Driven to Temptation (6 page)

Chapter Nine

Aidan knew his truck, knew when something didn’t feel right. But truck problems in the middle of a relatively short road trip were something he didn’t plan on. Damn it.

The truck pulled to the left, no matter how hard he tried to keep it between the lines. His head pounded right along with the realization there was a good chance they’d hit Seattle at the worst of the city’s evening commute. All too similar to the Portland traffic they’d just left behind. Only worse.

God fucking damn.

Aidan checked his mirrors before he crossed two lanes of interstate traffic, slowing down significantly.

“What’s the matter?”

“Flat tire.”

“Oh.”

His phone beeped, an insistent tone that told him he had voice mails piled up and waiting for him. Disconnecting his phone from the truck’s Bluetooth system hadn’t stopped the calls from coming in.When it rained, it fucking poured.

He depressed the button for the hazard lights and slowed the truck onto the shoulder. “Looks like we’re stopping again.” He shoved the gear into park.

From hell to
hell-in-a-handbasket.
Aidan’s head continued to pound staccato beats he fought to ignore. At this rate it’d be midnight before they got to Seattle. And he still had to pick up the projector for tomorrow’s presentation.

Damn. It.

He glanced in his mirror before opening the driver’s side door. The shoulders of the interstate were wide enough for him to step out, but he still checked, every nerve ending tuned to the errant driver who could run him over. Getting creamed by oncoming traffic wasn’t in the plan, either.

Aidan stepped out, slammed the door, and headed toward the front of the truck. Yep, it was definitely low. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced at his watch. This was the last fucking thing he needed to happen today.

Might as well suck it up and get it done. “It’s a flat,” he confirmed when Delaney joined him.

“I can see that.” She crossed her arms underneath her breasts, the boxy suit jacket on again. “Maybe I can help.”

“Maybe.” He shoved aside the mental image of Miriam Wilson. She’d insisted her boys behave like gentlemen, fostered or not. Clearly, she’d never run across anyone like Delaney Harper.

“Really?” There was a tinge of excitement in her voice.

“Really.”

The more he thought about it, it was safer to keep her in the one-of-the-guys category than anywhere else. At least, that was way better than wanting to kiss her…and more.

She walked away, and a moment later, she’d opened both the front and rear passenger side doors.

Aidan stalked back to the driver’s door and yanked it open. Opposite him, she reached for a box on the backseat. “What are you doing?”

“Unloading. It’s how to get to the lug wrench and jack stand.”

Of course she’d know that. If there was one thing he’d learned about Delaney, it was that she was a take-charge kind of woman. He kinda liked that about her, certainly respected her for it. “Your brothers taught you well.” She pulled out her overnight bag and set it on the roadway.

“They didn’t want to teach me at first.” She shook her head, early-afternoon light hitting strands of her red hair and making them sparkle.

Aidan froze. Sparkle?
Jesus.
He was seriously losing it. When had he ever thought a woman’s hair
sparkled
?

He pulled his gaze away from her face, her hair, and focused on something, anything that would break whatever wavelength his brain was on.

He grabbed one of the poster boards, then leaned it against the open door. “Why didn’t they want to teach you?” Not that it mattered to him. He just had to keep her talking. She’d eventually say something to pull his brain out of his pants.

“It’s flat-out dumb. They told me it was a guy’s job. The more I insisted, the more they held their ground, and the more I got pissed.”

“Because, of course, your personality had nothing to do with it.”

“Hey, I was lot more…insistent when I was a kid.”

That made him chuckle. “More than you are now? You’ve gotta be kidding.”

“Wait. What have I been so insistent about on this trip?”

“The dog.”

“That couldn’t be helped. Fifi was lost.”

“Bathroom stops.”

She propped her hands on her waist and gave him a sexy-but-in-charge look. “Did you want me to pee in your truck? Of course not. What else what was I supposed to do?”

“No need to get testy.” He grinned in spite of himself. “Just giving you examples like you’d asked.”

“Oh.” She lowered her arms and pulled a box off the seat. “It’s a huge family joke now. And it’s partly how I learned to go with what life threw my way.” She shrugged. “Well, I mostly do that.”

She chewed her bottom lip as she turned to place the box off to one side.

“Anyway, since they’d refused to teach me, I learned how to do it courtesy of the internet.” She grinned at him, the thousand-watt variety that seemed to span the backseat and strike him in the center of his chest. “That showed them how determined I was to learn to take care of myself.”

The gap between them seemed to shrink, which was a whole other sensation for him. Like being grounded and free at the same time. Her smile faded a fraction, and her gaze locked with his. An unnameable
something
danced in her eyes. Curiosity? Desire? Aidan wasn’t sure, but for the briefest moment they were connected on a level he’d never experienced before. His brain seemed to focus on Delaney, on the way her eyes flashed brightly.

Then she turned, effectively breaking their connection.

“The internet. Right.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. Admittedly, he was really lousy at small talk, but even more so after that eye lock.

What was it about this woman that made his insides want to twist into a knot and his libido take off like a sex-starved male?

Maybe he could engage his brain again. He had a problem, and he needed to develop a strategy to deal with it. In this case strategy involved hooking up with a woman who
wasn’t
an employee.

He’d deal with sex after the conference, when he was able to concentrate on that part of his life. Right now, he needed to get through the trade show and nail the Pierce Engineering account. Which meant keeping his guard up around Delaney.

Aidan yanked a box out of the way while she climbed onto the backseat, skirt hiked up again as she knelt and searched between the seat and seat back.

“Now what are you doing?” He didn’t mean for the words to sound rough. But one look at her position, at how she straddled an imaginary line, took his dick-brain where it didn’t belong.

“Pulling the seat up.” She yanked at the tab with an
oomph
. “It’s easier for me to get leverage if I do it up here instead of from the ground.”

Do it up here.

The fantasies rolled forward like a projector. Their sweaty bodies, arms and legs entwined. Mouths tasting, exploring, driving each other toward—

“Stop.” God help him, he’d have her flat on her back if she didn’t quit. Right. Now.

He was in the truck and beside her in the space of a heartbeat, his hand resting on hers.

Turned out touching her wasn’t such a great idea. Her skin was smooth, soft, and a weird charge zapped through him. He pulled his hand away like it’d been seared. “I can do that.”

Her eyes widened so he could see tiny flecks of gold in them. Emerald eyes with flecks of gold. Stunning. And clearly reflecting she felt something, too.

She swallowed, looked down at where he’d touched her hand as if she were seeing it for the first time. “You said I could help.” Her normally confident voice was softer, and somehow ignited a protective instinct in him.

“And you will.” He removed his sunglasses and tossed them onto the front seat. “But I need you to let me do this.” He squelched the fantasies, tamped them firmly in place and threw on a mental padlock for good measure. “Please.”

“Sure. Whatever you want.”

He nodded. It might not necessarily be what he wanted to happen, but it was what
needed
to happen.

She hesitated. “Maybe you can hand the lug wrench and jack stand over.”

If it meant she wasn’t straddling anything, perfect. “Great.”

She slowly, carefully, eased herself to the opposite side, out the truck door, and safely back to the ground.

Aidan pulled the seat up and out of the way. The lug wrench was secured in place. Exactly where he expected. His shoulders eased and his breath calmed. At least everything here was where it should be. He loosened the bolts, pulled it out, and set them aside. After freeing the lug wrench, he handed it over to Delaney. “Here you go.”

Their fingers touched, and again a strange, zinging sensation ripped through him. He tried to let go, wanted to let go, but somehow…couldn’t.

She leaned forward, eyes wide as if gauging his reaction. Her lips parted, and she moistened her lower lip with her tongue. Slowly…sensually…seductively.

For a moment he couldn’t remember any good reason not to give in to temptation and do what any reasonable man would.

But that was the problem, wasn’t it? Their relationship had to stay within the boundaries of reason. Anything else, anything more, had the power to blow his plans into nothing that resembled what he wanted: grow his company into a powerhouse in the construction industry.

It took every ounce of strength he possessed to back away, to break the connection between them that seemed to have him teetering on the edge of reality.

A reality that involved a flat tire, a sexy employee, and not a lot of time to pick up the projector from Electronics World before it closed. Which meant he needed to step it up if he had any hope in hell of meeting at least one goal on the way to Seattle.

He cleared his throat. “You got this?” At her nod he let go. “I’ll be out in a sec with the jack stand.”

As soon as she turned away, he blew out a breath.

Damn.

Chapter Ten

After fifteen minutes of trying to stay clean, Aidan finally had to admit there was no way around it. Decision made, it took another five minutes before he was sweaty, dirty, and totally focused. And he also had the spare tire out. Finally. He scrambled from underneath the truck, and pulled it toward him.

His T-shirt was toast, and he smelled pretty bad, but he could throw his windbreaker on and no one would notice. He rolled the spare toward the front of the truck.

“Aidan?”

The woman had a pair of lungs that rivaled freeway traffic. He hated to think what she’d sound like if he ever really pissed her off.

“Yeah?”

His gaze traveled to where she stood just beside the driver’s side door…and stopped. He blinked. What the hell?

She’d shed the boxy jacket and skirt she had on the last time he laid eyes on her. Instead the jacket had been replaced with a loose pink-colored shirt, and the skirt with a pair of black yoga pants…that showed off one hell of a toned, shapely body. Might be something to her yoga routine after all.

Slowly he stood, one hand on the tire to steady it, and blinked several times. Each time the image was the same: one sexy Delaney who stared back at him, the corners of her mouth tipped up in a smile.

“You changed.”

“Well, yeah,” she said. “Had to so I could help you.”

“How?” Shit. Did he really want to know? He clenched the hand at his side to keep from reaching for her.

“Easy. I opened both doors to create some privacy from traffic, slipped the yoga pants on, stripped the skirt off, then put the top on over my cami.” She grinned. “The shoes were the toughest part.” She held out one pink sneaker–clad foot.

The woman had many talents, all right.

She tapped one foot on the roadway and looked at the tire. “Want me to put it on?”

“No.”

“Why not?” The protest was half expected. After all, she’d been quiet for way too long. “You’ve done the bulk of the work.”

He continued to roll the tire toward the front of the truck, deliberately ignoring her.

She stepped in front of him. “I thought you said I could help.”

He shouldn’t look. He knew he shouldn’t look, should stare straight past her. But, God help him, he was just a guy.

And there it was, her yoga pant–clad legs less than a couple feet away. His brain whipped up images of all the possible ways he could explore those legs.

He mentally shook the thought from his head. That was the latest in a long line of shitty thoughts.

“I can do it,” she insisted. She held out his cell. “Besides, your phone keeps ringing. Well, not really ringing, but vibrating. It’s your brother. Call him back already.”

Aidan frowned as he took the phone from her. “You had to come out here to tell me that?”

“What? You wanted me to answer it for you?” She propped fisted hands on her hips and tilted her head to one side.

“Fine. I’d better see what’s up with him.” Grant always called until Aidan answered, but in case it was important, he’d better check in.

“Okay.” She nodded in approval. “Well, let me finish up, then.”

“No.
I’m changing the tire.
It has nothing do with who’s stronger or better or having to prove anything, okay?” He tried like hell to keep the irritation from his voice.

“I don’t have to prove a thing.” She folded her arms underneath her breasts and huffed out a breath. “At least, not to you.” Then she blinked as if a realization had struck her. “This isn’t about changing the tire, is it? Like how you didn’t want me to help load the truck earlier. Doesn’t matter whether or not I’m capable, it’s about respecting a woman.”

“Let’s just say it’s how I was raised.”

“By your mom?”

His hands stilled at the quietly asked question. Specific memories of his parents were beginning to fade, but he’d never forget the night he was pulled from the car crash that claimed their lives. He swallowed, looked away. “Miriam. My last foster mother,” he added at her raised eyebrow. “She insisted on it.”

“Tell you what.” She lifted her chin toward the cell in his hand. “Call Grant back. I’ll work on it while you’re on the phone, and when you’re finished, you take over.” She smiled sweetly. “The quicker we get this done, the quicker we’re on our way, and the quicker we can pick up the projector.”

“Good point.”

“I thought so.” A slow smile spread across her face. God, she was even prettier when she smiled. And he wouldn’t mind watching her to continue to test out that theory.

“I’ll be over there.” He thumbed a spot in front of the truck. “In case you need anything.”

“I won’t—” She shook her head. “I mean, thank you.”

He turned and punched in Grant’s number. “Hey,” he said when he heard his brother’s voice. “Everything okay?”

“Why do you always ask that like you’re sure I’m about ready to keel over or something?”

“Because you call like the apocalypse is coming.”

“Quit worrying. I’m fine.”

“So you were just speed calling to tell me that?”

Grant’s voice lightened. “I met someone.”

Figured. In his brother’s world, meeting someone was on par with winning the lottery.

“Male or female?” He kept his voice even, fought back his amusement.

“Asshole. You know I’m not into dudes.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“No problem. Well, not really.”

“Grant.” His little brother had a tendency to be a bit of a dreamer. “I’m standing next to I-5 traffic with a flat tire on my rig and a woman who’s determined to change it herself. Spit it out already.”

“Wait. You’re letting some girl change your tire?” Grant let out a low whistle. “You know what Miriam would do to you?”

“You gonna tell her?” Not that either one of them would rat the other out. And despite the fact that they were grown-ass men, she still wasn’t shy about reminding either of them they needed to behave like gentlemen.

“This one’s special, isn’t she?”

“Not really.”

“Uh-huh. Sure. When do I get to meet her?”

“She’s not special,” Aidan insisted. He blew out a slow breath and silently counted to five. “She’s an employee. Now quit changing the subject. What’s the problem?”

“Kaitlyn doesn’t know about me yet,” his brother said. “I need you to play wingman, which shouldn’t be a problem since the girl changing your tire is
just
an employee.”

Grant had an annoying way of fishing for information.

Aidan stifled a groan. “Okay, I’ll bite. How could you have met her and she doesn’t know about you?”

“She’s the new marketing assistant at the distillery. Really gorgeous.”

“I don’t have time for this.”

“You never have time for fun. You’ve been neck-deep in work the last few months. C’mon, it’ll do you some good to get out, meet some women. You know, since the one changing your tire is
just
an employee.”

He ignored his brother. But Grant had a point. Playing wingman would mean staying away from a fiery redhead with a body to match.

“We’ll see when I get back to town. I’ll call you.”

He stood a few feet away from the truck, watching as Delaney bent over and grabbed the lug wrench to tighten the bolts on the spare.

Nice ass.

He squelched the thought. She worked for him, damn it.

Aidan blew out a breath. Yep. If he were a smart man, he wouldn’t hedge at all. He’d take his brother up on the offer.

…

From outside the truck, Delaney handed the jack stand to Aidan. She might’ve changed out of her skirt, but she wasn’t immune to the tension that’d been building between them all day, especially the last time she was in the backseat. Even in yoga pants she knew better than to get in the truck with him and tempt fate.

He grinned at her, an
d that ooey, gooey, melty thing started up in her chest.
Behave.

The admonishment echoed in her brain as she handed him the lug wrench.

“Not bad, Delaney. Want me to give your brothers a report?”

“Funny guy.”

“I’ve been down that road a time or two.” Aidan secured the seats and stepped out of the truck.

For a moment they simply stared at each other, the sound of heavy I-5 traffic drowned out, somehow. He was a sweaty, sexy mess, and she loved it. But more than that, there was a curious glint in his eyes, in the way he looked at her as if nothing around them existed. Not the sounds of cars and trucks careering past them, not the smell of grease on her hands, nor the breeze that mussed her hair.

None of it mattered.

Instead, this invisible thread seemed to be cast her way, pulling her closer, tugging her hard enough that she might…maybe…

He was close, no more than a foot away, and in a daring move she stepped forward as Aidan slowly raised his arm. Was he going to touch her? Her skin tingled, anticipation rushing through her on a burst of adrenaline.

“I think we better get going,” he said. “We still need to pick up the projector.”

The projector?

Heat crept up her neck and flooded her face. “Right,” she said, turning quickly. “The projector.”

Breathe.

The command echoed in her brain as she reached for her roller bag and shoved it back onto the seat. She slammed the door decisively shut. Making a move on Aidan was stupid-crazy, no matter how perfect her body thought it might be.

What was up with that, anyway? She worked in a man’s world. She’d met a whole bunch of guys as a result, yet no one had triggered the kind of response in her that he could with just one look.

Well, as soon as she got back to Milestone, she’d change that. Maybe even make a trip to Portland. Look up some friends and hang out one weekend.

Now
that
made sense. Right?

The man
owned
Ross and Associates, for heaven’s sake. And when she landed the Century Plains project, she didn’t want anyone to think she’d slept her way into the position.