Read Shifting Gears for Free Online

enough.”
    She cleared her plate, too, and Grady waited for his mother to insist that Annabelle wasn’t imposing, but Mom surprised him by replying, “Thank you for coming over, Annabelle. It was so nice to see you, and don’t be a stranger.” Then she added, “Oh, and leave the dishes. I’ll clear the table while Grady walks you out, since he’s going now, too.”
    Ah. Now it makes sense. Mom wasn’t exactly being subtle with that one, but on the other hand, he wasn’t going to argue about being sent off alone with Annabelle, even if was for only a few minutes.
    He nodded and kissed his mother on the cheek before gesturing to Annabelle to lead the way to the front door before following after her. He made a pretty valiant effort to keep his eyes on the back of her head, but the swish of her skirt proved too distracting. His gaze dropped lower … taking in the slender column of her neck … lower … gliding over the curve of her back … lower still, to where her skirt flared at her hips and skimmed over what appeared to be a very fine—
    â€œYou’ve done a great job with the crew this year.”
    Her voice brought him up short. They’d reached the front door, and Annabelle said the words as she stopped and turned, so at least he had time to yank his focus off her ass and back up to her face.
    Damn, she had a pretty face.
    He made a noncommittal sound that came out like a grunt.
    Great conversation, man.
    He immediately scrambled for a halfway coherent response to follow up with, so she wouldn’t think he was a complete Neanderthal. “Uh … yeah. We hired a former Olympic athlete for the pit and he added a lot of speed to the team.”
    She nodded. “Yep. Neil Castillo. I’ve watched some of the earlier races this season and I noticed him in the crew. He is fast. Wow.”
    She’d watched the races? That surprised him. But more importantly—she’d noticed Neil? For a brief moment, a stab of irrational jealousy sliced through Grady’s chest.
    What was going on? Feeling like this about a woman he’d met again for the first time in nearly a decade was not his style. He forced himself to smile as he slipped his arm past her body to turn the door handle.
    But as he did, he heard her gasp, sweet and soft and so incredibly erotic that he had to grit his teeth against the rush of arousal that shook him. His fingers locked around the knob and he twisted it almost violently, pulling the door open.
    Fuck if that wasn’t a mistake. The way they were standing, she had to press closer to him in order to make space for the door to open, and for some perverse reason, his body was refusing to yield to hers, to give her room to step away. But she didn’t even try. She didn’t even attempt to squeeze tight in order to avoid touching him, and for a brief moment, her breasts were pressed against his bicep, the dip of her waist against his hip.
    And then the door was open and she was turning away, stepping over the threshold and onto the stoop like nothing had happened, while every last hair on his body seemed to be standing on end. By the time they reached his truck, he was having a hard time thinking about anything but taking her. Just … taking.
    â€œWell. It was nice to see you again, Grady.”
    She sounded breathless from walking a mere ten feet.
    Ha. So she wasn’t as unaffected as he’d thought. Feral satisfaction coursed through him for a moment, but then he remembered that she was coming in for a job interview next week. That meant hands off.
    Damn.
    He nodded. “Good to see you again, too.” He debated whether to hug her goodbye, but there was no way his already taxed control was going to survive that without the hug turning inappropriate, so instead he settled for a half-salute, half-wave. “And I’ll see you Monday.”
    â€œMonday,” she echoed. A