Brody: The Bang Shift Read Free

cellphone, but she didn’t have a signal out here in the middle of nowhere. Surprise, surprise. She got out of the car, covered her eyes to block the blazing sun as she looked down the road. “That sign says it’s one mile to town.” She sighed, shaking her head. “C’mon.”
    He got out of the car, walking over to her. “Do you want me to carry some of our bags?”
    “Nope, lock it. We’ll come back later to get everything.”
    As they started down the road, Xan sighed. This wasn’t a good way to start their new life in this town. Nope, not good at all.
    * * * * *
    “Oh thank God. There’s an auto shop,” Scott groaned as they rounded the corner after walking about two miles. They’d entered town about a mile ago as the sign had indicated but had only encountered a ranch and a farm as of yet.
    “Watch your mouth, and you shouldn’t be complaining. You’re young and in shape.” She, on the other hand, was a melting, miserable mess.
    “It’s a million degrees out here, Mom.”
    Try a million and one. Yeah, it was hot as hell. “Quit your bellyaching.”
    They walked up to an opened fence and Xan silently thanked the heavens for small favors. The garage looked as if it was open. They walked through the gate and into the old building with several antique and late-model cars out front. Walking through the front door, she braced herself for the blast of cold air to hit her face, relishing the thrill of the artificial air she was about to gloriously encounter.
    She was sorely disappointed. It was hotter in here than it was outside. How was that even possible? Her wet clothes clung to her sweaty body, leaving nothing to the imagination. Didn’t matter. She was past humility at this point. She’d have a teenage moment and flash her boobs, sweat and all if necessary, to get someone to help them out.
    “May I help you?” a man with a gravelly voice asked as he walked into the makeshift lobby next to the bays, wiping his hands on a grease rag. He looked to be middle-aged, though she wasn’t sure since he was bald. No gray hair to help her out with that assessment.
    She looked at his nametag sewn into his shirt. “Yes, Colonel, is it?” At his smile and nod, she said, “Our car broke down a couple miles down the road.”
    A metal crash and very masculine curses mixed with raucous taunting and laughter startled her. Scott snickered at the colorful words coming from the bays. He’d heard them plenty of times, though Xan tried not to talk like that. Really, she did try to deny her sailor-mouth tendencies. She just wasn’t very good at restraining herself all the time.
    “Sorry,” Colonel mumbled. “Those are my mechanics, trying to catch up on some work. I took over this garage after I realized being retired was boring, and we stay pretty busy. Seems like I’m constantly hiring more help, but we stay behind.”
    The ruckus from the bays was finding its way into the lobby. Several guys walked into the room, and Xan felt a slight panic attack coming on. She not only lacked a love life, but she tended to avoid large groups of men. She didn’t have anything against the male population, but after marrying into the mafia at a young age, dodging copious amounts of testosterone seemed like a good self-preservation tactic to live by. So she did, and when she wasn’t prepared to interact with schools of men, her stomach took a nosedive when thrust into that very situation.
    Taking a covert calming breath so she wouldn’t look like some skittish girl, she tried to pay closer attention to each of the men as they came near. If she identified them individually, she could pretend she wasn’t dealing with a mob of men.
    A mob of seemingly beautiful, large, masculine men, looking to be around her age.
    Oh shit. She so did not need this. Her nerves and sense of self-preservation took on a whole new meaning. She’d rather deal with certain fear than possible attraction.
    As she surveyed the crowd, she noticed their looks