Love and Always (A Pound of Flesh #1.5) Read Online Free PDF

hallway.
    “You’ll pay for this, Lane!” he called out to her with a lighthearted groan and chuckle.
    Kat smiled to herself and rubbed her chest as it exploded with warmth. “I’m counting on it,” she muttered, skipping down to the voices of the rest of her family coming from the kitchen.
    Best. Christmas. Ever.

    The rocking sound of Led Zeppelin could be heard down the street from O’Hare’s. Carter smiled as he made his way into the bustling body shop two days after Christmas, waving at Paul and the rest of the boys who weren’t under or inside the fuck-hot cars littering the shop floor. Seeing the place busy was more than Carter could have hoped for. While Max was in rehab, he wanted to ensure that Max’s family business continued making a roaring trade without the debts he’d built up with his coke habit and stupid business dealings.
    “Carter!”
    Riley Moore, former Arthur Kill inmate and old friend of Max’s and Carter’s, wandered over, wiping his oiled hands on an even dirtier cloth. His bearded face and curly dark blond hair also bore the telltale signs of work on an engine.
    Carter grinned. “Mr. Moore.” They clasped hands and bumped shoulders. “How’re things going?”
    “Good, man, good. Busy after Yuletide, you know?”
    Carter knew. It was always rammed in the week after Christmas. Not that he was worried Riley couldn’t cope. Far from it. Years previous, Riley had run his own body shops, and for a few hedonistic summers, Carter had worked with him. Not that they did much working . . .
    Before his last stint inside, Riley had engine shops across the city with two more in Philly and DC. He may have been a bigmouthed, womanizing, tattooed muscle head, but the fucker could run a good business. Carter was one of only a handful of people who knew that Riley had a business degree. He knew his shit and Carter couldn’t have been happier that he’d agreed to oversee O’Hare’s while Max was away. The books would be in good, experienced hands.
    “The new staff okay?” Carter asked, glancing at the two new guys he, Paul, and Riley had hired. They were young but eager, with excellent references.
    “Not bad. Green, but we’ll soon change that.” Riley winked.
    Carter gestured toward the office where a young blonde slip of a thing whom Kat had appointed—because Riley couldn’t make an objective decision when it came to any woman—worked diligently on her computer. “And the new girl? Steph, is it?”
    Riley snorted and pulled a smoke from his pocket. “Oh, yeah. She’s . . . great. Very perky.”
    Knowing that tone too well, Carter groaned in exasperation. “Riley, man, I asked you not to fuck the new girl. Dude, seriously, we can’t lose staff because you can’t keep it in your damned pants. Just . . . don’t, okay?”
    Riley grinned around his smoke, his hazel eyes bright.
    “You already did, didn’t you?” Carter sighed, although silently marveling at the guy’s skills. “She’s been here, what, two weeks? How do you do it?”
    Riley raised his eyebrows. “Well—”
    Carter lifted a palm sharply. “Don’t.”
    Riley chuckled and glanced at the new girl who, even across the fifty feet of the shop floor, blushed crimson under his stare. “Come on, Carter,” he teased, “did I not teach you a thing? Business one-o-one, make your staff feel welcome.”
    Carter barked an incredulous laugh. “You’re an asshole.”
    Riley smacked a large hand against Carter’s shoulder, making him stumble forward. “Hey, I’ve gotta get my kicks from somewhere, right?” He took a long drag from his smoke, his gaze settling on the floor. “We can’t all be loved up like you now, can we?”
    Carter’s smirk was more than a little smug, but he still noticed the way Riley’s features pinched as he spoke. For all his showboating and charm with women, Carter knew Riley played his cards close to his chest in regard to love or genuine affection. As long as they’d known each other,