He cleared his throat. “I can do that. But like I said, we’re busy. Come back after we close up, and I’ll be happy to.” He gave her another barely there smile and let a little sarcasm slip into his voice. “You are the competition, right? Wouldn’t be good business to show you all our secrets.”
The spark flickered back to life, the fire now front and center. “Worried?”
“Not in the slightest. You think if I was, I’d offer what I am? Just trying to prove a point, sweetheart. You threw it down, and I don’t ignore a challenge, or a chance to prove someone wrong. That’s as deep as it goes.”
She shifted on those beaten-to-hell boots again, that on the legs she had, looked just as hot as any pair of six-inch heels could. “What time?”
“Seven.”
“That should work.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
She didn’t say any more, didn’t hang around, in fact she all but bolted from his office. She was skittish and wary as hell, and she didn’t trust him one bit. He guessed at this point, the chance of her actually showing tonight was fifty-fifty.
Either away, he wasn’t finished with Rusty West.
Chapter Four
She’d lost her ever-lovin’ mind. That was the only way to explain it. She should turn around and go home, forget all about this.
Still her foot stayed planted on the gas, her truck moving her across the city for the second time that day. God, she needed to chill out. She was overthinking things, wasn’t she? This was strictly business, nothing more.
If that’s true, why didn’t you tell Alex or Piper where you were going?
Shit. She couldn’t deny the man intrigued her. Then there was his behavior today—he wasn’t the same guy who’d walked into West’s just over a week ago, so much so, she’d let her guard down, decided to take his offer, or challenge, at face value.
The interest she’d seen the previous week hadn’t been there today, and surprisingly, she’d been disappointed. Which was messed up. But what was even more messed up? The care she’d taken dressing, the time she’d spent on her hair, her makeup. She’d told herself she hadn’t done it for him, but as she pulled into the parking lot of R.I.P., and the butterflies in her belly went freakin’ haywire, she knew she was full of shit.
What the hell was she doing here? She didn’t want a man. She sure as hell shouldn’t want this man. They had nothing in common—okay, yeah, there were the cars, but that’s where it started and ended. How could he ever understand where she came from, the struggles she, Alex, and Piper had gone through to get where they were now. With all he had, his money, the guy wouldn’t have a clue.
No, she’d known since she was eighteen years old that relationships weren’t for her. That hadn’t changed in all these years, would never change. Love was never equal. Someone always got hurt. Always. She’d learned that for the first time when she was just a kid, when her mother chose some asshole over her husband and kids.
She’d learned it again when she got older, in a seedy hotel after senior prom. She’d stupidly given it up to the supposed love of her life, and he’d proceeded to humiliate and ridicule her. That night had more than cemented her opinion.
Love couldn’t be trusted.
But for some reason, she hadn’t liked the loss of interest in Reid Parker’s eyes, the indifference. And even more surprising, she wanted it back. What she didn’t know, was what she planned to do with it if she got it back. If she wanted to do anything at all. She hadn’t been this attracted to a man in as long as she could remember. She’d felt lust before, but not this, this restless needy feeling he stirred inside her. This was new and, as she discovered tonight, impossible to ignore.
That feeling was what got her in the shower, washing off the grease and sweat of the day. It was also what had her leaving her hair down, sliding on her favorite army green short shorts and the peach, drapey off-one-shoulder tee she’d bought on sale the week before, the one that clung to her tits and skimmed over her belly just right. It was also that feeling that, despite the fact she was entering a garage, had her shoving her feet in the black wedge flip-flops she loved, the ones that did great things to her claves, and hustling her ass across the city without telling her two best friends what she was doing.
She was damned lucky Piper had been out when she left, or she would’ve gotten the narrow eyes and fifty questions before being allowed to leave the house.
All of a sudden she felt stupid, ridiculous. A man like Reid no doubt had women falling at his feet daily. He wasn’t an idiot. One look at her and he’d know exactly why she was dressed this way. To impress.
Her face heated.
Get the hell out of here.
She gripped the gearstick, about to throw her pickup into reverse and burn rubber before Reid saw her sitting there like a moron, when the door wrenched open and the man himself filled her vision.
Yum.
“You going somewhere?” His voice was nothing but a rumble, and God, did she feel it. Like the man had reached out and swiped his thumb across her now embarrassingly hard nipples.
“Um…”
His hair was in that sexy knot, low on his head, and it looked damp. He’d obviously just hit the showers as well. And, oh hell no, that was not an image she needed right then.
Her gaze dropped of its own volition to the soft, faded jeans he wore. They weren’t tight, but they certainly didn’t hide a damn thing. His tee was black, and the thing molded to his defined chest and biceps in a way that had her mouth watering. She took all this in without conscious thought, her eyes eating him up as if they had a mind of their own.
Swallowing hard, she finally lifted her gaze to that sensual mouth, the strong but crooked nose, and square jaw covered in dark whiskers. And yeah, she’d imagined how that short beard would feel on her bare skin more than once. She’d thought about a lot of things where Reid Parker was concerned, usually while she used her vibrator.
That thought had another rush of heat hitting her face. Her gaze finally caught his, and she noticed the way the skin at the corners of his eyes crinkled slightly.
The guy was laughing at her.
Oh, he was trying to keep it under wraps, but those eyes, they hid nothing.
“You all right, Rusty?” His voice was deeper now, and it moved right through her, lifting goose bumps on her arms, her bare legs.
Never, not once in her life had a man affected her this way. She didn’t know what to do with it, how to act without making a fool of herself. She had to get the hell out of there, now. “I…ah. I have to go.”
He moved in, bracing one of his hands on the top of her open door, the other on the roof of her truck. “You just got here.”
“Sorry, I uh…”
“It won’t take long. Plus I need a chance to defend my honor.” His hand left the roof and slid around her wrist, gently tugging her from her pickup. The goose bumps got a whole lot worse, and she shivered at the zing of electricity his touch shot through her body.
“Right, fine.” He let go of her wrist, but then placed his hand on her lower back, steering her toward the single door to the side of the big building. The main workshop doors were closed for the night, and she knew once they stepped inside they’d be all on their own.
Rusty didn’t know whether he sensed she was a ball of nerves and was taking pity on her, or hadn’t noticed at all and just wanted to get this over and done with as fast as possible so he could send her on her way. Because he didn’t mess around. He showed her the workshop, the different stations for the different jobs they did. He also showed her several folders full of pictures of cars they’d restored for clients, others he’d found himself and rebuilt to sell.