Blue-Collar Boys - Repairs & Maintenance (Book 2: Steamy Erotic Romance Stories) Read Online Free PDF

smirk. 
    “Oh, these?”  Angela said, pulling off her glasses. “They’re fake. I wear them to be cool, or something.”
    “Very… studious.” Shane was almost making fun of her.  Almost. 
    Angela shrugged him off.  “Anyway, I work in the fashion industry now.”
    “Fashion?”
    “Yeah, kinda different than singing in a band, I know.”
    “Yeah, different indeed—” he agreed, but his mind was elsewhere she could tell.  Shane was sizing her up, noting the changes in her face, hair, and figure, and he was doing it with brash confidence.  Angela crossed her arms over her braless, button-down pajama top.  Sassy would have never been this self-conscious , she thought.  Nor would she have been caught dead wearing flannel pajamas .
    “So you don’t sing anymore?” Shane acknowledged.  “What a pity, you had a killer voice.”
    Angela blushed.  No one in Angela’s current life knew she could carry a tune, much less sing well enough to front a professional band.  That’s how Angela first met Shane, when they both were just out of college.  Angela was the lead singer.  Shane was the drummer.  Shane convinced her to sing with them after their original lead singer, Victoria—and Shane’s girlfriend—cheated on him with the bar’s bouncer and quit the band.  From the very first moment that Angela met Shane, she was in love with him.  His aquamarine eyes, British accent, and flare of irreverence made it almost inevitable. 
    “Anyway, that’s how I make a living nowadays.  I’m a fashion editor.  A little different than belting my heart out every night in a crowded bar—” Angela let out a nervous laugh.  She wondered if Shane noticed that her hands were shaking. 
    Shane folded his arms and leaned against her kitchen counter, like he lived there.  “Betcha still have to worry about looking fabulous every damn day,” Shane flashed his cocky grin. “Funky glasses and all—
    “Well, you were the only one who appreciated the fish-net stockings and fire red lipstick.”
    “Yes,” he eyed her, his pierced eyebrow arcing up with mischief. “I appreciated it very much.”  It was the same way he used to look at her after their stage performances. The whole group would stand on the stage together, waving goodbye to the crowd, and Shane would glance over at Angela, telling her with his eyes that he was proud to have her in his band. 
    “So anyway, what about you?  What are you doing nowadays, besides delivering my dishwasher?”
    Stupid, stupid, stupid …she dug her nails deep into her palms.  Plus, Angela knew exactly what Shane was doing nowadays.  She had googled his name just last week while up late one night when she couldn’t sleep.  He owned two music clubs in town. 
    It had been five years since the band called it quits.  Five years of going their separate ways, slowly drifting apart, until the only communication became silence.  Now, Shane Cotter was back in her life, standing in her kitchen, delivery her new dishwasher. 
     “Yeah, right… me,” Shane countered.  “Well, like I said, I’m just helping out and all ’cause I’ve got free time during the day.  I run my own joint now at night.  Two, actually.”
    “Really?” Angela tried to act surprised, as if she didn’t already know that one was named COURTMARSHALLED and the other LAWLESS.
    “Yeah, yeah… they’ve both been doing smashingly well.  Who would’ve thought I’d be a bloody good businessman, running my own pubs someday, right?  But I just couldn’t give up the punk and pints entirely… Both are quite near,” Shane suddenly said.  “LAWLESS is just a bit farther north.  But COURTMARSHALLED is the one that’s got all the live, high-octane thrash music.  You should pop in sometime and say hallo…”
    Shane let the invitation linger, like it was a real invitation, and not just a remark for the sake of polite, casual conversation.
    Angela looked down at the floor, feeling her cheeks