Page 20 of Playing for Keeps
Could he see that her body was still reacting to his proximity? That the moment she’d seen him standing there she’d envisioned him naked and lying in her bed as he’d been in her dream? Did he somehow know how much she wanted him to make love to her?
No. Absolutely not. Because then he really would’ve had a good laugh.
Rylan shook her head. She grabbed his keys and moved his truck into the bay and positioned it on the lift. In the next hour she forced herself to focus solely on doing her job.
Moving away from the truck periodically, she used her tablet to punch in numbers and record notes about what she saw. She ran diagnostic tests, evaluated the results, bumped her head on a tire because she’d miscalculated her distance and cursed any number of times because for all the work she was doing, the fact that this was Del’s truck and that he would eventually waltz back in here to pick it up, never left her mind.
Finally, when her inspection of the truck was complete, Rylan sighed heavily. Not because of the two-hour job, but because she had it bad for a guy that was so off limits it wasn’t even funny.
7
“Have you noticed any strange vibrations?”
Del immediately stopped his trek into the garage.
“Vibrations?” he asked cautiously.
As if she realized where his train of thought had skidded off to, Rylan turned to him slowly and cleared her throat. “In your truck. When you’re driving, have you noticed it vibrating?”
It didn’t matter that she’d slowed her speed of talking and was sure to clarify each word by pointing at the truck parked in the center of the bay. Del still thought about the sound of a vibrator and the sight of Rylan using one to bring herself to orgasm that night they’d been on the phone. Of course, she hadn’t told him that’s what she’d done, but the visual had quickly popped into his mind and thus, as it had been doing on and off for most of the day, his dick jumped with interest.
“I don’t think so,” Del replied and considering his growing erection began walking slowly behind her.
“Escalades are known for having chassis vibration issues, so I just wanted to check to see if you’ve been experiencing any shaking or vibrating while driving. But your motor mount is pretty worn down, so if you haven’t been having problems, you will be soon. I can install a new mount but I’ll need to order the part and it might take a couple of days. Other than that, everything else checked out fine,” she said and stopped at the back end of the truck.
Del had been watching her walk…and only half listening to what she was saying. Something was going to start vibrating if she didn’t take care of it in the next couple of days. Or at least that’s what he thought she’d said. With heat soaring through his body at the sight of her plump ass switching in those tight jeans, Del thought he might actually begin vibrating from trying to suppress his desire.
“Del?” she yelled his name and he shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts.
“Yeah. Ah, how long did you say?”
“You’re not listening to a word I’m saying,” Rylan told him as she crossed her arms over her chest.
The motion pushed her breasts up, until Del thought for sure they would spill over the top of the V-neck collar of her t-shirt. He was really losing it. He lifted a hand and with his fingers squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He cleared his throat before opening his eyes again and tried once more to look at her in a purely friendship/professional nature.
He failed dismally.
Her lips were pouty, free of any type of gloss or color and kissable. She had high cheekbones and lovely arched brows that he was almost certain were natural.
“I hear what you’re saying, Rylan,” Del told her. “But to be quite honest, I’m having a hell of a time making any sense of it.”
She shrugged and shook her head. He could agree, he was confused as hell by what was going on here as well.
“Look, here’s the deal. I can’t stop thinking about you. About all that we talked about during those chats. The daily business stuffandthe other stuff.” And it was definitely a combo of both. While today thoughts of desire seem to pump through his veins like he was receiving some type of intravenous dose of her all damn day long, last night he fallen asleep thinking about a conversation they’d had about running a business. She was smart, giving him great suggestions that he’d already implemented at the bar. How he’d missed this side of Rylan all this time still baffled him.
“But it was a mistake,” she said after taking a deep breath and exhaling with a huff.
“Yes,” he agreed. “It was. I had no idea I was chatting with you and you had no idea you were chatting with me. But the fact is, we were chatting with each other. We were talking to each other about what we liked sexually and how we liked it. And now all I can see when I close my eyes, or think when I open them, is how I would’ve killed to see you lying on your bed that night touching yourself until you came.”
To her credit, Rylan didn’t gasp at his blunt words. To Del’s ears they sounded a bit crass, but he couldn’t help it. They were exactly what he was thinking and had been feeling in the past few days. She did take a step back, her arms falling to her sides to grip the bumper of the truck.
Del sighed. He ran a hand down the back of his head and wished like hell he wasn’t feeling this way. But he’d never been one to lie to anyone, least of all himself.
“Look, I know it’s awkward and if you’re not feeling the same, then that’s cool. I’ll pay you whatever is necessary to fix the truck and stay out of your way. But—”
“But what?” she interrupted and then licked her lips.
Del almost groaned.Almost.He managed to keep it together, kind of. “But if you’re feeling this torturous heat that won’t let you eat or sleep, that keeps pressing against every part of your body demanding relief, all you have to do is say the word.”
