Chapter Ten

A new day dawned, and with it came a sense of dread for Kelli. How was she supposed to face Chris and act as if nothing happened? She'd be much more likely to snap his neck. There was just no end to the loathing she felt toward him. Add to that the guilt she had over breaking Josh's heart again and she was in one hell of a mood by the time she walked into the garage, fifteen minutes late.

When she finally waltzed up to her station and started pulling out the tools she'd need for her first car, she caught Chris's scowl in her peripheral vision. After Chris had ruined her shirt, she'd taken to wearing the coveralls, but today she wore the top hanging down the back of her legs. She adjusted her ponytail after laying out her tools, always keeping her eyes down. However when she took her fingers from her hair, she flipped Chris off before going to work on the car in front of her.

Chris bit his tongue to keep from saying something that would expose the both of them. He shook his head and went back to his work, the muscles in his arms working as he tightened up everything he'd taken apart. His jaw was tight, he nearly roared in frustration as he accidentally broke the cap he was tightening.

Kelli glanced up from the engine of the car she was working on. She smirked at him before looking down again. A few moments later Chris told everyone to take a break. Kelli frowned as she looked up at him. He gave her a smile that sent chills down her spine. She watched as the other guys filed out to get their nicotine fix before turning her eyes back to Chris. "What the hell is this all about?" she asked, as Chris deliberately stepped around the car toward her. She took an involuntary step back before forcing herself to stand her ground.

"Did you really break up with my brother last night?" he asked quietly as he took another step closer. This time she didn't step back. That made him smile, but his smile seemed to piss her off.

"What is it to you if I did or not?" she asked silkily. Surprising both him and herself, she took a step closer to him and reached out, running the pad of her thumb over the dark bruise under his nearly black eye. "You think I did it because I suddenly want to be with you?"

He reached up and grasped her wrist in his hand, holding it tightly. "I sure hope you didn't do that. You'll be very disappointed to know that I don't want you," he said harshly. He turned his eyes away for a moment, hoping to disguise the lie in them. He wanted her. Not to be with her, but he wanted her in a primal sense.

Kelli looked to where his hand held her wrist then back to him, her brow raised. "You know, Chris, I always did like a challenge." Lowering her voice, and moving her lips to his ear she breathed, "That's why plotting Amanda's demise was such a rush for me."

It would be so easy to turn his head. He could capture her lips with his own, and it would be as explosive as it was the day before, he could feel it. As it was, she was so close, and the words, though not sexy in the least, breathed into his ear had him wanting her more than he had a moment ago. Just as he was turning his head to kiss her, she jerked back, pulling her wrist out of his grasp in the process.

"The question is, can we work together? While your black moods do amuse me, they will eventually give us both away, you do realize that?" Kelli said quietly.

Chris knew she was right. He'd never had any problems controlling himself, or his moods before with a human or a vampire. He had no idea what made this woman so different, and it pissed him off. "You'll be the death of me, I swear it," he muttered.

She threw her head back and laughed, and Chris was surprised at the sound. He hadn't ever heard her laugh, and he wondered how often she did it. It was like music to his ears and that, too, pissed him off. He scowled. "I'm glad you find my impending doom amusing, Masterson. If there's anything else I can amuse you with, please, don't hesitate to let me know," he said sarcastically before stomping up the stairs to his office.

Kelli was left staring after him. "What the hell is your problem?" she said, knowing he'd hear her. She turned back to her car and started working on the cooling system. It bothered her that she had wanted him to kiss her. She even thought he was going to, but she pulled out of his reach at the last second.

Chris didn't bother answering her as he slammed around his office. He felt out of control and he didn't know what to do about it. Firing Kelli would probably be the best and easiest solution, but she was the best mechanic besides himself that he had. And if he was honest with himself, he would admit that he wanted to see her every day. He sighed and ran his hands through is hair. He was pacing his office like a caged animal. As he watched the other guys start filing back in, he knew what he had to do.

Walking out of his office and halfway down the stairs, he looked at Kelli. "Masterson," he said. When she looked up, he gave her an apologetic look. "You're fired."

Kelli didn't think much could surprise her. She'd seen a lot in her years wandering the earth. But the wrench in her hand clattered to the floor as she looked up at Chris with shock. She stood still as he continued down the stairs. Finally drawing a breath, not realizing she had held it, or cared, she bent down and picked up the wrench. She tossed it in her tool box, then wiped her hands on a shop rag. Carefully stripping out of the coveralls, exposing her jeans underneath, she set them on the engine of the car. Very slowly, she closed up her tool box and latched it. Making sure she had everything, she walked around the car, head held high. She ignored the stares of the others, not even gracing Chris with a look.

As she walked by him, he couldn't help himself. He reached out and grasped her around her upper arm. She snarled and turned to yell at him to let her go. Instead, she sucked in a breath at the look in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Kelli. I have to do this for the good of us both," he said, so quietly only she could hear him. His lips twisted into a mockery of a smile. "I'm a bastard anyway, one that you can't stand. So what's one more black mark against me?"

Her hand clenched reflexively on the handle of the tool box she carried in her free hand. Oh how she wanted to smack him, but that might expose them both as something less than the humans they were desperately trying to portray. "Let. Me. Go," she said instead. Her voice was deadly.

Chris closed his eyes for a brief moment and inhaled her scent. Then he let her go roughly.

Rubbing her arm, more for show than anything, Kelli shot him a look that would have made another man cower in fear. Then, lifting her chin, she walked out of the garage.

Chris watched her go, wondering if he'd made the right decision. He sent a glare to the rest of his crew and turned back to his car. They were short handed again, so it was time to start busting ass to get it all done.

-

As Kelli threw the tool box in the trunk of her car, she fought down the rage. How dare he fire her? And for what? Because he couldn't handle himself when she was around? Maybe he should have fired himself. She was doing just fine! It wasn't her fault he was an idiot who couldn't keep his hands to himself.

Sliding behind the wheel, she stared at the back entrance to the garage. If it wouldn't destroy her car, she would consider driving it into the back wall, hoping to bring something down on top of him. Maybe she'd go out later and see if she could find him and run him over with her car.

That thought made her smile. Yeah, right, all that would do is break her car, and that was the whole reason she wasn't driving it into the wall of the garage right now, wasn't it? Putting it into gear she drove off, making sure to spit gravel at Chris's car. It was the very least he deserved.

What would she do now? At least working at the garage had given her a sense of purpose. She hadn't been feeling that empty feeling as often. As she maneuvered the car through the streets of town, she wondered what she would tell Jade. How would she explain what happened, when she herself wasn't sure?

She was driving along the gate to the complex, coming down the street where she had seen Chris run off last night. When she noticed the dent in the iron, she knew what she had to do. Speeding by the entrance, she headed for the house she thought she'd never set foot in again. It was time to get this hashed out in a private setting where they didn't have to fear what would happen.