He pushed open the door of the Burger Shack and searched them out. Piper spotted them and stood, bouncing and waving them over.
“Shit,” Dom muttered beside him. “Red’s sister is built…just the way I like ’em.”
Reid shook his head. Dom talked a big game, but put him in front of a beautiful woman and he blushed and stuttered every damn time.
Rusty stood when he approached. “Hey.”
“Hey, baby.” She blushed at his greeting. Shit, he loved that. How could she be sexy and innocent, all at once?
“Hey, guys,” Piper called, beaming up at them.
Reid smiled at her and tilted his head to Dom, who was now suspiciously quiet. The big talk well and truly over when faced with these two. “This is Dom. He works with me.”
“Nice to meet you, Dom. Why don’t you come and sit by me and tell me all about your job at R.I.P.”
Dom’s gulp was audible. Reid nudged him, trying not to smile. “No giving away our trade secrets.”
The kid just nodded and parked it by Piper.
They ordered and ate. Piper kept Dom busy, which meant he could focus on Rusty. She chatted away about cars, the business. While she talked, she came alive. Rusty loved what she did…and she also knew her shit. Her face fucking lit up when she talked about her garage, about the cars they were restoring. It twisted something inside him, an emotion he didn’t want to name right then, or what it might mean to his plans.
He bumped her thigh with his, deciding it was time to change the subject. “Never thought you’d be the type to skip work for the Speedway?”
She chewed the decent-size bite she’d taken from her burger and swallowed. He liked watching her eat. She didn’t pick at her food, or nibble at it, she took pleasure in it, the way he suspected she did with a lot of things in life. No half measures.
She grinned. “Deke got tickets for me and Pipe. It’s not Alex’s thing, so he took the day off to help her at the garage. Which makes Alex his boss for the day.” She snorted. “I’m kinda sad I’m not there to watch.” She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I didn’t expect to see you there, either.”
He swallowed his mouthful and took a sip of his drink. “I had the tickets, Dom’s into it…”
She stared at him, expression thoughtful, knowing. “You decided to just hang around a noisy race track for something to do?”
He glanced over at Dom, who was listening avidly to Piper talk about an engine she was rebuilding. The kid looked like he’d come face to face with his equivalent of the Holy Grail. A beautiful woman, who not only knew about cars but worked on them for a living. He sure as hell wasn’t paying him and Rusty any attention.
It wasn’t his place to tell anyone the kid’s troubles still, he wanted to give Rusty something. “He’s going through some shit. The guys and I thought he could use some time out.”
Her hand went to his knee, green eyes wide, sincere. “That’s a really nice thing to do.”
Trying to keep his dick under control around this woman was hard enough, but when she put her hands on him? Not happening. He wrapped his fingers around hers, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin on the inside of her wrist. “I’m no saint, Rusty.”
She licked her lips, gaze dropping to his mouth. “Don’t worry, I’d never mistake you for that.”
He chuckled, and his dirty thoughts came through loud and clear, the sound rough and low. “That’s good. I’d hate to give you the wrong impression.”
She leaned a little closer. “And what impression is that?”
“That I’m a good guy.” Jesus. He wanted to kiss her, badly. “I go after what I want, babe, and I don’t stop till I get it.”
Her fingers trembled a little under his, breath coming faster. She licked her lips again. “And what happens when you get it?” she asked.
“You’ll have to let me catch you to find out.”
Chapter Seven
Rusty climbed the stairs to the cottage and scooped up the mail, flicking through it. As usual, over half of it was from real-estate agents wanting to sell their place for them, all with buyers waiting and willing to pay top dollar. Being the last residential property on Axle Alley, the land was worth a lot and highly sought after. It was getting ridiculous. No matter how many times they said they weren’t selling, would never sell, the letters kept on coming. The bastards were relentless.
Distracted, she opened the front door and let out a shriek when a shrill sound blasted from the house. “Holy shit!”
Covering her ears, she stumbled back a step. The sound cut off abruptly, and Cole Black, her big brother Deacon’s best friend, poked his head out the door, gave her a chin lift and a rough, “Sorry,” then disappeared back inside.