Bodywork (11 page)

George shook his head.
“What an idiot.”
He paused and remained silent.

“Geo, are you a
ll
right?
”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry. I
just realized Gina is
going to be
waiting on me
if I don’t get moving.
”

“Well, it was good seeing you.” She gave him another hug, pleased when he patted her on the shoulder and quickly backed away. She glanced down at the card again, and Geo was forgotten in a rush of memory and heat. That kiss refused to be a distant memory. Damn it.

George
left her with a wave.
A
s he walked past the front window
,
he noticed she stared at his brother’s card with a frown.
Perfect.

He
walked down the street and entered the passenger side of a raggedy blue Wrangler.
After slamming the door, he turned and
grinned at Gina.

“What was that all about?” she asked as she pulled away from the curb.

“Nothing
. J
ust doing a favor for my brother.”

Chapter Seven

Shelby read the name again for the tenth time.
Shane Collins.
Obviously no relation to Geo, wh
o hadn’t batted an eye at the name
. The card confirmed what Denise had overheard. Shane did in fact work as an architect, at least, according to the car
d he did
.

Oddly enough, sh
e could see him sitting behind a drafting board creating things.
Th
e notion that
he had more in his favor than a hot body
registered
. A man with an actual job. Now if he didn’t live with his mother, he might be a real keeper.

She snickered at the joke Maggie would appreciate and decided why the hell not.
Twenty minutes later after fighting the downtown traffic, she found a parking spot near Eighth and Pine.
She
left her car and
walked
to the large corporate offices where
Harmon & Sons
was located.

S
he wondered which floor he worked on as her eyes strained to count windows.
After standing there craning her neck for several minutes, she felt stupid. Deciding to at least take advantage of her parking spot, she
walked down to
the market.

After that kiss the other day,
Shane had said he’d see her around.
What did that mean?
He obviously knew where to find her but had
n’t
given her
his
address.

Maybe he’d left his card on purpose?
Yeah, right
.
A guy like Shane Collins could pretty much have any woman he wanted.
He’d
probably bragged about
that kiss
to his friends. Another conquest, and after he’d run her over the other day.

Needing a boost, even if it was from caffeine,
Shelby walked down to Pike street and grabbed an iced coffee from Tully’s.
Sitting
on one of the many benches
near the market, she watched the crowd,
alarmed by
her behavior. Hadn’t she learned her lesson from the last handsome man in her life?

She reminded herself to relax and took in the scenery.
A rotund man carting a nagging wife and two screaming kids passed by two women holding hands and mooning at each other.
Mooning. Something Shelby had done once, what seemed like forever ago.

A young man wearing a backpack kept asking for change
from passersby
, a few cents to make his bus fare.
She grimaced but had to give him credit for his novel approach to panhandling.
Several
couples, young and old, strolled by
,
laughing and talking and kissing
.
More reminders that she sat alone, unattached, on a perfectly wonderful Saturday afternoon.

God, w
hat was wrong with her
? Why couldn’t she have what the lovers passing by had?
Her ex had seemed so nice at first.
Rick had been handsome, charming
, and independent. He’d had a great sense of humor but could be s
erious
too. He liked to
mak
e
money
as much as he l
iked
having fun. Unfortunately for her, Rick’s love affair with fun had manifested in an actual affair with
a woman named Candy
.

Such a cliché, except Candy didn’t strip and wasn’t a hooker, but
his
ditzy secretary.
Apparently the office romance had been going on for almost as long as they’d been dating.
Not wanting to play to type, she hadn’t reacted in a dramatic fashion. She’d
called him a prick and
left him. Period. And with nothing at his house to take that was hers, their relationship had ended in a flash. Over. Done. And so damn hurtful.

Shelby had always taken pleasure in her lean body and pretty, if not stunning features.
Catching Rick having sex with another woman
sunk her self-esteem, big time.
While the rational part of her
knew he was a complete jerk
, she couldn’t help wondering if
she’d
pushed him into it
.
What had been so lacking in Shelby that Rick had been forced to look elsewhere?

Her thoughts grew steadily darker as she thought back to that period of her life.
After several years
struggling to make ends meet in her
clinic, she’d found herself in the black. A profit, finally. Until that point, sh
e hadn’t had much time for a social life, let alone the energy to pursue one.
A chance encounter with Rick at a
downtown festival
had blossomed into romance. Now, when she looked back on it, she thought she’d lov
ed
him. But his bullying tendencies hadn’t allowed her to fall all the way.

Thank God.

Still, she missed him in bed, where she’d had no complaints
.

Rick was tall and lean, with dark hair and dark eyes.
He
’d been p
olite and charming to her
mother and friends
, t
hough
Ron hadn’t liked him from the start
. She had spent less and less time with her family and friends and more with him and his. The jokes at her expense she’d tolerated. The subtle jibes about her mother she’d handled, because she’
d
often thought the same
and they’d never seemed overly cruel, just funny
. She tempered her feelings for
her mother
and Ron with love, but she could understand how they might rub Rick the wrong way.

A few comments he’d made about Maggie had almost ended their relationship early on. No way did she want her boyfriend lusting after her best friend. Maggie hadn’t liked him for it either. But Rick had wised up, shut up, and managed to string her along for
ten
more months of what she’d assumed was a monogamous relationship.

Shelby sighed and put her empty cup aside. Now she had no more
intimacy
, no more pleasant night
s
spent cuddling and relieving her of
lonel
iness
.
No more feeling as if a man could desire her for herself.
An entire year wasted on Rick Matinson.

God. Had she ever been with someone she clicked with?
Her entire bevy of lovers
—all six of them—
had been pleasant. Bleh. What a mediocre word. Nothing like the romance books, her sex life had been fun but nothing stellar
,
earth-shattering
or
heart-stopping
.

Honestly, she didn’t think she had it in her.

The kiss with Shane had been a fluke. The more she thought about it, the more she believed it. A woman desperate for sex would feel tingly from attention from anyone.
And like it or not, Shane Collins could only be described as handsome.

Her cell phone rang,
and she dug around in her p
urse
to find it
, glad to be taken from dark thoughts
.
“Hello?”

“Where are you, Shelby?” her mother asked.
“I tried you at
your
work
number
but you’d already closed.
Have you eaten lunch yet?”

“Not yet.
Why?
Where are you?”
Mimi was nothing if not a bright vision to dispel a bad mood.

“I’m
working with Ron on a project. Give us half an hour and meet us at
the Pub
.”

Shelby could count on her mother to turn her world upside-down. Even an astrol
ogical reading would be welcome
at this point.

“
Okay, Mom.
See you
guys there soon. No rush.” She disconnected the call and walked back toward her car. But as she walked past the building where Shane worked, she saw him standing there, staring at her in shock.

“Shelby?”

“Shane?”

His smile widened into a grin big enough to split his face wide open. “Well, now. My weekend is complete.”

She felt herself blushing and forced herself to frown. “You are so full of it.”

“Of bad lines, yeah. Guilty.” He moved faster than she expected and latched onto her arm. He wore a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt and looked good enough to eat. Her heart raced uncontrollably.

Oh man. I am such an idiot
. Remember Rick.

“
Now before you accuse me of stalking again, I should tell you I work here.” He pointed behind him to the building. “Want to see?”

“Yeah. Prove it.”

He chuckled and walked her i
n
side
. They passed two security guards who nodded at Shane. Once in the elevator, he pulled her closer.

She put a hand on his chest when he looked like he might kiss her—because she wanted him to. “Whoa. What’s that about?”

“Just a kiss to say hello.” He grinned, and a dimple flashed in his cheek.

“Hello.” She blew out a breath, quietly, but gasped when he kept her hand on his chest. “Let go.”

“Feel my heart racing?” His eyes darkened. “I’m really glad to see you again.”

What did a woman say to that? “Uh, okay.”

The elevator door opened, saving her from looking like a total
fool
.

“My floor. Come on.” He left the elevator with her in trace. “Harmon
&
Sons is designing the
new sports complex for the
Seahawks
, you know. An extra training facility near the stadium.”

“Nice.” Impressive, but she didn’t want to seem bowled over.

As they walked down the quiet hallway, she noted the lack of people. “Where is everyone?”

“Gone.
We at Harmon & Sons appreciate our down time.
” He winked at her. “I had some work to catch up on, so I came in to finish up. Here.” The
y
entered a s
pacious
room. “My office.”

“Nice.”

“You said
that
already. How about, ‘Gee Shane. This is so impressive. I’ll give you that kiss you wanted earlier.
’
”

Shelby snorted. “Dream on. It’s not that great.”

He sank into the couch facing his desk. A leather couch, facing a grand desk that sat across from a drafting table. He had a small refrigerator in the corner and what looked like another door, to maybe a bathroom or a closet. Wooden blinds shuttered the windows on either side of the door. It was more than a nice office. The
place
smelled like high class and money all rolled into one.

Shane was so out of her league.

T
he thought annoyed her.

“What’s that look?” he asked,
seeming
fascinated.

Enthralled by a plain Jane with a humble background
?
Well
,
why not?
Why the hell wasn’t Shelby good enough for him, anyway? “Kiss me.”

He blinked. “Ah, okay.”

“Right here. In your designer office.”

He didn’t refuse. But instead of coming right to her, he closed the door to his office. It
snicked
shut, and the
n he was right there in front of her.

“You’re quick,” she said, impressed despite herself.

“You’re sexy.”

Flattered but not convinced, she took back control of the situation. Rick the Prick had rejected her. This guy had run her down and appeared to like the look of her. Well, let him prove it. If nothing else, she’d be rid of this dry spell when it came to men.

The excitement of what she considered
doing
made the circumstances feel unreal.

“Shelby?” Shane asked, his voice hoarse. He stared down at her, his breathing fast, uneven. “I’m going to kiss you.”