Thunderstruck Read Online Free Page B

don’t even know what a dyno is or a restrictor plate. The whole sport is like a foreign language to you.”
    “Fact is, I speak several foreign languages. Fluently.” He stood up and took a step closer. “I can learn another.”
    She slipped past him and returned to her desk, the squeaky chair the only sound in the room as she sat. She gathered up some papers and a file, tapping them on the desktop, averting her eyes, arranging her next argument as neatly as her desk.
    “Why don’t you go after a bigger team? Or just start your own? No doubt you could find drivers who might make the Chase at the end of the season.” She half laughed and shook her head. “Never mind. You don’t know what the Chase is.”
    “I’m not interested in joining a large team. I’m interested in owning one that already exists.” Quickly. “And I can help you build this team into one of the biggest in the sport.”
    “Didn’t Ernie tell you? I’m not a fan of the large teams. I think they’ve changed the sport, turned it into something that it wasn’t meant to be.”
    “He told me that. He also told me you don’t like change in general and need lots of time to get used to something. What have you got against change?”
    She arched one beautifully shaped brow at him. “It hasn’t always worked out so well for me.”
    For a quiet beat they just looked at each other. Her gaze had softened ever so slightly, the flush gone from her cheeks. Her fists had relaxed and didn’t look quite so ready to deliver a deadly blow to his face. He’d actually made progress here.
    “I have an idea, Shelby,” he said. “Before you rush to judgment about my involvement in your team, you might take a bit of time to get to know what I have in mind.”
    He saw the narrow column of her throat rise and fall as she swallowed.
    “I know that isn’t easy,” he continued, “but your grandfather is quite determined to sell his half of this business and I am quite determined to buy it.”
    “Fine,” she said, folding her hands in front of her as if she’d just made a major decision. “I’ll think about it and let you know tomorrow. We’ll call you.”
    “That won’t be necessary,” he said. “Ernie has set me up with an office across the hall.”
    “He has?”
    Mick crossed his arms and leaned against the doorjamb. “My plan is to shadow you. To learn the business quickly and from a pro.”
    Her look was sheer disbelief. “I don’t want a shadow.”
    “And you don’t want to lose this business.”
    “I’m not going to lose this business,” she insisted. “I’ve been through far more difficult times than this, believe me. We have a second—”
    He held up his hand. “Your grandfather is going to sell his half of the team. I am the ideal buyer. Give me a chance.” He closed the space between them, placing two hands on her desk and looking down at her. “You can fight me every step of the way or you can come along for the ride. I would imagine a woman who knows as much about speed as you do understands that the less friction there is, the faster things move along.”
    She set her jaw and looked up at him. “You need my consent to this deal. Period.”
    “Then give me a chance to prove that I can help your business.”
    “Why should I?”
    “Why shouldn’t you?”
    When she didn’t move, he put one hand over hers. “What’s the worst that can happen?”
    She searched his face, considering the question. Finally she eased her hand out from underneath his. As she did, she shifted her weight on the chair, and it let out an ear-piercing squeak. She closed her eyes for one second, an expression of resignation on her face.
    “I’m going to first check on that dyno, then I’m on my way to a crew meeting,” she said, standing slowly, regarding him. “You can come, but please sit in the back and don’t say a word.”
    A slow smile broke across his face. “I promise complete silence.”
    She scooped up the files and papers from