For a second he couldn't breathe. She was even sexier than she was in high school. How was that possible?

Smiling sweetly, she pulled out a cigarette, and handed it to him.

"Hey Rooney, my sick friend. Got a light?"

Nervously, he fumbled in his pocket for a lighter, managing to ignite a flame. When she leaned over to light her cigarette, he could see every curve of her body. At that moment, he thought he might faint.

"Hey, Janine. How's it going?"

"Um, things are good."
"Yeah, I heard you guys got married. Congratulations." He said, hating the sound of those words.

She took a drag of her cigarette. "Thanks."

"How is Corbet? I haven't seen him in years."

"Corbet and I... we're doing really great. Um, just great. Really, really happy"

His eyes narrowed at the hesitant way she answered the question.

"What's he been up to?"
"Oh... Corbet? Well, he... he's fine. He's so great about taking care of the kids. God, I still can't believe I'm the mother of six kids. What was I thinking?"

Rooney was unconvinced. There was definitely something she wasn't telling him.

But it was none of his business anyway, so it was best to let the subject drop.

He should hate Corbet for stealing Janine away, but Rooney gave Janine plenty of reasons to leave.

"Hey, Rooney!" He heard Dan yelling. "You gonna flirt all day or are you gonna help the lady?"
Rooney felt his face flush with embarrassment.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just keep your shirt on!" he yelled to Dan.

He turned to Janine. "So, what can I do for you?"
"Um, well when we start the car, it makes this horrible squealing noise. Corbet says he wants it fixed immediately. Says it makes him crazy."

"A weird noise, huh? Well, let's take a look."

Rooney popped the hood, and lifted it up to peer inside.

"I don't see anything unusual. Why don't you sit here and I'll do a more thorough check?"

He motioned to a wooden crate.

Dutifully, she sat down, and extinguished the cigarette by throwing it on the ground and then smashing it with her black shoe.

It took every ounce of willpower Rooney had inside of him not to stare at the curves of her body; the way the green dress fit tight against her skin. The temperature in the garage seemed to have increased dramatically. Funny that none of the other guys noticed it.

He grabbed his supplies and leaned under the hood, checking everything as thoroughly as he could.

"So how are you, Rooney?" He heard her ask.

"Me? Well, you know how it is, working two jobs and all."

He caught her reflection in the side view mirror; she definitely looked impressed. Besides, he couldn't risk having word of his firing by Marissa spread around. God knows what people could do with that information.

"Okay, I haven't found anything, but let me try starting the engine." He said after closing the hood.

He walked to the car, opened the door and slid into the driver's seat, trying not to think about the fact that she'd been sitting there only minutes before. His hand trembled as he turned the key. The engine roared to life and then purred like a kitten. Seconds later he turned it off.

She shot up from the wooden box. "But that's impossible! I swear, it was making the noise all the way over here!"

She walked over to the car and waited until Rooney got out of the car to sit down in the driver's seat. When she moved past him, her bare arm brushed against his shirt, sending a chill up his spine.
"Oh, I can't believe this!" She put her hands on her head in frustration.

"Just chalk it up to Murphy's Law." Rooney said, smiling.

"Who?"

Rooney chuckled at the seriousness of her question.

"It's like when you feel sick, so you go to the doctor but once you get there, you feel fine. So that means that the noise you've been hearing may start up again once you leave here."

"Corbett's gonna kill me." She groaned. "He wanted this fixed today."
"Let him know there ain't nothing to fix." Rooney said. "He'll probably be happy to hear it."
"I doubt that. He's never happy." She replied in a voice so soft, Rooney had to strain to hear her.

"Well, if it starts up again, you know where to find me." Rooney said, giving her a smile..

She reached into her purse. "How much do I owe you?" She asked, producing a checkbook and a pen.

"Nothin'" Rooney said with a smile. "It's on the house."
"Oh... well, okay. Thank you, Rooney." She said, returning the items to her purse. "I'll tell Corbett that I saw you."

"It was great to see ya, Janine."

Before he could stop himself, he walked over to her and hugged her tightly.

"You too, Rooney." She said.
He could feel her resting her face against his chest, and it made his knees weak.

After several minutes, she moved away from him, slipped into the driver's seat and started the ignition.

"Wow, the car sounds better than ever!" She said, smiling as she backed the car out of the garage.

Rooney sighed.

The car wasn't the only thing that had improved.