Meant To Be

Book 0: A Perfect Fit

by Alison Bliss

Genres: Women's Fiction; Romantic Comedy; Short Stories

Synopsis

Sidney Larson always thought dark-haired, blue-eyed Brett Carmichael was sinfully sexy, to say nothing of the muscular mechanic's talent with his hands. But Sidney so didn't have time for Brett's overbearing tendencies when they were together so she broke things off. Now a chance encounter brings Brett back into her life, and Sidney can't help but notice intriguing changes in her ex. So what's stopping her from revisiting their scorching-hot chemistry? Since Sidney dumped him, Brett's made major life adjustments, thanks to therapy and a long, hard look at himself. Sure, he's still intense, but he knows how to focus his energy on his career, not on trying to control a fantastic woman like Sidney. Brett finds the sweet, generous brunette more seductive than ever, but now that he's finally worthy of her, will she be willing to give him a second chance?

Release date: February 12, 2019

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Print pages: 60

Sample

Chapter One

Brett Carmichael blew out a huge sigh of relief.

Not only had he just clocked out after another busy day at the garage where he worked, but after almost a year of long days and miserable nights, things were finally starting to look up.

Thank God.

For months, he’d been scouring the entire Granite, Texas, area looking for an old building that he could buy and turn into an automotive repair shop. After all, he’d been dreaming of opening his own garage since he was fifteen years old. Back then, he used to spend hours tearing old car engines apart and then putting them back together again just for the hell of it. Now, at age thirty, he actually got paid to do it.

Brett was a damn good mechanic. Always had been. Which was probably why almost everyone in town brought their vehicles to him when they needed work done. He had a great customer base, but oftentimes he was so busy that he had no choice but to pass some of the repair jobs off to another mechanic in the shop. He hated doing that though because he couldn’t guarantee the other guy’s work like he could his own.

Sadly, not all mechanics took pride in their work like Brett did. He didn’t randomly guess at what was wrong with a vehicle without doing some kind of research to make sure he was on the right track, and he didn’t take shortcuts just because doing so would be easier or faster. He believed in finding the actual problem and repairing it correctly the first time rather than doing a half-assed job.

That was one of the reasons he wanted to open his own business. The moment he found a suitable location, he planned to open a garage and hire a couple of great mechanics who held the same beliefs as he did and who would do things the proper way. But Granite was a small town, and finding a place for sale that met his needs hadn’t been easy.

Brett didn’t need anything big and fancy. He was used to working in cramped quarters and spent most of his time crawling around under a hood or sliding beneath a car on the cracked wooden creeper that his boss was too cheap to replace. But there were a few requirements on which Brett—unlike his boss—refused to budge.

The structure of the building needed to be large enough to house a separate waiting area for the customers in order to keep them safe and out of the mechanics’ way. Also, the parking lot needed to have enough lighting to be secure and have enough space to store vehicles overnight, if necessary. The last thing he wanted to worry about was a customer getting hurt or their vehicle getting stolen or broken into. So as far as Brett was concerned, these things were nonnegotiable.

Unfortunately, that only made it harder to find a place.

At least until his best friend had called this morning. Logan had apparently overheard a conversation at his bar the night before about a used car lot a couple of miles outside the city limits that was now up for sale. The old man who owned it had passed away a few months ago, and it had closed down for good. Although the owner’s only son had inherited the business, the man didn’t live in the area. The middle-aged son had instead flown in from Arizona only long enough to sell off the remaining used car stock at auction and officially put his father’s property up for sale. Both of which he had already done.

That meant Brett had to move fast.

So after hanging up with Logan, Brett had immediately called the phone number his friend had given him and spoken with the son about the property. The lot sat on five acres and was located on the main road between Granite and a neighboring community. Not a bad location, if you asked Brett. It would be close enough to Granite for Brett to serve his regular customers, yet near enough to another town to gain some new clients.

The building was divided into two sections. The front office would come fully furnished and had a large, air-conditioned waiting area for customers, while the shop had three huge bays with galvanized steel doors and a separate room for storing car parts. Not only that, but according to the son, the parking area was well lit and had several surveillance cameras already installed.

All of that sounded perfect and was exactly what Brett had been looking for. But the thing that caught his attention the most was when the son told him that he was willing to throw in the hydraulic vehicle lift, electronic diagnostic equipment, a welding machine, and several upright toolboxes filled with hand tools…for free.

Brett hadn’t expected that. Who in their right mind would give away thousands of dollars in equipment like that? Not that he was complaining or anything. That equipment would come in handy, and although Brett already had his own set of hand tools—most mechanics worth their salt did—it never hurt to have extras on hand. He never knew when he might break off a wrench and need another in a pinch.

But something bothered him about all of this. While the place seemed like a perfect prospect and was definitely in his price range, the deal sounded almost too good to be true. Maybe the owner’s son was just in a hurry to relieve himself of his father’s business and get back to his own life. Or maybe he just really needed the money from the sale of the property. But Brett couldn’t let the idea of fulfilling his long-held dream to persuade him to make rash decisions that he’d regret down the road. Lord knows he’d already done enough of that to last him a lifetime.

In order to be sure of what he was getting himself into, Brett needed to see the place in person and inspect the building for any major issues. Unfortunately, that in itself was a problem. The son had already booked his return flight back to Arizona in the morning, and the only time he could show the property was tonight. Otherwise, Brett would have to wait to see it until the man came back in a few weeks to clear out his father’s home.

But he worried that if he didn’t jump on this opportunity, there was a good chance someone else would. So he’d agreed to meet the guy at the used car lot around seven o’clock.

That should’ve given him enough time to run home, grab a bite to eat and a quick shower, and then make it to the dealership on time. But as usual, things hadn’t panned out according to his plan. Just as he started to close up shop, an elderly woman had pulled in and asked him to check her alternator belt. It had been squealing, and she was leaving in the morning on a gambling trip with her bingo friend. . .