“That would be wonderful,” she gushed in response to the returned invitation. She hadn't been dangling for that, though she might have hoped just a bit, but it was very sweet of him to do so. What a very nice god. And he liked engines!
“I was thinking of trying to run a cooling line through here,” Lottie pointed, “but I wasn't sure if it would actually get the job done because the block is all one big piece, you know. It's hand carved, so getting anything in the engine has to go around that and then I'd have to figure out how to keep it attached because the vibrations have already caused me some problems with a few of my modifications. And are you okay?”
She hadn't missed the slip, though she wasn't sure what caused it. But even as she asked, she was reaching for his hand to see how badly he was hurt. Friendship would feel just terrible if he'd been injured, especially if it was because of something she'd done to the car. Had he put his hand down expecting something to be there, but it wasn't because she took it off to reduce weight? Oh that would be awful.
Just as her fingers touched his skin, she glanced up at him to give him a smile and found him to be a bright red. For a heartbeat, Lottie wondered if the heat had caught up with him until she recognized it for what it was. He was blushing. He was blushing a lot. And she immediately assumed responsibility.
“I'm sorry,” she apologized. “It's the talking, isn't it? You're not used to somebody just blabbing away are you, are you? I do try to keep it under control, really, but it sort of gets away from me sometimes, especially when I'm excited, and I really am right now, because it's so great to get to talk engines with somebody, I mean, I get to at home too, sort of, but not all the time because there's always work to get done and it's sort of never ending, so it's nice to be able to chat with somebody that understands what I'm saying and doesn't have to run off to do paperwork or whatever, and on top of that, you offered me a ride, and I'd really love that, so I'm even more excited, and you see what happens, my mouth just takes off, and believe it or not, I really am trying to hold it in because I can see it upsets you and I'm so, so, sorry, so you can just tell me to shut up, okay? I won't get offended if you do, heck I have friends and family that just put their hands over my mouth, because sometimes that's the only way to get a word in edgewise when I get like this, so you can absolutely tell me to hush up and I'll understand, I swear.”
She paused to take a breath, because she'd run out of air in her lungs, and it was only then that she realized she'd held his hand through her entire rambling speech. And babbling aside, it was far more important to make sure he wasn't hurt, so she repeated, “Are you okay?”