Fossen Delores - Covert Conception стр 3.

The phone rang, again, and Rick walked through the motorcycle clutter, fans and tools toward his equally cluttered office. Along the way, he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, drank some and poured the rest over his head. The cold liquid snaked down his face and back.

It didnt help.

Slinging off the excess water, he snatched up the phone from his desk and grabbed a service order so he could close out the Harley job. A little multi-tasking might get him out of here a few minutes earlier.

The caller was the soon-to-be owner of a custom bike who said he wouldnt be able to pick it up until at least Wednesday. Rick considered it a blessing. One down, too many to go.

Most days, he loved his job. He loved having his own business. Loved working with his hands to build custom motorcycles and repair them.

But today wasnt one of those days.

Hey, Rick? Youll wanta take a look at this, Hal called out when Rick hung up the phone.

Hoping they werent about to get another customer, whom hed almost certainly have to turn away, Rick glanced through the porthole-shaped window that separated his office from the reception-waiting area. The only person there was Bennie, one of the mechanics, who was at the cash register ringing up a client.

In the front parking lot, Hal added.

Before the last syllable had left Hals mouth, Rick was already looking in that direction. Specifically at the vehicle thatd just pulled up in front of the shop. A sleek platinum-colored sports car. As expensive as they came.

The drivers door eased open, and thanks to the tinted window and the door itself, the only thing Rick saw of their visitor was a foot. One wearing a sexy, three-inch heel that was almost the same color as the car.

It was like watching a striptease. A delicate hand slid over the top of the drivers-side window and door. Perfectly manicured nailsthe color of ripe raspberriesgripped the glass and metal. The other foot touched down on the concrete. Graceful. Like a dancer getting ready to strut her stuff.

Rick felt like fanning himself, and it wasnt all a result of the broken A/C, either. Itd been a while since hed taken the time to appreciate the sight of a woman. This was a reminder that he truly needed a life outside the shop.

Correction: he needed a life, period.

Inch by inch, the top of their visitors head came into view as she rose from the seat. Honey-blond hair cut short and choppy. Fashionable but not overly done. It still looked touchable, and he could almost feel his fingers sliding through it.

But then, the striptease came to a non-gratifying, abrupt halt.

Ricks gaze landed on her mouth. A full, sensual mouth covered with just enough gloss to make it noticeable. And notice it he did. Even though he hadnt immediately recognized the hair, he knew that mouth. It was the mouth of a woman he hadnt expected to show up at his shop. A woman he definitely didnt want to see. Not now. Not ever.

Natalie Sinclair.

She used her elbow to push the car door shut, eased off her sunglasses and started toward the shop entrance. No cautious footsteps for her. Just the long determined stride of a woman who appeared to be on some sort of a mission.

The muggy summer breeze flirted with her turquoise suit, fluttering the slim skirt around the tops of her knees. And even slightly higher. He saw a good portion of her toned and tanned right thigh. Rick obviously wasnt the only one to notice that because Hal mumbled something about being in lust.

Rick understood completely.

He felt the lust.

And he wanted to kick himself hard for feeling it.

Thank goodness that lust was tempered with a hefty dose of reality and vivid, godawful memories. That lust had already cost a man his life, and it didnt matter how good she looked, Rick had made a solemn promise that hed have no part of Natalie Sinclair.

Now, the question wasdid she want a part of him?

He didnt mean that in a sexual sense, either. Rick knew Natalie would never think of him that way again. However, she had left her high-and-mighty estate and driven all the way downtown to his shopwhich wasnt located in the best part of the city. She wouldnt have done that for just any old reason. Plus, judging from the tightness around her mouth, she was seriously riled. And she no doubt planned to aim that riled-ness at him.

Why?

He had a darn good

guess. Maybe because hed shown up at her surprise birthday party? If so, a month was a long time to hold onto that much anger.

But then, this was Natalie.

By the time she stepped inside the shop, all the mechanics and customers had stopped to gawk. It wasnt unwarranted. Natalie was attractive. Not drop-dead gorgeous, either. Her face was much more interesting than the surgically perfect socialites who were part of her world. It was an honest face. A face with character. A few tan freckles on her nose. A dimple in her chin.

Natalie had the brains to go with that interesting face, too. Everything shed done in life was the best. Shed graduated from college with honors, on an athletic scholarship no less. As if that werent enough, shed built from the ground up one of the most successful antique shops in the state.