Flirting Over Cheesecake

Who: Ash and Joey
When: Late afternoon
Where: Motor Masters

It was a horribly gloomy day, but Joey supposed she would need to get used to that, living in Marquette this late in the year. Business had been steady since she opened that morning, which had pleased her incredibly. She had exactly three employees, however, so she was hoping that she could lure a few more in with the promise of free coffee and muffins. Benefits and perks went a long way, didn't they?

It was around five when she finally decided to take a break. And while she had paperwork she could be doing, she much preferred to get out of the cafe for an hour or so and take a real break. Her eyes had landed on the business card Ash had given her a few days back, and given that she hadn't seen him come by yet, she decided to go him. And she had the perfect excuse for the random drop in. Joey placed a slice of cheesecake into a take out box and got to putting together his mocha.

Leaving the cafe in capable hands, she started the walk to the address on Ash's business card. She hoped he would still be in the garage, otherwise she would have to knock on his door, and she felt maybe that was a bit much for a woman he'd only met once. Walking up to the garage, she was relieved to see it still open. "Anyone home?" she called, cautiously stepping inside. The last thing she wanted was to scare him if his head was underneath a hood. Bad idea.

He did have his head under a hood, but -- even with music blaring like it was -- he was a difficult man to sneak up on. He had a habit of glancing toward the open bay doors every few seconds when he could spare his eyes, and he'd caught a glimpse of her on her way in. He wasn't sure where Sasha was at the moment, and that was completely fine; Ash could definitely greet female visitors on his own. He straightened up from the truck he'd been elbow-deep in and came around the side of it, welcoming grin in place.

He snagged a dirty shop rag up off one of his many toolboxes and started to wipe his oily hands off. He had a t-shirt on, despite the coolness of the day, tattoos smeared with grease. He took the cigarette out of his mouth to stub it out in the ashtray on the toolbox and leaned a hip against the truck. "Hey there," he greeted over the music. Once one hand was clean enough, he picked up a remote and turned it down over his shoulder, eyeing what she had in her hands. Because sure enough, they looked like treats. "Opening day, is it?"

She nodded and stepped toward him, more comfortable in her surroundings now that he was in view of her. "It sure is and lucky for you, you get to reap the benefits of my celebratory mood. Cheesecake and a mocha, just like I promised." Joey eyed his hands and body - admiring the tattoos again, as grease smeared as they were - and then arched an eyebrow. "Should I hand them over or is there some place I can set them?"

He noted the look, though wasn't positive yet if she was genuinely checking him out, or if it was the ink. Because looks like that happened when you were as covered as he was. "Awesome, I was just thinking I needed a sugar-shock right about now," he said with a broad grin. And then gestured to the longish trunk on the car in the next bay. "Set 'em down, lemme go clean up. Cheesecake and 10W-40 don't mix, y'know?" He stood up straighter and headed off toward the sink in the very back of the shop.

"You know, I've never tried it? So I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't sell as well as the raspberry swirl." Joey went to where he motioned to set the bag down, the mocha cup next to it. She made sure the lid was still on tightly and sort of pushed up on her toes to watch him from over the top of the car. She definitely liked the tattoos, even the grease smeared ones. There was something strangely attractive about a man who could fix cars. And get dirty while doing it. Joey shook her head and fell back on the balls of her feet as not to get caught checking him out. "It looks like you've got quite a bit of business," she said loud enough for him to hear her.

Ash set into the well-practiced task of scrubbing down. He had that gritty soap that smelled vaguely like oranges, and washed up to his forearms. He'd forgone this ritual before and gotten a good taste of motor oil, and it wasn't one of his favorite things. "Got enough to keep me busy," he called back as he rinsed off. He dried up and headed over to her, smiling a bit. "Oh, I dunno. Coolant's pretty tasty. It'd bring in some lawsuits, though." He picked up the cup and peeled the lid of just enough to get a good whiff of it before settling it back down. Ash took a testing sip and made an appreciative noise. Not something he'd drink every day -- he was rather a black coffee kind of guy -- but it was still good. He opened up the cheesecake box and grinned. "Nice," he told her, then paused. "You cold or anything? There's an office ..."

Joey watched him as he took a sip and seemed to enjoy it. She relaxed a bit, always pleased when someone enjoyed the coffee she made for them. Small pleasures. She supposed she chose her part time profession wisely. "That could always be a monthly special," she suggested, slipping her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "Coolant and 10W-40 swirl with whipped cream. Lawsuits be damned, people would be curious." Joey rocked back on her heels, admittedly a little chilly. She needed a thicker jacket, but it was hard to part with the one she had now. "I wouldn't mind seeing your office," Joey said glancing around. "Get the full, badass effect of where you work."

He laughed, picking up the box and motioning for her to follow him. "If I was going for badass, I'd be showing you tools," he told her, amused. He headed for the windowed door that led to the small lobby area. "Now you'll get the full, disorganized effect of where I work." He shouldered the door open and stepped through to hold it for her. Then led her behind the short counter and into his postage-stamp sized office. "You can have the comfy chair," he said, gesturing with his coffee to the desk chair. He took the plastic one in front of it, setting the stuff down on top of the strewn papers that hid the actual surface of his desk.

"Check it out. This is high style," she said with a laugh, moving around to plop down in the desk chair. She moved back and forth in it and grinned. "I love it. It's disheveled and unorganized and looks like someone actually works in it." Joey used her feet to twirl the chair so she could look around. Casual observation, nothing too nosy. She leaned back in the chair again to look at him. And then she inhaled deeply. "Ah the smell of grease and hard working man. And here you are, drinking mocha and eating cheesecake instead of a black coffee and powdered donut. I don't know why but I think this visual has pretty much made my day." Joey paused briefly. "I'm easily pleased, obviously."

Ash was amused at her observation. "All the Picassos and Renoirs are upstairs. Haven't had a chance to decorate the place yet," he said, motioning to the bare walls around them. He re-opened the cheesecake box and picked up the plastic spoon inside, starting to dig in. Goddamn that was good, and his face showed it. "Sometimes you gotta treat yourself, you know?" he said with a cheek full of her creation. "Besides, powdered donuts go straight to my thighs." He tipped her a flirty wink and washed the food down with mocha. Ahh yes, that was the stuff diabetic comas were made of. So good. "And I suppose your office smells like cookies and has flowers in it, am I right?"

"No! You need a poster of some hot chick in a bikini rubbing herself all over some motorcycle," Joey pointed out, nodding to the empty wall. She was ecstatic that he seemed to like the cheesecake too. Powdered donuts could just eat it. "You know, cheesecake goes straight to your ass," she pointed out with an equally flirty wink back. Not that he needed help in that area. Joey folded her arms on the messy desk. "My office smells like cinnamon buns," she admitted. "I don't have flowers, but I do have a couple plants. I am, unfortunately, terribly organized. I'll show you when you come by. You'll be able to see what a desk looks like." She placed her palms on the scattered pieces of paper, eyes twinkling with amusement. "And this thing called a filing cabinet."

He actually did have posters of similar things -- they all eventually looked the same, anyway -- they were just rolled and stored in the back. Which amused Ash to no end. Around his mouthful of cheesecake, that was. "A filing cabinet?" he echoed, looking incredulous. "The hell you say. Don't believe in the things. Instruments of the devil. My ass does need filling out, though, so this is good," he added in with a gesture with the fork to the half-gone piece of cheesecake. He forked another bite off, paused, and looked up at her questioningly and held it out. He was kind of stuffing his face in front of her, after all, and she deserved some of her own awesome, if she wanted it.

"Filing cabinets are a godsend. And electronic spreadsheets. You got yourself an assistant? You should his ass in here to do your filing." Though she really did like how messy his office was. It fit what she knew about him so far - which wasn't really much so she supposed it fit his appearance. Not that it was a bad thing. Joey eyed the cheesecake temptingly and then ticked her eyes to his, narrowing her gaze, keeping the smile that threatened at bay. "Are you implying my ass needs filling out?"

Oh well wasn't that just an open fucking door? Ash grinned, still offering the bite of cheesecake. "Honey, there ain't nothin' that your ass needs," he informed her. And there was more to that declaration in his head -- as he could actually think of one or two things it could probably use, all of which involved him and various bits of his anatomy -- but he didn't push it. He didn't know her very well yet, and sometimes the coolest chicks ended up being uptight bitches. "Just tryin' to share the love. ... and my 'assistant' is a greasemonkey just like me, so I don't guess he'd be much into filing either. I know where everything is on that desk, don't knock my system or you don't get cheesecake."

"Yes, but all it takes is one accidental knock of the arm and then what will you do? You need color coding, and spreadsheets and a label maker. I bet you've got a beautiful... or well, a tolerable looking desk under this thing." Which she was sure could be put to better use than harboring a scattered mess. Some of the best times she'd had were on desks. She kept that to herself. Instead she beamed at the compliment about her ass - since she was sure that's what it was. "Well, I guess my ass can handle a bite of cheesecake. I did walk all the way over here, after all." Leaning forward, she took the bite of cheesecake, not caring at all if she was making a show of pulling it off the fork with her lips. So she was flirting. She flirted with a lot of people and he seemed to have just enough of a sense of humor to appreciate it.

Ash watched her avidly, thinking that if she kept that up, the sweep of all the shit off the desk might not be at all accidental. Which was just his internal machismo talking, but damn that had looked fine. Even though she'd gotten all of the deliciousness off of the fork, he moved it directly to his mouth to get a taste of what was left over. "I've never color-coded anything in my life, and I'm not about to start now," he said, continuing on with the conversation, though his eyes stayed more firmly on her than before. He took a longer drink of the mocha, since it had cooled down some. "Nor have I spreadsheeted or label-made. Maybe I can lure you back over to teach me a lesson in organization?" he suggested with a quirked eyebrow and a smirk. Definitely cute, even if she was probably young as hell. But then again, everybody was young as hell to him.

Her eyes watched the fork as it disappeared into his mouth and she had to admit that it was a particularly smooth move on his part, even if he didn't know it. She adjusted lightly in the chair and told herself to stop acting like a seventeen year old hopped up on hormonal urges. Still, she loved to flirt with men, especially good looking ones who drew her in. She couldn't help it. Joey rested her chin in her palm now, eyes locked onto his and her lips curved. "Anytime. I guarantee you, once you get that little label maker in your hands, you'll wonder how you ever got by before without it." And then she decided to ask what was on her mind as well. "How old are you anyway? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

"Old enough to know better than to answer that question," he said with a chuckle, taking another bite of the cheesecake. He very much wanted to offer her more, just to see her lips in action again, but he didn't. He didn't want to look like a dirty old man or anything, even if he was. Seeing as how he was thinking that a label maker was the last thing she could offer that he wanted to get his hands on. "Over thirty-five, under forty-five, and that's the best ballpark you're gonna get," Ash lied through his teeth, taking another sip. That was what he looked, at least. Close enough. "You?"

She did the math quickly in her head. He gave her a ten year span there. His eyes held a sort of wisdom and age in them that she could recognize in her own, but physically he didn't appear forty yet. She knew she looked young. Most people took her as a twenty five year old, though with the way she presented herself professionally, she could get away with saying she was twenty nine. If she went over thirty, people either thought she was lying, or had had surgery, or botox or some shit. No one would ever buy she was seventy five. In angel years, of course. Joey studied him closely with her lip pulled between her teeth before answering. "Over twenty five but under thirty five." It was passable, and hopefully didn't make him feel like he was too old for whatever it was she might be after. "How's that ballpark work for you?"

That was a cute facial expression. Though she could probably be making horrific faces right around then, and he wouldn't have minded. That she gave him a decade-wide ballpark back was interesting, but then she could just be playing his game with him. "Works just fine for me, honey," he said, flashing a grin and polishing off the last of the cheesecake. Unless she was lying, twenty five to thirty five wasn't a bad range. Old enough to know what she was doing, but not old enough to be tired of it yet. ... and god, he was awful. What the fuck, this was only the second time he'd ever spoken to the woman, and she was actually decent. Not a fuck and run. She just had those kinds of eyes. He sat back with his mocha to sip on, back against the wall, stretching his legs out and getting comfortable in the plastic tiny chair, eyeing her. "That was some damn good cheesecake, thanks," he said idly after a moment.

"I made that damn good cheesecake, so thank you for enjoying it," Josephine replied, stretching a bit back into the chair and crossing one leg over the other. She thought it was good to put distance before she jumped across the desk and well, jumped him. Which only told her she had spent more time wiping out small villages lately than having sex. Not that sex was her number one priority, but she figured it should be on the list somewhere. Still, she liked Ash. He was interesting to talk to, and fun to flirt with. And there was something about him she couldn't quite finger that drew her to wanting to know more. Not to mention she really enjoyed his tattoos. "What's your favorite?" she asked him, motioning to the tattoos currently doing things to her libido.

He arched and eyebrow and glanced down at his arms. That was a question that got lobbed at him pretty often, and it was always hard to answer. "Well ..." he said with a faint chuckle. "Hard to say. They mostly all come from somewhere different, to commemorate places I've been ... Kinda partial to this one." He set his cup down and stood up, half-turning to put his side and part of his back to her, and hiked his t-shirt up. On the right lower side was an Aztec pyramid, surrounded by their native art designs, with two bejeweled gods facing off on either side. A section of it was brighter than the rest, with a raised line running through it, where he'd gotten a scar covered up. He really should've had the whole thing retouched, but hell. "Got that one in Mexico, amid some very good times," he told Joey with a faint grin.

"That tattoo practically screams good times," Joey replied with a grin as she leaned over the desk a bit to examine it more closely. She would have touched it, but that was a bit too forward, even for her. "That's something really impressive ink. I like the look of it, the detail and the colors." She would have asked about the others, but there were so many. She almost would rather wait until she saw him naked - should she ever - so she could see them all at once. Joey only had two tattoos, one of which was not visible when she was fully, or even partially clothed. His ink, however, was simply gorgeous to her. "You've traveled a lot," she mused, lifting her eyes from his tattoo up to his face. "Do you have any particular place you preferred over the others?"

He was half-hoping that she'd touch it, but couldn't blame her for not. Really, she was not being as cautious as she probably should've been, considering where they were and their proportional sizes. Not that he meant her any harm at all, but she didn't know that, did she? It was intriguing, in a way. "Thanks. Didn't really cost that much, either," he said, letting his shirt drop again. He sat himself back down and took up his relaxed position again. He thought about her question. He'd loved Tibet, but he'd been there before the Dalai Lama had been exiled and the country overtaken with Chinese, which didn't fit in with his supposed age range. "Greece was beautiful," he said, nodding a bit. "I dunno, depends on my mood. Amsterdam is heaven on earth sometimes, and others I want history and ruins. I really loved Greece, though, kinda had both." Nevermind that it had been excellent pickings for dishing out some karma.

Joey was still leaning half way over the desk when he moved to sit down again. Her knee was on the seat of her own chair and she used her leg to pull it back up toward the desk so she could return to sitting herself. She knew she would leave soon, since she didn't want to overstay her welcome. But she liked hearing him talk, knowing that he had traveled around like her. Only he had more body souvenirs from his adventures than she did. She simply had memories. Some of the places she had visited were no longer in existence, or they were mere shadows of what they had been before she arrived. "I've never been to Amsterdam, though Athens was beautiful." Joey sighed a bit wistfully. Marquette, Michigan was not Athens, Greece by any means. Her eyes found his face again and she smiled brightly. "I should get back to work and I've kept you long enough." She pushed herself up from his desk and rounded it to stand in front of him, well aware of the small space and position. "You've got a bike?"

It kind of surprised him that she'd been to Athens, though he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was that she still looked so young. Maybe it was because she'd landed in Marquette, Michigan. But then again, so had he. So had a lot of people, it seemed like. It was just another thing to note and tuck away about her, as the questions that were coming about where she'd been were cut off by her announcing she was leaving. Which really was slightly disappointing. He would've been glad to ditch work for quite a while with her. And oh how his arms itched to reach out and grab her into his lap from where she was standing. He stayed where he was, however, arms crossed comfortably over his chest. He nodded to her question. "She's my baby," he answered.

She leaned back casually against the desk, her hands coming down to grip the edges. She probably could have ditched the rest of her workday to hang out with him, but given it was opening day, and her employees were probably wetting themselves without her there, Joey knew it was impossible. Besides, she knew the questions would shift and he would start wondering where she had been, and Joey decided she needed some time to decide what details were acceptable and which would be conveniently left out. Not to mention if she stayed much longer she would be locking his office door and making use of his desk in ways that had nothing to do with work or organization. "Maybe you and your baby would like to take me for a ride sometime soon," Joey suggested with a smile. "If you've got the desire and time, of course."

Okay, she knew exactly what she was doing. To the letter. Ash tongued one of his canines briefly before he stood up in one smooth movement. Which just put them closer. He leaned in some himself, one hand coming down right next to her's. He didn't box her in completely, however, not just yet. "With an offer like that, I'll make time," he told her, holding her gaze with a slow smile. This? Was like hitting absolute gold. She was subtle but not, and he could completely dig it. His nostrils flared slightly; she smelled like baked goods and a faint hint of perfume or shampoo or something different. Yes, the desk was tempting, but he reminded himself that Sasha could come back at any time, and she did have a job to go back to. A place she owned, no less. After a second, he straightened up all the way and stepped back and through the door. "Tomorrow good for you?" he asked more casually, one corner of his mouth up.

Joey was generally a woman who could hold her own and play along. But damned if he didn't get her heart racing when he moved in. She half expected a kiss and wanted to pout when she didn't get it. But, she reminded herself, she had only just met him. She never kissed anyone on second meeting, no matter how badly she flirted with them. But she had to admit he had sparked something inside of her, and he smelled really good, the mixture of man and grease, and sweat. Was it odd that it turned her on? When he moved away, Joey exhaled softly through her lips and then smiled brightly again. She pushed away from the desk and left the office with him, her fingers slipping into her back pockets. "Tomorrow is perfect. I'll be done with my shift at six thirty, if you want to come by and pick me up."

"Six thirty, I'll be there," Ash said, a more solid grin playing with his mouth. Instead of leading her back through the garage part of the shop, he flipped the lock on the glass front door and pushed it open for her. He had no issue kissing -- or even more -- on the second meeting, but the game made it all more fun. Which she seemed to have a sense of. He could appreciate that. He could also appreciate any woman who actively wanted a spin on the bike. He was already thinking of spots to take her to. "Have yourself a good evenin', Joey," he told her, and didn't quite hide the fact that he watched her as she walked out.

"You too." She smiled at him over her shoulder and continued down to the sidewalk to head back to the cafe. And maybe there was the tiniest bit of saunter to her hips, but she was well aware that he was watching. Joey swore to herself up and down that she hadn't gone to see him for that to happen, but some things were what they were, and who was she to deny attraction? It wasn't as if she ever stayed in one spot long enough to form something real and meaningful. So she liked to take what she could get. And she definitely wanted to take Ash. Joey smiled a bit to herself and slipped her hands into her jacket pockets. She was glad she made the trip.