Erected (Erector Set, Book One) Read Online Free PDF Page A

jaded, and suspicious of their motives. They were interested in something below his belt all right but more often than not it was his wallet. Being worth a lot of money had drawbacks he’d never figured on. Now he seemed to have lost the ability to tell when a woman wanted him or his bank account. Was Ness Bowen different? She drove an expensive car and lived in a pretty high rent condo but appearances could also be deceiving.
    Maybe I should become a monk.
    Yeah, right.
    He forced himself back to work but the day crawled by with irritating slowness. Not even the start of a new project was enough to distract him. He kept seeing Ness with her silken hair and her heavy cast, clumping along with him, smart mouth running a mile a minute but still stirring up his hormones. He sighed with relief when the clock on his desk showed six o’clock and he could close up for the day. Calling himself ten kinds of fool he took time for a quick shave and a splash of cologne.
    Business dinner. Business dinner.
    He repeated it over and over to himself.
    He made it to Hannigans with six minutes to spare, gave his car to the valet and went inside to wait for Ness. He was barely in the small entryway of the restaurant when his cell phone rang. He looked at the display, frowning as he saw an unfamiliar number. He didn’t need a crisis tonight.
    “Josh McMann,” he answered.
    “Hey, Josh.”
    He recognized Ness’ voice although it sounded a little shaky. Was she calling to cancel dinner?
    “What’s going on?”
    There was an extended silent.
    “Ness?” he prompted.
    “Um, I don’t think I’m going to make it to the restaurant.”
    Shit! Just what he was afraid of.
    “Yeah? Something come up?” A sour taste lodged in his mouth. “A big date?”
    “Not exactly.”
    Again he heard the tremor in her voice. “Ness, what’s going on? What’s wrong?”
    “I, um, had a little fender bender.”
    Double shit.
    “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did you bang your bad leg again?” Visions of disaster crowded in his mind.
    “My leg is fine. Both of them, in fact. But my brand-new car is a mess and it looks like I’ll be tied up here for a while.”
    Josh made an instant decision. “Tell me where you are. I’ll come and wait for you.”
    “It’s okay,” she protested. “I can handle things.”
    “At the very least you’ll need a ride home. Now tell me where you are.” He was out the door and heading toward his truck. “I’m on my way.”
    She gave him her location and he cranked the engine, pulling out into the tag end of rush hour traffic. He made pretty good time until he was about two blocks from the accident. Then there were vehicles stalled all over the place, drivers leaning on open doors and shouting at each other and the cops. Passersby stopping to stare curiously. Josh noticed he happened to be stopped at the entrance to a hotel so he gave his truck to the valet and hoofed it the rest of the way, his pulse ratcheting up as he got closer. The only thing that kept him from full panic mode was the fact Ness had been able to call him and speak coherently.
    Damn! What was it with this woman and accidents?
    The best thing he could say about the scene when he got there was Ness really did seem to be unhurt. She was leaning against the fender of a patrol car, her weight on the leg without the cast, and looking mad enough to demolish someone. The entire intersection was blocked. The cops on the scene were trying to set up some kind of crowd control and get traffic untangled so a wrecker could get through. Two cars still sat in a tangled mass of steel, a red sports car embedded firmly in Ness’ BMW. Josh gave thanks it was on the passenger side, at least.
    He pushed his way through the mob to Ness, who was talking to one of the cops, her face set in rigid lines of anger. Josh automatically put his arm around her. She jerked and started to shake it off, then turned and realized it was him and actually leaned into him a little. Was