The two men stood beneath the Porsche’s front end, elbow-deep in the car’s underbelly. Cole’s muscles bunched under his tight white tee and Sarah’s libido clicked into gear. Reluctant to wander among the cables that snaked across the floor, she called across the room. “I see you got it up.” She winced when the words’ double meaning hit her.
Cole smiled. “Oh yeah, it’s up all right. Been up for a while.” He released whatever he’d been holding and stepped back. Mike stepped back as well and wiped his brow with his shirtsleeve.
“And is it what you thought? The front tie…” What the heck had he called it? “…thing?” She frowned. She hated sounding like an ignorant girl.
“The front tie rod. Yeah, it’s busted. Come.” He beckoned with a wave. “I’ll show you.”
Curious, Sarah picked her way across the room to where the two men stood. The closer she got to Cole the harder her heart beat, until she was sure they’d be able to hear it. She stopped a few feet away from the men and took a steadying breath.
Cole pointed up at something between the front wheels. “See here? The bar between the wheel and the axle?”
Sarah craned her neck to see into the car’s underside and tried to ignore the delicious tension in the pit of her stomach brought by Cole’s proximity. She thought she knew what he was talking about but couldn’t be sure—there were a lot of metal bits and bars under there. “I think so.”
Cole stepped behind her. Before she realized what he was going to do, his hands landed on her shoulders and he steered her to a spot under the axle. Standing behind her, he pointed to the left wheel. “See the narrow metal rod inside the wheel?”
He paused but Sarah’s mind had gone blank the moment he’d touched her. His hand on her shoulder was like a brand sending a heated awareness across her chest. Her nipples pebbled. Several inches stood between them, but she could feel his body behind her as surely as if they had embraced. It took all of her willpower not to lean back and close the gap.
“See it?” he asked again.
She nodded, not sure if she could speak. She glanced at Mike who looked up at the car as if nothing unusual was happening. Maybe the blood rushing through her ears wasn’t as loud as she feared, the rapping of her heart against her ribs not visible through her top. A quick glance down showed that her peaked nipples were obvious so she crossed her arms, nodding more forcefully this time.
“That’s the tie rod. It connects the front wheel to the rest of the steering system.” The part of her brain that was functioning was pleased to note that his voice lacked the condescension she usually got from auto mechanics. He pointed over to the right side. “And there’s the busted one.”
The rod on the right side was bent down at a sharp angle. That explained why the wheel was sticking out.
Cole stepped back. The spot where his hand had rested felt cool, her entire back chilled. “I think that’s all that’s wrong,” he said, “but I want to check one more thing.” He picked a long-handled tool off a worktable.
Sarah nodded as if she had a clue as to what he was talking about and moved away. She needed to put some distance between herself and this man. She needed to get a grip before she did something embarrassing. Like dragging him into the nearest backseat.
With mingled relief and regret, she recalled that none of the cars in the garage had backseats.
Cole stepped back from her car and nodded. “Yup, that’s it. We’ll have to replace a couple of things and fine-tune your alignment, but that’s all. You really got lucky. It could have been worse.”
“A lot worse,” Mike said. “But you’re lucky. Cole’ll fix you right up.”
If only. But they were referring to the car. “Great. So, you can fix it.”
“I’ve fixed cars a lot worse off than yours,” Cole said with a laugh as he clamped the tool on to something behind the Porsche’s front wheel. “You’ll be ready to go in no time.”
Ready to go? As in car fixed and out of here?
Sarah watched the play of muscles across Cole’s back as he grabbed the long handle with both hands and pulled. His biceps strained with the effort and her breath caught in her throat. Her fingers twitched, eager to feel the strength in those limbs. To touch those rock-hard planes. To discover if he really was the cure she’d been looking for…
She shook herself mentally. What was she thinking? Relaxation was the cure, not some mysterious mechanic from Nowheres-ville. No matter how hot he was—or how hot he made her—she wasn’t willing to put her instant attraction to this man to the test. The risk was too great. After all, she’d been attracted to each of her previous lovers and look what had happened. Or rather, what hadn’t.