AN: Ok, so my computer broke. Again. And so I sent it away to have it fixed. Again. And five days after I got it back, the same thing broke. Again. For the fourth time. So in the last month or so I've had my computer in my possession for about five days. And I started a new job. And it's been a hellish few months. Here's an update. You know what to do.

The Funeral of a Good Girl

By – TempestRaces

Chapter 56 – Of Sunny Days and Dialling Trouble

The alarm woke him at ten the following morning. Dom was a bit more forgiving with the hours on Thursday because they always had an all night party on Wednesday. But he wouldn't look the other way while anyone took the whole day off, and Vince knew it. It would be a vote in favour of having Tempest stick around all the time. He'd be able to wake up to her at his leisure, not leave her sleeping alone in his warm bed while he dragged himself off to slave in the garage all day. He couldn't wait to get back to his own schedule. But on the day that was ok, it would also be the day that she left. He wasn't looking forward to that day with as much enthusiasm as he should have been, and it worried him.

He wanted her to stay. Or at least he thought he did. But without some idea that it was what she wanted too, he wasn't going to go there. He wouldn't beg a woman to change her mind just over him. And that was final, he told himself with a frown as some part of his brain begged him to get down on his knees and beg. He slid out from under her, still frowning, and snagged his garage jeans off the floor. He shouldn't want her to stay. He should want her to go home so he could get back to his real life. He pulled on a 'clean' shirt before crossing back to the bed and sitting on the edge beside her. She swiped at her nose in her sleep, murmured to herself, but didn't wake up. He started to unwrap her hand, resting the back of her wrist on his thigh. He lifted the edge of the gauze and found it stuck to her wound in the middle. He tugged a little harder, wanting to see how bad things were.

"Are you trying to kill me where the glass failed?" she growled sleepily as his tugging woke her up. He was hurting her. How was she supposed to sleep through it? She tried to retrieve her hand from his leg, but he grabbed her wrist before she could do so.

"I gotta see if it looks infected or not. Suck it up." He finally broke the gauze free. It looked a remarkable amount better in the light of day. "Damn, your fingers are almost fine already."

"I've always healed quick. It's a good thing when you bust up your hands in the run of doing your job as much as I do."

He nodded, starting to rewrap the wound. "Well, I gotta get to the shop. You should sleep some more. I gotta run because Mia'll be long gone by now and I gotta get somethin' somewhere for breakfast."

Tempest sat up once her hand was released and stretched. "You want me to feed you before you go?" After waking up to someone ripping at a wound on a sensitive place like her palm, she was never going back to sleep and she knew it.

"You? You know how to cook?"

"Yeah, I know how to cook. I just don't often want to. So, do you want breakfast or not?"

"I'd say yes even if I didn't just to see you in the kitchen." He hauled her out of bed and onto her feet. "Miss 'make Mia do it' herself is gonna cook breakfast. I wish I had a camera here."

"Keep it up and you'll be getting Special K and if you're lucky, milk that isn't sour." She twisted her hair into a messy knot of curls on the back of her head and decided that for the purposes of cooking breakfast in her cousin's kitchen in what was hopefully an empty house, she was dressed enough in a tank top and shorts. They walked up the stairs, Vince following behind her one step. He was so close she could feel his breath on her neck. "Shit, you'd think they starved you around here."

"I haven't eaten since supper yesterday. That's a long time. I didn't get to snack at all last night."

"Heaven forbid." They reached the kitchen. "So, what'd ya want?"

"What can you make?"

"Depends on what's in the fridge." She pulled the door open. "So, pretty much any kind of eggs you want. Ham, sausage, bacon, everything for French toast is here. Um, yeah, I guess that's about it." She turned to Vince, who was leaning on the kitchen counter watching her. "Well?"

"I'm still amazed to see you standing in a kitchen planning to cook. I'm a little shocked."

"Ok, that's great. I don't really wanna cook. You can take me out for breakfast. I'll just go get dressed." Tempest started to walk out of the kitchen. As she walked past him, Vince grabbed her wrist.

"Not so fast Trouble. I said I was amazed, not that I was letting you off the hook. Surprise me."

"For real?"

"Yeah. Do your worst."

"I oughta give you burnt toast and runny eggs just for spite."

"But you won't, because you are the kind of person to try and overachieve and surprise people that way, not underachieve and disappoint them."

"Go sit down and shut the fuck up." He had her pegged perfectly and it pissed the hell out of her. He went with a chuckle and she got to work. Twenty minutes later he was wolfing down a ham and cheese omelette with a side of bacon and toast while she was drinking light coffee with sugar and nibbling on a barely toasted piece of bread in between bites of cereal. "Is it good, or are you eating it so fast so you don't have to taste it?"

"Good," he mumbled through a mouthful of egg. "Dom's gonna be wondering where I am, again."

"How does everyone else get up so early after partying all night long?"

"Practice." He washed the last mouthful of his breakfast down with a huge gulp of coffee, which had gone lukewarm while he ate anyway. He watched Tempest drink her coffee with a frown. She'd already admitted she liked it better barely warm than hot and he just didn't get it. "What are you gonna do today?"

"Wonder why Jesse keeps leaving me home alone and be an invalid I suppose." She slurped the last of her milk and put her dishes in the sink. She added the frying pan and other utensils she'd used and ran hot water into the pan. She'd soak it, but she sure as hell wasn't doing the dishes. She had an excuse. Couldn't very well get her cut all wet and soapy in dirty dishwater. She couldn't see Vince washing up, either. Though picturing him with a frilly flowered apron on and rubber gloves up to his elbows did make her smile. She was so lost in thoughts of dressing him up like a maid service, she didn't hear him come up behind her. He reached around her to put his plate in the sink and kissed the nape of her neck.

"Thanks." Once his hand was empty, his arm wrapped around her waist. She lay hers over top of it instinctively. "You didn't poison me. Why don't you cook more often?"

"Cooking takes time. Dumping a can of something in a bowl and tossing it in the microwave doesn't."

"Suppose."

"Says someone who just has three meals appear in front of him every day and never has to worry about where they're coming from."

"I do have to put up with super happy family sharing is caring time three times a day in order to enjoy the food though."

"Aw, poor baby."

He kissed the side of her neck. "Yeah, you've seen what mornings are like for me. How enjoyable do you really think it is to put up with Miss Mia Sunshine every fuckin' day of your life?"

But yet you'd like to wake up to Miss Mia Sunshine every single day of your life, if you had your way! That answer was doomed to a fight, and she wasn't in the mood. "I'd kill it."

He laughed out loud at her answer. Yes, she likely would. Poor Mia wouldn't even see it coming. He rested his chin on the crown of her head. His Trouble was a real wild child. He looked out the window into the backyard. And realized he was standing in a sunny kitchen with his arms around a woman who had just cooked them a breakfast which they had eaten together, just the two of them. She was still in her PJs, and to anyone else it would look as if she was about to start the washing up. He only knew she wasn't because he knew she had a zero tolerance policy on doing dishes. It would look, to anyone who didn't know better, like they were they, and this was them. That she cooked him breakfast every day before he kissed her goodbye and headed out the door. The happy little all American family. Except that they weren't. And in a few days, there wouldn't be a them to even consider. It's time for work. "You headed down to the shop today, or what?"

"Imagine I'll give Dominic a day to get over what I did."

"A day won't come close to time enough for Dominic to get over what you did." Not by half. He nuzzled in the hair at her temple, unable to resist. "But don't worry about Dominic. I've got you covered there."

"I don't like your idea of having me covered from Dom, thanks all the same." She wished she hadn't said it once she had. She didn't want to end the peaceful interlude they were enjoying. It was so rare for them to just be together without a fight or some other drama filled occurrence. To try and show him she hadn't said it to start a fight, she turned her head to the side and kissed his cheek. "But you should likely go down there before he comes home looking for you and the three of us end up in a screaming match in the kitchen."

"Ok. Should I send Jesse home to be with you?"

She shrugged. "Only if he's not busy. I could easily sign myself up for a day of watching TV or reading. I'm feeling lazy."

"Don't say stuff like that to me when I'm trying to get out the door to go work in the stupid shop."

"Why not?"

"Because if I hadn't told Dominic that I'd show up every day this week, I'd be free to drag you back down stairs and give you a good reason to stay in bed and be lazy."

"You presume an awful lot for a person that I shouldn't even be speaking to." She couldn't let him think that she would merrily hop back in bed with him after what had been said last night. No matter how well they were getting along now.

"I presume you wouldn't need to do any talking at all. Unless it was to say my name in a suitably impressed manner. Probably with 'oh' in front of it." Just thinking of how she said his name when he was impressing her made the caveman desire to drag her down the stairs kick into overdrive. That, and made certain parts of his body start to sit up and take notice.

She laughed in spite of herself. He was so full of himself. "Oh really?"

"Let's go find out." He took her earlobe between his teeth and bit down softly, sliding a hand under her tank top to touch her bare stomach, trailing his fingers from one side to the other. He was gratified when her head tipped to the side to allow him easier access and her body fit tighter into his. The touch of rear against his fly had him sucking in a quick breath. He bit her neck gently in answer.

He was making it hard to hold onto her resolve. "You have work. And I have lounging. So go." She pulled away reluctantly. The time had to come where she found a little self restraint. And after yesterday night, there was truly no time like the present.

"You're no fun."

"I don't want Dominic to have another reason to be pissed off at me. So go do the job you said you'd do."

"Fine. Don't have some of the best sex you've ever had with me this morning. See if I care." He let her go with a sigh. "It's your loss."

"I'll cry about it later. Really."

He pulled a sarcastic face at her in answer. "I guess I'll go then."

"You likely should."

"Really, you shouldn't be alone right now. I'll just call them and tell them I'm staying home to keep an eye on you. You might get a fever from infection any time now." He cupped her cheek with his palm as if checking her temperature. "I should really check you for fever frequently in a variety of bodily locations to make sure we catch it early."

"I've cut myself much worse than this before and I distinctly remember you pouring iodine on me last night. I think we're safe. Go to work."

"Fine, I'm going." He made no move to leave the kitchen.

"You look it too," she answered with a sarcastic tone. With a backward look at her, trying to look like a sad puppy, he headed for the door. She watched him go with a happy wave. He had it coming. When she finally heard his car start a few moments later, and back down the driveway, she let out the breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding in. She had seriously doubted her ability not to give into his request and let him take her downstairs.

When lunch time came, she found herself incredibly bored alone in the house. She didn't know if Jesse hadn't come back because he was mad at her, thinking she had done more than sleep in Vince's bed last night after saying she wasn't going there anymore or he was just busy with some car. She looked around the empty house. On a whim, she decided to take her chances and go find Jesse in the shop. If Dom started shit, for once she'd just be the bigger person and walk away. Good luck with that. She stuck her tongue out at herself.

She drove to the shop and noted everyone's cars present and quite a few customer vehicles as well. She was reassured to know that Jesse hadn't come to find her because he was too busy, not because he was too upset with her. She pushed into the shop and gave her eyes a few moments to adjust to the light, which was dimmer inside than under the hot Californian sun. She found Jesse under a red car, doing something to the transmission. He was covered from head to toe in 80w90 from the transmission and she knew without getting any closer to him that he stank. Her nose wrinkled at just the thought of the stench of gear oil. Nothing stank worse. Nothing filled an entire shop with stink like used gear oil. Burning coolant was awful, but used gear oil was worse.

Her gaze roved around the room, finding Leon next. He was pinning wires on a fuse panel on a late model Grand Am. He looked none too happy about it either. She figured after she said hello to Jesse she'd go offer Leon a hand. Chances were, no matter what issue he was trying to solve, she'd seen it done at least once before. If she hadn't fixed it herself. She didn't see Dom anywhere, which was just a bonus, as far as she was concerned, and Letty was occupied changing the oil of yet another car in her bay. She finally scanned to the last corner of the room and found Vince. And the blond who had her hand on his muscled bicep while she grinned vapidly up at him. And he was lapping it up with a cheerful grin back at her, allowing her hands to stay on his person.

Ok, fuck this. I'm so outta here. She walked back out of the shop and right back over to her car before starting it and leaving the lot. She picked up her cell phone with a sigh and looked at it. Before she could change her mind she dialled in the unfamiliar area code and phone number.