Chapter 14
"Speak of the devil..."
Jon kissed the back of her hand before she could pull it away, then straightened himself up, hearing Joe pull the Ford into the open bay door. He winked down at Cheria and headed back out to the garage. Christ, he was never going to be able to walk properly again, or at least not until he finally claimed what she was offering, what they both wanted. Jon was out of his mind for thinking about this - about her right now in the shop, of all places. She had officially ruined him, the she-devil.
"How's it sound?"
"Purring like a kitten. Want me to call Trent and let him know he can pick it up?"
"Yeah." He couldn't go back in that office, not right now. Jon might pin Cheria to the desk and have his way with her, the sneaking around be damned! "Or... have Cheria do it." Sometimes he forgot she actually worked for him.
Joe did as he was told, walking into the office to give Cheria the phone call order.
"Sure thing." Cheria grinned evilly at Joe again, taking the slip of paper from him and made the call to the owner of the truck, letting him know to pick his vehicle up along with the total he owed.
"Get the fuck outta here! I'm not paying that! That's not what we agreed on!" Trent was livid, one of Jon's best customers and couldn't believe the boy was trying to pull the wool over his eyes. "Where's Jon? I demand to speak to him NOW!"
This was the first time Cheria had been yelled at over the phone and it somewhat intimidated her, but she had to maintain her cool. "Sir, the amount is final. Now, if you don't want to pay for the services, we'd be happy to keep your vehicle, sell it and then bill you 3 times the amount of what it is right now. It's your choice. Have a nice day."
She hung up the phone and took a couple deep breaths to slow her racing heart. There was no way she would allow a customer to intimidate her and, if he came into the office today, THEN he would speak to Jon face to face. Sure enough, Trent came into the office, or was dropped off, since his ride was currently in the garage, being held captive by some sassy woman.
"All right, where's Good?" He demanded, eyeballing the woman behind the desk. His face, already ruddy, went redder at the sight of a little girl looking up at him. "Jon Good, get your thieving ass in here, boy!"
"You bellowed, Trent?"
"Did you authorize this punk to threaten to sell my goddamn car and still bill me?"
That was news to him. "Sure did, got a problem with that?"
"You little-!"
"Trent, you've been good to us and we've been good to you, but when you were quoted, it was just for the brakes. We called you back. Joe personally called you actually and told you about all the rest. You said and I quote 'Just fix the goddamn thing and bill me.'" Jon even did the air quote thing. Trent had a temper, but he was usually pretty fair with them.
"Unless you want us to remove the parts and let your tires fall off, we're cool with that too." Joe was now leaning in the doorway that connected to the garage, arms folded over his chest. He remembered that conversation quite well. Trent hadn't even asked for the new price.
"I... no, I'll pay it. Goddamn..." Trent reached for his wallet, grumbling under his breath. "Can't believe you hired some punk ass kid, letting them threaten customers like that."
"Pay the lady and get the hell out."
"What?"
"You can't talk decent to or about her, you can get the flying fuck out of my shop before I throw you out." Jon was not amused anymore.
Cheria smiled sweetly at the red-faced older man and took the money, all $1,500 of it, and printed him out a receipt. There was no need for him to sign anything since it was all cash. She couldn't believe both Jon and Joe defended her, but had a feeling she'd be scolded for what she said to Trent.
"Have a nice day, sir." She kept the same tone of voice she had with him over the phone, staying completely professional while he glared daggers at her with his dark beady eyes.
"You're damn lucky I like this place or I'd find a new shop to fix my shit. Little girl, sit your ass down and-"
His eyeballs nearly fell out of his head when Jon shoved him away from the desk through the door, making Trent land on his backside on the hard concrete. Joe was so glad he used cheap used tires and hoped they popped on Trent's ride home. Maybe they'd get lucky and he'd drive into a ditch.
"We don't need your business anymore. You're banned from here."
"I'm sorry…" Cheria apologized as soon as Jon and Joe walked back into the office, lowering her head.
Technically, Cheria was in the right. If Trent refused to pay the bill, they could have claimed the car as payment and still billed him for excess. Of course, that was always a last resort because being taken to court and wading through legal proceedings just to prove the shop was in the right was a pain in the backside. That wasn't the first card played out the gate either, not that Cheria knew that.
"Joe?"
"Yeah." Joe would explain it to her since Jon had to go put that car out for Trent to take.
Cheria sat and listened silently while Joe explained why it was both right and wrong for her to threaten Trent over the phone. They couldn't be threatening customers or else the business would surely fail, destroying their reputation. Cheria understood, apologizing once more for acting irrationally and letting her emotions get the best of her. It angered her how many people tried taking advantage of Jon though. Again, she couldn't let her feelings get in the way of business – they had to remain separated. Joe left her be to go work in the garage while Jon remained outside, smoking a cigarette trying to calm down. He did send her a text letting her know he wasn't angry with her and asked if she wanted to spend time with him tonight after the shop closed down.
Only if you help me study for a test. Cheria texted back, needing to get some studying done since the test was 2 days away and she hadn't started any of it.
Jon wasn't angry with Cheria in the slightest. He was pissed the hell off with Trent and knew that anger would seep into whatever conversation they might have had regarding when it was alright to start... not threatening, but politely reminding customers of the consequences should they refuse to pay. Sure, what's the subject?
Jon had done fairly well in school, even with his crappy penmanship. Though, he had written a lot neater back then, now it was usually scribbles. Or chicken scratch, Cheria hadn't been wrong about that, but the way he figured, he wasn't a doctor and his penmanship wasn't about to cost anyone their lives.
Chemistry. I'm not very good at it. I need help remembering the Periodic Table more than anything. She sent back, not about to tell him the test was a 1/3rd of her grade and the Periodic Table was over half of it.
Without studying, Cheria would surely fail. What had she been thinking threatening one of Jon's customers? Regret was following along with the realization of what she did. If she was anybody else, Jon would've more than likely canned her, not that Cheria didn't deserve it. Sighing, Cheria turned and began typing on the computer again, answering phone calls and whatnot to make appointments for people to bring their vehicles in to be checked over.
I can do that. Jon sent back over an hour later.
Pretty sure he remembered most of them, a quick refresher would probably bring most of it back. Other than totally botching government, he had been a fairly decent student. Cheria was smart, he knew she'd do great, but if she wanted his help, he'd give it to her. Jon finished with his cigarette, tucked away his cell and went back to work. He and Joe had most of the scratches buffed out by the time closing rolled around and would be ready to smooth them out before painting tomorrow. No getting high on paint fumes tonight.
They met at the hill, the same one where Cheria gave him a little sample of what she had to offer. Cheria climbed into his truck and set her book bag on the floorboard, immediately being pulled against him for a kiss. She unbuckled his seatbelt and swung one leg over Jon's thighs to straddle him, shifting a little to get more comfortable. First a little make out session and then they would get to work on studying for chemistry. She missed him and felt after the stunt she pulled at work earlier owed him for not firing her on the spot. Not wanting to think about that right now, Cheria just wanted to enjoy her time with Jon for however long she had him and broke the kiss reluctantly, removing the baseball cap he had on backwards on his head to run her fingers through his curls. Carefully, Jon somehow managed to navigate them until they were in the middle of the seat, giving her a bit more leeway since she no longer had the steering column up her backside. He wouldn't turn down spending time with her, be it studying for chemistry or this and smiled when she snagged a curl.
"Don't fight my hair, babe, it'll win." Jon teased, leaning forward to kiss her again. "Shouldn't you be studying, Cher?" He murmured, his lips trailing down her jawline to her throat, feeling her tilting her head to give him better access. Studying was probably the last thing on her mind and it definitely wasn't first on his.
"I love your hair."
Yes, she should be studying and he agreed to help her, but all Cheria could think about was his lips on any part of her body. Reaching up, she removed the clip and let her hair cascade down her back in soft silver waves, knowing Jon enjoyed it when she had it down. Only for him though, no one else.
"You're such a bad influence on me, Jonny boy." Pulling back, Cheria pecked his lips softly once more and grabbed her book bag to pull the chemistry book out, flipping it open to the page with the Periodic table on it. "Okay so let's make a game out of this – make it a little more interesting. For every answer I get right, I'll remove one piece of whatever I have on. And every answer I get wrong, I put a piece back on. What do you think? Or do you have a better idea?"
That actually seemed like a win for him, but Jon wasn't entirely sure what she was getting out of it. Jon shook his head, smirking and took the book from her. "For every right answer you get, Cher," He paused, considering her, wondering how far either of them were willing to go with this little game. "I'll give you a kiss, in a place of my choosing." She currently wore a skirt, a rather boring professional skirt, that came down enough to be modest, but wasn't constricting enough to prevent her from straddling his lap. He decided he liked this skirt. "If you get the answer wrong, you don't get anything."
Jon had a feeling she would get a lot of those answers right, especially once he got started. Cheria smiled, not believing how considerate and kind he was. He always thought of her, put her first above anything else besides his job. Even so, he defended her against one of his customers today and that made her heart swell.
"Deal." She held her hand out, giggling softly when he blew raspberries against it and smacked his arm playfully, shaking her head. "To make this fair, I need to get off your lap…"
Removing herself from him completely so she could think without a clouded brain, Cheria leaned back against the seat and awaited her first question. Maybe it would've been smarter to review the book before handing it over to Jon. As if sensing what she was thinking, Jon held the book out to her and let her have it before glancing at his cell phone. He set a timer on it and leaned back, giving her a few minutes to study up before he quizzed her on the Periodic table. Jon figured if their little game got to out of hand, he could be the responsible adult society said he was, stop and actually prep her. He definitely did not want her failing school; she was way too smart for that. When the alarm went off, Jon took the book back and smirked at her from his spot. This would have been better suited for somewhere... less crowded.
"Ready?" At her nod, they began.
The first 4 questions were easy, but then Jon got into the hard ones and it made her brain hurt thinking of the answer. "Damn it, I don't know that one." Cheria enjoyed the spots Jon kissed –neck, cheek, forehead and other side of her neck thus far– wanting more. In order to get more kisses, she had to get the questions right. "Alright – alright next one." Cheria waved her hands in frustration at him, a frown marring her face because this test was vital to her chemistry grade. It sucked she had to take courses she would never need in life and same would be for college, such as math when she wanted nothing to do with it. "Umm Ra is…Radium?"
Jon nodded, holding up a finger to indicate she was at one kiss. He figured it would be more productive if Cheria got them in groups, so she was able to focus more on the elements. "Sc?"
It took her a moment before she finally came up with the answer. "Scandium."
Jon wondered if she was having problems remembering what was what or just how to pronounce the words because, for the most part, Cheria was doing great. He was keeping a mental count of the ones she had gotten wrong, so they could go over those later. When she hit 5, he moved deciding he wanted to kiss those beautifully tanned thighs of hers. Sliding a strong calloused hand on her knee under the skirt, Jon cocked an eyebrow at her, silently asking if she was comfortable with this. When Cheria nodded, Jon bent down pressing kiss number one on the inside of her knee. Studying with Jon both proved to be pure hell and heaven at the same time. Hell when she got an answer wrong and heaven because of his addictive lips on her body. Cheria shivered when he pressed another kiss, after another right answer, further up her thigh pushing the skirt up inch by inch. She had to learn how to breathe again. This was definitely perfect motivation for her to do well on the quiz he currently gave her. Her tongue snaked out to wet her dry lips and could see the longing in Jon's eyes to continue further up her thigh, swallowing past the lump formed in her throat.
"At…At…" If she could get this right, maybe Jon would arrive at her panties. She doubted it though. "Astatine?" The grin on Jon's face told her the answer was correct and Cheria leaned her head back when he pushed the skirt up to bunch around her hips. "Oh god…"
As much as Jon wanted to, he did not remove, or make any move to touch those panties, though being so close was pure torture. When she managed to shakily get out another right answer, he groaned, wondering who was being tortured more and let his lips ghost along those panties, so close but not quite touching, until he reached the thigh he had been neglecting. Jon could feel her muscles tensing, and placed his hand on her knee, squeezing gently.
"Keep going, Cher."
It was almost a relief when Cheria got the answer wrong on the next question and that forced Jon away from her white cotton panties. She never wore lace or anything like that, not seeing a reason to. Comfort was a priority when dealing with all the imbeciles she went to school with. If they continued this game, the teasing would only intensify and the sexual tension between them was thick enough already. They would literally explode when finally coming together, Cheria shivering at the thought.
"I-I think that's enough studying." They'd been going at it for a straight hour; if Jon was smart, he would take her home before anything else transpired between them.
"I think you're right, you seem to have most of it down." He agreed, knowing they needed some space before things got out of hand.
Moving back until he was on his side of the truck, Jon took a moment to calm himself down. From the corner of his eye, Jon could see Cheria righting herself, smoothing the skirt down. Plain white cotton panties... there was something sexy, seductive, about such a plain innocent garment and he inwardly groaned.
Prom couldn't get here fast enough.