Free Driven to Temptation by Melia Alexander Page A

the ground.
    Aidan pulled the seat up and out of the way. The lug wrench was secured in place. Exactly where he expected. His shoulders eased and his breath calmed. At least everything here was where it should be. He loosened the bolts, pulled it out, and set them aside. After freeing the lug wrench, he handed it over to Delaney. “Here you go.”
    Their fingers touched, and again a strange, zinging sensation ripped through him. He tried to let go, wanted to let go, but somehow…couldn’t.
    She leaned forward, eyes wide as if gauging his reaction. Her lips parted, and she moistened her lower lip with her tongue. Slowly…sensually…seductively.
    For a moment he couldn’t remember any good reason not to give in to temptation and do what any reasonable man would.
    But that was the problem, wasn’t it? Their relationship had to stay within the boundaries of reason. Anything else, anything more, had the power to blow his plans into nothing that resembled what he wanted: grow his company into a powerhouse in the construction industry.
    It took every ounce of strength he possessed to back away, to break the connection between them that seemed to have him teetering on the edge of reality.
    A reality that involved a flat tire, a sexy employee, and not a lot of time to pick up the projector from Electronics World before it closed. Which meant he needed to step it up if he had any hope in hell of meeting at least one goal on the way to Seattle.
    He cleared his throat. “You got this?” At her nod he let go. “I’ll be out in a sec with the jack stand.”
    As soon as she turned away, he blew out a breath.
    Damn.

Chapter Ten
    After fifteen minutes of trying to stay clean, Aidan finally had to admit there was no way around it. Decision made, it took another five minutes before he was sweaty, dirty, and totally focused. And he also had the spare tire out. Finally. He scrambled from underneath the truck, and pulled it toward him.
    His T-shirt was toast, and he smelled pretty bad, but he could throw his windbreaker on and no one would notice. He rolled the spare toward the front of the truck.
    “Aidan?”
    The woman had a pair of lungs that rivaled freeway traffic. He hated to think what she’d sound like if he ever really pissed her off.
    “Yeah?”
    His gaze traveled to where she stood just beside the driver’s side door…and stopped. He blinked. What the hell?
    She’d shed the boxy jacket and skirt she had on the last time he laid eyes on her. Instead the jacket had been replaced with a loose pink-colored shirt, and the skirt with a pair of black yoga pants…that showed off one hell of a toned, shapely body. Might be something to her yoga routine after all.
    Slowly he stood, one hand on the tire to steady it, and blinked several times. Each time the image was the same: one sexy Delaney who stared back at him, the corners of her mouth tipped up in a smile.
    “You changed.”
    “Well, yeah,” she said. “Had to so I could help you.”
    “How?” Shit. Did he really want to know? He clenched the hand at his side to keep from reaching for her.
    “Easy. I opened both doors to create some privacy from traffic, slipped the yoga pants on, stripped the skirt off, then put the top on over my cami.” She grinned. “The shoes were the toughest part.” She held out one pink sneaker–clad foot.
    The woman had many talents, all right.
    She tapped one foot on the roadway and looked at the tire. “Want me to put it on?”
    “No.”
    “Why not?” The protest was half expected. After all, she’d been quiet for way too long. “You’ve done the bulk of the work.”
    He continued to roll the tire toward the front of the truck, deliberately ignoring her.
    She stepped in front of him. “I thought you said I could help.”
    He shouldn’t look. He knew he shouldn’t look, should stare straight past her. But, God help him, he was just a guy.
    And there it was, her yoga pant–clad legs less than a couple feet away. His brain