Jayden, page 18
part #5 of Heroes at Heart Series
“Like I said, boss, you won’t know until you ask her.”
They lay in bed, a tangle of arms and legs entwined, Ruby’s cheek resting on Jayden’s heartbeat. The only sound in the room was their ragged breathing as they both recovered languidly from their orgasms.
His fingers traced lazy patterns over her lower back, occasionally moving toward a ticklish spot that made her twitch and giggle. After a few minutes of gathering his courage, he spoke. “There’s something I want to talk to you about, Ruby. Well, something I want to ask you. I suppose, though, before I ask you, I need to explain—”
Lifting her head from his chest, she peered searchingly into his eyes. “Goodness, Jayden. Just spit it out. You’re making me nervous!”
He shifted up in the bed, tossing some pillows behind him and leaned against the headboard. Easily dragging her up with him, he settled her on top of him, so that they could face each other.
She sucked in her lips, placing her hands on his waist, giving him her full attention but did not say anything.
“When you were in my office earlier today, you saw how messy it was. I told you that I always wanted to work on cars and be a mechanic, doing that as soon as I could get a job and going for that career when I was in the military. When I took over the business, I was thrilled. I knew there was a lot of paperwork to do, but being my own boss and running my own garage was a dream come true. I’ve done okay with the office management…but I hate it. I could easily hire someone because the shop is doing well enough that I could pay to have a full-time office manager. But,” he grimaced, “I’ve hated the idea of a stranger coming in and going through everything.” Shrugging, he added, “So, I just let it go.”
He looked to see if she seemed to be getting what he was leading to, but Ruby’s face showed concern instead.
“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry you have all that to deal with.”
“I’m not telling you this to get your sympathy,” he explained. “What I’m really doing is fishing.”
She blinked, her face becoming a mask of confusion. “Fishing?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “I’m not doing a very good job of this.”
She slid her hands up to his shoulders, and his gaze dropped from her face to her breasts. He realized too late having the conversation while sitting naked facing each other might not have been his best plan. Eyes back on her face, eyes back on her face.
Pushing her long hair away from her shoulders so that he could refocus on her beautiful blue eyes peering intently at him, he said, “What I’m trying to do, Ruby, is see if you would be interested in the job.”
She blinked again, this time her eyes widening, and her brows reached her forehead. “What? You’re offering me the job of working in your office?”
Immediately contrite, he said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I mean, you’ve got your hands full with everything you’re doing and working in a smelly old shop is probably the last thing that you would ever want to do. Just forget I ever said anything.”
She grabbed his cheeks and grinned. “Don’t you dare take that offer back!”
“You’d be interested?” he asked, incredulous that she would consider his offer. “I thought it made sense in my mind until I just said it. And then I was afraid it might be insulting.”
“Insulting?” she huffed. “Why on earth would you think it would be insulting?”
He moved his hand through her tresses, tucking them behind her ears, gathering his thoughts. His gaze was captured by hers when she shifted, placing her face right in his line of vision.
“Tell me,” she prodded softly.
“I don’t want you to take the job just because you feel sorry for me, thinking that I need the help. I also don’t want you to think that I’m insulting the jobs that you already have.”
“Jayden, honey, the work I’m doing now, I’m doing because there are bills to pay. But I also know that I’ll never have real financial security in those jobs. Granny once asked if I’d like to open my own housecleaning business where I hired other people to work for me. “
Nodding slowly, Jayden said, “You could so do that…own your own business.” Shit, I never thought about that, and here I am offering her to work for me. “That’s something you could do, and I know you’d be successful at it.”
Shaking her head, she said, “That’s not what I want to do. I honestly don’t want the hassle of having people work for me. Always having to check up on them, deal with the craziness of running my own business, getting the start-up money. I don’t have a problem working for someone else.”
He observed as she quieted, thoughts whirling behind her eyes. Her brow furrowed, and he worried where her thoughts had gone. Lifting his hand, he smoothed her brow with his forefinger, sliding it down around to her chin. “What are you thinking now?”
“I’m thinking of the great what if. You know, what if we stop seeing each other?”
He had not given that any consideration but knew it was not fair to dismiss her concerns. “Baby, I have no way of knowing what the future holds, but right now I know that I want you in it. If you start working for me and things go wrong, I trust that we’ll deal.” Leaning forward slightly so that their faces were almost pressed together, he asked, “Can you believe that?”
A smile curved her lips, and she clutched his cheeks, saying, “I totally trust you, Jayden.”
Grinning widely, he asked, “So? Do you want the job?”
“What’s the dress code?”
Staring at her blankly, his brows drew down as he repeated, “Dress code? Baby, you can wear anything you want.”
Laughing, she replied, “Then I absolutely want the job! And I can start tomorrow afternoon!”
23
The next morning, Ruby sent emails to her housecleaning clients, giving them two weeks’ notice. Making sure to not burn bridges, she thanked them for their business and explained that a new, full-time employment opportunity had come along that would give her the benefits she had been lacking.
She quickly finished the one house she had to clean that morning and ran home before showing up at Jayden’s garage to start her first day. Barely calling out a greeting to Granny, she ran through the front door and up the stairs to her bedroom.
“Goodness gracious, girl,” Granny called out from the living room. “Where’s the fire?”
Hanging over the banister, she yelled, “I’m sorry, Granny. I wanted to try to see what I can wear for my first afternoon at Jayden’s garage.”
She ran to her small closet, throwing open the door. Most of her clothes were bought for practicality. There were the short skirts that were required for Carter’s, now shoved to the back. I need to give those away. I wouldn’t even wear those to a nightclub…not that I go to nightclubs! Then there were the blue jeans that she wore when cleaning houses. Comfortable and serviceable, they did not scream ‘I work in an office’.
Her shirts were no better. T-shirts or blouses had always proved to fit most of her needs in clothing. Huffing, she stood, biting her lip, considering her options.
“What are you doing?”
Hearing the words behind her, she whirled around, her eyes as wide as saucers as she stared at Granny. “Oh, my God! Granny, you came up the stairs! You walked by yourself?”
Chuckling, Granny moved to sit on Ruby’s bed and replied, “Well I didn’t sprout wings and fly up here.”
Rushing to her grandmother’s side, she knelt in front of her. “Please don’t take chances on my account. If you needed something, I would’ve come to you.”
Her grandmother smiled fondly at her and patted her shoulder. “My dear, I’ve never had any doubt that you would do whatever you needed to do take care of me. But I’m getting stronger, my hip is getting better. I assure you that I have been practicing my walking every day, and I held on very carefully to the railing.”
Breathing out a long sigh of relief, she said, “Well, okay. If you’re sure. But promise me you won’t climb the stairs when I’m not here.”
“I promise,” Granny said. “But enough about me. What on earth are you fretting about, staring into your closet?”
She blushed and dropped her gaze, saying, “It’s nothing, Granny.”
Granny reached out and lifted Ruby’s chin with her fingers. “Now, Ruby girl, don’t fib to me. I always told you that everybody has a right to their own feelings. So, you’re obviously feeling something, so tell me what it is.”
Eyes bright, she admitted, “Jayden has no idea how much this opportunity means to me. I don’t know if anyone does.”
“Then tell me, sweetheart.”
She stared for a moment into the face that had been with her through thick and thin, through laughter and tears, through good times and hard times, seeing nothing but interest and concern. Unburdening herself to Granny had always been the easiest thing to do, and today was no different.
“When I was working as a teenager in the grocery store, wearing my shirt with the store’s logo, I was so proud. But sometimes I would see women coming in wearing skirts or dresses, and heels, knowing that they had just come from whatever business they worked at. And as happy as I was to have the job that I did, there was a tiny bit of hope that one day I would get to dress that way when going to work.”
She continued to watch her grandmother, not surprised to see no look of censure but one of understanding. “When I started working at Carter’s, I hated the short skirts and tight shirts. I wasn’t embarrassed to be a server, but I was embarrassed to wear that uniform, knowing that men had a certain expectation from a woman who dressed that way to work.”
Granny’s face hardened, her mouth in a tight line. “Oh, Ruby girl, I hated that you worked there. I’ve never been so glad as when you came in and told me that you’d left that place.”
Chuckling, she nodded, having felt the same way. “Cleaning houses, I could dress any way I wanted to, but of course I needed to dress in clothes that could get dirty. Again, I would see women wearing nice clothes and always wondered if there was ever a chance that I could be one of those, too.”
Understanding dawned on Granny’s features, and she nodded. “And now you have a chance to work in an office and want to dress that way.”
Nodding emphatically, she said, “Yes. I know Jayden doesn’t expect it, and he’d be fine if I just showed up in jeans and a T-shirt. I also know that it’s a small office in a car repair shop, so it’s not fancy and not like I’ll be around a lot of people.” Settling back on her heels, still kneeling in front of Granny, she added, “I know it sounds silly, but regardless of the type of shop, I’m still going to be the office manager. And I want to look the part based on me.”
“I see,” Granny said, her smile firmly on her face and her eyes twinkling. Looking past Ruby, into the closet, she said, “You do have a few dresses. There are even some sundresses you haven’t worn recently.”
Scrunching her brow, she said, “I don’t think a sundress is the professional look I’m going for.”
Granny placed her hand on Ruby’s shoulder and stood. Jumping up to assist her, they walked to Ruby’s closet and peered inside together.
“You can certainly buy some new outfits, but until then, I think if you use your imagination, you’ll find that you can dress the way you would like to.” Granny leaned forward and reached for a hanger, pulling it out. A fitted sundress in pale green was in her hand. Before Ruby could protest, Granny pulled out a lightweight, yellow cardigan “Pair these together, and I think you’ll find that you have a very professional look.”
A gleam of speculation appeared in her eyes, and she immediately jerked off her T-shirt and slid out of her jeans. Granny laughed at her enthusiasm, and Ruby slipped the sundress on. Breathing a sigh of relief that it still fit, she pulled the lightweight sweater over the sundress and peered into the full-length mirror hanging on the back of her door.
Turning quickly, she dug in the bottom of her closet, coming up with a pair of black pumps. The heels were only about three inches, but they completely transformed the look from summer fun to one of business casual.
Twirling around, she threw her arms up in the air as she hopped up and down in joy. “Oh, my God! Thank you, Granny! I know it’s not fancy, but this is perfect.”
Granny laughed along with her, and the two women hugged warmly. Pulling away, Ruby said, “Let me fix my hair and do my makeup. You sit here with me, and then I’ll go down with you to make sure you get back to the first floor okay.”
Granny agreed, and twenty minutes later they made their way downstairs. After a quick lunch of sandwiches, she took a last look into the mirror and headed out the door. Time for her first afternoon as the new office manager of J.C. Tire & Auto.
Jayden was glad the shop was full, his four mechanics busy at work, and he was arms deep in the engine of a pickup truck. Otherwise, he would have done nothing but continually stand at the garage doors waiting for Ruby to pull up.
Cas walked over to speak to him but stared outside instead. Grinning, Cas said, “Looks like our new office manager is here, and fuck, man, she’s a damn sight prettier than you are, boss.”
Jayden turned around, his eyes bugging out of his head as he watched Ruby stroll toward him, her feet in heeled pumps instead of sneakers. Her dark hair was pulled away from her face, the tresses hanging down her back and curling around her shoulders. Her lips were slicked with pink, and her blue eyes seemed impossibly large, highlighted with a little makeup. Her sweet body was encased in a fitted dress, a demure sweater over the top, not helping to tamp down the sexiness of her overall appearance.
Reaching him, she smiled a greeting toward the other mechanics, all staring at her, their tools unmoving in their hands. Looking up, she said, “I’m here.”
Continuing to stare, mouth open, he finally said, “Whoa, baby. Hot damn!” He dragged his gaze back up her body, landing on her face, and said, “You know you don’t gotta get all dressed up, right?”
Her face immediately fell, and she dropped her gaze, sweeping her appearance. “Oh,” she said, her voice low. “I was going for professional, but is this too much?”
Before he had a chance to answer, Cas intervened, clapping Jayden on the shoulder. “Ruby, I’ll go ahead and let you know, you’ve got my vote for best dressed in the shop. Glad to have you on board,” he said, throwing her a wink before he turned and went back to his vehicle.
Glaring narrow-eyed at Cas’ back, Jayden felt a delicate touch on his arm and jerked his head around.
“Are you upset?”
He felt like an ass, seeing her worried face. Shit, she’s gone to all this trouble and I’m making her second guess herself. “No, baby, I’m not upset at all. You look absolutely gorgeous.”
He shot a look toward his other mechanics, letting them know they needed to get back to work, and he took her arm and gently led her to the office. Once inside, he turned to her and said, “I just want you to know you don’t have to dress like this. Hell, honey, you can come in jeans and a T-shirt.”
Her hands fluttered nervously to her sides before she rested them on the skirt of her dress, smoothing it slightly. “I know you said you didn’t care. It’s just that I’ve never been able to wear clothes like this to any job I’ve ever had.”
He stepped forward and pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her head. “It’s important to you.”
She nodded her head, pressed against his chest, and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Babe, you can wear whatever you want. Although,” he said, leaning away, offering her a stern look, “you’ll make it mighty distracting working here looking the way you do.” Chuckling, he added, “But then you could wear a paper sack and you’d distract me.”
She met his grin with one of her own and stepped back. “Okay, boss, show me what you want me to do today.”
He looked around the office and sighed. “I’m not quite sure what to have you start with. Orders and payroll are up-to-date, but maybe you could just start organizing what’s here?”
Nodding emphatically, she agreed.
“That’ll also give me a chance to get familiar with the forms you use and the lingo of your job.”
Knowing he needed to leave her and get back to work, he gave her a quick kiss and headed back into the shop. A few minutes later, he looked toward the office where the blinds were open at the window between their spaces and stared at the beauty that was smiling widely while working. His heart light, he turned his attention back to the truck engine.
The afternoon flew by as Ruby methodically went through one piece of paper at a time. Continuing the process she started the other day, she began by making piles and stacks around the room.
As she read over some of the parts orders, her respect for Jayden rose as high as her confusion. Batteries, brake drums, alternators, gaskets. Who the hell even knew there were so many types of belts and hoses? It’s going to take me forever to learn how to do this!
Closing her eyes for a moment, she breathed deeply and remembered what Granny had always told her…One step at a time, girl. One step at a time.
The next thing she knew, Jayden was walking into the office, and she realized that a couple of the mechanics had closed their bay doors. “The day is over?”
He sat on the edge of the desk and looked around, a smile playing on his lips. Her gaze followed his, and she rushed to say, “It’s getting organized. Right now, it’s kind of organized chaos.”
He chuckled and said, “Come on, babe. Let’s go home.”
She grabbed her purse and walked out with him as he locked the door behind them. He had said the word home, and she knew he was talking about his apartment. She could not help but wonder if one day that word would mean where both of them lived together.
24
Granny and Miss Ethel laughed as Ruby described her first attempts at organizing Jayden’s office. Granny had been excited to go somewhere, so upon Miss Ethel’s invitation, they had gone to her house for coffee.
