Free What a Woman Wants by Brenda Jackson Page A

and eventually lost his life over there. Before he died, he married my mother.” She decided now wasn’t the time to share too much of her family history, especially not the part about where she had been separated from them for thirty-something years, thinking they wanted nothing to do with her. That was a part of her past she was trying to put behind her. The person who’d been responsible, a woman by the name of Angela who’d once been married to her uncle Randolph, hadn’t been operating with a full deck. Angela eventually really went off the deep end when her and Randolph’s son, Trey, married the daughter of a woman Angela despised.
    “So are the three of you enjoying your vacations so far?” Anna asked, to keep the conversation flowing. It had been a long time since she’d allowed herself time to just sit back and chill and had been grateful for Faith’s invitation to dinner. She had met Faith’s parents last year, and all they’d talked about was the daughter they were proud of. Besides, engaging in conversation kept her mind away from the fact that Zach would be arriving in a week or so. She had taken some time off work. The Fourth of July was coming up, and they would be joining the others at Glendale Shores.
    “Well, I’ve enjoyed our get-together,” Shannon said, standing and glancing at her watch. “But I have somewhere to go.”
    She turned to Anna and smiled. “It was nice meeting you, Anna, and I can’t wait to tell my parents that I met Randolph Fuller’s niece.”
    Anna leaned back in her chair and returned Shannon’s smile. “It was nice meeting you as well.”
    Shannon made a quick escape into the house, and Anna couldn’t help noticing the worried expression Faith and Monique shared.
    A half hour
later, Shannon saw that the auto repair shop was closed. Evidently they ended their workday early on Wednesdays. She weighed her options. She could either go back home and try this seduction thing tomorrow or she could get out of her car and check to see if perhaps the person she was looking for was still there— namely the mechanic who had more than stirred her interest. Since he lived over the garage, there was that possibility he was home. But what if he had a girlfriend in residence? Things could get ugly if that were the case. But then he didn’t have a ring on his finger, so in her book he was still fair game.
    Making a quick decision, she got out of the car and walked over to the thick glass-paned window and peeped in. She dragged in a deep breath when she saw that although the garage was closed, the mechanic was still there and working on that same car. She glanced down at herself. She would be the first to admit that on any other woman the dress she was wearing would probably look somewhat sleazy with so much skin showing. But she thought that on her it looked right.. . considering what she needed it for.
    Drawing in a deep breath, she tapped on the window. In fact, she did it several times before he finally pulled his head from underneath the hood of the car and glanced her way with an agitated frown. He stared, leaning against the car for a moment as if trying to figure out who she was and what she wanted. She knew the exact moment he recognized her as the woman from last week. He tossed the wrench he’d been holding in his hand aside and began walking toward the huge garage door that was connected to the bay he was working in.
    Her breath caught when the door rolled up and he was there, standing in front of her. The scent of a sweaty man filled her nostrils, and she raked her gaze over him, taking in the grease-smeared T-shirt and the well-worn jeans. Another thing she noticed was that he had a beer can in his hand. She returned her look to his face and noticed the beautiful dark eyes that were boring into hers. The heat that suddenly flushed between her legs was like a blast from a furnace.
    ‘The shop’s closed.”
    She cleared her throat. ‘I know.” Her body was