Read Takin' the Reins (The Sterling Brothers #2) for Free Online Page A

didn’t have the extra money to rent a car for a couple of weeks. She exhaled, rubbed her forehead since a nice little twitch started right behind her eye, and tried to figure out how in the hell this was all going to work. The soft touch on her shoulder had her dropping her arm to her side and looking up into Jace’s blue eyes. He was so close, the scent of him strong, clean, like a man. She parted her lips, sucking in more air as everything inside of her tightened. Here she was, in a shitty situation, and all she could think about in this moment was the touch Jace had on her.
    “It’ll all work out. I’ll take you to work every day until your car is fixed. I’ll take you wherever you need to go until it’s done from the shop, okay?” His voice was soft but deep, and a little shiver worked up her spine.
    She licked her lips, her throat feeling like a lump was in it, making her unable to speak, unable to form any coherent words. After she cleared her throat and nodded, she knew she was acting ridiculous right now.
    “This was my fault, Lexi, and I’ll take care of you.”
    Take care of me?
    That shouldn’t have sounded as good as it did.
    “Everything will be okay, so don’t worry about it.” He gave her a half smile, and damn did it look good on him. “Now, can I buy you some lunch?”
    She had originally been on her way to the store, but going shopping didn’t sound that appealing right now. Before she could answer her stomach gave a resounding growl, making her face heat with embarrassment.
    “So, how about it? Can I buy you lunch?”
    Like she was going to say no to Jace Sterling.
    “Yeah, sure.”
    His smile grew, and for a second they just looked at each other. He led them out of the body shop and over to his truck. It was older, with peeling paint, but she did notice it was sturdy. He didn’t even have a dent from when he’d rammed into her.
    Jace opened the passenger side door for her, and she climbed in, feeling slightly weird about the whole situation, or maybe she felt this way because she never envisioned herself in this situation. Sure, her car was messed up, but here she was, with Jace Sterling, feeling like she’d fallen down a rabbit hole. The feeling of his warm breath on her bare arm had shivers racing along her body.
    Once in the seat with the door closed she watched him walk around the front of the truck and get in the driver’s seat. The engine roared to life like a beast waking up for the first time, and he looked over at her, grinning.
    “Ready?” he asked.
    I’ve never been more ready in my life.
    Thank God she hadn’t actually said those words out loud. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
    At least she hoped she was, because the way she felt right now, and the fact she would be seeing a hell of a lot of Jace in the coming weeks, could make things a lot harder than they needed to be.
     

Chapter Six
     
    The next day
     
    “You sure you don’t want me to take you to work?” Lexi’s father asked as he sat on the couch in her living room. He’d stopped by this morning on his way to work to drop off some casseroles her mother made for her.
    “I’ll be fine. Jace offered to take me and pick me up from work.” She tried to keep her voice even, but she’d be lying if she didn’t admit seeing Jace so much this next week wasn’t exciting.
    “I still think you should have called the insurance.” Her father’s deep voice sounded annoyed.
    “Dad, my insurance would have gone up even though it wasn’t my fault. I can’t afford that, especially not with the new place. I’m just trying to get ahead of my finances.”
    He grumbled. “Staying with us would have helped in that, Lexi.”
    She looked over at her dad. He appeared relaxed, his big body sprawled out on the couch, his stained overalls showing what a hard worker he was. “Dad, I’m too old to be staying with you guys. You and Mom need your own space.” He didn’t speak, but grumbled again, and she couldn’t help but