Breathless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires #1)(16)

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With each zing of Will’s fingers on her arm and her shoulder and her back, Harper felt a little crazier. Resisting him was the rational choice—the safe choice—but staying rational around Will was one of the hardest things she’d ever tried to do.

“You’ve got quite a setup here,” she said, attempting to divert her focus away from how much she wanted him.

“I converted the barn when I was building the Cobra.”

The barn floor had been filled in with concrete and covered with black and white checkerboard squares. A car lift was central to the huge workspace, and above was a suspension system that Will explained could be used to lower the engine block and transmission into place, and even the fiberglass car body. Ringing the floor space were rolling tool chests, workbenches, an air compressor, a welding machine, bins of rivets, pins, nuts, bolts, and screws, along with racks of drills, electric screwdrivers, and other tools, all in pristine condition.

The second they stepped inside, Jeremy ran around asking Will what everything was. Will not only patiently answered Jeremy’s questions, but he actually seemed to enjoy explaining. It was another big point for him in the plus column, at least where her brother was concerned.

Will turned to the covered item centered over the lift. “And here is the object of our desire.”

He stood so close that their arms brushed. Thrill bumps rose along with the fine, nearly invisible hairs on her forearms, like a static shock from too much friction. His mouth curved as he glanced down at her, knowing full well what he was doing with his double entendres. No question about it, he enjoyed teasing her way too much. But the secret truth was that she enjoyed it, too, even if she shouldn’t.

When she was with Will, Harper felt young and sexy and giddy for the first time in a very, very long time.

Will whipped away the tarp, and Jeremy said, “Wow,” on a soft note of awe.

“That’s exactly what I said when I first saw it,” Will said with equal reverence.

“What is it?” Harper asked as she stared at the contraption.

It looked like a twisted metal cage. Or a complicated set of monkey bars on a playground. Rods were stuck together seemingly every which way, but also with a synergistic sense of purpose she couldn’t fathom.

“It’s the frame of the car,” Will explained.

“How could you have had this made in less than two weeks?” Suddenly, she felt the awe. For Will and what he could accomplish.

“I offered a bonus so the factory would work around the clock.” He said it matter-of-factly, as if it hadn’t cost a staggering amount.

All Will had to do was snap his fingers, and poof, there was a complex car frame sitting in his retrofitted barn. She knew he was rich, but this was the power to have anything he wanted. Anything at all.

And he’d said he wanted her.

A hot shiver shot through her body...along with a healthy dose of tension as she reminded herself that rich men played by their own rules.

By now, she knew that Will was nothing like the man who’d paid her parents to make his son’s car accident go away. But at the same time, no matter how nice Will seemed, she and Jeremy lived in a very different world. Harper wasn’t intimidated by much anymore, but she wasn’t going to lie and say that Will’s world of infinite luxury and power wasn’t overwhelming.

“It’s called a space frame,” Will told them. “Or a tube frame.” He trailed a finger down a metal pipe, and Harper felt it as though he’d run that finger down her arm.

“We’re going to attach the sheet metal and just about every single part somewhere on this frame.” He signaled Jeremy closer. Harper leaned in, too. “Each tube is for something specific.” He pointed. “This is where we’ll attach the firewall between the engine and the cockpit.” He patted the air over where she assumed the driver would sit. “Here is where we’ll put the floor panels.” His words drew a picture, and Harper could almost see the leather seats. “Those are the pieces we’ve got for the time being. The rest will be here next Friday.”

He wrapped his hand around Harper’s, and with her fingers engulfed in his, he took her back for the larger view. Jeremy followed suit. Together, the three of them stared at the hunk of metal.

Suddenly she saw it. “It’s like a bird cage surrounding the driver.” No wonder they called it the Birdcage Maserati.

“All we have to do is put her parts together, shape her, and bring her to life. With loving hands.”

Though they were talking about a car, with her hand in his and his heated gaze burning up every inch of her skin, Harper felt as though he was slowly bringing her to life, too...patiently working to uncover and unleash the sensual woman hidden inside of her with every word, every look, and every touch.





CHAPTER TWELVE


Will grabbed his camera off the workbench. “We need to document our work progress as we go along.” He snapped a couple of shots of the bare frame, then waved Harper into the picture.

“It should be Jeremy in the photo,” she protested, hanging back. “Not me.”

“Sorry, but he’s not the hot babe we need for our hot car shots.”

She glared at his teasing use of the term hot babe, and he wanted to kiss the disapproval right off her pretty lips.

Will took her hand again, her skin smooth and warm as he brought her over to the frame. Had she figured out that while he was teasing her, he was working himself up, too? He enjoyed her wide blue eyes, the puffs of breath that signaled her arousal—or anger—and the way she bit her lip without even being aware of it.

“We need you in the picture to show proportion,” he explained. “And you, too, Jeremy.”

Jeremy needed no further prodding to jump into the photo. Will didn’t always require human subjects, but he wanted them. This was a joint project. Plus, he had a major desire to see Harper on camera.

“Act like a model showing off the car,” he directed, watching her on the digital screen.

He thought she might be shy, but she surprised him by throwing her hands out, cocking her hip, and pointing one toe on the concrete in a ballet pose. Her hair swirled around her shoulders, and her pink lipstick glistened. An ache grew low in his gut, and he swallowed hard.

Watching her was addictive.

Beside her, Jeremy was a surprising ham, striking one ridiculous pose after another, and Will wondered when the last time had been that he’d had fun like this.

Finally, Harper stepped out of the camera frame and held out her palm. “Okay, give it to me. We need some of you and Jeremy, since you two are building this thing.”

He relinquished the camera, but not before making sure his hand lingered on hers. She met his gaze, pursed her lips, and shook her head. “Stop being bad.”

“You have no idea how bad I can be,” he said in a soft voice. And he couldn’t wait to show her.

He caught the way her eyes flared with heat right before she rolled them, and then she gestured for him to move toward Jeremy and the metal frame. He’d raised it off the floor with four jack stands, to which he’d added small pieces of cloth so they didn’t scratch the frame’s paint. He’d enjoyed their reaction. When the crate arrived yesterday, he’d considered the best presentation. In the end, he’d uncrated it, used the suspension crane to place it on the jack stands, and covered it with the tarp so he could whisk it aside to reveal the masterpiece. The effect was perfect. Even Harper had been impressed.

He put his arm around the boy, and felt damn near fatherly, something he’d never even thought of before.

After Harper took a dozen or so shots, Jeremy said, “Now we need you and Harper.” He obviously didn’t want to be left out of the picture-taking.

“You two don’t need me in more pictures,” Harper objected again.

“Come on, Harper,” Jeremy begged.

Of course she gave in to her brother, pointing to the button he should push to take the photo. And of course Will wasn’t about to waste the opportunity to pull her in front of him and set his hands on her hips until she was nestled back against him.

The scent of her hair tantalized him. The heat of her body against his started the mercury rising in his thermometer. She was just the right height, and he was in just the right position, to snake an arm around her stomach and pull her tight against him.

She tipped her head back to whisper, “What are you doing?”

“Taking advantage of a perfect opportunity to hold you close.”

Meanwhile, Jeremy had his tongue stuck between his teeth and was busy centering the camera, moving a step one way, then the other, angling, holding his arms straight out, then pulling them in slowly. Will didn’t think he’d even pushed the button yet.

His heart was beating hard. Could she sense the faster rhythm between her shoulder blades? Did she know the effect she had on him? Holding her in his arms was so damn good that he closed his eyes, breathed her in, and let his fantasies spin out...until a voice blew his fantasies to hell.

“If I’d known you were doing a photo shoot, I’d have brought Whitney.” Evan Collins stood in the open barn door.

Harper immediately jumped away from Will, and Jeremy started, fumbling the camera. Will saw it tumble to the floor, with no way to reach out before it landed with a crack.