Worth It by Nicki DeStasi Read Free Book Online Page B

she is. I bet my uncle will know, so I shake off the stalker vibe and stride into his shop.
    “Hey, Jed,” Donnie calls out when I enter.
    “Who was the girl that just left?”
    He grins. “You saw little Anna leave, did you?”
    “Anna?”
    “Yeah, little Anna down at the pizza shop,” he says.
    “She works there?” Why haven’t I seen her there before?”
    He smirks. “Actually, since I knew you were coming in, I was going to have you come down there with me tonight, so I could introduce the two of you.”
    “Introduce us?”
    “Yeah. You said you wanted out of the dating scene, and she’s a real sweetheart, so I thought I could introduce the two of you.” He shrugs.
    My uncle is the shit, so his seal of approval makes me even more curious. “Okay, let’s go.” Turning for the door, I hear him start laughing. When I turn back around, I ask, “What?”
    When he finally calms down enough to speak, he says, “Jed, relax, she’s working all night. I need to give her car an oil change and check it out. Then, I’m going over afterward to give her back her keys and grab dinner for your aunt and me. You can come with me. I’ll have Joe change your oil while John does Anna’s, all right?”
    I’m a simple man—cue Lynyrd Skynyrd music. Have a problem? I look for a solution. Something is broken? I fix it. See a hot girl? Close the deal.
    But I guess I’m jumping the gun, so I nod and say, “All right.”
    He smirks. “Come on, boy. Let’s go take a look at those cars.”
     

     
    “It’s going to need new wheel bearings, Don,” John tells my uncle from beside Anna’s dismantled tire wheel. “We’re going to need to keep it another day.”
    By the look on my uncle’s face, he’s not happy. “She’s going to need that car to get around, but I can let her borrow my car to get home tonight and to come back to work in the morning.” He turns to me and asks, “Jed, can you drop me off at home after we stop by Village Pizza?”
    “Yeah, sure, no problem,” I say.
    I take note of the fact that she works a lot. I wouldn’t say I’m a regular, but I’ve been to Village Pizza enough times, so I still can’t believe I’ve never seen her there before.
    “All right, let’s head over and deliver the news,” my uncle mutters.
    I grin. Nice . Flash this chick a smile, introduce myself, and I’ll have her number pocketed before I leave. “Good. Let’s go.”
    He smirks and rolls his eyes, but he says nothing as we make our way out the door.
    Fuck, it’s cold. I tuck my hands into my coat pockets. “So, tell me more about Anna.”
    “Well,” he begins, “she can be pretty shy, and it took her a while to open up and give me more than simple answers. She’s sweet and very driven. She works a lot, and she’ll graduate in the spring.”
    I nod. “How do you know her?”
    He sighs as we approach the door, but he stops just outside of it. “She moved to Shirley from Groton with her boyfriend and started working here.” He gestures toward the door with his thumb, and then he laughs, looking as though he’s remembering something funny. “She’s also a horrible driver, so she’s at the shop a lot, too.”
    “Why are you introducing me to her if she already has a boyfriend?” I snap, startling us both with the heat behind my words. I don’t even know this chick, but I’m already territorial. What the fuck is my problem?
    His eyes widen. “They broke up five or six months ago.”
    I relax, but the shift in my mood confuses the fuck out of me. “Oh,” is all I can respond with.
    He just raises an eyebrow before he pushes through the door.
    As we enter, my eyes find her immediately. I take advantage of the opportunity to get a good look at her. She has the wall phone tucked between her shoulder and her ear, but her fingers are typing furiously against her cell phone, presumably sending a text. I take special note of the smooth curve of her throat, and fantasies form that include her neck