh. "Oh sure, right, why wouldn't I believe that?! Now unhook my car and get out of here. If I ever see you on my property again I will call the police."
I turned to leave but was immediately stopped. "Wait!"
"What?"
"We were sent here on a job to pick up the car, return it to our auto shop and get it fixed up for you." His words hurried out as if I was about to pounce with my claws and start tearing them to shreds.
"Who on Earth would tell you to do that?" Half way through asking I knew the answer. Why I didn't guess it sooner was beyond me.
"Man named Stefan Harrison."
"Best client we have," Pudgy chimed in.
A sigh escaped my chest, already taking away the fight I had just moments before. "Get him on the phone for me," I commanded.
Once more they exchanged glances before looking at me with caution in their eyes. "Well, we … "
I held off a hand to cut them off. "Call him, right now." My hand flipped around and extended out for them to grab hold of it. Pudgy looked to Smoker as he put a hand on the front pocket of his shirt where the bulge of his phone sat. Smoker glanced at me and then gave a single nod, as if telling him to proceed.
He gave in, pulled it out and searched his contacts. I watched him hit send and cast a look to me before handing his phone over with a grunt. I pressed it against my ear and seconds later the undeniable voice of Stefan echoed in my head.
"Harrison," he bellowed out in a tone that I was foreign to.
"Desmond," I replied.
A soft deep chuckle softened the harsh sound that just filled my ear. "How are you doing this morning, Greyson Rose?"
"Why are you having my car towed?"
Stefan made a clicking sound with his tongue of disapproval. "Did they not explain it to you?"
"You can't just have my car taken into a shop without my knowledge."
"Your car isn't working, and I had a feeling you weren't going to get it taken care of. Just let them bring it in. I'll make sure it is fixed, paid for and returned to you safe and sound." I looked over to my 2009 yellow VW Bug and I knew she needed some work. This car was my baby, and I hated how awful I had been on keeping up the maintenance. So sad to say there was a part of me that wanted to just let them take her and fix her up, but I couldn't just let Stefan control this.
I haven't seen the man in years and suddenly he's back and calling the shots-I don't think so.
"I don't need you to fix it, Stef! I will take care of it."
"Let them do it. I trust them with my cars. These guys know what they're doing, and I promise they won't fuck it up, because they know if they do they'll lose my business."
"I never said I was worried about them! I'm just telling you that I do not need your money or your help."
"Put me on speaker, Grey." Strangely enough I did.
"You're on," I said with a resigned sigh. Without having a good reason as to why I felt my hard-ass attitude slipping away with each passing second-it was. There was something surreal and entrancing about having Stefan just a phone call away.
"Stick to the plan, guys. Take Ms. Desmond's car in, do a complete check, and tell me what needs to be done. I want it all fixed today so she doesn't have to continue riding in a cab if she needs to come to my work and scream at me again." I heard the amusement in his voice, and that added with the exchange of glances between the men made it almost impossible to hold back a laugh.
"We're on it, sir," Smoker replied as Pudgy nodded, even though Stefan couldn't see him.
"Wonderful, send me an invoice as soon as you have it ready."
"Will do."
"Wait!" I yelled out. The men turned their attention from the phone to me. By the subtle sigh that left them both told me they were not excited to hear anything more I had to say.
"What is it?" Stefan asked after it was clear the others weren't going to.
"I'm going with."