Opening Up
Page 3
She ran her tongue over her bottom lip before she sank her top teeth into it briefly. He felt it to his toes.
“Absolutely. Paint is a serious thing. Do you need to be reminded of that?”
Christ.
He liked to do the reminding. And he surely would like to remind this woman while she was naked and in his bed. There was something striking about her. An air of confidence that grew as they flirted over machines. Her energy was vibrant. Sensual.
And still, not for him.
He probably should be breaking away to go back over to where Duke stood. Instead he kept talking. “So what do you do at Colman central?”
“I manage accounts. Which is a fancy way of saying I sell tires to people like you and Duke. They send me to industry events like this.” She cocked her head and paused before speaking again. “Who does your paint work?”
That was a quick change of topic. “We have paint done on-site. Specialty stuff goes out to contractors. Are you looking for any kind of work in particular? I could give you a better idea if I knew more.”
She laughed and… it surprised him. Low and sultry. Not what he expected at all. A brief touch of her hand to his forearm. “I do custom paint work. Just wondering who my competition was.”
An image of her bent over, breasts heaving against the front of a very tight shirt as she worked on one of his cars, settled in, and he let it.
“This a new service Colman is offering?”
“It’s a way to do what I like to do and to expand our reach into new sectors of this business.”
Young? Yes. He probably had wrenches older than she was. But she had intelligence to go with the looks. It wasn’t as if he thought Colman was the huge success it was without a lot of smart, hardworking people at the helm. But he’d taken one look at that face and body and misjudged her as spoiled, pretty, and rich, and therefore totally useless.
“At some point I’d like to talk with you and Duke about that direction.”
“Give the shop a call and set something up.” At least he’d get another chance to see that face.
“All right.” She looked up, and the upward curve to her lips urged his own to do the same.
Neither of them spoke. It felt as if she waited for him. That hit hard. Unexpected to be so moved by this wisp of a woman he’d just met minutes before. It wasn’t until she hummed low in her throat, a sound of pleasure, that he realized he’d taken a step closer.
“Excuse me. I’m sorry to interrupt, PJ, but do you have any of Shawn’s cards?”
Asa wrestled back his instinct to shove this guy away and have PJ all to himself again.
And was doubly glad when she turned with a smile that was totally different than the one she’d just given Asa. That’s when he took in the strong resemblance between her and the guy who’d spoken and figured this had to be one of her brothers.
“Jay, this is Asa Barrons. He’s one of the co-owners of Twisted Steel.” She looked back to Asa. “This is my brother Jay, CEO at Colman.”
Duke dealt better with guys like this one. Asa kept his head in his machines as much as he could. He loved gear with a passion, but people? Not so much.
“Nice to meet you. PJ sings the praises of Twisted Steel frequently.” Jay shook Asa’s hand.
PJ handed her brother a few cards.
“She was just educating me on her view of racing stripes.”
Jay appeared apprehensive, but PJ just laughed and patted her brother’s arm. “Don’t worry. I’m sure he’s not going to stop doing business with us. I didn’t tell him I thought they were boring or overdone.”
It was Asa’s turn to laugh. “Boring?”
Her eyes seemed to light up as her laugh continued to drive him nuts. “Oops, cat’s out of the bag now. Please continue to buy our tires.”
Jay’s eyes widened and Asa wanted to tell the dude to lighten up.
Asa gave her brother a look and made an X over his heart. “I promise we’ll continue to buy your tires even though your sister is so irreverent. Maybe because.” He winked at her and she poked her brother’s upper arm.
Jay looked back over his shoulder and then to them once more. “I need to get back to my conversation. It was nice to finally meet you, Asa.” He held the cards up. “Thanks.”
Before Asa could say anything else, the woman he’d actually been planning on taking home came back through the room looking for him.
“I need to get back to it as well.” He held his hand out, shaking PJ’s, and then he handed her a business card and took hers.
“Have an excellent evening, Asa Barrons.”
The buxom brunette making her way over to him would probably guarantee that. But he couldn’t deny the pull as PJ walked away.
He really couldn’t deny it when she was stopped not even half a room away by Scott Elroy, one of the guys in town who custom-built bikes. And by the looks of it, Asa wasn’t the only one who found PJ Colman rather delightful.
Chapter Two
PJ hung up the phone after leaving a message for Asa Barrons. Again. She’d called three times in the month following the party and got his voicemail each time.
She looked across the table at her best friend, Audra. “He’s ducking me.”
“Or maybe he’s just slammed. You said he wasn’t hesitant when you brought it up when you met him. They run a busy shop. Making time to deal with another contractor when they already have some and they’re backed up or whatever, is going to mean you fall down the list. Even when you’re as pretty as you are.”
“Absolutely. Paint is a serious thing. Do you need to be reminded of that?”
Christ.
He liked to do the reminding. And he surely would like to remind this woman while she was naked and in his bed. There was something striking about her. An air of confidence that grew as they flirted over machines. Her energy was vibrant. Sensual.
And still, not for him.
He probably should be breaking away to go back over to where Duke stood. Instead he kept talking. “So what do you do at Colman central?”
“I manage accounts. Which is a fancy way of saying I sell tires to people like you and Duke. They send me to industry events like this.” She cocked her head and paused before speaking again. “Who does your paint work?”
That was a quick change of topic. “We have paint done on-site. Specialty stuff goes out to contractors. Are you looking for any kind of work in particular? I could give you a better idea if I knew more.”
She laughed and… it surprised him. Low and sultry. Not what he expected at all. A brief touch of her hand to his forearm. “I do custom paint work. Just wondering who my competition was.”
An image of her bent over, breasts heaving against the front of a very tight shirt as she worked on one of his cars, settled in, and he let it.
“This a new service Colman is offering?”
“It’s a way to do what I like to do and to expand our reach into new sectors of this business.”
Young? Yes. He probably had wrenches older than she was. But she had intelligence to go with the looks. It wasn’t as if he thought Colman was the huge success it was without a lot of smart, hardworking people at the helm. But he’d taken one look at that face and body and misjudged her as spoiled, pretty, and rich, and therefore totally useless.
“At some point I’d like to talk with you and Duke about that direction.”
“Give the shop a call and set something up.” At least he’d get another chance to see that face.
“All right.” She looked up, and the upward curve to her lips urged his own to do the same.
Neither of them spoke. It felt as if she waited for him. That hit hard. Unexpected to be so moved by this wisp of a woman he’d just met minutes before. It wasn’t until she hummed low in her throat, a sound of pleasure, that he realized he’d taken a step closer.
“Excuse me. I’m sorry to interrupt, PJ, but do you have any of Shawn’s cards?”
Asa wrestled back his instinct to shove this guy away and have PJ all to himself again.
And was doubly glad when she turned with a smile that was totally different than the one she’d just given Asa. That’s when he took in the strong resemblance between her and the guy who’d spoken and figured this had to be one of her brothers.
“Jay, this is Asa Barrons. He’s one of the co-owners of Twisted Steel.” She looked back to Asa. “This is my brother Jay, CEO at Colman.”
Duke dealt better with guys like this one. Asa kept his head in his machines as much as he could. He loved gear with a passion, but people? Not so much.
“Nice to meet you. PJ sings the praises of Twisted Steel frequently.” Jay shook Asa’s hand.
PJ handed her brother a few cards.
“She was just educating me on her view of racing stripes.”
Jay appeared apprehensive, but PJ just laughed and patted her brother’s arm. “Don’t worry. I’m sure he’s not going to stop doing business with us. I didn’t tell him I thought they were boring or overdone.”
It was Asa’s turn to laugh. “Boring?”
Her eyes seemed to light up as her laugh continued to drive him nuts. “Oops, cat’s out of the bag now. Please continue to buy our tires.”
Jay’s eyes widened and Asa wanted to tell the dude to lighten up.
Asa gave her brother a look and made an X over his heart. “I promise we’ll continue to buy your tires even though your sister is so irreverent. Maybe because.” He winked at her and she poked her brother’s upper arm.
Jay looked back over his shoulder and then to them once more. “I need to get back to my conversation. It was nice to finally meet you, Asa.” He held the cards up. “Thanks.”
Before Asa could say anything else, the woman he’d actually been planning on taking home came back through the room looking for him.
“I need to get back to it as well.” He held his hand out, shaking PJ’s, and then he handed her a business card and took hers.
“Have an excellent evening, Asa Barrons.”
The buxom brunette making her way over to him would probably guarantee that. But he couldn’t deny the pull as PJ walked away.
He really couldn’t deny it when she was stopped not even half a room away by Scott Elroy, one of the guys in town who custom-built bikes. And by the looks of it, Asa wasn’t the only one who found PJ Colman rather delightful.
Chapter Two
PJ hung up the phone after leaving a message for Asa Barrons. Again. She’d called three times in the month following the party and got his voicemail each time.
She looked across the table at her best friend, Audra. “He’s ducking me.”
“Or maybe he’s just slammed. You said he wasn’t hesitant when you brought it up when you met him. They run a busy shop. Making time to deal with another contractor when they already have some and they’re backed up or whatever, is going to mean you fall down the list. Even when you’re as pretty as you are.”
