FLOWERS and CAGES Read Online Free Page B

stuff. Moolah. Dinero. Capisce?"
    Dalton stared—dazzled and tempted. She was spectacular and so full of life, he wanted to reach out to find out if the vibration she sent through the garage intensified when he made contact.
    "Do I know you?" She moved closer, then quickly seemed to dismiss the idea. "No, I wouldn't forget meeting you."
    Was that good or bad ? Dalton couldn't tell. But he knew he wouldn't have forgotten either—and it was all good.
    She stopped, hands on hips, her head tipped to one side and glared. "Well, don't you have anything to say?"
    "Plenty. But I was waiting for you to wind down." When her green eyes grew wide, and her lips twitched, Dalton knew he was going to like this woman.
    "Let me think." Pursing her lips, she thoughtfully tapped her chin with her index finger. "Yes. The wind down is complete. So tell me, gorgeous, what was so important it was worth risking my life and livelihood?"
    "I hate to set you off again, but don't you think that's a bit of an exaggeration?"
    "Hello." She shoved her thumb at him again.
    "I could kiss it and make it better."
    She looked him up and down. "Mm. I'll bet you could. Unfortunately, I don't have time to play."
    Too bad , Dalton thought with regret, neither did he .
    "Are you Mac?"
    "I'll answer to it. I prefer Colleen."
    Colleen . It suited her. Dalton would have loved to find out what Colleen had on under those coveralls. Damn bad timing.
    "My car started smoking just as I reached Midas."
    "Okay. Where is it?"
    "Out front."
    "Let's take a look."
    Dalton fell in step with Colleen. He didn't want to offend her, but he had to ask.
    "It's a Porsche. Have you ever worked on one?"
    "Nope." Stopping when she got her first look at the gleaming silver body, Colleen let out a low whistle. "You poor baby."
    "I'm fine," Dalton assured her. "It's the car."
    "I meant the car." Colleen ran her hand over the sleek hood. "What did he do to you?"
    Laughing at himself, Dalton had to admit he wasn't used to an inanimate object getting all the attention. Ryder was the face of the group—and that was how Dalton liked it. But that didn't mean he faded into the background. He lived the life of a rock star. Money. Beautiful women. His life lacked neither. And the perks? There was no such thing as needing reservations. From restaurants to hotels. If Dalton Shaw wanted in, he was in. Though he could remember when that hadn't been the case, enough years had passed that it had become the norm.
    "I didn't do anything. The car betrayed me—not the other way around."
    "It's a car, hotshot. It wasn't programmed for betrayal. If something happened, it's on you."
    Colleen reached into the driver's side, popping the hood. Dalton was no longer worried about her competency. Good or bad, he was dying to see her at work. He could always replace the transmission—or whatever. Watching her red hair gleam in the brutal sunlight. Seeing the way her coveralls stretched over her ass—her very shapely ass—as she checked under the hood was worth the price.
    "It's probably the radiator." Dalton leaned in.
    Colleen snorted. "You wish. See this?" She held up a handful of wire. Between the charred ends and a smell that was something between burned rubber and freshly tarred road, there was little doubt she had found the source of the problem.
    "That doesn't look good."
    "You have to love a man with a flair for stating the obvious."
    Inexplicably, Dalton felt a blush rise up in his cheeks. In this heat, at his age, and with his experience, he wouldn't have thought it possible. Thank God his already flushed skin made it impossible to detect.
    "The car is practically showroom new. That," he nodded toward the wires, "should not have happened."
    Dalton wanted to add that it couldn't be his fault, but he held his tongue. Obvious was bad enough. He refused to sound petulant.
    "You're right." Colleen tested another connection, tugged on a hose, then pushed him back before closing the hood. "Do you want the