She shook her head. It had been lies, all of it. He didn’t love her. How could he and keep something like that from her?
But unfortunately, her traitorous body still hadn’t caught up, hadn’t gotten the memo from her brain that no, she would never feel his hands on her bare skin again, never feel him moving above her, pushing deep inside her. Never feel his mouth on hers.
Stop this. Shut it down.
The sound of boots hitting the concrete floor behind her, followed by Alex’s greeting, had her relaxing her shoulders, though she hadn’t even realized she’d tensed until that moment. She’d known without looking it wasn’t him, still her body continued to betray her, anticipation flooding her system.
“Rust,” Alex called. “Someone to see you.”
Great.
Rusty straightened from the engine she was working on, wiped her hands on a rag, and turned to face the door.
Law, Reid’s friend and business manager, stood by the double roller doors, shoulder propped against the frame, taking in the workshop with sharp assessing eyes. “I can see why he wanted it.”
Prick.
Throwing the rag on the work bench, she narrowed her eyes at him. “You taking a shot now, Law? Did your boss send you to woo me as well, seduce me into handing over my business to him? Or maybe Pipe’s more to your taste? Alex is taken unfortunately. It’s just my sister and me to choose from. You like blondes or redheads?”
He pushed off the wall and came toward her. “Reid doesn’t know I’m here.”
“Then why are you? Trying to earn yourself a Christmas bonus?”
He shook his head, crossing his heavily tattooed arms over his leather cut. “He’s not the man you think he is, Rusty.”
“No?” Jesus, she did not need this right now. Did not want to hear whatever he was about to say. “And you’re here to what? Enlighten me?”
“You could say that.” He stared at her for a few uncomfortable seconds, then gave her a sharp nod, as if he’d made some kind of decision. “He fucked up. Big. No one knows that more than he does. I don’t know why, but he’s spent his life trying to prove to himself, to everyone else, that he’s not like that asshole father of his. And sometimes it makes him do stupid shit. But I can tell you now, he gave up on wanting this place as soon as he spent time with you.”
Rusty mimicked his pose, crossing her arms, fighting to ignore the way those words struck their mark. “I doubt that very much. He’s a heartless, scheming bastard.”
“I don’t know if you know this, but the guys that work for him all have pasts, extremely shitty pasts. When everyone else gave up on them, Reid was the one who gave them a chance, was there for them.” He stared her down. “He’s a good man.”
God, she couldn’t bear to hear any more. Stay strong. She’d made her decision. Reid had forced her to when he’d used her to try to get what he wanted.
“Well, that gives me the warm fuzzies and all, but I don’t know what it has to do with me.”
“I don’t think you’re hearing me.”
“Because nothing you can say will make any of this okay. None of it.”
He shook his head, expression grim. “It was real, Rusty. All of it.”
Jesus, she wanted to believe him, believe what he was telling her, but how could she? What Reid planned to do was unforgivable, wasn’t it?
“You’re wasting your breath.” The words felt torn from her throat.
He dropped his arms to his sides. “Look I’ve…” He clenched his fists at his sides. “He’s messed up over you. And I mean messed up. I’ve never seen him this way, and it’s not about losing his shot at this place. Like I said, he forgot all about that when he spent time with you. I don’t know, maybe you could…”
“I’ve heard enough. Reid and me are through, okay?” She would not end up the same way her father did, always pining after the person who stomped all over your heart. She deserved better than that and so had her father.
The muscle in his jaw jumped. “Fair enough. That’s your choice. I just thought you should know.”
“Well, now I do.” She tilted her head toward the door. “I’ve got to get back to work.”
After another uncomfortable pause, he gave her a curt nod and strode out the door.
She chose not to acknowledge the looks from her sister and Alex. No doubt Piper would give her a grilling when they were home later, but for now she didn’t want to think about it. Didn’t want to think about what Law had said. Didn’t want to feel the way his words had affected her.
So she bent back under the hood of the Caddy, and got to work.