Page 11 of Slow Ride

Yep.She was fucked.

“It was nice to meet you….”He held out his hand.His eyes danced with mischief as he dared her to touch him, even that little bit.

Not one to back down from a challenge, Wren took it and shook, immediately regretting her impulsive decision.Those sparkles he’d ignited turned to full-on fireworks.They jolted her so badly, the only thing she could do was blurt her name.“Wren.Wren Asbery.”

“Pretty.Not as pretty as you, though.”He had to be smooth, too, didn’t he?

“Thanks.I’d better get back to work.”Of course everyone in the room knew that was a whopper since she’d told them she was finished for the day.Theoretically, though, she could scrub the equipment or spend some more time arranging her bay in the garage.Anything but stand there and be caught up in the laser beam of Kason Cox’s all-too-knowing stare.

“Right.”He stepped away, toward Van—whose smirk did a lot to erase his badass vibe—before Kason spun around.He took two long strides, returning to the counter, selected a pen from the metal can there, and jotted something on one of the backstage passes.“In case you change your mind or feel like…whatever.”

She blinked at him.

Didwhatevermean a quickie in some Middletown hotel?Probably, if she was up for it.Which she definitely was not.Dinner?Long talks about nothing late at night?Nah.A man like Kason Cox wasn’t the conversational sort.

He was a man of action.

Kason did that nod thing again, then he was striding out the door.

Van muttered, “You’re rusty, Cox.”

Then he was cracking up as his boss, and apparently his friend, punched him in the shoulder.Not that the tap would do any harm to the bodyguard.Kason’s poor knuckles were in greater danger.

Wren stayed planted there, staring as the guys piled into a sleek black truck with dark tinted windows then drove away.She could still smell Kason and hear the rich tone of his voice in her mind.

Devra charged her, squealing, and threw her arms around Wren.“Damn, girl!He’s fine.You’re going to that concert and you’re taking me with you, right?”

“I’m not sure it’s a good idea for the two of you to go alone,” Ollie grumbled.

“Volunteering to chaperone, buddy?”Trevon asked with a grin as he threw his arm around their garagemate to ease the sting of the truth.“I don’t think you’d like that any better.”

Devra reached for the tickets and counted them out.There were enough for all of the Hot Rides, including Gavyn and his wife Amber, plus some of the Hot Rods, to have a night out if they wanted.

Did Wren want to?

Hell yes.

Would she?

Hell no.

“You should go, Devra.Take whoever you want.”She carefully tucked Johnny’s backstage pass into her pocket, then pressed the rest of the tickets into her friend’s hands.“They’re yours.”

Ollie winced.“Hey, sorry.I shouldn’t have said that.You obviously liked the guy… Go.”

“Thanks.”Wren tried to smile through the confusion of emotions slamming into her now that the sparkles were fading and only the painful things were left behind.“You didn’t change my mind, though.I just…I can’t.”

That last bit came out as a whisper.Wren knew she only had a few moments to escape before making a spectacle of herself in front of her new friends.So she said, “Excuse me.”

Then she dashed through the break room to the bathroom, slammed the door, used her boot to shut the toilet lid, then slumped onto it, burying her face in her hands.She began to shake all over and tears leaked through her fingers.

It turned out that despite what she’d thought, she hadn’t cried them all out yet.

Damn it.

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