I peer up and down the street. A black Yukon resembling the ones Tyler and Jack drove the day before is parked notfar from the G-Wagon. But I don’t see anything that looks like a rental. “Um, I thought you said you were getting me a rental.”
“Actually, what I said was that I was bringing you a vehicle.” He tilts his head back slightly to indicate the car he’s leaning on.
My face pinches in confusion. I hold my hand up in a stop motion, completely confounded by what he’s saying. “You are out of your goddamn mind if you think I’m driving your company’s G-Wagon until my car is fixed.”
“Well, call me crazy then, because you are.”
I can’t help but gape at him, my mouth dropped open in shock. Leaning forward, he taps my chin with one of his fingers. That has me snapping it shut just before a gasp escapes from his nearness. His sexy, stupid smirk never leaves his face while he watches my reaction.
“Come on, hop in the driver’s seat. I can point out how to work everything. Then you can park it in your garage.” He pushes off the car, which brings us only a few inches apart. I have to look up to see his face. My gaze dips to his lips, and his smirk slowly fades as he studies me. I would give anything to know what he’s thinking. Neither of us moves for a moment until he clears his throat, steps back, and indicates I should go ahead of him, around the front of the car to the other side. I don’t get the hand to the lower back this time, but I oblige, going to the driver’s side and climbing in when he pulls the door open. My heart beats wildly with every second that passes in his presence.
After fifteen minutes of being so close to Jack, smelling his cologne, feeling a brush of his hand on my arm or leg as he points out different features of the car, my libido is roaring to life. It has been dormant for a while, even before Ibroke up with my ex, but I guess I’ve been waiting for a certain someone to awaken that in me.
Jack steps back to allow me space to slide out of the seat. He’s frowning down at me when he asks, “How’s your back? Is it still bothering you?”
In my logical mind, I’m sure it’s because he’s worried about a lawsuit, but a small part of my mind tells me it’s almost like he cares about whether I’m okay or not. “I appreciate you checking, but I’m okay.” In an attempt to wipe the frown from his handsome face, I joke, “I promise you, Jack, I won’t sue you.”
His chest expands at my words as his tongue rolls over his bottom lip. The action sparks warmth to bloom at my core. His deep baritone does nothing to lessen my arousal. “I’m not worried about you suing me.Youare the only thing I’m worried about.”
My eyes widen at the insistence in his tone as I swallow hard. I’m so thrown off by his admission that all I can reply with is a soft, “Thank you.”
For the rest of the day, I try not to read too much into his words and remind myself that, despite what he said, he was only treating me like that because his employee hit me while on the clock. Certainly not because he could possibly be feeling the same way I am…
4
Jack
“Idon’t want to hear it,” I growl as I climb into the SUV.
Nate laughs. “I wasn’t going to say a thing.” He mimes zipping his lips.
I glare at him, because we both know that’s a lie. The shit-eating grin on his face when I opened the passenger door was all I needed to see. “Whatever, man. Let’s go. We have shit to do.”
Still laughing, he starts the car and pulls away from the curb. Our office isn’t far from Gisella’s condo building, maybe ten minutes without traffic. A fact I’m grateful for today, because I do not want to be stuck in the car with him for very long. I would like to avoid the grilling I know is coming. I can’t imagine how my interaction with Gisella looked to an outsider, but it felt downright sexual to mewhile I was experiencing it. Everything about that woman turns me on.
My brain lost most of its blood flow as I inhaled her sweet floral scent and watched her curves sitting in my vehicle. I had never been into car sex before, but being there with her was giving me all kinds of ideas. Even hearing her saying my name for the first time had me fighting the urge to kiss her.
After a few minutes of silence, Nate asks, “So, you want to tell me what the deal is?”
I clear my throat of the lingering desire strumming through my veins. “Nothing to tell. Tyler rear-ended her yesterday. I had her car taken to Sampson to fix, and I couldn’t leave her without a car.”
“And your brand-new G-Wagon was the only option?” Nate asks incredulously. “You couldn’t have taken her to one of the million car rental places around Nashville to get a Honda Accord? Or hell, given her one of the company cars?”
Honestly, none of those options even crossed my mind. A weird part of me wants her to be in something that belongs to me. I have a Toyota Tacoma that I’ve been driving for the last seven years, so I don’t need the G-Wagon. It was a recent, slightly impulsive purchase. I always wanted one and finally decided I should enjoy the money I worked hard for. And now, Gisella will be in it until hers is repaired. I love that, but I have no idea why. I go with the only somewhat plausible excuse I can think of. “If something happens while she’s driving it, it’s on my insurance, not the company’s.”
Nate laughs but doesn’t argue.
He pulls into the parking lot and parks at the end of the row filled with our other company cars. Our office is in the West End area of Nashville, in an older office buildingwhere we rent the entire top floor. We walk into the building in silence and take the elevator to the sixth level.
When we get off the elevator, Tyler and another of our employees and friends, Ian, are lounging on the couch in the reception area, talking with our soon-to-be retiring receptionist, Alice. She’s been with Nate and me since day one of this company and is like a grandmother to all of us. We’re all going to miss her. She told me she didn’t mind returning occasionally to help but was ready to travel and spend time with her grandkids. I definitely can’t blame her for that.
“Hey, hey, bosses,” Ian calls out as we walk over. “I thought we had a meeting this morning. But Alice informed me you both had to run some secret errand.”
He’s maybe three inches shorter than my 6’2”, but what he lacks in height, he makes up for in bulk. He spends hours in the gym every week, and it shows. He’s usually easygoing, but his trigger is razor thin. He’s a mean son of a bitch when he needs to be. Besides Nate and Tyler, Ian is who I’m closest to. Nate and I own the company, but Ian might as well be a third owner, given how much work he puts in.
“It wasn’t a secret,” I say pointedly, directing a scowl at my receptionist. She just laughs and waves her hand dismissively as she wanders away from the group.
Nate seizes the opening I’m sure he was waiting for since I climbed into his vehicle. “Yeah, it wasn’t a secret. We just had to drop Jack’s brand-new G-Wagon off to his Gisella, who he definitely wants to…” He mouths the wordfuckwhile sending a glance in Alice’s direction. She’s used to working with a bunch of men who make inappropriate jokes and talk about their sexual escapades, so she isn’t fazed by much, but we do try to be respectful.