Playing for Keeps: A Scorching Hot Romance (Game Changers Book 2)

by A. C. Arthur

  “Whose fancy truck is that?”

  Rylan startled as her father’s voice echoed throughout the bay area. William Barton Kent had a thick booming voice that went perfectly with his tall, brawny build. He was wearing his usual dark gray jumpsuit with Kent Automotive written in white script over the left breast pocket. It was a well-worn outfit that matched the scuffed black boots he wore. His salt and pepper colored hair was cut low to his scalp, the beginnings of a similarly colored beard sprouting at his chin. There was no other man Rylan had ever loved.

  “It’s Del’s,” she answered without looking up.

  Rylan was almost finished replacing the thermostat in the Grand Marquis that she’d been working on for the past hour. Had she not taken a twenty-minute break after Del’s departure to gather her wits, she would’ve already moved on from her first task of the day. She wanted to hurry up and get to his truck, so that he could come back and pick it up and she could be done with seeing him.

  Who was she kidding? Providence wasn’t big enough that she’d never see Del again. Besides, he was Camy’s brother…no, Rylan was tired of going around and around that point. She knew who Del was and all the reasons why he wasn’t the man for her. She just had to figure out how to accept it.

  “I wondered when he’d finally get around to bringing that beauty in here,” Will said as he grabbed a couple of buckets and towels. He went over to the second half of the loading bay and circled the Buick that was waiting there.

  “It’s just an oil change,” she told her father.

  “Well, check everything out. Those Cadillacs have a list of problems that people don’t know about until they’ve already spent a bundle buying them,” he warned.

  “I know, Dad,” she said and stood up. She grabbed the towel that she’d stuffed in her back pocket and wiped her hands. “I’ll do a full check, just as soon as I take care of the Ford parked out front. And then I want to give Lamborghini Guy another call.”

  Will made a grumbling sound. “Asshole,” he said finally. “In thirty days, we’re selling that car, just like our service agreement says. And then we’re filing suit against him for non-payment. We’re not a parking garage, nor do we offer free services.”

  “I know, Dad,” Rylan repeated. But she’d much rather get the money Lamborghini Guy owed them than to go through the paperwork and subsequent hassle of filing a lawsuit.

  Even if they sold the car, her father would give her half the proceeds, just as they’d been splitting the proceeds of the shop for the last few years. With her share of the sale, Rylan would definitely be able to afford the down payment on the loan to buy the business. It was an option she was strongly considering, but first, she wanted to exhaust all methods of contact.

  A few minutes passed while Rylan continued cleaning the area where she’d been working. She closed the hood of the Grand Marquis and was just about to slip behind the driver’s seat to start the engine and double-check her work, when her father spoke again.

  “I’m gonna sell the place and give your mother the money I owe her,” he said stoically. “It’s the right thing to do.”

  Rylan froze.

  “It was your retirement fund. Not hers,” she told him.

  She’d been thinking this for a few weeks but hadn’t wanted to get into it with her father or her mother. Now, she didn’t see a choice.

  “If you die before her, she’ll be able to claim your social security benefits. And she has her own pension from the school system. In addition to the retirement fund she started for herself. I’d say she’s going to be in pretty good financial condition when this divorce is over.”

  Will shook his head. “I owe it to her.”

  “Dad—” Rylan started to say, but her father dropped one of the buckets.

  The sound was loud and cut off her words.

  “I owe it to her.” Will insisted. “I made vows and promises to her when we married and I broke them. I should’ve never gambled away that money. I have to make amends.”

  “You don’t have to do anything. If you’re tired of running the shop, just say that. But don’t let her guilt you into selling just because she wants more money,” Rylan said and meant every word.

  She felt her mother was being unfair and that her father’s guilt was making him lay down and take whatever Estelle and her lawyer dished out. Rylan wasn’t having it.

  “Sell the place to me,” she said. “You can do what you want with the proceeds, even though I think paying her off is a mistake. But I want to keep the shop.”

  “No,” he said simply. “It’s deep in debt and too much for you to handle on your own. You should find yourself a good husband, go off and start a family. I don’t want you burdened with my mistakes too.”

  He’d come to stand in front of the Grand Marquis. Rylan sat there for quiet moments just staring at him. He looked old and tired. When had that happened? There were wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and his almond brown skin looked ashen. Had he lost weight? After leaving the house he’d worked so hard to pay for, her father had moved in with his brother who lived in an old farmhouse just off the interstate. She’d driven out there on Thanksgiving after having dinner with her mother, Naomi and Ellis.

  He moved, coming around to the driver’s side of the car where she sat with the door propped open. Squatting, he reached out a hand and touched her shoulder.

  “I shouldn’t have let you hang around here so much. You’ve got more potential than I ever had and you could do more with your life.” He sighed. “I’ve always wanted the best for you and your sister. I made some really bad mistakes and I can’t undo them. But I can start to make smarter moves. I have to, Rylan.”

  He was telling her to let this go. To walk away from the only place she’d ever really felt like she belonged. Rylan didn’t know if she could do that.

  It was late afternoon before Rylan was able to pull Del’s truck into the bay. She was hungry and had a headache. She wanted to go home and lay down, to clear her mind. She wanted none of this to be happening.

  “This” included the situation with Del.

  How had she gotten herself in this mess with him? She never chatted personally with anyone online. Why now? And why him, of all people?

  And on top of that, she hadn’t been able to get him out of her mind even after she’d found out who he really was. The dream that awakened her this morning was proof.

  Del had let her take the lead and Rylan began by touching him. Inch by inch of gorgeous dark chocolate hued skin, the stretch of muscles and chiseled planes of his chest, abs and limbs. Her hands seemed small and frail as they traveled the expanse of his body, touching every part of him to ensure that he was real. That the desire she felt deep down in her bones for him was real.

  He lay on her full-size bed, his six-foot two-inch frame seemingly too big for the mattress. Yet he was stretched out against her pale blue sheets, his hands tucked behind his head, eyes half closed as he watched her. She should’ve been intimidated by that look and the heat she could feel pouring from his glare, but she wasn’t. Instead, she’d felt empowered.

  Moving again, she straddled his waist with a quick scream of her thigh muscles as they stretched to accommodate the motion. Flattening her palms over his broad chest she leaned forward and touched her fingers gingerly to one of his puckered nipples. He didn’t move. His sinewy build remained calm even as her heart beat a rampant rhythm.

  She kissed the other nipple while her hand moved over the former pectoral and gripped it mildly. He smelled so good. Vaguely like the cologne he’d probably sprayed earlier that day, but more like man, masculine and delicious. Her mouth watered and her center pulsated. Moving down his chest, Rylan continued to taste his smooth skin while feeling his taut muscles. Until she came to his thick erection.

  Her first reaction was to stop and stare. At his length and girth, the heavy sac beneath and the muscled thighs to each side of it. An eerie hunger churned in the pit of her stomach, something she’d never experie
nced before and once again her mouth watered. She wanted to take him into her mouth. To suck him deep into the back of her throat. But first she needed to touch him.

  Rylan’s narrow fingers wrapped around his thick length and she briefly prayed he couldn’t feel her calloused skin against his. Lifting her gaze, she saw that his hands had come from behind his head and he was now staring at her with a look of pure lust on his face. She moved her hand up the length of his dick, running her thumb lightly over its bulbous tip. He made a low groaning sound and Rylan licked her lips. She continued to work her hand over him, loving the feel of his hardness and the warm drops of pre-cum that seeped from his tip.

  Del was actively moaning now. He still didn’t move, but there was no doubt that he was enjoying her ministrations.

  “Now,” he growled when she grasped his balls, massaging them between her fingers. “In your mouth, right, fucking now.”

  The guttural command sent shivers of pure pleasure through Rylan’s body. She immediately leaned forward, opened her mouth over the head of his cock and…

  She woke up.

  Her nightgown had been twisted up around her stomach, the material sticking to her sweaty skin. Her panties were drenched in both sweat and desire. She sat up in the center of her bed, breathing as if she’d just run a marathon. Her breasts felt full and heavy, her mouth, still wet as her pussy throbbed with need.

  She’d known she was lost as she rolled out of the bed and headed straight for the shower. She shouldn’t have been dreaming about Del. Not in a sexual way and definitely not in such vivid detail. He wasn’t attracted to her in that way. Not now that he knew who MercedesGirl926 really was. And dreaming that things were different was stupid and a waste of time.

  That’s what she’d been telling herself for the past four days. That she was delirious with stress about possibly losing the shop and that’s why she was even entertaining anything so ludicrous with Del. But then he’d waltzed his fine ass into her garage. Her space. And he’d stood there looking at her as if nothing had happened between them, as if he hadn’t been haunting her dreams on a daily basis. She’d wanted to punch him in his smirking face. Only he wasn’t smirking. He’d simply talked business and stared at her.

  Could he see that her body was still reacting to his proximity? That the moment she’d seen him standing there she’d envisioned him naked and lying in her bed as he’d been in her dream? Did he somehow know how much she wanted him to make love to her?

  No. Absolutely not. Because then he really would’ve had a good laugh.

  Rylan shook her head. She grabbed his keys and moved his truck into the bay and positioned it on the lift. In the next hour she forced herself to focus solely on doing her job.

  Moving away from the truck periodically, she used her tablet to punch in numbers and record notes about what she saw. She ran diagnostic tests, evaluated the results, bumped her head on a tire because she’d miscalculated her distance and cursed any number of times because for all the work she was doing, the fact that this was Del’s truck and that he would eventually waltz back in here to pick it up, never left her mind.

  Finally, when her inspection of the truck was complete, Rylan sighed heavily. Not because of the two-hour job, but because she had it bad for a guy that was so off limits it wasn’t even funny.

  7

  “Have you noticed any strange vibrations?”

  Del immediately stopped his trek into the garage.

  “Vibrations?” he asked cautiously.

  As if she realized where his train of thought had skidded off to, Rylan turned to him slowly and cleared her throat. “In your truck. When you’re driving, have you noticed it vibrating?”

  It didn’t matter that she’d slowed her speed of talking and was sure to clarify each word by pointing at the truck parked in the center of the bay. Del still thought about the sound of a vibrator and the sight of Rylan using one to bring herself to orgasm that night they’d been on the phone. Of course, she hadn’t told him that’s what she’d done, but the visual had quickly popped into his mind and thus, as it had been doing on and off for most of the day, his dick jumped with interest.

  “I don’t think so,” Del replied and considering his growing erection began walking slowly behind her.

  “Escalades are known for having chassis vibration issues, so I just wanted to check to see if you’ve been experiencing any shaking or vibrating while driving. But your motor mount is pretty worn down, so if you haven’t been having problems, you will be soon. I can install a new mount but I’ll need to order the part and it might take a couple of days. Other than that, everything else checked out fine,” she said and stopped at the back end of the truck.

  Del had been watching her walk…and only half listening to what she was saying. Something was going to start vibrating if she didn’t take care of it in the next couple of days. Or at least that’s what he thought she’d said. With heat soaring through his body at the sight of her plump ass switching in those tight jeans, Del thought he might actually begin vibrating from trying to suppress his desire.

  “Del?” she yelled his name and he shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts.

  “Yeah. Ah, how long did you say?”

  “You’re not listening to a word I’m saying,” Rylan told him as she crossed her arms over her chest.

  The motion pushed her breasts up, until Del thought for sure they would spill over the top of the V-neck collar of her t-shirt. He was really losing it. He lifted a hand and with his fingers squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He cleared his throat before opening his eyes again and tried once more to look at her in a purely friendship/professional nature.

  He failed dismally.

  Her lips were pouty, free of any type of gloss or color and kissable. She had high cheekbones and lovely arched brows that he was almost certain were natural.

  “I hear what you’re saying, Rylan,” Del told her. “But to be quite honest, I’m having a hell of a time making any sense of it.”

  She shrugged and shook her head. He could agree, he was confused as hell by what was going on here as well.

  “Look, here’s the deal. I can’t stop thinking about you. About all that we talked about during those chats. The daily business stuff and the other stuff.” And it was definitely a combo of both. While today thoughts of desire seem to pump through his veins like he was receiving some type of intravenous dose of her all damn day long, last night he fallen asleep thinking about a conversation they’d had about running a business. She was smart, giving him great suggestions that he’d already implemented at the bar. How he’d missed this side of Rylan all this time still baffled him.

  “But it was a mistake,” she said after taking a deep breath and exhaling with a huff.

  “Yes,” he agreed. “It was. I had no idea I was chatting with you and you had no idea you were chatting with me. But the fact is, we were chatting with each other. We were talking to each other about what we liked sexually and how we liked it. And now all I can see when I close my eyes, or think when I open them, is how I would’ve killed to see you lying on your bed that night touching yourself until you came.”

  To her credit, Rylan didn’t gasp at his blunt words. To Del’s ears they sounded a bit crass, but he couldn’t help it. They were exactly what he was thinking and had been feeling in the past few days. She did take a step back, her arms falling to her sides to grip the bumper of the truck.

  Del sighed. He ran a hand down the back of his head and wished like hell he wasn’t feeling this way. But he’d never been one to lie to anyone, least of all himself.

  “Look, I know it’s awkward and if you’re not feeling the same, then that’s cool. I’ll pay you whatever is necessary to fix the truck and stay out of your way. But—”

  “But what?” she interrupted and then licked her lips.

  Del almost groaned. Almost. He managed to keep it together, kind of. “But if you’re feeling this torturous heat that won’t
let you eat or sleep, that keeps pressing against every part of your body demanding relief, all you have to do is say the word.”

  She tilted her head as if she were actually considering what he’d just said. “And then what?”

  He cleared his throat because the instant answer was definitely going to be a bit on the side of crude. “Then we do whatever we feel is best…to find relief…with each other.” Del had never wished for a positive answer more than he did at this exact second. He wanted to hurry her thought process along by taking a step toward her. But he didn’t. Crowding her, forcing her, in any way was definitely not his style. He’d wait until she came to him, or asked him to come to her, whichever came first. But he’d suffer while waiting. It was insane and he couldn’t explain it but there it was.

  “Our friends,” she said quietly. “Our lives. Everything could be ruined.”

  “Or we could be great. Just one time we could give in to what we mistakenly created and I could give you pleasure. You could give me pleasure. Just one time,” he stated. Or was he begging? Pride was easily out the window because he didn’t take the words back. He couldn’t.

  “I’ve never looked at you this way before,” she admitted. “But now, I can’t stop looking at you and wondering…”

  “Needing.” He finished the sentence for her, knowing exactly how she felt because he’d been feeling the same way. In fact, he was struggling to resist the urge to reach out and touch her at this moment.

  “Yes,” she replied in a hushed whisper.

  “One time, Rylan,” he said and took a tentative step toward her before stopping. “Don’t you want pleasure, just this once?”

  She immediately nodded as if the words just wouldn’t come, but at the same time, desire wasn’t an option.

  “Then you can have it,” he said with a sigh of relief. “We can have it.”

  And then he could finally get her out of his system, because Del didn’t like wanting something he couldn’t have—not at this point in his life when he’d sacrificed so much.