Head Over Wheels - Samantha Chase Page 0,9

minutes when she was beside him in bed, he felt like everything was exactly as it should be. He felt peaceful and happy and…then he wasn’t. Looking back, he never should have let her simply kiss him on the cheek and then leave. He should have hauled her into his arms and kissed her like he’d been fantasizing about for years.

Years.

What kind of man waited that long without going after what he wanted?

A stupid one…

Yeah. That.

The problem was…okay, one of the problems was that the business was doing really well right now. His father had spent years barely breaking even and then making enough of a profit to live comfortably. They were finally in a place where they were both making good money–great money. And Dani was one of the reasons that finally happened. She had come in and taken over their marketing, handling all communications with their clients, and then created their social media accounts – something neither him or his father had a clue about. She had a knack for it and the results of her efforts came in fast. They could barely keep up with the demand for restorations. Their waiting list was eighteen months long! Did he really want to mess that up by starting something with her when he knew he was going to mess it up?

Way to be confident, dude.

It was hard to argue with his track record.

There was no way he wanted Dani to be included in his disastrous dating history. She didn’t deserve that. But he also didn’t want to jeopardize their working relationship. Maybe she wouldn’t mind seeing him every day after things went south, but he’d feel like shit if he had to walk in and look at her beautiful face and know that he’d screwed up.

Then let this go…

Easier said than done.

Right now, she was sitting beside him quietly–her earbuds in–and smiling as she listened to music so she wouldn’t distract him. He shook his head with disgust. She was only doing it because he had all but snapped at her earlier about how chatty she was. He kind of felt like crap about it because she had only been trying to make conversation.

Before he could second-guess himself, he reached over and tapped Dani on the shoulder. Her smile was sweet and instantaneous.

“What’s up?”

“So, uh…I was wondering, uh…I mean…I just thought um…”

If she had any attraction to him, there was no doubt that it was dying a slow, painful death, he thought, unable to believe how tongue-tied she made him.

Her eyes went a little wide but her smile never wavered.

“You don’t need to sit with those things in your ears,” he said gruffly. “We can talk…you know…if you want.”

I loathe myself…

“I didn’t want to bother you,” she replied sweetly. “It seems to me you prefer it to be quiet when you’re driving.”

Normally he did, but…maybe it was time to try something different. “Who’s your favorite band?” he asked, offering her a small smile.

After that, it was like they both relaxed back into the people they were the night before. Malcolm couldn’t even help himself. She drew things out of him he didn’t normally talk about–like growing up working on cars and how hard his parents’ divorce was on him. The divorce was something he never talked about, and yet with Dani…it felt completely natural.

“Do you see your mom a lot?” she asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk about her in all the years I’ve worked for you.”

“She lives in Nashville now and she’s always on me to come visit, but…I usually only go once a year.”

“How come?”

He shrugged. “There just never seems to be a good time to go. We’ve got so much going on with the shop and Dad’s…I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he’s slowing down a bit. I hate leaving everything on him so I can go play tourist with my mom.”

“Hmm…”

Turning his head slightly, he looked at her. “Hmm, what?”

“I guess you sided with your dad then,” she commented. “You know, in the divorce.”

“Not really. Why would you think that?”

Now it was her turn to shrug. “I don’t know. It just seems like you’re completely settled in with him and he’s your priority. Not your mom.”

Huh. He never really thought of it like that.

“It’s not like I purposely chose sides,” he explained. “I’ve always enjoyed working on cars and it’s something Dad and I always did together. When they split up, I had to divide my time living with the two