Page 9 of Purr For Me
She couldn’t hold back a smile as she asked, “You named your guns? That’s pretty conceited.”
Kade grinned and flexed his muscles, amused that she’d noticed. “Not conceited, just telling the truth. I’m the current boxing champ at my gym.”
“I didn’t know you boxed,” Lexie said, trying to remember if Jason had ever mentioned it.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Lexie.”
The invitation in his voice made Lexie frown a little. He was trying to entice her into asking questions, but she resisted taking the bait.
“I guess so,” she responded. “Well, I’ll show you where we’re at with things.” She motioned for Kade to follow her and led him to the rear axle she and Sully had been discussing. “You really should’ve taken a better look at this car before you bought it. The car was stored somewhere with a lot of moisture exposure. Probably parked on grass and left uncovered. There’s a lot of rust under here.” She tapped the axle. “Including this. See this place here?”
Kade moved closer and looked at the rusted-out spot she’d indicated. “Yeah. That doesn’t look good.”
He stood so close that Lexie felt his body heat and smelled his citrus and spice cologne. The combination was delicious, and Lexie had to work hard to not lean closer and inhale it deep into her lungs.
Annoyed with herself, Lexie stepped away from him a little. “It’s not. If I took this out on the road, I wouldn’t get very far before it would snap. I’m surprised it didn’t when it was loaded on the tow truck. It should be replaced.”
“Damn,” Kade muttered in dismay and turned his coffee-brown eyes on her. “Is the rest of it as bad as this?”
The car lover in Lexie sympathized with him. “Not all of it, but there’s more wrong with it than there isn’t. The floor in the front on the passenger side is rusted through, and three of the brake drums have to be replaced.”
Kade passed a hand over his face and sighed. “Do you have an estimate yet?”
Lexie nodded. “Yeah. Look, Kade, this will cost a fortune. Are you sure you want to go through with it?”
Lexie bit her bottom lip as she waited for his answer. Although she didn’t relish the idea of seeing Kade a lot, restoring the Alfa to its former glory excited her.
Watching his gaze travel over the underside of the car, Lexie knew Kade was a gorgeous guy. Those guns of his weren’t the only thing impressive about him. Wide, chiseled chest, narrow, defined abdomen, tight ass, and powerful calves—all those attributes added up to one very tasty man.
A part of her had always been attracted to Kade, and she’d felt so guilty. Jason was his brother.
Did the fact that she found Kade attractive mean that she no longer loved Jason? Had it really been love at all?
If she’d loved Jason, she’d loved a Jason that never existed.
Disconcerted by her train of thought, Lexie shut them down and got back to business.
“Honey, with me, money’s no problem. You know that. Let’s do it.”
Lexie’s eyebrows lifted. “Okay. But you’ve got more money than sense.” Lexie walked to the computer and woke it and logged into the invoicing system. Finding Kade’s estimate, she printed it off and handed it to him. “Read it and weep.”
Kade shot her a curious look and then studied the estimate. Lexie barely restrained her mirth as Kade’s eyebrows climbed his forehead. She watched him scan the paper a second time before he pointed to a line of text.
“You have paint on here, but there’s no cost and no description.”
“Right. I was hoping you might let me give the little Alfa something more than a boring red paint job.”
“You mean racing stripes or something?”
Kade’s frown was adorable. She laughed. “No. But something tasteful to match the car. I came up with some ideas if you’d like to see them.”
“Hell yeah.”
Lexie kept a silly smile off her face and pulled a huge sketch pad from a shelf under the workbench top. Opening it, she started flipping pages, but after a couple, Kade stopped her.
“Damn, Lexie. I forgot what a kick-ass artist you are.”
He tapped the detailed colored-pencil drawing of an old Ford pickup on the current page. On the drivers-side door, a depiction of a ranch, complete with a blue sky and sun overhead, graced the surface.
