Ethan (Alluring Indulgence) by Nicole Edwards Read Free Book Online

he wouldn’t need to sit down
anyway, Beau gave him enough respect to move into the room, standing opposite
him.
    “Son,”
Ralph began.
    Son? Ralph wasn’t much older than Beau, but he seemed to be under the impression he
was some sort of father figure. Beau had no idea where the guy came up with
half of what he said, or why he acted the way he did, but being the
non-confrontational sort, Beau had never let on that Ralph’s condescending
attitude bothered him. And being referred to as son , made him want to
both laugh and punch the guy in the face.
    “I’m
sure you’ve noticed how slow things are around here.”
    Yeah,
Beau had noticed. He also noticed that Ricky wasn’t even bothering to come into
work these days, so Beau was picking up all the slack. Made for at least a full
day’s work, but not much past that. If Ricky went through the trouble of coming
in, one of them would likely be sitting on their ass. Beau didn’t figure it
would be him because, of the two of them, Ricky wasn’t all that interested in
doing much more than downing a six pack.
    Beau
nodded his head, waiting for whatever Ralph had to say so he could get back to
work.
    When
Ralph made the effort to look up from his computer screen, Beau knew he wasn’t
going to like what his boss was about to tell him. 
    “It’s
not a secret that things are slowing down,” Ralph explained, repeating his
point, his expression seemingly glum.
    Beau
wanted to remind Ralph that he also noticed that Ricky wasn’t bothering to even
come into work these days. Instead, he kept his mouth shut.
    “I
just don’t have enough work to warrant two mechanics right now.”
    Beau
would agree. And he knew where this was going. But because he could see Ralph’s
discomfort level was the equivalent to walking on hot coals barefoot, he
decided to let the other man spell it out for him.
    “Look,
Beau,” Ralph finally said after a minute of painful silence. “I’m gonna have to
let you go. When things pick back up, I’ll give you a shout. Until then, I
think Ricky can handle what little work we do have.”
    Beau
glanced out into the shop, pretending to be looking for Ricky, and then back to
Ralph. Yeah, he’d like to see how well that was going to work out for them.
    “I
know what you’re thinkin’,” Ralph went on to say.
    Doubtful. “Is that right?” Beau asked, the words breaking free before he could stop them.
Damn it.
    Ralph’s
eyes widened and he leaned back in his chair, propping his hands on his
protruding belly, obviously gearing up for a confrontation. When Ralph cleared
his throat, Beau took a deep breath.
    It
wasn’t like he didn’t know this day would come. When business was slow, there
wasn’t much anyone could do. And even if Beau had enough work to put in forty
or more hours a week, that didn’t mean a thing when it came down to family
loyalty.
    “I
need Ricky to come in to work. He’s not coming in because he says there isn’t
enough for him to do. He mentioned that you take all the work, and he doesn’t
want to cause a scene.”
    Beau
grinned to himself. That was such fucking bullshit, but it didn’t surprise him
that Ralph believed it. Or was pretending to at least. Ricky didn’t come in to
work because he spent his nights at Moonshiners getting drunk. Hell, half the
time when he did come into work the next day, he’d still be drunk.
    “Sorry,
Beau,” Ralph finally said with a sigh.
    Beau
wanted to believe that Ralph really was sorry, but something felt off about
this whole thing. He had been working for Dillinger Automotive since he
graduated from high school. Granted, Dillinger’s was a family owned business,
and their loyalties were clearly to family. He understood that. But, they’d
been slow for a while now. And business always seemed to pick back up. So why
were they doing this now?
    That
was a question that would go unspoken because Beau didn’t really care to hear
the answer. A sound in the shop had Beau glancing through