Nicki had proven herself more than worthy of the job. Nick hadn’t been exaggerating when he said his sister was great with engines. She was an excellent mechanic. And a damn hard worker, too. For the most part she kept her head down, her mouth shut, and her hands busy, which was more than he could say for some of the others.
She was a distraction though, no question about that. Sean had never realized how much time a mechanic spent bent over or on his back before. It was impossible to look out into the bays and not see at least one of the men watching her. Hell, it was hard for him to tear his eyes away from her. It didn’t help that with each glance his mind and body conspired together and imagined all the things he could be doing to her. And he swore that if she bent over that low-riding sedan one more time he was going to send everyone home, shut the bays, and mount her right then and there. The woman threatened his control like nothing ever had.
Similar thoughts had probably occurred to his mechanics as well, and that filled him with a possessive need that bordered on frightening. For the few hours Nicki spent there each day, testosterone permeated the air. She might be getting through jobs quickly, but the others seemed to accomplish very little until after she left. Even Nick was feeling the pressure, spending more time warning off the wolves and waving big heavy wrenches around threateningly.
Sean fuair a chroí. The words echoed in his head. He still found himself trying to deny it, but it was becoming increasingly difficult, especially when every fiber of his being hummed pleasantly with the thought that Nicki was his, meant for him and him alone. Just the memory of her body against him had his skin burning, and that had been through several layers of clothing. What would happen once he had her naked beneath him?
He wanted her so badly it actually hurt, a physical pain that manifested itself both inside and out. That, more than anything else, was the determining factor in his acceptance of who and what she was to him. It was strange, he thought, how surrendering to that realization almost felt like a relief.
Not so with Nicki. She seemed to have no trouble whatsoever completely ignoring him and everyone else. Given the amount of work she was going through, her mind was just as focused and functional as ever. After the little stunt he’d pulled yesterday in his office, he’d be lucky if she willingly got within three feet of him again.
And that was simply unacceptable.
Shaking his head, Sean took a deep breath and tried to sort it all out. To achieve an objective, you had to have a clear set of goals and parameters.
The ultimate objective: to ingrain himself in every cell of the woman’s mind, body, and soul until he was her world. That was going to take some work, so he focused on shorter term goals, the first of which was to have Nicki around him as much as possible. That was priority one. She was a hell of a mechanic, a good worker, and was bringing in work. Never mind the fact that being in close physical proximity actually soothed the baser parts of him (sexual desire excluded); it simply made good business sense to keep her on board.
On the negative side, the battle to control his possessive urges was reaching critical levels. More than once he’d had to stop himself from putting one of his men through the wall for something he’d said or done, not to mention that he’d almost done the same to a couple of customers who opted to hang around while their cars were being worked on. His customer waiting area had practically been standing room only since word got out about Nicki working the bays. And as good as her output was, the others were suffering in her company.
Sean had never understood the “can’t have your cake and eat it too” mentality. What was the point of having cake if you weren’t going to eat it? Nicki was staying, that was non-negotiable. But the terms of her employment were about to change.
When he locked up the office at noon, he asked Nicki to join him for lunch. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Why?”
“Because we need to talk about your future here.”
“Can’t we do that right now?” She cast a sideways look toward the bays where at least three other guys were still working.
She was worried about being alone with him again and it thrilled him to no end. In his opinion that was a clear indication that what he was feeling was mutual. If it wasn’t, she’d just tell him to fuck off.
“I never talk business on an empty stomach.”
Her thoughtful gaze raked him from head to toe as she considered his offer. He fought the urge to preen, though he couldn’t help but stand a little taller and puff out his chest just a little.
“You buying?”
His grin grew. Oh yeah. She didn’t like it, but she felt just as compelled to be near him as he did her. He could see the struggle in her liquid eyes, in the way she fought her body’s natural angling toward his. The feeling of not being alone was so heady he wanted to throw a fist pump into the air.
“Yep.”
Seconds ticked by as she warred with herself; it felt like an hour. Sean knew he’d won when she took a deep breath and her posture sagged slightly, as if she was either unable or unwilling to continue to fight it. “Alright.”