Tempting Sydney Read Online Free Page A

out. It had affected me to the point that I tried to control my environment as much as possible. I liked things safe, organized, practical—and apparently, pretty damn boring. That made me pretty damn boring myself. I was sick of being practical, and I wanted to have a little fun. Not “get knocked up” fun, but I’d convinced myself some flirting wouldn’t be a bad idea.
    So, in the spirit of trying to be more social and act twenty-three instead of fifty, I decided to get She-Ra’s overflow fixed. While that might not seem like anything out of the ordinary, it was. I’d purposefully waited until four o’clock in the afternoon, when I knew Blue Eyes would be there to work on my car. I was going to get She-Ra fixed, and possibly even flirt. And if that went well, maybe I’d do something completely irrational like not fill up my gas tank until it got below a quarter of a tank instead of a half. Baby steps.
    “Hey, Syd!” Red said as I opened the glass front door of his shop waiting area. He was standing behind the counter; an office with a door was behind that. Red’s mechanic shop was on one of the busiest streets in town. The outside of the building had wood siding, painted white with bright red trim. Four gas pumps sat in front of the garage. A sign declaring it Red’s Gas and Auto Repairs hung above the large garage shop doors. He had a waiting area with popcorn, drinks, and candy for people who didn’t have to wait long for a repair to be done—you know, the people with cars that weren’t as old as their parents.
    “Hey.” I leaned against the counter, kicking one leg out and resting an elbow on the laminate countertop. I was trying to pose in a flattering way in case Blue Eyes made an appearance. I’d already done a scan of the outside of the shop. He wasn’t there. Maybe he’d lied about his hours. I frowned as I thought about that. Red would surely tell him when I came in. Then he’d know I was there during the afternoon and make assumptions about why. They’d be correct assumptions, but that didn’t matter as much as the fact that they’d be embarrassing assumptions that would confirm I’d come to the shop at the exact time he’d told me to. I sighed inwardly. Nothing I could do about it now. If I ever saw Blue Eyes again, and if he asked, I’d just say this was my only free time. I almost laughed at that. I was already rationalizing things, thinking of worst-case scenarios, and coming up with ways to manage them. I needed to stop; I needed to learn to relax. And, I reminded myself, I was here to try to change that exact problem. “I came in to get my overflow fixed.”
    Red nodded, pulling out his keyboard from under the desk. He pushed his glasses up higher on his nose as he typed. “I heard about that.”
    “Yeah. The new guy figured it out pretty fast.”
Red nodded. “He’s been here for a few weeks. I was lucky to get him. He has a lot of experience.”
    “I bet he does,” I mumbled, thinking his experience probably encompassed a hell of a lot more than cars. An image of Blue Eyes from the other night, leaning over She-Ra, popped into my head. The muscles in his back bunching with each twist of his wrench—the same muscles that would be flexed if he was leaning over me instead. I dragged in a ragged breath before Red coughed, trying to get my attention.
    I blinked, and noticed Red looking at me over the top of his wire rimmed glasses, like he was analyzing me or something. I was fine with analyzing myself, but I didn’t like when other people did it. I quickly changed the subject. “So,” I said, absently picking up a card from a stack on the counter and tapping it against the laminate, “can you fit She-Ra in today?”
    Red hit a button and his printer started up. He grabbed the invoice and started to walk to the door between the waiting room and the garage. “Park her in the first bay.”
    I put the card back down and noticed what was printed on it for the first time. An