Shifting Gears (15 page)

She could have at least pretended, though. She could have gotten through the day, then taken her first paycheck and gotten a cheap motel or something until she could find a room in someone else's house or apartment, maybe. Something that didn't require a credit check or a whole lot of money. She'd gone through her options yesterday as she'd drunk water from the paper cups that came out of the water cooler dispenser and eaten crackers from the vending machine.

Her eviction hadn't been the greatest timing, but it wouldn't have been quite so awful if no one had found out. But of course, the one person she definitely didn't want to know … had found out.

On top of everything else, she was crying like a sad, weak thing, wiping tears off her cheeks and trying not to look pathetic as Grady rushed over to her, dropping his bag on the floor before he knelt next to her and gathered her in his arms.

Oh, that feels so good.

“What happened? Why are you sleeping here?”

She tried not to sink into his embrace and lean all her tired weight on him. Maybe sleeping in his office wasn't a great way to build his confidence in her, but at the same time, she couldn't allow him to completely take over and protect her and fight her battles for her …

But she owed him an explanation, at least. And she hated being in debt. At least, no more than she already was. She'd have to discharge this one if she wanted to move forward with any kind of equilibrium.

She let herself relax against his chest, just for a little bit.

“My mother kicked me out,” she managed to say past her tears, trying to breathe deeply and get her nerves under control. God, she must look awful. Exhausted and sore from spending a rough night on the hard floor, missing Grady and wanting so much to just give up and go to him.

But she hadn't, and she at least could be proud of that.

“
What?
Why would she do that?” He shook his head, his chin rubbing into her hair. “I don't understand. And why didn't you go to a hotel? Or call me? You could have called me, you know.”

Oh, God.
If he only knew how much she'd wanted to.

But she owed him an explanation.

So she told him. She told him
everything,
in fact. More than she needed to. She hadn't meant to, but once she started talking about the restrictions Momma had put on her, it was hard not to explain why she'd put up with them. And then, once she started talking about that, it was like a dam had broken and she'd spilled everything else. How she'd worked like a dog to keep Donnie's garage afloat. About his drinking and how alone she'd been, and how her parents hadn't cared to hear about any of it. They'd just called it her burden to bear.

She told Grady about how she hadn't even been able to go to her father's funeral because there hadn't been any money or any time, but the truth was that she hadn't tried very hard to make it back, anyway. And then the fifty-thousand-dollar debt that had forced her into an even worse position, with seemingly no reprieve in sight …

She didn't tell him that he had been the reason for the only good things that had happened to her in the past decade. It wasn't exactly true, anyway—she'd had good experiences in Texas—but she was feeling overwrought and Grady was so wonderful …

He held her the entire time, and when she was done talking, he kissed her forehead.

She was surprised to find that, instead of feeling more embarrassed, she felt better for the first time in years.

“I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry. But I'm glad you don't have to be there anymore, at least. And I'm glad you told me.” He cupped her chin and looked at her with so much earnest concern that she nearly started crying again.

She was glad, too.

“And now that I know, at least one of your problems is solved. You can just stay at my place until you can sort things out with your finances.”

Stay at his place? Wait a sec.

No. She didn't like that. Staying with him wasn't solving a problem. It was only trading one problem for another, making her dependent on someone else for survival with nothing in return. That was why she hadn't called him yesterday. At least with her mother, it had felt a little less like charity. She'd been willing to accept it for all the suffering she'd gone through. But staying with Grady wouldn't require her to pay anything, either in money or emotion.

Perversely, that's what made it feel so wrong.

She pulled away. “No. Grady, I'll be fine, I promise. It was just one night and I was just surprised and a little overwhelmed, that's all. I—”

But he cut her off. “You'd rather stay at a
motel
than with me?”

Great. Now he was offended.

She shook her head, even though it was kind of the truth—that she'd rather stay at a motel. Not because she didn't want to stay with him, personally. It was just a matter of principle. She'd been trying so hard to be independent …

“Just one night, Annabelle. I don't want to be so worried about you. Just until I'm sure things are okay. Please. Do it for me, not for you.”

At least, when he put it that way, she didn't feel quite so dependent. Not that it sat quite right with her, either, but a part of her felt like she might be the world's worst person if she said no to a request like that.

Why was this so hard? Why was being in charge of her own life so confusing? Was she the only adult who found this so difficult to deal with?

Probably.

Silly, sheltered, confused Annabelle.

No. She was not going back to that Annabelle anymore. She'd promised herself that she was going to be braver and take charge of her own life, hadn't she? This whole thing was just temporary. It
had
to be. Just a little hiccup along the path to independence.

Slowly, she nodded. “Okay. For one night. I guess it'll be fine. And I'll pay you back.”

It was only temporary.

“Don't be ridiculous,” he scoffed, then kissed her forehead again.

She didn't like that, either. It felt too paternalistic. So before he could move away, she grabbed him around his neck and pulled him down to her mouth, kissing him with urgency and heat, until that patronizing demeanor disappeared and his hands were all over her.

They'd only been together a couple of times, but he'd already learned all her pleasure points. His hands rubbed her breasts through her shirt. She hadn't worn a bra to sleep, and her nipples responded immediately, peaking hard and high. He gently pinched them between his fingers, making her moan into his mouth and arch into the sensation, seeking more.

“God, Annabelle.” He rasped her name, pushing her back down onto the pallet she'd made and covering her body with his. “I want to fuck you right here.”

Yes.
She lifted her hips, pushing against him, rubbing against the hard ridge she felt there.

She'd missed him.

“I want that, too,” she replied, feeling wild and reckless and so very needy.

The thrill of doing something illicit was incredible. Not that she was really worried that anyone would discover them. Only Grady ever showed up before eight o'clock.

But it was still fun, and something special—a way to put a good end to an otherwise awful night.

They rolled around on the floor for a few minutes, laughing after a while at the way they kept bumping into the furniture. She finally pushed him away from her to pull off her pants and top, and he took the chance to strip off his own clothes. The urgency of it had them both laughing again, and by the time he'd grabbed a condom from a pocket in his bag and stretched out beside her again to kiss her, they were grinning like fools.

He paused and rolled the condom on, then moved on top of her, between her legs. He bracketed her face with his hands as he pushed inside, making her gasp and writhe, but he held her fast.

She loved it.

“You're beautiful, Annabelle.”

The way he was looking at her, those hazel eyes shining a deep green, made her
feel
beautiful.

And then he moved, and there was nothing else but feeling.

Chapter 13

Grady sat at his desk, whistling.

Out of all the ways he'd expected this day to go, sex with Annabelle this morning on the floor of his office had not even been among the possibilities he'd considered. But it had been a very pleasurable surprise.

He couldn't believe what she'd been through. Everything she'd told him this morning had cut deep, almost as though he was the one responsible for inflicting that pain on her, even when she'd been several states away. It had made him want to gather her up and protect her from the entire world.

Even though he knew she didn't need that kind of coddling, it was impossible for him not to try. It was simply too ingrained in his nature to try to protect the people he cared for. At least he'd gotten her to agree to stay with him that night. He'd be able to take care of her the way she deserved.

After they'd collapsed together this morning, she'd used the office shower to freshen up, then come out wearing her coveralls. Amazing, how quickly he'd gotten used to seeing her in those. She'd been a great team manager, too, but working directly with the cars and in the races seemed to suit her so much better.

They'd talked about Carbon Works over mugs of coffee, and apart from the fact that they were in the racing offices and she'd had to pack away her linens and clothes into a big suitcase she'd brought from her car, it felt like a normal morning as a real couple.

When she'd gone downstairs to help the team with the process of breaking down Kerri's car for more fine-tuning, he'd missed her within minutes.

Damn.

He was falling for Annabelle Murray.

But was she falling for him? She was reluctant to stay with him, he could tell, but he wasn't sure whether that was because she'd just been through something really emotional—her mother sure was a piece of work to dump that on top of Annabelle after all those rough years with her ex-husband—or she truly didn't want to be with him.

The insecurity returned. Why
would
she want to be with a guy like him, anyway? She was already doing his job better than he'd ever been able to, and he might be excited about having his first product, but he had no customers yet. There was still plenty of room to fail.

He tried not to think about that.

Fortunately, the phone rang, distracting him from that thought, and he picked up the handset with an absentminded, “Grady Hart.”

An unfamiliar voice boomed through the receiver. “Grady! This is Phil Dobson over at U.S. Classic Auto.”

He sat up in his seat. “Mr. Dobson. Of course. I—thank you for calling.”

Dobson was one of the people Grady had left messages for last week, about the new carbon fiber muffler. Dobson owned the biggest automobile subcontractor manufacturing company in the nation. And, in turn, he supplied parts and labor in some capacity to almost all the auto makers in the world.

Al Colt, Ranger's dad, had made the introduction and given Grady Dobson's contact information.

The man laughed. “Oh, now. Call me Phil. My secretary gave me a message that you'd called. Said you had some mufflers to show me.”

“Indeed I do.” Shit. Dobson was interested in the mufflers? Grady's palms were suddenly sweating, and he was having a hard time collecting his thoughts. He couldn't mess this up.
Think! Say something!

“I-I've got a setup in the offices at Hart Racing in Charlotte. I'm happy to do some demos here, or with a little more time I could come out to—”

“No need. I'll come there. How about in four weeks or so? I've got some meetings in Charlotte next month and could swing by.”

Dobson was going to come here?

This could
not
be happening.

Thank God it was happening.

Grady swallowed hard to tamp down his excitement. “Absolutely. I'd be honored. I—”

Dobson broke in again. “I'll have my secretary make the arrangements, then. Good talking to you, Grady.”

Definitely a guy who didn't like to waste time. Grady nodded to no one in particular. “You, too, uh, Phil. Take care.”

It was foolish to get so excited about a first meeting but Grady couldn't help it. He hung up the phone and punched his fist in the air in triumph.

Annabelle was going to be in his bed tonight and the country's biggest auto company was interested in his product.

Things were definitely starting to go his way.

*   *   *

Annabelle clutched the steering wheel tightly as she followed Grady's car home. She'd been distracted all day, thinking about staying at his place tonight. Was it giving up her independence to spend the night there?

Of course not. Normal couples probably did this all the time.

But were they even a couple?

They hadn't talked about it, and she wasn't sure she even knew what she wanted. She wasn't going to bring it up until she was ready. Coming off a divorce and then being kicked out by her own mother wasn't exactly the time to be making relationship decisions, especially not when it might leave her feeling even more financially dependent on Grady. She'd trusted Donnie to take care of their money, and look where that had gotten her.

It's just one night,
she reminded herself as she drove. It was just one night, and it didn't have to mean anything other than a regular sleepover like regular couples had.

Except the first time she'd ever done something like that with a guy she wasn't married to had been two nights ago, in the hotel in Dover.

Think of it as independence.

Right. Another step in the right direction that would have to do for now. Until she could stand on her own two feet financially, this was at least something that would make her feel like a woman in charge of her own life. Grady had given her that, and if she looked at it that way, it was a gift she would gladly accept.