Made For Us by Samantha Chase Read Free Book Online Page A

her car.
    “You are caller number five…”
    “Aces,” she muttered and saw Aidan heading back her way. He stood there looking at her expectantly. “I’m on hold.” Her intention was to look away and dismiss him just as he had done to her several times today, but then he took the phone out of her hands and disconnected the call.
    “ Hey! ” Zoe exclaimed indignantly.
    Still without responding to her whatsoever, Aidan pulled out his own phone and made a call. “What’s your address?” he asked when he turned around to her. The shocked look on her face was almost enough to make him smile. She stood defiantly with her arms crossed over her chest. “My brother has an auto body shop here in town,” he explained. “They’re going to come and replace the tire. But it’s going to take a while. They’ll bring it to your house when they’re done.”
    “And what am I supposed to do in the meantime, walk home?” The correct response to his statement was probably thank you, but she didn’t like his high-handed attitude. She was independent and knew how to take care of herself. She didn’t need or expect anyone to swoop in to save her. Especially not Aidan. The last thing she needed was for him to see her as incompetent.
    “I’ll take you home.”
    Zoe considered his words, and her lips twitched into an unexpected smile. “That’s not on your schedule.” She was more surprised when his mouth twitched in response.
    “I made sure to include some time for…things beyond my control.”
    She laughed out loud at that one. “Is that what this is? A flat tire merits your use of extra time, but my desire to get ahead of schedule doesn’t?”
    He shrugged. “What’s your address?” he asked again. Zoe rattled it off and he repeated it into the phone and hung up. “I can’t give you an accurate time frame, but you’ll have it back tonight.”
    “You’ll have to tell me where to find them so I can stop by tomorrow and pay them.” It was an expense she hadn’t counted on, but it had to be done.
    “This happened on my job site and because my guys were careless. I’ll take care of it.”
    There was that tone again. “I’m more than capable of paying for a new tire,” she said defensively.
    “I’m sure you are,” he said, squaring off with her. “But that’s not in question here. You work for me, your car got damaged on my job site, and it wasn’t your fault.”
    “Technically, I’m not on the clock.” She stepped forward until they were almost toe-to-toe. “So it’s my own fault that it happened. I saw all the trucks here in the street and I came through anyway. Therefore, my responsibility.”
    Aidan studied her for a moment. “Are you always this argumentative?”
    “Yup.” She tilted her head and studied him right back. “Are you sorry you decided to keep me on to do this job?”
    He threw his head back and laughed, unable to remember a time when anyone had bantered with him quite like this. It was refreshing. “Not yet.” That seemed to satisfy Zoe. “Give me five minutes and we’ll be on our way.”
    “Sounds good.” She watched him turn and walk away and then called out to him. Aidan turned around. “Thank you,” she said simply and was rewarded with one of his rare, authentic smiles.
    True to his word, five minutes later, they were climbing into his pickup and pulling away from the work zone. “Will they be all right without a supervisor?” Zoe asked.
    “I’ve got three of them there to make sure nothing gets missed.”
    Turning to look at him, she was certain that she’d misheard him. “Three?” He nodded. “Then…then why were you there too? Don’t you trust them?”
    “I like to be there to make sure everyone knows exactly what needs to be done and what I expect of them. I’ll go back and check on them later just to keep them on their toes.”
    “You know that they’re probably going to be there all night, right?”
    Aidan turned to her and nodded. “Then they