Sugarlips (Beefcakes Book 2) by Katana Collins (latest books to read TXT) 📕

Her smile split her face, and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth. Nodding silently, she turned and walked into her home, shutting the door.

It was the truth. I was excited we were doing this. Maybe more than I wanted to admit. That’s the thing with dreams: when they stay a fantasy, there’s no fear of failing. But now? It was time to sink or swim. Prior to Chloe, I felt like I had cement blocks strapped to my feet. But she had finally cut them free.

She had cut me free.

10 Chloe

“Well, it could be worse…” Riley said, wheeling herself out from under the truck.

“See? Told you it would be fine!” I pumped a fist triumphantly in the air and did a little victory dance around Liam, who was standing stoically beside me with his arms crossed.

“But it could certainly be better,” she added, grabbing a black-smudged rag and wiping her hands.

Liam’s left eyebrow popped higher, arching over his mossy green eyes. “See?” he murmured, and even though his smug little smirk was infuriating, it also made me smile.

The sun was edging its way down to the horizon, and it was that beautiful time of day when the sky was turning from sunny and blue into a creamy orange sherbet color. We probably had another three hours before the sun set.

Turning our gaze to Riley, we joined her as she peeked under the propped open hood. “How much better are we talking?” Liam asked.

“The battery is old. And if you’re going to be frying and cooking inside, you need a strong one. There’s also quite a bit of rust, but maybe you can live with that for a while?”

Riley looked between us, and I scrunched my nose. “Rust isn’t very professional looking,” I said.

“She’s got a point,” Liam agreed, and I nearly clutched my pearls and fell over dead at that. “Customers are buying food—rust doesn’t exactly look appetizing, even if it is on the outside and will never come in contact with the food.”

Riley grimaced. “I hate to tell you this, but detailing rust and paint jobs are pricey. Only because they are time intensive. The money goes entirely to labor. But if you’re willing to do the work yourselves, you could save a few thousand dollars.”

My face twisted, but Liam looked at me, brows up, smiling. “Right here is where we start paying for the food truck… in sweat,” Liam said.

My groan slipped into a giggle as I realized where that quote came from. “Did you just quote the movie Fame to me?”

His smirk twitched higher in that typical Liam fashion I was coming to know better. “Another classic.”

“Agree.”

Riley snorted and tugged her ponytail tighter. “I have no idea what you guys are talking about,” she said. “But I can order you a new battery, new brakes, and an alternator—that should probably be replaced.”

“How much?” Liam asked.

Riley put her hands on her hips, glancing at us, then at the truck. “I’m going to estimate… fifteen hundred.”

I grinned. “That’s not bad!”

But Liam narrowed his eyes at her. “A new battery, brakes, and an alternator? Those three things alone can cost about several hundred dollars… that’s just for parts. How much is it going to cost really? Without the Jake and Riley friends discount.”

Riley smiled and placed a hand on Liam’s shoulder. “Just give us some cheesecake and we’ll call it even.”

Liam’s head fell, his biceps tensing. “Riley—”

“Dude,” I nudged Liam with my elbow. “Don’t argue the price up.”

“Listen to the girl,” Riley said and gathered her tools. “Truthfully, the most expensive parts of a food truck are the cooking appliances you’re going to have to buy for the inside. Save your money for those things.” She hiked her toolbox into the back of her truck and tossed the keys to Liam who caught them with barely a glance at the jagged metal being hurled toward his face. “But for now, it’s safe to drive. The parts you have work, they’re just old. All in all…” Riley’s gaze flicked briefly to me. “It was a good find.”

I beamed, unable to stop the triumphant grin taking hold of my face. Riley tugged out two of the same tool that sort of looked like a more intense ice scraper… but metal. She handed them to Liam. “You’re going to need these,” she said, then got into her truck and drove away.

“Don’t get too cocky, there,” Liam said, flipping the scraper thingy in his hand. “We’ve still got a lot of elbow grease to put in to make this thing presentable.”

“But… it was a good find. Admit it.”

“Fine. It was a good purchase. You happy?”

I nodded. “Very.”

His gaze trailed over my jeans and Kate Spade blouse. “You want to borrow some clothes?”

“For what?”

He tossed me one of the scrapers. “We’re going to start on this rust.”

“Now?”

“The sooner we start, the sooner we finish. And the sooner we can begin earning money.”

I groaned and forced my features to rearrange into some semblance of a smile. “Fine. I’ll go change.”

Forty-five minutes later, I was wearing one of Liam’s t-shirts and a pair of his basketball shorts that kept slipping down my hips, even when I tied the little strings at the front as tight as I could. I was on my knees, crouching near the bumper of the truck using that stupid scraper thing to scrape rust off the edge of the truck.

Pausing, I tossed the scraper onto the hot, sticky tarmac and used Liam’s shirt to wipe the sweat off my brow. God help me if I had to do this for another two hours until the sun went down.

I buried my nose into the cotton shirt and inhaled under the guise of wiping sweat, enjoying that subtle scent of vanilla and espresso that seemed to cling to Liam.

When I lifted my eyes off of the cotton, I caught Liam staring at my bare stomach, exposed as