She Who Dares Read Online Free PDF

second where he’d almost taken the kiss deeper, but he’d stopped himself just in time. Copping off with an ex-girlfriend’s sister was not part of the plan, even if that sister had a surprisingly lush rear end.
    His groin throbbed just thinking about it.
    ‘She’s a grown woman,’ he said curtly, wishing the blood would redirect back to his brain. ‘It’s all legal.’
    ‘I don’t care.’ She grabbed a chamois leather from a shelf on the wall and set to polishing the Porsche, stretching across the roof. With each swipe of the cloth, her bum swayed from side to side and her shorts hitched up higher. ‘I don’t want you as a business partner.’
    And I don’t want a business partner I want to shag, thought Sebastian grumpily, but these are the cards we’ve been dealt. ‘Sorry,’ he said shortly. ‘That’s the way it is.’ Until he was back on the circuit, that much was non-negotiable.
    But it didn’t mean he had to stand around watching her and the Porsche engaging in foreplay.
    He’d go find something more constructive to do.
    In a minute or so.
    Why had Ella sold her share of the business to him? Why? After a restless night during which she’d tangled herself in the sheets until well after midnight before giving up and watching repeats of America’s Next Top Model until she’d eventually fallen asleep on the sofa, Nic felt several shades less than human.
    She also had the concentration span of a toddler for the second day in a row, plus two MOTs and a ton of paperwork to do. Although Sinclair’s specialised in vintage high performance cars, Nic wasn’t fussy. She’d fix whatever was brought in, and as she was the only mechanic in Lostwithiel, she was never short of work.
    If she was totally honest, right now she was swamped with it. Lying on the sofa in her pyjamas and feeling sorry for herself wasn’t going to get it done, though she had picked up some interesting eyeliner tips from her TV marathon so it hadn’t been a total waste. She tried to imagine herself, hands buried deep in an engine, feathery lashes fluttering under a perfect flick of black. It played in her head in slow motion, in a smoke filled, glossy fantasy which was absolutely perfect until Sebastian appeared, stripped to the waist and smeared with oil, every inch of him hard muscled and gleaming.
    He beckoned her forwards. ‘Truth or dare.’
    Heat rushed through her. ‘Get lost.’
    ‘Is that any way to talk to your business partner?’
    If she’d started talking to imaginary people, she really had to get a grip. Forcing her eyes to open, Nic swung her legs down off the sofa and pinched the bridge of her nose.
    She tried to persuade her brain to start planning. She gave up when her mobile started to ring. Leaning to the side, she grabbed it from the top of the pile of old copies of Classic Car magazine and checked the screen.
    Then took a deep breath before she answered. ‘Ella. How are you?’
    ‘Never better. I’m in California. San Francisco, to be exact. It’s so beautiful here, Nic. The weather is just amazing. Everything is amazing.’
    ‘Glad to hear you’re doing well.’ Nic hesitated before she let the next few words rush off her tongue. ‘Thanks for dumping me in it.’
    Ella made a strange sound. ‘Yeah, about that. Have you had your coffee yet?’
    ‘No.’ And couldn’t she just feel it.
    ‘Then for goodness sake get some. I’ll call you back in five.’
    Nic held the phone away from her ear and stared at it in disbelief. Ella was the one who had done a bunk. What gave her the right to be snippy? Autopilot took Nic into the kitchen and she changed out the filter in the coffee machine and set it going, and watched as it dripped far, far too slowly, her anger rising with every drop. She was the one who’d been left standing in front of the fan, left to run the business alone.
    Yet when her phone started to ring, Nic paused before picking it up, giving herself that moment to shove her emotions back