“At some point I’d like to talk with you and Duke about that direction.”

“Give the shop a call and set something up.” At least he’d get another chance to see that face.

“All right.” She looked up, and the upward curve to her lips urged his own to do the same.

Neither of them spoke. It felt as if she waited for him. That hit hard. Unexpected to be so moved by this wisp of a woman he’d just met minutes before. It wasn’t until she hummed low in her throat, a sound of pleasure, that he realized he’d taken a step closer.

“Excuse me. I’m sorry to interrupt, PJ, but do you have any of Shawn’s cards?”

Asa wrestled back his instinct to shove this guy away and have PJ all to himself again.

And was doubly glad when she turned with a smile that was totally different than the one she’d just given Asa. That’s when he took in the strong resemblance between her and the guy who’d spoken and figured this had to be one of her brothers.

“Jay, this is Asa Barrons. He’s one of the co-owners of Twisted Steel.” She looked back to Asa. “This is my brother Jay, CEO at Colman.”

Duke dealt better with guys like this one. Asa kept his head in his machines as much as he could. He loved gear with a passion, but people? Not so much.

“Nice to meet you. PJ sings the praises of Twisted Steel frequently.” Jay shook Asa’s hand.

PJ handed her brother a few cards.

“She was just educating me on her view of racing stripes.”

Jay appeared apprehensive, but PJ just laughed and patted her brother’s arm. “Don’t worry. I’m sure he’s not going to stop doing business with us. I didn’t tell him I thought they were boring or overdone.”

It was Asa’s turn to laugh. “Boring?”

Her eyes seemed to light up as her laugh continued to drive him nuts. “Oops, cat’s out of the bag now. Please continue to buy our tires.”

Jay’s eyes widened and Asa wanted to tell the dude to lighten up.

Asa gave her brother a look and made an X over his heart. “I promise we’ll continue to buy your tires even though your sister is so irreverent. Maybe because.” He winked at her and she poked her brother’s upper arm.

Jay looked back over his shoulder and then to them once more. “I need to get back to my conversation. It was nice to finally meet you, Asa.” He held the cards up. “Thanks.”

Before Asa could say anything else, the woman he’d actually been planning on taking home came back through the room looking for him.

“I need to get back to it as well.” He held his hand out, shaking PJ’s, and then he handed her a business card and took hers.

“Have an excellent evening, Asa Barrons.”

The buxom brunette making her way over to him would probably guarantee that. But he couldn’t deny the pull as PJ walked away.

He really couldn’t deny it when she was stopped not even half a room away by Scott Elroy, one of the guys in town who custom-built bikes. And by the looks of it, Asa wasn’t the only one who found PJ Colman rather delightful.

Chapter Two

PJ hung up the phone after leaving a message for Asa Barrons. Again. She’d called three times in the month following the party and got his voicemail each time.

She looked across the table at her best friend, Audra. “He’s ducking me.”

“Or maybe he’s just slammed. You said he wasn’t hesitant when you brought it up when you met him. They run a busy shop. Making time to deal with another contractor when they already have some and they’re backed up or whatever, is going to mean you fall down the list. Even when you’re as pretty as you are.”

PJ frowned at Audra. “I know you’re probably right. What if he doesn’t take me seriously? I mean, why should he? He doesn’t know me. He doesn’t know what I can do. I didn’t have my portfolio yet.”

She’d been building a portfolio of her painting work so if – no, when – Asa met with her, she’d have something concrete to show him.

“Really? So you’re going to carry around a portfolio with you at all times? Like he’d have been cool with you just breaking it out at the bar? You know how to do this, PJ. This is like your destiny and whatnot.”

PJ snorted. “My destiny?”

“You know what I mean. You were raised to run your family’s business.”

“And then I turned out to be an artist. The shame of it.”

Audra threw her balled-up napkin at PJ’s head. “You know my opinion of Howie’s parenting.”

Howie being Howard Colman Jr., PJ’s father.

“Just because you dropped out of college doesn’t mean you’re not smart. You knew it wasn’t right for you. Thing is, you know cars. Your grandfather raised you to love them like he did. And you’re artistic and damned good at painting things. I’m sure Asa is just really busy. But even if he doesn’t take you seriously now, he will once you’re done with him. On a side note, apart from your ability, which we’ve already established as mighty, he’s also going to want to get you into bed. You said you two had that sort of chemistry.”

PJ had known Audra since they’d both been kids. It was one of her favorite things in her life that they had such a strong friendship. She knew Audra would say exactly what she needed to hear.

“We did have the tinglies for one another. But he and Duke built Twisted Steel from the ground up. It’s not like they could have done it if he’d been following his dick around like it found him water.”

“A dowsing dick?” Audra asked.

“I think I saw that in the Jim Rose Circus a few years ago.” They both laughed. “He just seems like the kind of man…” PJ paused, trying to find the right words. “He’s under control. It sort of rolled off him. He’s in charge of himself. I’m not saying he doesn’t get laid on the regular. I’m just saying he doesn’t lead with that head.”

“I need to get a closer look at this guy. Which is an excellent segue into me reminding you that you’re my best friend, so you need to say you’ll do this pinup calendar photo shoot so my boyfriend can keep a job. It pays. There’s sure to be hot guys around, and you’ll keep your spot as the best friend in the whole world. Which is priceless.”

Audra’s boyfriend, Tom, had combined forces with some other graphic arts designers and what had been planned as a fun little side project had transformed into a full-blown pinup calendar showcasing the wares of local indie artisans of everything from clothing to jewelry.

And the shoot would undoubtedly take place at a garage of some sort, which gave her another chance to network.

As PJ had told her sister a few weeks before, it was good to attract a whole new kind of business to keep Colman relevant and integral. All those gearheads, the build-and-restore crowd as well as the racing teams, needed paint on their projects. Why not expand Colman Enterprises to fill a market need?

Money was good. Work was good. Doing something nice for a friend was also good.

“Oh, all right.”

A commotion followed as a group of their friends came in, including Tom and PJ’s ex. Aaron looked around until he saw her and headed her way.

“I gotta go,” she muttered, gathering her stuff.

Audra put a hand out. “No. We were here first. This is our place.”

“Just not when I know he’s going to be here.”

It wasn’t even that she couldn’t get over him or still loved him or any of that. It was more like she was so embarrassed that she’d ever actually fallen for any of his crap that being around him was the equivalent of Sunday dinner at her parents’ house.

Tense. Uncomfortable, with the bitter stench of disappointment and passive-aggressive anger in the air. It made her tired and irritated. But he was a good lesson. That’s how she’d chosen to think about it.

They were part of the same social circle – which was how she’d found out about the cheating – so they’d see one another frequently. She wasn’t going to get rid of her friends, and eventually she’d tolerate his existence again. But she wasn’t there yet.