She Who Dares (8 page)

The footballer screamed designer from the tips of his carefully messed hair to the tips of his hand-made shoes, and looked faintly ridiculous.

‘Because…because she’s mine,’ Nic heard herself say. ‘I’m going to enter the Misses and Motors with her.’ She had no idea where those words had come from.

‘The what?’ said designer man.

‘Misses and Motors,’ Sebastian replied, but he was looking at Nic as he spoke. She could feel his gaze on her skin, feel the curiosity in it, and feel the heat rise in herself. ‘It’s a beauty contest. Been running over in St Austell since the fifties. It’s legendary in these parts.’

Designer man sniggered. ‘A beauty contest? In this junker? Good luck with that.’

‘You know what, Dario? I’ve just realised something.’ Sebastian folded his arms, making his biceps curve and his forearms seem thicker, more powerful. Nic swallowed. ‘You’re a jerk,’ Sebastian continued. ‘And I don’t sell cars to jerks.’

She watched, mouth open, as the footballer scratched his head, opened his mouth and then closed it again, before turning on his heel and strolling out, muttering something she opted out of hearing.

How did a man get to top your most hated man on the planet and most amazing man on the planet lists simultaneously? Plus score extra brownie points for knowing not only that the car was a Dino, but also the year and model?

‘Now where were we,’ Sebastian said. ‘Oh yes. Nice car.’

And again those words went through her like fire through ice. ‘It’s a work in progress,’ she pointed out.

‘Anyone with half a brain can see the potential.’

‘But potential isn’t reality.’

‘It could be. You’re serious about entering Misses and Motors?’

Nic turned over her hand. The slash that ran from her middle finger to the centre of her palm was hidden under a square of white gauze, held in place by matching tape. She couldn’t see the wound, but she could visualise it. See the thick stitches that held the ugly, mangled flesh together. You could dress it up all you wanted, she thought, but you couldn’t escape reality.

She couldn’t escape the fact that Sebastian had taken one look at her breasts and left. ‘No,’ she shrugged. ‘How do you know about it, anyway?’

‘Ella.’

‘Right.’ Of course. One last caress of the steering wheel, and she elbowed open the door and got out.

Sebastian put himself in her way. ‘Why did you say you were going to enter if you aren’t?’

‘I open my mouth and crap comes out.’

He set one big hand on the roof, the other on the edge of the door, effectively caging her in. ‘I don’t buy that. Exactly how much work does the Dino need?’

Nic dropped her gaze, picked at the edge of the gauze. He was close. So close. She could barely stand to have him look at her, knowing how unattractive he found her. ‘I don’t see why it matters.’

‘Humour me.’

‘It needs a re-spray, obviously, and the interior could do with tarting up. But under the bonnet, she’s basically sound.’

‘Stop,’ he said, holding up his hands. ‘You’re turning me on.’

Yeah, right.
‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘I’ve got stuff to do.’

‘Me too,’ he said, a self-satisfied grin curving that beautifully cut mouth. ‘I’ve got a Dino to fix.’

‘You are not touching my baby!’ Nic dropped back on to the driver’s seat, her heart thudding in her chest. ‘It’s not happening, Sebastian.’

‘Of course it is,’ he replied smoothly. ‘You need it for the Misses and Motors.’

And the decision was made. ‘I’m not entering Misses and Motors.’

He turned then, propping himself up against the side of the car. ‘Why not?’

Nic simply stared at him. He’d given her the space to escape. So why didn’t she?

‘Truth or dare,’ he said softly.

‘Dare.’ No way was she telling him the truth. It was bad enough having to talk to him, especially from her position in the driver’s seat. If she looked up at him, she became all too aware of how tall he was, how beautifully built. If she kept her gaze level, his crotch was right there, begging to be stared at.

Lesser of two evils, she decided, looking up.

Dark brows lifted. ‘Are you sure about that?’

Nic firmed her chin. ‘Yes.’

‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Kiss me again.’

‘What?’

‘You heard. Come on.’ He held out one big hand.

‘I am not kissing you again!’ Nic snapped, folding her arms tightly across her chest. Her underarms were clammy, her skin prickling, feeling too hot and too small. ‘What the hell would you want to kiss me for anyway?’

Sebastian gave her a strange look. ‘I’m a man. You work it out.’

Why was he teasing her like this? What did he possibly have to gain? Ignoring his hand, Nic got out of the car on unsteady legs. ‘Don’t make fun of me,’ she told him.

‘I’m not.’

‘Bit hard to believe,’ she pointed out, ‘when last night you got one look at me half-dressed and did a runner. You weren’t exactly keen.’

‘Did you want me to be keen?’

‘I…’ Words failed her as he moved closer. She could feel his gaze touching her mouth, sparks shooting across through her flesh and settling themselves between her legs.

‘Truth or dare, Nic. Did you want me?’

Oh, god. This was one truth she could not face. Instead, she did the only thing she could.

She sprinted into her office. And then she locked the door

Of all the reactions he’d expected, which ranged from a slap in the face through to a full-on, no holds barred legs around his waist and tongue in his mouth kiss, running away wasn’t in the mix. Shaking his head, Sebastian frowned to himself as he skimmed a hand over the bodywork of the Dino. There wasn’t any point in pretending now that the tension fizzing between them didn’t exist.

If anything, it was accelerating, and the last few minutes had given it a decidedly adult twist. Because of Nic’s accident, last night they’d done little more than flirt with the edges of their chemistry. They could have shrugged it off, ignored it, let the dust settle over it until it became one of those almost moments. But not anymore.

Now he was determined to see exactly what she was so afraid of. And exactly what she had hidden under that clinging cotton. Her breasts weren’t big, he knew, but they were beautifully shaped, and she had those incredibly toned arms and shoulders, and sexy runner’s legs.

He’d get to those later, however, after they’d talked. Daring her to kiss him hadn’t been part of his plan for the day, but when the opportunity had presented itself, he hadn’t thought twice about it, and he had no intention of spending the next few weeks dodging the issue, having to watch everything he said, everything he did. He fancied her, and he was pretty sure the attraction was mutual.

So, what were they going to do about it? Sebastian knew what he’d
like
to do. Striding over to the office, he lifted his hand to open the door, then thought better of it and knocked. ‘Nic, we need to talk.’

‘What about?’

‘Whatever the hell this is.’

The door swung open. She’d pulled on her overalls, scraped back her hair, and there was a mug in her hand. ‘It isn’t anything. We played truth or dare. I picked dare. You suggested something totally inappropriate and unprofessional, and I reacted accordingly.’ Her jaw was set hard, but her dark eyes were wide and wary. She looked a like a cornered cat.

Sebastian blocked the doorway, hoping she wouldn’t scratch his eyes out. ‘Why did you pick the dare?’

‘What sort of question is that?’

‘One you’re going to answer.’ And he wasn’t going to move out of the way until she did.

‘What is this? The Spanish Inquisition? You don’t know anything about me, Sebastian. Stop acting like you do.’

‘I know enough,’ Sebastian informed her curtly. ‘You’re a petrol head. You hug Ferrari’s when you think no-one’s looking. You dress like a boy because you’re terrified of men, but what I don’t know is why.’

‘I am not terrified of men!’ Her hands on her hips, she gave him an angry, challenging glare.

‘Yes you are.’ Sebastian reached out and touched a strand of hair hanging loose by her cheek. She smacked his hand away. ‘See? But I like you, Nic. I think you’re seriously cool. So tell me the truth. Did you want me to make a pass at you last night?’

Her chin slammed into her chest, and her cheeks turned the same colour as her Ferrari. ‘Yes,’ she mumbled. Sebastian thought about pretending he hadn’t heard, making her say it again, louder, clearer, but decided he wasn’t that cruel.

‘But you didn’t,’ she continued, her voice a little louder. ‘And that’s fine. I can take a hint.’ She moved away from the door, turning her back to him as she fiddled with the coffee maker. ‘God, this is embarrassing. Can we pretend that last night and this morning never happened?’

Sebastian moved into the tiny office, settled himself in the chair behind the desk. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Please,’ she said, with the painful tone of the truly desperate. ‘I’ll…if you agree not to mention it, I’ll let you work on the Dino.’

Sebastian thought that over for a moment. ‘I’ll need supervision.’ He set his feet on the desk and eyed her mug. ‘And coffee.’ And more, though he decided to keep that snippet of information to himself.

‘I can do that,’ she said hastily, holding out her mug. ‘Here.’ She moved towards him slowly, cautiously, as if she was approaching a Rottweiler. Sebastian was tempted to tell her he didn’t bite, not unless he was asked very nicely, but instead he took the mug, deliberately letting his fingers touch hers.

She’d asked him not to mention it. She hadn’t asked him not to use every non-verbal skill he possessed to get his message across. At some point soon he’d be back on the racing circuit. He would probably never see her again.

No way was he letting the opportunity to shag her senseless slip through his fingers.

By the end of the day Nic was exhausted but as close to happy as she could be, all things considered. It had turned out that not only was Sebastian an excellent pupil, he also knew a lot of interesting people. He’d sourced a full set of replacement seats, not reproductions, but originals, and custom-mix paint was on its way. Both had come in at surprisingly reasonable prices.

When she’d tried to query those prices, Sebastian had given her a look that told her in no uncertain terms to shut up. So she had. The work challenged him. She could see it in the tension that set his upper body hard, in the way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he was deep in thought. And to his credit, he hadn’t argued with a single one of her instructions. He’d put her in control.

And she liked it. It made her feel powerful and intelligent, in a way that working with her stepdad and then Ella never had. Her stepdad had always known more than her, and that had been fine by Nic. Then when the business had been handed over, Ella had left her to handle the mechanical side of things. No dirt or grease or sweat for Ella.

Working as a team brought a whole new dimension to things. Gone was the stress of constantly wondering if she’d finish on time, if she could manage the more physically demanding jobs alone, of knowing that she could never afford to make a mistake because there was no-one to double-check stuff. No-one to watch her back.

It was hard to believe, but maybe wrecking her hand wasn’t as much of a disaster as she’d first thought. Maybe having Sebastian here wasn’t that bad, either. A wrench clattered against the concrete, then he set his hands to the edge of the pit and lifted himself out with such incredible ease that Nic nearly swallowed her tongue. She was tempted to ask him if he worked out, but that would be a stupid question. Of course he worked out. He was
a professional driver. And you didn’t get shoulders or biceps or abs like those by lolling around on the sofa eating biscuits.

He was temptation incarnate, and she was fast running out of resistance.

‘I think we should call it a day,’ she said, her voice all huffy, as if she’d just been out for a run. The worry now wasn’t that Sebastian would mention one of her banned topics, but that she would. She could feel the words tickling the tip of her tongue, dying to jump out. Every minute she spent in his company, the more likely it was that she’d make a complete tool of herself. Again.

‘Fifteen more minutes,’ he argued, picking up the wrench and taking it across to the toolbox. He tucked it neatly back in place, and Nic felt her pulse kick up.

‘No, we’re definitely done.’

He turned and gave her a definite once over, lingering in places he shouldn’t. Hot, intimate places he’d no business thinking about. ‘Alright. But I’m taking you out to dinner.’

‘Why?’

‘Planning on cooking with that hand?’

No, she was planning on eating cereal straight out of the box, but she wasn’t going to tell Sebastian that. A girl had to maintain some semblance of dignity. ‘I was going to order takeout,’ she said defensively. ‘I can take care of myself.’

‘I’m sure you can. So what’ll it be? Chinese? Pizza? Fish and chips?’

‘Go home, Sebastian. You’re no use to me if you’re tired.’

Those wicked green eyes flashed at her, and the fire in them made her hot and terrified all at the same time. ‘You know I competed at Le Mans. I’ve got stamina you wouldn’t believe.

She had to remember why this couldn’t happen, had to set him straight, right now, before things got any more out of hand. ‘I’m never going to sleep with you.’

‘Yes, you are. You just aren’t ready to admit it to yourself yet.’

‘I’m not going to sleep with you,’ she said slowly, as if she was talking to a teenager with an attention problem, ‘because I can’t.’

‘What do you mean, can’t?’

Why was it so hard for him to understand? ‘You slept with Ella.’

‘Is that what this is about?’ He rubbed his hands across his head, confusion etched on his handsome face. ‘To be perfectly honest with you, the fact that you two are related doesn’t exactly do it for me either. But certain parts of my anatomy don’t seem to care.’

‘You slept with Ella!’

‘So you said.’

‘She’s…’ Nic faltered. ‘She’s stunning. Beautiful. I can’t compete. And I won’t.’

‘Sex isn’t a competition.’ Grabbing a cloth from the tool bench, he cleaned up his hands, tossed it aside, then turned on his heel and walked away.