Page 27 of Saving the Last Heir
“Shit.” I smacked the heel of my palm against my head. “That was so dumb. I should have realized it.
“Better than letting it fall into the river and get totaled.” She shrugged as she popped the last bite into her mouth. “And killing me along with it.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that would we?” I said and, taking a bit of a risqué chance, let my eyes traverse up and down her body. “It’s rather lovely. I wouldn’t want to mess that up.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes, but a flush crept up her neck and cheeks even with her dark complexion.
“You’re a smooth talker, aren’t you?” she said, pushing her plate aside and leaning on her elbows again. “What? You think revealing yourself to be some rich magical being will get me to throw caution to the wind? Huh? Lie back on the bed, rip my shirt open, spread my legs and saycome and get it, daddy?”
As she spoke those words, a movie played in my mind of thatexactthing. Her fingers grasping fabric and wrenching it open. Small but shapely breasts erupting from beneath the shirt, dark nipples hard against the cool air. Lower body fully unclothed, her legs easing open to reveal?—
“Oh mygod.” She laughed and tossed her napkin at me. “You were totally picturing that!”
“No I wasn’t,” I said, doing my best to sound both aloof and unburdened by the accusation. I finished my bite and put bothplates in the sink. “Sounds like you might be projecting a bit on me.”
Her eyes opened wider in mock indignation. “I’m sorry, did the sexy monster man say I’m imagining him naked?”
“Hmm.” I winked at her. “So, youdothink I’m sexy.”
Her face flushed again, and she tore her eyes from mine. “I didn’t say that.”
“No, I heard it. ‘Sexy monster man’. You can’t deny it now.” I was strangely pleased that she found me attractive. My inner dragon growled happily, and it drew me even more to this woman. This human.
She stared at me, our eyes connected in a way that acted almost like physical touch, a simmer of heat brewing with each second that passed by. For the barest fraction of a second, I contemplated the most outlandish thought possible, and thought about asking her up to the bedroom with me. I’d known her for less than two hours, and for ten minutes of that, she’d done her damnedest to injure me. My ballsstillached, but there was a certain activity that might help cure that pain.
As quickly as those thoughts appeared, I pushed them away. I was a gentleman, for God’s sake. I wouldn’t allow my hormones to overtake my mind. There were important things at stake here, not the least of which was my sister’s life.
Shyanne seemed to sense the change in me, because her face softened and lost some of that sensual depth.
“So, like we were saying… the car.”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah. The car. We’ll need to fix the roof upholstery too, I guess.”
“You said these guys needed it back in mint condition, right?” Shyanne asked.
“Yup.”
“Then, that’s a problem. The mirror is easy—we get that at the local dealership. My guys can mix the paint. The upholstery is a different story. Dealerships won’t have reams of that stuff on hand. It’ll be a special order. Might take three days to a week to get it in.”
“Shit,” I hissed, banging my fist on the counter in frustration.
“Hang on,” she said, holding a hand out to calm me down. “There is another option.”
“I’ll take anything you got,” I said, sighing, and despite my early warning to myself, I mimicked her stance on the counter and leaned in close, hungry to be near her, to smell her and look into her eyes.
“There’s a guy who owns a tuner shop on the other side of town. He’s mostly in the aftermarket business. Especially interiors, audio-visual systems, accent lights, upholstery, custom displays—the works.”
“You think he’ll have this stuff?” I asked, hope creeping past the disappointment.
“Most likely, yeah. All the big names go there to get their stuff tricked out. He does ashitton of business, so he’d have tons of things like that on hand. He’s done cars for NBA, NFL, and MLB players, rappers, rock stars, country stars…”
I detected a hint of annoyance in her tone. “You don’t like this guy.”
She blew out a disgusted breath. “That’s putting it mildly.”
“Spill it. I need the whole story if I’m going to agree to anything.”
Shyanne weighed that, and finally shrugged. “My shop hasn’t been doing so great the last few years. In fact, it’s because ofthatout there,” she said, pointing her thumb at the door and the Lamborghini beyond.
