Shifting Gears Read Online Free PDF

stilettos—these much bigger and sneaker-ish—Sloan jerked her gaze upward.
    “Oh no.” She shied away from the accusatory glare she expected from Mark, focusing on Lynn instead. “You brought the Cougar bait?”
    “They insisted, sorry.” Lynn didn’t wait to be invited, she leaned in and hugged Sloan. “About everything. I really screwed this all up.”
    “S’okay.” Oops, maybe she should have sipped the drinks instead of chugging them. “You meaned—meant well.”
    “Let me make it right. Please talk to Mark. Hear him out. Sebastian and I will hang out at the bar for a while and, if you’re up to it, the four of us can have dinner together in a little bit. Sound good?”
    When Sloan nodded, the world spun. She grabbed the edge of the table in a white-knuckled grip and closed her eyes. Ah, it was better if she didn’t have to try to resist the temptation of looking toward Mark. He’d make any woman dizzy.
    “If you don’t mind, would you put in an order now? Looks like Sloan could use some food.” The anger she expected to ruin his baritone was nowhere to be found. Unlike last night, his Mediterranean accent made all his words sound as rich as dark coffee.
    “We’ll do that.”
    Sloan peeked through slit eyelids in time to catch a glimpse of Sebastian putting his arm around Lynn as he turned her toward the bar.
    “Back in a few minutes. With some appetizers.”
    She scooted over when Mark joined her on the bench seat of the booth—on her side of the table. She kept moving until her arm encountered the wall, but Mark pursued her until their thighs pressed together from hips to knees. He was so warm he melted her insides.
    Or maybe the wine did that.
    “Are you okay?” His question struck her as absurd and she giggled.
    Then suddenly she couldn’t stop. One laugh became a riot of chuckles. She had no hope of restraining her nerves or the ridiculousness of the situation. After a minute, she wiped tears from her cheeks then clenched her aching side, doubled over as far as she could go behind the table.
    When she paused to draw a breath, she realized he laughed right along with her. They did seem to share the same twisted sense of humor. “Sorry, Cougar. Dumb question.”
    Sloan flinched at the title but couldn’t help turning toward the man who’d destroyed her inhibitions with one tiny phone call and a sprinkle of dirty revelations. When she did, she gasped.
    “What happened to your face?” She traced the inflamed area slicing through his eyebrow and the bruise on his jaw with featherlight touches.
    “Bastian objected to the way I chastised his woman last night.” Mark grinned, the motion almost reopening a little cut on the corner of his mouth. “He shoved me and warned me to stand down, but I was all too willing to go a round or two. It’s been a while since we resorted to a good fistfight.”
    Sometimes she forgot how young they were. Still, his silly smirk infected her.
    “Did you work it out with Lynn, or did you and Sebastian hammer each other until you ran out of steam?” She hated to bring it up and squash the easy banter between them but she had to know.
    “Things are good now. With Lynn and Bastian.” He scrubbed his knuckles over his eye then winced when he irritated the puffy area. “It was a miscommunication. She tried to tell me. But I only heard what I wanted to. Look, Sloan, you didn’t do anything wrong. I was an asshole last night. I’ve hooked up with women plenty of times. You’re an adult—a gorgeous, mature woman. You can fuck who you like, when you like without looking for more. It was screwed up of me to imply otherwise. I just… I’d hoped…”
    “And now you’ve made me hope too.” She couldn’t believe she’d whispered her confession aloud. “Asshole.”
    The smile on his face was worth the potential hazards. “Really?”
    Sloan nodded then reached up to kiss his injured lip. “And I’m still sorry things happened this way. Not exactly a