He's always had a way with the ladies
She won't give him the time of day
Sparks fly when two hearts in motion collide.
Florist Joey Reeves is working overtime to stay away from Lou Cortez, the ace mechanic with a reputation for irresistible charm. She's a single mom with enough on her plate—the last thing she needs is entanglement with the hottest guy in town…
"Well, hello there."
Joey glanced up and froze. The man who'd been haunting her sleep looked even better in the hard light of day.
"H-hello." She coughed. The guys who worked at Webster's Garage all looked larger than life, covered in tattoos, muscles, and that indefinable sense of danger they wore like a second skin. But this guy, the tall, Latin lover with dark-brown eyes and lips made for kissing, had ensnared her.
EXCERPT
The sight of Lou’s
pleasure made Joey feel good for having caused it…and gave her dirty thoughts.
Totally inappropriate, rated-R kind of thoughts, which had no place in a coffee
shop, for God’s sake. She really needed to get back out in the dating world if
a smile got her so hot and bothered. She glanced back down at her latte.
Lou sipped his own
drink, then answered, “Today I got to sketch an amazing hood for a sweet
Corvette this car collector brought in for a job.”
“Huh?”
“I work at Webster’s
Garage fixing cars. On the mechanics of them. But I work at Heller’s Paint and
Auto Body doing custom artwork. You know, like custom paint jobs?”
“Really?” She studied
him, wondering about him. “So you’re an artist.”
“Yep.”
“So if my car gets a
ding and needs paint to cover it…”
“You hit Maaco. Or
you go to Heller’s, and his body shop dudes fix you up. You want a bitchin’
barbarian queen on your VW van, you call me.” He grinned. “Although somehow I
don’t see you driving an old van.”
“More like a crappy
little Toyota, but hey, it runs.”
“So does mine.”
She nodded, oddly at
ease talking with the man. She watched his face, saw his genuine interest in
the conversation, and warmed. “You did the work on your car. The snake along
the side that disappears in the back. That’s your drawing.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s amazing. Were
you always into art?”
Lou shrugged. “I was
kind of forced into it.” He nudged her pastry. “You going to eat that or pull
it apart?”
She took a bite,
chewed, and asked, “What can you draw? Anything? Or just snakes and skeletons
and half-naked barbarian queens?” As soon as she said it, she heard herself
sounding so flirty she wanted to bury her head under the table.
Lou laughed. “That’s
what my mother thinks I do. Draw naked people all day. I did it once when I was
in high school, and she never let me forget it.”
Joey smiled. “Caught
you, huh?”
“Yeah. But that was
okay because if I was at home drawing late into the night, I wasn’t out robbing
a liquor store or rolling some rich jerks for money.” At her look of shock, he
sighed. “What can I say? I grew up under the influence of some not-so-nice
people. A few smaller-scale gangs. I was a
rebellious kid living in a houseful of women, so you can see why I
wanted some guys to hang out with. Fortunately, my mother doesn’t play.”
She stared,
wide-eyed.
“A short stint in
corrections when I was ten helped change my mind-set. Well, that and my mother slapping me upside the head,
sticking me on babysitting duty for my younger sisters, then having my aunts
sit on me. I had nowhere to go but crazy. So when she offered to let me try art
lessons to get away from all the women in the house, I went. Turned out I had a
knack for drawing, and it stuck.”
“I’ll say.” His car
was amazing.
“Enough about me.
What about you? Have you always wanted to work with flowers? That’s a pretty
creative profession.”
Surprisingly pleased
to have something in common with the man, she nodded. “I always liked creating
things, and I love the outdoors. Gardening especially. When I was younger, my
parents kept pushing me to be a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer.” She sighed,
aware she’d fallen way below the mark in their estimation. “But I ended up
falling into the flower shop right out of high school. I needed a job, wasn’t
ready for college.” Not with a baby in hand. She didn’t plan to mention Brandon to Lou, mostly because she
didn’t share her boy with strangers. Even good-looking ones. Her baby never got
to know her dates, rare though they were. Not unless she planned to get
serious, and it had been eight long years since she’d considered a real
relationship with anyone other than her son.
“Well, you’re great
at it, I have to say.” Lou nodded. “My sister’s eyes about fell out of her
head. She forgot all about the asswipe who dumped her. Thanks for that.”
She blushed. “Sure. I
love flowers. They’re bright and cheerful.”
“And dead. Sorry, but
I had to point that out.”
She frowned. “Yeah,
but even in death they bring joy.”
“Good point. Open
your mouth.”
She parted her lips
to ask why and got a bite of bear claw for her trouble. Her lips brushed his
finger, and her heart seemed to stop. The sugar in her mouth broke her paralysis,
and she chewed for all she was worth.
“Eat. It’s killing me
you’re not enjoying this.” He broke a piece off and tried it, feeding himself
with the same fingers that fed her. “Oh man. This is good.”
She swallowed before
saying, “I know. Why do you think I get one whenever I come in here?”
“You come here a
lot?”
“When I was helping
Del with her wedding, I went to the garage a few times. This was a great place
to get my morning coffee.”
“A caffeine addict,
huh? Me too.” He nodded. “I typically stay away from the sweets though.” He
eased out of his jacket, and she nearly choked on her drink.
She stared at his
conditioned torso, seeing the volume of muscle. “I can tell.” Good God. The man was seriously ripped.
He leaned to drape the jacket fully over the chairback, and she noted the hint
of a tattoo on his left arm, just under the T-shirt.
“Eat up.” He held
another bite out to her, but this time she took it from his fingers, not
wanting them near her lips. The last time had nearly shot her into cardiac
arrest, and it felt way too intimate for a first just-getting-to-know-you kind
of date.
They chewed, watching
each other. For the life of her, Joey didn’t understand why Lou had such an
impact on her, a woman who’d sworn off men. A guy like him, so much bigger than
life, handsome, and, yes, charming, was after her? A pretty but not spectacular woman who worked in a flower
store?
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