And there it was. The truth of it. Reid Parker was the same as nearly every other guy she’d met. They saw the face, the hair, the tits and ass, but they never bothered to look at what was underneath. She should be used to it by now, but this time it stung a little more than it should.

Piper’s mouth formed an O, then she scowled, pissed on her behalf. “Jerk.” Then a small smile lifted her plump lips. “You know, Dad would have loved that.”

“I doubt that very much.”

She snorted. “The guy hitting on you part? Oh, hell no. But knowing we’d gotten under the competition’s skin? That would have totally made his day.”

Rusty grinned as well. “You’re not wrong.”

They’d lost him eight months ago, a massive heart attack taking him from them without warning. Not a day passed when she didn’t wish he was here with them, that he was here to see this. See what they’d accomplished. He’d taught her, Piper, and Alex—since their friend had practically lived with them—everything he knew about cars, about the business. Her mother had hated it, but thankfully, he hadn’t agreed with her opinion that a garage was no place for girls.

But then her mother had walked, taken off and left them behind. They’d moved into the cottage next to the garage with their grandmother. And her father—her father had changed. He’d lost something, lost the drive to make more of this place. Gave up his dream, the dream she’d heard him talk about for as long as she could remember. To one day specialize in classic car restoration.

Well, they were doing it. Not only fulfilling his dream, but theirs as well.

As far as she was concerned, Reid Parker could go suck it. All the guy had managed to do today, coming here, darkening their door, was prove they were doing something right.

She refused to waste another second thinking about him. In fact, she wanted to forget about him all together. Forget about that panty-melting voice, those intense eyes…that massive bulge behind his zipper.

Stop!

“The excitement’s over. Let’s get back to work,” she said, cutting off her thoughts before she changed her mind and took him up on his offer. She had no doubt he could show her more than a thing or two.

Alex and Piper drifted off to get on with it, and Rusty did the same. This, right here, was all she needed. This made her happy, kept her fulfilled. She didn’t need anything else.

She kept telling herself that every time a pair of pale brown eyes shifted through her mind, ignoring that when they did, her heart beat a little faster.

Chapter Three

“Yeah, I put the leftovers in the fridge.” Reid grinned to himself. Whenever he had dinner with his mom, he came home with enough food to last a week.

A car door slammed. He looked up in time to see Dominic, his apprentice, come flying into the garage, looking flustered as hell. He was thirty minutes late. This was not new, had been happening at least once or twice a week for the last month.

“I gotta go, Ma. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

He ended the call, then opened the door to the workshop. Dom was frantically tugging on his coveralls. “Yo, Dom.” The boy’s head shot up, face pale, eyes bright. Shit. The kid was only seventeen and dealing with more crap than anyone his age should have to. “My office.”

Reid ducked back in, giving him a minute to collect himself. The boy had lost just about everything, but he had his pride, and Reid knew firsthand when you had nothing else, how fucking important that was.

Dominic walked in and shut the door. “Yeah, ah…sorry I’m late, Reid.”

Reid crossed his arms and rested his ass on his desk. “Your mom okay?”

Dom stiffened, then deflated a little and shrugged. “Going through one of her rough patches.”

“No sign of your old man?” Reid watched him carefully. Dom’s old man was a lot like his, one-hundred proof running through his veins, and instead of opening his mouth, he talked with his fists.

“Haven’t seen him in months.”

Thank fuck for that. But he’d be back, they always came crawling back. “You need anything?”

The kid pressed his lips together tight and shook his head, trying his best to keep up a tough front. Reid saw right through it, and it tore him in two. The guys in the shop did all they could for the family, in a way that wouldn’t make Dom see it as charity. Most of them came from similar backgrounds and knew how the kid’s mind ticked.

Reid stood and squeezed his shoulder. “You need anything, day or night, you call me, you can’t get me, you call Law or one of the other guys, yeah?”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah.”

“You don’t need to do this alone, Dom.”

“Thanks,” he rasped.

Reid opened the door. “Now go get to work. That panel won’t straighten itself.”

Dom left, and Reid went to his desk and sat heavily in the seat. First chance he got, he’d talk to Law, get him to do some checking around, make sure Dom’s dad was well and truly out of the picture.

An hour later, he’d managed to make a few calls and get through some paperwork, but every few minutes his eyes moved to the four buckets of body filler taking up room in the corner of his office. He probably should, but right then he couldn’t find it in himself to feel guilty about it. After calling in a favor, he’d managed to get West Restoration’s order delivered to R.I.P. by “mistake,” then called the error in to West’s this morning, speaking to the blonde, Piper, on the phone.

He wasn’t a patient man, never had been, and he’d already waited over a week for Rusty to change her mind and show up. She hadn’t, which kind of surprised him, but also kind of didn’t. The woman was stubborn, he’d worked out that much from their brief encounter, but he also hadn’t missed the interest behind those vibrant green eyes. Now all he could do was wait and see who showed to collect their misplaced order. If it was Rusty, he knew he had a shot, if not—well, he’d have to come up with something else.

She was definitely a challenge, but one he more than looked forward to conquering.

If he was honest, he’d thought of nothing else. He still couldn’t get the image out of his head, when she’d pulled off that welding mask, letting all that thick, red hair fall down her back. The sway of those hips, and shit, that mouth…and not just the way it looked. She was attitude and fire, and he wanted a taste. So yeah, he was done waiting.

He also wanted West Restoration—his name above the doors, and the talent and unique difference the West girls brought along with it. As far as he could see, Rusty was the best way in. The hardest nut to crack. Some might think it was an asshole move, using her to get what he wanted, but he hadn’t got where he was today by being a nice guy.

And he’d sure as hell make certain she enjoyed every damn minute of it.

He’d have to break his one-night rule with her, but he got the feeling that one night with Rusty West in his bed, underneath him, long legs wrapped around his waist, wouldn’t be enough anyway. Mixing business with pleasure was a risk. This could all blow up in his face, but he wanted her and West Restoration. Right now, he wasn’t willing to give up either. In fact, he was sure the only way to acquire one was through the other.

He just had to make sure no messy emotions got in the way. But then it wasn’t like she’d expect a ring on her finger just because he fucked her a few times. Because that’s all it would ever be. He didn’t do commitment, and he didn’t do long term. The women he spent time with knew this, felt the same way. Anything more was too big of a risk, one he’d have to be a stupid son of a bitch to take, and despite how hard his old man had tried to beat it into him, repeatedly, he was not stupid.