His words sent a hot bolt of desire straight to Sarah’s core. She nodded. She was ready to do anything to keep him talking.
“It takes a firm hand to keep a real beauty under control, while pushing her as hard and fast as she can go.” His low voice fanned the desire that hadn’t quite gone out. “It’s a rush like no other.
“Well,” he added with a grin, “maybe one other.”
Right, that rush. Maybe she should take up racing.
Or maybe Cole could get her there. “You can drive like that?” Her question was barely a whisper.
“Oh yeah.” His hand caressed the silver car, drawing swirls on the shiny surface with his fingertips. Goose bumps rose on Sarah’s flesh as she imagined him tracing those lines on her skin. She’d envied people their cars before but never had she envied the car itself.
“So, Ms. Lange.” His hand stilled and she looked up at his face. His blue gaze was mesmerizing even from across the room. “Want to go for a ride?”
Light-headedness made Sarah’s knees go weak, as if she’d gone without food for too long. But it wasn’t nourishment she craved. She wanted what Cole had described—freedom, power, speed. Maybe even the rush that had eluded her for so long.
She nodded.
Cole came around to open the passenger door of the silver car. She slipped past him, barely resisting the urge to rub up against him. Yes, she wanted him—but she wanted this ride first.
The bucket seat was so low she fell rather than sat in it. It molded around her body, from the headrest that wrapped around her ears to the smooth leather under her back and behind. She knew they were designed for safety but after Cole’s description, the seat’s embrace felt so intimate her inner heat rose another notch. From fiery to inferno.
The racecar’s console looked more like an airplane’s cockpit than the dash of a car. Sarah recognized the gauge that showed RPMs and thought another might indicate pressure of some sort. But there was no speedometer, and everything else was as mysterious and astonishing as her reaction to the man who slid in beside her.
Realizing that Cole was waiting for her, she grabbed the crisscross belt, fumbling before it clicked into place.
“Nervous?” he asked.
“Excited.” And they hadn’t even left the garage.
Chapter Six
Cole inhaled deeply, setting his hands on the wheel. The familiar aroma of leather and engine grease mingled with a faint musky hint of arousal. His cock twitched. Damn.
From the moment he’d seen her by the side of the road he’d been drawn to her, but the strength of that attraction was a surprise. Yeah, she was seriously sexy. From the lush, round breasts that strained against her sweater to the sweet hips he’d grabbed on to when he lifted her into his truck, she had the kind of body that made his pulse race. Their almost-kiss in the living room had made his cock so hard and his balls so tight it was a miracle he could sit without wincing.
He smiled thinking about his little stunt back in the living room. Yeah, she’d expected him to kiss her and it had taken all of his willpower not to. While Sarah was clearly the type who liked to call the shots, he wasn’t the type to come running. Not anymore. Not after Natalie.
If he was being honest, that wasn’t the only reason he’d teased her. There was something about this woman that brought out the trickster in him. Made him feel, well, playful. Hell, from what he’d heard about her job and witnessed in her wound-up body language, she could use a little play in her life. Some loosening up. He was more than happy to oblige.
Thanks to his experience with Natalie, he’d planned to keep his distance. But Sarah had seemed genuinely interested when he’d talked about cars and racing and she’d even warmed up to Mike. The real difference though was the vulnerability he’d sensed when she’d talked about her job and her car. The hint that there might be a real person behind her city-girl mask, one who wasn’t just interested in work and money. He had one night to coax that Sarah out. A ride would be a good way to start.
Cole flicked the ignition switch, looking over to make sure Sarah’s seat harness was fastened. Her fingers toyed with a loose tendril of hair, her smile almost shy. Did she have any idea of how hot it made him when she tucked those blond strands behind her ear, how badly he wanted to suck that soft lobe between his teeth? To give it a nip and see how she’d react? He was tempted to lean over right now and try…
He held back. This ride would be their foreplay and he was going to make sure it was good for both of them.
The road uncoiled before them, winding through hills and woods Cole knew well. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken a woman on a drive to impress her and never a woman who seemed as excited about it as Sarah.