Breathless in Love

  She'd had every right to call him on his intentions with Jeremy. But he still wasn't sure she understood that the cost of the Maserati kit was nothing compared to what Will would get out of it. Jeremy made him feel like he had a second chance to make up for the worst of the things he'd done when he was a kid.

  And Harper simply made him feel.

  He'd been charmed by the animal mugs, and her endearingly messy house, so in contrast with the professional facade she wore. On the surface, she was polite and polished, but after seeing her at home, he now believed more than ever that there was a wild--and delightfully unruly--woman inside of her dying to break out.

  She was so strong as she'd peppered him with her questions--and so sexy that he'd been this close to pushing for everything he wanted, right there in her kitchen. But he'd only let himself push a little bit. Only let himself tease her with words and brief touches until they were both panting with need.

  Sweet Lord, had she ever been heaven against him. The leggings had revealed every gorgeous contour of her legs, while the sweater had made him desperate to uncover the rest of her sweetness. Even the striped toe socks had kicked his heart into high gear. She'd smelled delicious, like fruity shampoo and shower gel and lotion, and without makeup, her skin had been peaches-and-cream smooth.

  In the end, though it had nearly killed him to push away from her and walk out of that kitchen knowing he wouldn't see her again for nearly a week and half, the big tease had been perfect. Because they'd been riding the edge together. Soon, he'd push them both over.

  Until then? Will knew he'd be going crazy with anticipation.

  And if he'd played his cards right in her kitchen, hopefully Harper would be going more than a little crazy, too.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  As the Saturday of their next visit to Will's garage finally dawned and Jeremy's enthusiasm knew no bounds, Harper tried to keep her anticipation at seeing Will again at bay.

  Jeremy had been so excited when Will told him about the Maserati kit and had asked her to take him out to purchase a new notebook in which he'd written furiously and also pasted numerous pictures. Making notes, he'd said, but they were a secret. Just for Will and him. Still, even if she couldn't help but worry about Jeremy, she also couldn't bring herself to crush his enjoyment.

  As for herself...she shook her head as she put on the brakes for a stoplight in the thick Saturday traffic. She'd never been the kind of woman to go all gooey just from thinking about a guy. But every time she thought about Will, both her brain and her body went topsy-turvy.

  "I like Will," Jeremy said from the passenger seat with his usual big-hearted cheerfulness.

  Harper couldn't deny the truth. "I like him, too."

  And it wasn't just Will's sex appeal that drew her to him like moth to flame. It was all the little things that added up--his patience with Jeremy, the tin of caviar he'd given Mama Cannelli, and the genuine empathy on his face and in his touch when she'd told him about the car crash, the rich teen getting away with near murder, and then their parents' passing.

  "I brought drinks and sandwiches for when we get hungry." She didn't want to assume that Will would feed them. "Your favorite, PB and J."

  "I can't wait to get there!" Jeremy said. "This is going to be the best day ever."

  Jeremy had clearly been swept away by Will. And the problem was, no matter how much she'd tried to deny it over the past ten days, Harper kept secretly fantasizing about being swept away by him, too. Will had an irresistible magnetism, much as she'd been reminding herself that she had to resist.

  The way he'd turned her inside out in her kitchen with nothing but words was something her body couldn't forget. Not when deep inside, she knew how good--how amazing--it would feel to be taken by him.

  I intend to kiss you so slowly, so thoroughly, that you'll be begging me to never, ever stop.

  All of his sexy, crazy, wild intentions came back to her deep in the middle of the night when she couldn't sleep. They were why she couldn't sleep. Because she wanted so badly everything he was offering.

  But again and again over the past few days, she'd wondered--what if she took her eye off the ball in her quest for even a small, but heady, taste of wildness, and something happened to her brother? What if she went in for a few perfect gulps of the thrills that Will was offering her and ended up putting the safe little life she'd created for herself and Jeremy at risk? Especially when, despite how kind Will had been to both of them so far, she didn't know very much about him at all. He hadn't shared anything about who he was or where he'd come from. In fact, he'd skillfully avoided revealing himself.

  They pulled up at the top of the driveway, and as she came to a stop, Jeremy all but threw himself out of the car when Will appeared in one of the open roll-up doors. Harper opted for a more reasonable pace, yet her heart was beating wildly. God only knew why, since Will was covered in the long white overalls she'd seen hanging in the garage.

  How can a man look that sexy in overalls?

  "Where is it, Will?" Jeremy asked in an excited voice.

  "Up in the barn." Will pointed to the hill beyond the garages. "That's my workshop for major projects." He gestured to the two garage buildings where they were standing. "This place is just for tune-ups, oil changes, and regular maintenance."

  Stepping back into the garage, he reached for a pair of blue overalls. "Better put these on, Jeremy, or your sister will have my head for creating more laundry." From the curve of his lips as he said it, she knew he was remembering the baskets of unfolded clothing in the family room.

  She blushed as he tossed the overalls to Jeremy. Who missed.

  Her brother scrambled to grab them up off the concrete. "Do I have to take my clothes off?"

  Will shook his head. "Nope. The legs should be wide enough to fit over your sneakers and jeans."

  Harper liked that he didn't make a big deal out of Jeremy not knowing what to do.

  "Okay. I have to sit down." Jeremy sat on the concrete and tried stuffing his feet into the legs.

  Will didn't help him, and Harper liked that, too, since she tried not to let herself help Jeremy unless he asked for it.

  Still fighting the overalls onto his legs, rolling onto his back and pulling at them, her brother called, "Doesn't Harper need these, too?"

  Will eyed her, giving her a long, slow look--which Jeremy was too involved with his overalls to notice. The heat in Will's gaze told her he'd taken in her tank top and capris. And liked what he saw. "Oh no. I want Harper just the way she is."

  Even if he couldn't possibly mean that the way it sounded, it still managed to be the sweetest thing any man had ever said to her.

  Jeremy finally got the blue overalls on his legs, then scooched his bottom to pull them over his hips. Rolling to his hands and knees, he pushed himself up. While her brother put on the overalls, Will had reduced the distance between himself and Harper to two steps.

  He was close enough to touch her now, but he didn't. That in itself was another tease, something that Will was just too good at.

  "Ready?" Will directed the question to Jeremy, who'd finally zipped up his overalls.

  "Yes!" her brother yelled.

  Then Will finally did what she'd been secretly dying for. He put his hand on her bare back between the straps of her tank top, guiding her toward the garage, making her acutely aware of him with the caress of his fingers above the line of the tank.

  And, even if she shouldn't, she couldn't help but love every second of it.

  *

  Harper had pulled her hair up into a sexy, messy knot held by a butterfly clip. Loose tendrils flirted with her seductively bare shoulders. But it was the silver toe ring on the middle toe of her right foot that really got Will going.

  It should have been unexpected. To anyone else, it might even seem out of character. But not to him. Because he already knew about the secret wildness inside her that was practically bursting to come out. Even if she clearly thought she needed to keep it firml
y tamped down.

  "Pile in." He pointed to the golf cart parked just inside the roll-up door.

  "Cool, I can't believe we're going to ride in that!" Everything excited Jeremy, from overalls to golf carts.

  "Makes it easier to come back down the hill if I need something here." Although Will had outfitted the barn with everything he could possibly need when he was building the Cobra, the golf cart and the path he'd built made it easier to travel back and forth.

  "I almost forgot." Harper backed off so that his hand fell away from the heat of her skin. "I brought lunch. And drinks. I hope you like peanut butter and jelly."

  He'd planned on having his housekeeper, Mrs. Taylor, bring up a tray around noon, but it was sweet that Harper had planned ahead. "My favorite," he told her. He hadn't eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich since Susan made them for lunch every day when she'd sent them all off to school, but back then it really had been his favorite. At least, when he hadn't been getting into too much trouble to eat lunch.

  "Climb into the backseat," he told Jeremy, then jetted the golf cart out to Harper, swinging it around so that she could climb in beside him.

  She carried a six-pack of water bottles and an insulated lunch bag. As soon as she was seated, he couldn't resist reaching out to brush away a lock of hair from her gorgeous mouth. Once the strand was gone, however, he let his hand linger on her soft skin, appreciating the way her eyes dilated slightly with an awareness she couldn't hide.

  "Thank you for taking care of us, Harper. Guys working on cars don't think to stop and eat. But we're going to need our sustenance." Then he added over his shoulder, "Isn't that right, Jeremy?"

  "Right, Will."

  He moved his hand from her cheek to rest lightly over hers as he whisked them up the hill, feeling Harper's gaze on him.

  "Stop teasing," she said softly.

  "Teasing?" He lifted one eyebrow. "I'm perfectly serious."

  And he was. He intended to make her crazy. As crazy for him as he already was for her. The prospect already had his blood rushing.

  She tried to look stern. "You know what I mean."

  He knew exactly what she meant. And he had a lot more planned for her. Touching, teasing, flirting--anything that would remind her of every single wicked intention he'd whispered against her skin in her kitchen a week and a half ago.

  He wanted the woman who'd grabbed his shirt and dragged his mouth down to hers out by the old aqueduct. And since something told him she was secretly dying for that, too, he'd do whatever he could to bring out that thrill-seeking side of her again.

  *

  With each zing of Will's fingers on her arm and her shoulder and her back, Harper felt a little crazier. Resisting him was the rational choice--the safe choice--but staying rational around Will was one of the hardest things she'd ever tried to do.

  "You've got quite a setup here," she said, attempting to divert her focus away from how much she wanted him.

  "I converted the barn when I was building the Cobra."

  The barn floor had been filled in with concrete and covered with black and white checkerboard squares. A car lift was central to the huge workspace, and above was a suspension system that Will explained could be used to lower the engine block and transmission into place, and even the fiberglass car body. Ringing the floor space were rolling tool chests, workbenches, an air compressor, a welding machine, bins of rivets, pins, nuts, bolts, and screws, along with racks of drills, electric screwdrivers, and other tools, all in pristine condition.

  The second they stepped inside, Jeremy ran around asking Will what everything was. Will not only patiently answered Jeremy's questions, but he actually seemed to enjoy explaining. It was another big point for him in the plus column, at least where her brother was concerned.

  Will turned to the covered item centered over the lift. "And here is the object of our desire."

  He stood so close that their arms brushed. Thrill bumps rose along with the fine, nearly invisible hairs on her forearms, like a static shock from too much friction. His mouth curved as he glanced down at her, knowing full well what he was doing with his double entendres. No question about it, he enjoyed teasing her way too much. But the secret truth was that she enjoyed it, too, even if she shouldn't.

  When she was with Will, Harper felt young and sexy and giddy for the first time in a very, very long time.

  Will whipped away the tarp, and Jeremy said, "Wow," on a soft note of awe.

  "That's exactly what I said when I first saw it," Will said with equal reverence.

  "What is it?" Harper asked as she stared at the contraption.

  It looked like a twisted metal cage. Or a complicated set of monkey bars on a playground. Rods were stuck together seemingly every which way, but also with a synergistic sense of purpose she couldn't fathom.

  "It's the frame of the car," Will explained.

  "How could you have had this made in less than two weeks?" Suddenly, she felt the awe. For Will and what he could accomplish.

  "I offered a bonus so the factory would work around the clock." He said it matter-of-factly, as if it hadn't cost a staggering amount.

  All Will had to do was snap his fingers, and poof, there was a complex car frame sitting in his retrofitted barn. She knew he was rich, but this was the power to have anything he wanted. Anything at all.

  And he'd said he wanted her.

  A hot shiver shot through her body...along with a healthy dose of tension as she reminded herself that rich men played by their own rules.

  By now, she knew that Will was nothing like the man who'd paid her parents to make his son's car accident go away. But at the same time, no matter how nice Will seemed, she and Jeremy lived in a very different world. Harper wasn't intimidated by much anymore, but she wasn't going to lie and say that Will's world of infinite luxury and power wasn't overwhelming.

  "It's called a space frame," Will told them. "Or a tube frame." He trailed a finger down a metal pipe, and Harper felt it as though he'd run that finger down her arm.

  "We're going to attach the sheet metal and just about every single part somewhere on this frame." He signaled Jeremy closer. Harper leaned in, too. "Each tube is for something specific." He pointed. "This is where we'll attach the firewall between the engine and the cockpit." He patted the air over where she assumed the driver would sit. "Here is where we'll put the floor panels." His words drew a picture, and Harper could almost see the leather seats. "Those are the pieces we've got for the time being. The rest will be here next Friday."

  He wrapped his hand around Harper's, and with her fingers engulfed in his, he took her back for the larger view. Jeremy followed suit. Together, the three of them stared at the hunk of metal.

  Suddenly she saw it. "It's like a bird cage surrounding the driver." No wonder they called it the Birdcage Maserati.

  "All we have to do is put her parts together, shape her, and bring her to life. With loving hands."

  Though they were talking about a car, with her hand in his and his heated gaze burning up every inch of her skin, Harper felt as though he was slowly bringing her to life, too...patiently working to uncover and unleash the sensual woman hidden inside of her with every word, every look, and every touch.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Will grabbed his camera off the workbench. "We need to document our work progress as we go along." He snapped a couple of shots of the bare frame, then waved Harper into the picture.

  "It should be Jeremy in the photo," she protested, hanging back. "Not me."

  "Sorry, but he's not the hot babe we need for our hot car shots."

  She glared at his teasing use of the term hot babe, and he wanted to kiss the disapproval right off her pretty lips.

  Will took her hand again, her skin smooth and warm as he brought her over to the frame. Had she figured out that while he was teasing her, he was working himself up, too? He enjoyed her wide blue eyes, the puffs of breath that signaled her arousal--or anger--and the way she bit her lip witho
ut even being aware of it.

  "We need you in the picture to show proportion," he explained. "And you, too, Jeremy."

  Jeremy needed no further prodding to jump into the photo. Will didn't always require human subjects, but he wanted them. This was a joint project. Plus, he had a major desire to see Harper on camera.

  "Act like a model showing off the car," he directed, watching her on the digital screen.

  He thought she might be shy, but she surprised him by throwing her hands out, cocking her hip, and pointing one toe on the concrete in a ballet pose. Her hair swirled around her shoulders, and her pink lipstick glistened. An ache grew low in his gut, and he swallowed hard.

  Watching her was addictive.

  Beside her, Jeremy was a surprising ham, striking one ridiculous pose after another, and Will wondered when the last time had been that he'd had fun like this.

  Finally, Harper stepped out of the camera frame and held out her palm. "Okay, give it to me. We need some of you and Jeremy, since you two are building this thing."

  He relinquished the camera, but not before making sure his hand lingered on hers. She met his gaze, pursed her lips, and shook her head. "Stop being bad."

  "You have no idea how bad I can be," he said in a soft voice. And he couldn't wait to show her.

  He caught the way her eyes flared with heat right before she rolled them, and then she gestured for him to move toward Jeremy and the metal frame. He'd raised it off the floor with four jack stands, to which he'd added small pieces of cloth so they didn't scratch the frame's paint. He'd enjoyed their reaction. When the crate arrived yesterday, he'd considered the best presentation. In the end, he'd uncrated it, used the suspension crane to place it on the jack stands, and covered it with the tarp so he could whisk it aside to reveal the masterpiece. The effect was perfect. Even Harper had been impressed.

  He put his arm around the boy, and felt damn near fatherly, something he'd never even thought of before.

  After Harper took a dozen or so shots, Jeremy said, "Now we need you and Harper." He obviously didn't want to be left out of the picture-taking.

  "You two don't need me in more pictures," Harper objected again.

  "Come on, Harper," Jeremy begged.

  Of course she gave in to her brother, pointing to the button he should push to take the photo. And of course Will wasn't about to waste the opportunity to pull her in front of him and set his hands on her hips until she was nestled back against him.