Read Online Shifting Gears by Audra North - Free Book Online Page B

mix money and romance again. Once was enough for that particular mistake.
    Grady came back in holding a mug. Steam rose up from the top, and she could smell the aroma of good coffee even before he was close enough to offer it to her.
    â€œOne cup of hard core,” he teased, handing it over.
    Oh, that sexy smile …
    She took it from him with a quiet Thanks, and as she lifted it to her mouth for a sip, it occurred to her that she was already making a lot of progress toward the Annabelle she wanted to be.
    One cup of hard core at a time.

Chapter 5
    He was thinking about kissing her again.
    Hell, who was he kidding? He hadn’t stopped thinking about it for the past two days, ever since that first, hot kiss they’d shared … right before Annabelle started her job as team manager of Hart Racing.
    He’d followed her lead, though, and not mentioned it again—not even so much as looked at her in any way other than professional during their interview.
    And what he’d learned about her in that time had impressed the hell out of him. Turned out, she’d used the same ordering software back in Texas that Hart Racing used, she knew the names of all the car parts and most of the machines they used, and she’d even given them a suggestion on better bookkeeping software that he planned to take. By the time the hour-long interview was over, he was pretty surprised by her knowledge and skill, but he was also convinced that she was perfect for the job. She knew her way around a garage and so much about cars that he wondered what else she might know that he simply hadn’t thought to ask her about.
    That was the only thing that confused him—she answered his questions without hesitation, but she never seemed to volunteer anything.
    Not that it was a bad thing not to brag about what she knew, but it bothered him to think that she might feel like she couldn’t share it, for some reason. She never talked about her personal life or her mom, even though he knew she was living back at home. And a couple of times, the way she’d seemed to clam up abruptly felt almost like she wasn’t sure how to talk about herself.
    It felt like she was holding back some of the best parts of herself on purpose. And damn if he wasn’t curious about all her parts.
    By the time they’d wrapped up, Ranger and Kerri had arrived, and this time after they’d reconvened to talk about hiring her, there’d been no hesitation. Everyone had loved her and believed she would be perfect for the job.
    Which meant he had to be on his best behavior. It didn’t matter that he was phasing out of Hart Racing. Annabelle was part of the Hart Racing family now. She was under his care, and that meant protecting her, not laying her back on his desk and having her rough and fast during their lunch break.
    Not that he’d fantasized about that overmuch. Only about a hundred times already.
    Shit, he had it bad.
    Grady got up from his desk and walked over to the windows that looked out into the garage. His eyes immediately found Annabelle, chatting with the crew in the first bay, where they were doing some work on Kerri’s car.
    Two days in and she’d already charmed everyone, which only added to her appeal, which had already amplified with every second that had passed when they’d sat down to talk over those two mugs of black coffee. She was smart and funny and nice, and that direct gaze combined with the pretty flush that spread over her cheeks every time she got excited did something to him.
    Not to mention how straight-up hot she was. Today, she was wearing a fitted pink dress with some sort of ruffled thing on one side that drew attention to her perfectly-rounded ass. He was having to work extra hard to keep his eyes off it, but he’d be damned if he was going to come on to her like some jerk who got a kick out of lusting after women who worked for his family.
    Below, on the garage floor,