Breathless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires #1) (7 page)

As the Saturday of their next visit to Will’s garage finally dawned and Jeremy’s enthusiasm knew no bounds, Harper tried to keep her anticipation at seeing Will again at bay.

Jeremy had been so excited when Will told him about the Maserati kit and had asked her to take him out to purchase a new notebook in which he’d written furiously and also pasted numerous pictures. Making notes, he’d said, but they were a secret. Just for Will and him. Still, even if she couldn’t help but worry about Jeremy, she also couldn’t bring herself to crush his enjoyment.

As for herself...she shook her head as she put on the brakes for a stoplight in the thick Saturday traffic. She’d never been the kind of woman to go all gooey just from thinking about a guy. But every time she thought about Will, both her brain and her body went topsy-turvy.

“I like Will,” Jeremy said from the passenger seat with his usual big-hearted cheerfulness.

Harper couldn’t deny the truth. “I like him, too.”

And it wasn’t just Will’s sex appeal that drew her to him like moth to flame. It was all the little things that added up—his patience with Jeremy, the tin of caviar he’d given Mama Cannelli, and the genuine empathy on his face and in his touch when she’d told him about the car crash, the rich teen getting away with near murder, and then their parents’ passing.

“I brought drinks and sandwiches for when we get hungry.” She didn’t want to assume that Will would feed them. “Your favorite, PB and J.”

“I can’t wait to get there!” Jeremy said. “This is going to be the best day ever.”

Jeremy had clearly been swept away by Will. And the problem was, no matter how much she’d tried to deny it over the past ten days, Harper kept secretly fantasizing about being swept away by him, too. Will had an irresistible magnetism, much as she’d been reminding herself that she
had
to resist.

The way he’d turned her inside out in her kitchen with nothing but words was something her body couldn’t forget. Not when deep inside, she knew how good—how
amazing
—it would feel to be taken by him.

I intend to kiss you so slowly, so thoroughly, that you’ll be begging me to never, ever stop.

All of his sexy, crazy, wild intentions came back to her deep in the middle of the night when she couldn’t sleep. They were
why
she couldn’t sleep. Because she wanted so badly everything he was offering.

But again and again over the past few days, she’d wondered—what if she took her eye off the ball in her quest for even a small, but heady, taste of wildness, and something happened to her brother? What if she went in for a few perfect gulps of the thrills that Will was offering her and ended up putting the safe little life she’d created for herself and Jeremy at risk? Especially when, despite how kind Will had been to both of them so far, she didn’t know very much about him at all. He hadn’t shared anything about who he was or where he’d come from. In fact, he’d skillfully avoided revealing himself.

They pulled up at the top of the driveway, and as she came to a stop, Jeremy all but threw himself out of the car when Will appeared in one of the open roll-up doors. Harper opted for a more reasonable pace, yet her heart was beating wildly. God only knew why, since Will was covered in the long white overalls she’d seen hanging in the garage.

How can a man look that sexy in overalls?

“Where is it, Will?” Jeremy asked in an excited voice.

“Up in the barn.” Will pointed to the hill beyond the garages. “That’s my workshop for major projects.” He gestured to the two garage buildings where they were standing. “This place is just for tune-ups, oil changes, and regular maintenance.”

Stepping back into the garage, he reached for a pair of blue overalls. “Better put these on, Jeremy, or your sister will have my head for creating more laundry.” From the curve of his lips as he said it, she knew he was remembering the baskets of unfolded clothing in the family room.

She blushed as he tossed the overalls to Jeremy. Who missed.

Her brother scrambled to grab them up off the concrete. “Do I have to take my clothes off?”

Will shook his head. “Nope. The legs should be wide enough to fit over your sneakers and jeans.”

Harper liked that he didn’t make a big deal out of Jeremy not knowing what to do.

“Okay. I have to sit down.” Jeremy sat on the concrete and tried stuffing his feet into the legs.

Will didn’t help him, and Harper liked that, too, since she tried not to let herself help Jeremy unless he asked for it.

Still fighting the overalls onto his legs, rolling onto his back and pulling at them, her brother called, “Doesn’t Harper need these, too?”

Will eyed her, giving her a long, slow look—which Jeremy was too involved with his overalls to notice. The heat in Will’s gaze told her he’d taken in her tank top and capris. And liked what he saw. “Oh no. I want Harper just the way she is.”

Even if he couldn’t possibly mean that the way it sounded, it still managed to be the sweetest thing any man had ever said to her.

Jeremy finally got the blue overalls on his legs, then scooched his bottom to pull them over his hips. Rolling to his hands and knees, he pushed himself up. While her brother put on the overalls, Will had reduced the distance between himself and Harper to two steps.

He was close enough to touch her now, but he didn’t. That in itself was another tease, something that Will was just too good at.

“Ready?” Will directed the question to Jeremy, who’d finally zipped up his overalls.

“Yes!” her brother yelled.

Then Will finally did what she’d been secretly dying for. He put his hand on her bare back between the straps of her tank top, guiding her toward the garage, making her acutely aware of him with the caress of his fingers above the line of the tank.

And, even if she shouldn’t, she couldn’t help but love every second of it.

* * *

Harper had pulled her hair up into a sexy, messy knot held by a butterfly clip. Loose tendrils flirted with her seductively bare shoulders. But it was the silver toe ring on the middle toe of her right foot that really got Will going.

It should have been unexpected. To anyone else, it might even seem out of character. But not to him. Because he already knew about the secret wildness inside her that was practically bursting to come out. Even if she clearly thought she needed to keep it firmly tamped down.

“Pile in.” He pointed to the golf cart parked just inside the roll-up door.

“Cool, I can’t believe we’re going to ride in that!” Everything excited Jeremy, from overalls to golf carts.

“Makes it easier to come back down the hill if I need something here.” Although Will had outfitted the barn with everything he could possibly need when he was building the Cobra, the golf cart and the path he’d built made it easier to travel back and forth.

“I almost forgot.” Harper backed off so that his hand fell away from the heat of her skin. “I brought lunch. And drinks. I hope you like peanut butter and jelly.”

He’d planned on having his housekeeper, Mrs. Taylor, bring up a tray around noon, but it was sweet that Harper had planned ahead. “My favorite,” he told her. He hadn’t eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich since Susan made them for lunch every day when she’d sent them all off to school, but back then it really had been his favorite. At least, when he hadn’t been getting into too much trouble to eat lunch.

“Climb into the backseat,” he told Jeremy, then jetted the golf cart out to Harper, swinging it around so that she could climb in beside him.

She carried a six-pack of water bottles and an insulated lunch bag. As soon as she was seated, he couldn’t resist reaching out to brush away a lock of hair from her gorgeous mouth. Once the strand was gone, however, he let his hand linger on her soft skin, appreciating the way her eyes dilated slightly with an awareness she couldn’t hide.

“Thank you for taking care of us, Harper. Guys working on cars don’t think to stop and eat. But we’re going to need our sustenance.” Then he added over his shoulder, “Isn’t that right, Jeremy?”

“Right, Will.”

He moved his hand from her cheek to rest lightly over hers as he whisked them up the hill, feeling Harper’s gaze on him.

“Stop teasing,” she said softly.

“Teasing?” He lifted one eyebrow. “I’m perfectly serious.”

And he was. He intended to make her crazy. As crazy for him as he already was for her. The prospect already had his blood rushing.

She tried to look stern. “You know what I mean.”

He knew
exactly
what she meant. And he had a lot more planned for her. Touching, teasing, flirting—anything that would remind her of every single wicked intention he’d whispered against her skin in her kitchen a week and a half ago.

He wanted the woman who’d grabbed his shirt and dragged his mouth down to hers out by the old aqueduct. And since something told him she was secretly dying for that, too, he’d do whatever he could to bring out that thrill-seeking side of her again.

* * *

With each zing of Will’s fingers on her arm and her shoulder and her back, Harper felt a little crazier. Resisting him was the rational choice—the safe choice—but staying rational around Will was one of the hardest things she’d ever tried to do.

“You’ve got quite a setup here,” she said, attempting to divert her focus away from how much she wanted him.

“I converted the barn when I was building the Cobra.”

The barn floor had been filled in with concrete and covered with black and white checkerboard squares. A car lift was central to the huge workspace, and above was a suspension system that Will explained could be used to lower the engine block and transmission into place, and even the fiberglass car body. Ringing the floor space were rolling tool chests, workbenches, an air compressor, a welding machine, bins of rivets, pins, nuts, bolts, and screws, along with racks of drills, electric screwdrivers, and other tools, all in pristine condition.

The second they stepped inside, Jeremy ran around asking Will what everything was. Will not only patiently answered Jeremy’s questions, but he actually seemed to enjoy explaining. It was another big point for him in the plus column, at least where her brother was concerned.

Will turned to the covered item centered over the lift. “And here is the object of our desire.”

He stood so close that their arms brushed. Thrill bumps rose along with the fine, nearly invisible hairs on her forearms, like a static shock from too much friction. His mouth curved as he glanced down at her, knowing full well what he was doing with his double entendres. No question about it, he enjoyed teasing her way too much. But the secret truth was that she enjoyed it, too, even if she shouldn’t.

When she was with Will, Harper felt young and sexy and giddy for the first time in a very, very long time.

Will whipped away the tarp, and Jeremy said, “
Wow
,” on a soft note of awe.

“That’s exactly what I said when I first saw it,” Will said with equal reverence.

“What is it?” Harper asked as she stared at the contraption.

It looked like a twisted metal cage. Or a complicated set of monkey bars on a playground. Rods were stuck together seemingly every which way, but also with a synergistic sense of purpose she couldn’t fathom.

“It’s the frame of the car,” Will explained.

“How could you have had this made in less than two weeks?” Suddenly, she felt the awe. For Will and what he could accomplish.

“I offered a bonus so the factory would work around the clock.” He said it matter-of-factly, as if it hadn’t cost a staggering amount.

All Will had to do was snap his fingers, and poof, there was a complex car frame sitting in his retrofitted barn. She knew he was rich, but this was the power to have anything he wanted. Anything at all.

And he’d said he wanted
her
.

A hot shiver shot through her body...along with a healthy dose of tension as she reminded herself that rich men played by their own rules.

By now, she knew that Will was nothing like the man who’d paid her parents to make his son’s car accident go away. But at the same time, no matter how nice Will seemed, she and Jeremy lived in a
very
different world. Harper wasn’t intimidated by much anymore, but she wasn’t going to lie and say that Will’s world of infinite luxury and power wasn’t overwhelming.

“It’s called a space frame,” Will told them. “Or a tube frame.” He trailed a finger down a metal pipe, and Harper felt it as though he’d run that finger down her arm.

“We’re going to attach the sheet metal and just about every single part somewhere on this frame.” He signaled Jeremy closer. Harper leaned in, too. “Each tube is for something specific.” He pointed. “This is where we’ll attach the firewall between the engine and the cockpit.” He patted the air over where she assumed the driver would sit. “Here is where we’ll put the floor panels.” His words drew a picture, and Harper could almost see the leather seats. “Those are the pieces we’ve got for the time being. The rest will be here next Friday.”

He wrapped his hand around Harper’s, and with her fingers engulfed in his, he took her back for the larger view. Jeremy followed suit. Together, the three of them stared at the hunk of metal.

Suddenly she saw it. “It’s like a bird cage surrounding the driver.” No wonder they called it the Birdcage Maserati.

“All we have to do is put her parts together, shape her, and bring her to life. With loving hands.”

Though they were talking about a car, with her hand in his and his heated gaze burning up every inch of her skin, Harper felt as though he was slowly bringing her to life, too...patiently working to uncover and unleash the sensual woman hidden inside of her with every word, every look, and every touch.

Will grabbed his camera off the workbench. “We need to document our work progress as we go along.” He snapped a couple of shots of the bare frame, then waved Harper into the picture.

“It should be Jeremy in the photo,” she protested, hanging back. “Not me.”

“Sorry, but he’s not the hot babe we need for our hot car shots.”

She glared at his teasing use of the term
hot babe,
and he wanted to kiss the disapproval right off her pretty lips.

Will took her hand again, her skin smooth and warm as he brought her over to the frame. Had she figured out that while he was teasing her, he was working himself up, too? He enjoyed her wide blue eyes, the puffs of breath that signaled her arousal—or anger—and the way she bit her lip without even being aware of it.

“We need you in the picture to show proportion,” he explained. “And you, too, Jeremy.”

Jeremy needed no further prodding to jump into the photo. Will didn’t always require human subjects, but he wanted them. This was a joint project. Plus, he had a major desire to see Harper on camera.

“Act like a model showing off the car,” he directed, watching her on the digital screen.

He thought she might be shy, but she surprised him by throwing her hands out, cocking her hip, and pointing one toe on the concrete in a ballet pose. Her hair swirled around her shoulders, and her pink lipstick glistened. An ache grew low in his gut, and he swallowed hard.

Watching her was addictive.

Beside her, Jeremy was a surprising ham, striking one ridiculous pose after another, and Will wondered when the last time had been that he’d had fun like this.

Finally, Harper stepped out of the camera frame and held out her palm. “Okay, give it to me. We need some of you and Jeremy, since you two are building this thing.”

He relinquished the camera, but not before making sure his hand lingered on hers. She met his gaze, pursed her lips, and shook her head. “Stop being bad.”

“You have no idea how bad I can be,” he said in a soft voice. And he couldn’t wait to show her.

He caught the way her eyes flared with heat right before she rolled them, and then she gestured for him to move toward Jeremy and the metal frame. He’d raised it off the floor with four jack stands, to which he’d added small pieces of cloth so they didn’t scratch the frame’s paint. He’d enjoyed their reaction. When the crate arrived yesterday, he’d considered the best presentation. In the end, he’d uncrated it, used the suspension crane to place it on the jack stands, and covered it with the tarp so he could whisk it aside to reveal the masterpiece. The effect was perfect. Even Harper had been impressed.

He put his arm around the boy, and felt damn near fatherly, something he’d never even thought of before.

After Harper took a dozen or so shots, Jeremy said, “Now we need you and Harper.” He obviously didn’t want to be left out of the picture-taking.

“You two don’t need me in more pictures,” Harper objected again.

“Come on, Harper,” Jeremy begged.

Of course she gave in to her brother, pointing to the button he should push to take the photo. And of course Will wasn’t about to waste the opportunity to pull her in front of him and set his hands on her hips until she was nestled back against him.

The scent of her hair tantalized him. The heat of her body against his started the mercury rising in his thermometer. She was just the right height, and he was in just the right position, to snake an arm around her stomach and pull her tight against him.

She tipped her head back to whisper, “What are you doing?”

“Taking advantage of a perfect opportunity to hold you close.”

Meanwhile, Jeremy had his tongue stuck between his teeth and was busy centering the camera, moving a step one way, then the other, angling, holding his arms straight out, then pulling them in slowly. Will didn’t think he’d even pushed the button yet.

His heart was beating hard. Could she sense the faster rhythm between her shoulder blades? Did she know the effect she had on him? Holding her in his arms was so damn good that he closed his eyes, breathed her in, and let his fantasies spin out...until a voice blew his fantasies to hell.

“If I’d known you were doing a photo shoot, I’d have brought Whitney.” Evan Collins stood in the open barn door.

Harper immediately jumped away from Will, and Jeremy started, fumbling the camera. Will saw it tumble to the floor, with no way to reach out before it landed with a crack.

For one long moment, everyone stared. Then Jeremy began to splutter. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Don’t be mad, Will. Please don’t be mad. I didn’t mean to.” The boy’s face had crumpled, and his eyes were tearing up.

Harper leaped to him, bending to retrieve the camera. “It wasn’t your fault, Jeremy. I should have put the strap over your head.” She looked at the crack in the view screen and grimaced at Will. “We’ll replace it.”

“It’s just a cheap model,” Will said as he crossed to her side. An image of his shoes filled the viewfinder, and the crack was a short diagonal line across the upper right corner.

“Don’t make me go home, Will. I’m sorry. I won’t touch anything else. Promise.” Jeremy crossed his heart.

Will put a hand on the boy’s shoulder and made sure he was looking straight into his eyes as he said, “It’s okay, Jeremy. It was an accident.”

A tear slid down Jeremy’s cheek, and Will felt a rip in his heart. How many times had the kid been punished for accidents that weren’t his fault? Never by Harper, he knew, but it was a cruel world out there, with little tolerance for people who didn’t measure up. And Will should know, since he hadn’t always been tolerant, hadn’t always been kind. And others had paid the price.

Will took the camera, switched it to display mode, then clicked on the last photo to show it to Jeremy and Harper. Her brother had captured a shot with Will’s arm locked across Harper’s waist, her hand over his as if she were holding him there. It hinted at an intimacy he craved to make real.

But this moment was about Jeremy, so Will told him, “See, it still works.”

Beside him, Harper sighed with relief. He gave her the camera as Jeremy whispered, “You’re not mad?”

“Of course I’m not mad. We’re buddies. Buddies don’t get mad at stupid stuff.” Which brought him back to Evan, who was still standing in the open barn door. “You certainly know how to make an entrance.”

His friend raised his palms in surrender, a manila envelope in his right hand. “I didn’t mean to surprise everyone.”

They’d been friends since the sixth grade, when they’d first become the Mavericks. Evan had been a fifth grader, along with Matt, while Sebastian, Daniel, and Will were a year older. Evan’s brains were huge, and as a kid, people had called him a nerd. Though with his broad, muscular frame, he now looked more like a professional athlete rather than the financial wizard behind the Mavericks.

Evan gave Jeremy a lopsided grin. “Sorry I scared you. I’m Evan Collins.”

“Hi.” Jeremy’s voice was overly loud in the barn. “I’m Jeremy.”

Evan switched the envelope to his left hand and shook Jeremy’s. Then he swiveled his gaze to Harper, clear male appreciation lighting his eyes. “And you are?”

“Harper Newman.” She put her hand out, too, and shook his. “Jeremy’s my brother.”

Will didn’t like seeing Evan’s hand curve around Harper’s. Not because he thought Evan was going to try to swoop in and claim her, given that his friend had a wife to whom he was one hundred percent faithful. No, it was simply that Will wasn’t ready to share Harper yet, not even with his friends, who would be full of raised eyebrows and silent questions, just like Evan was right now.

What’s more, he didn’t want any of them to remind him that he had no business romancing a nice girl like her. Not when he was already well aware of that fact. And not when he’d already spent sleepless nights torn between wanting to do the right thing...and just plain
wanting
her.

“Nice meeting both of you,” Evan said, his voice low and powerful, a Maverick through and through.

“What do you need?” Will knew he was being abrupt, but his friend had just caused Harper to jump out of his arms, and he hadn’t yet forgiven Evan for it.

“I brought the Link contract for your signature.”

While each of the Mavericks had their own enterprises, they often entered joint ventures. This new agreement would fund Link Labs, a startup for a state-of-the-art, and affordable, personal robot. Matt, being the robotics guy in their group, saw huge potential in the field, and they’d all bought into it.

“Thanks, but you didn’t need to bring it by personally.”

Evan shrugged. “I felt like a drive.”

Figuring there was trouble in paradise, but that his friend wouldn’t want to talk about it around Harper and Jeremy, Will headed to the workbench and pulled out the document to scan it quickly before initialing the changes. He knew Evan was meticulous and didn’t make mistakes. Not with business matters, anyway.

“So what’s going on here?” Evan gestured toward the frame.

“Will and I are building a Birdcage Maserati.” Jeremy skittered across the floor to the front end, his enthusiasm back, the incident with the camera thankfully forgotten. “It was my idea, and Will agreed.”

“And you’re supervising?” Evan asked Harper.

Obviously catching the way his friend’s eyes moved between her and Will, her mouth tightened slightly. She put her arm around Jeremy, who quickly squirmed away as if it was too childish. “Jeremy recently wrote Mr. Franconi asking if he could see the car collection.”

Mr. Franconi?
What was up with that?

“And Mr. Franconi was gracious enough to invite us to participate in his car project.”

If she said
Mr.
a third time, he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions. She was obviously trying to act like the only thing between them was a business arrangement. Anything but a relationship. But as much as he didn’t want Evan’s questions right now—and as much as he was trying to be careful not to push her too fast—Will sure as hell wasn’t going back to being
Mr. Franconi.

He scrawled his signature and shoved the agreement back into the envelope, then stalked the few paces to Harper’s side, where he draped his arm across her shoulders and pulled her into him.

“Here you go.” He handed the envelope to Evan with one hand and played with the ends of Harper’s hair with the other. “We’re going to start punching holes in the sheet metal. Want to help?”

He was sure Evan would rather watch the endless loop of a ticker tape. Cars didn’t interest his friend. Evan drove a luxury vehicle for the roominess and the comfort—and because Whitney liked to travel in style—but otherwise, he couldn’t care less.

True to form, he said, “Thanks for the offer, but I’ve got to drop in on Sebastian for the last signature. Nice to meet both of you. I hope I’ll see you again.”

“’Bye, Evan.” Jeremy waved big, his whole body getting into the action.

Just as Evan was engulfed by the bright sunshine, Harper elbowed Will in the ribs. Oh yeah, there’d be hell to pay for his little stunt.

But as long as it was Harper dishing it out, he’d look forward to every second.