Jacked Up by Erin McCarthy Page A

acres, plenty of gravel to park it and work on it.”
    There was a pause where he figured she was debating accepting that much help from him. Maybe the idea of meeting his parents unnerved her as well. But Nolan had figured how to deal with Eve for the most part. He just lounged in bed and waited, neither coaxing nor pushing. She’d decide what she wanted to do and that was that.
    In the meantime, he relaxed against his pillows, eyes half-closed, his hand lightly stroking over his erection. This was a good way to wake up. The sunlight, a soft bed, the sound of Eve breathing over the phone. It obviously would be way better if she were actually in bed with him, naked, and not talking about the demo derby, but he could only hope someday soon she would be. In the meantime, he had a good imagination.
    “I guess that would work. What are you doing right now?”
    “Uh.” Somehow he didn’t think she’d want the truth. “I’m still in bed.”
    “Really?” An intrigued tone entered her voice. “Are you . . . never mind.”
    Nolan fought the urge to groan. His hand tightened on his cock. “Naked? Yes, as a matter of fact I am.”
    “That’s not what I was going to ask!”
    She was such a fibber. “No? Then what?”
    “I was going to ask if you were busy, but then that seemed like a dumb question.”
    He didn’t believe her, but he was willing to let it go. He was willing to let his erection go for now, too. Dropping his hand, he said, “Give me directions to where you’re at. I can be there in twenty minutes.”
    “How do you know you can be there in twenty minutes? You don’t know where I am.”
    Nolan laughed. “You got me there, cupcake.”
    “Stop calling me cupcake. It’s sexist.”
    “Okay, muffin.”
    “Now that’s
really
sexist.”
    He’d called her muffin, not muff. There was nothing sexist about baked goods as far as he could figure. But he knew better than to argue with her.
    “Peaches?” Nolan threw back his covers and forced himself to stand. “Angel? Dollbaby? Hot stuff?”
    “How about no nickname? How about you call me Eve? That works.”
    “Anyone can call you Eve.”
    “And what makes you so special that you can call me something else?”
    Nolan paused in the act of rooting around in a drawer for his jeans. Ouch.
    “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I didn’t mean that to sound as rude as it did. I was just giving you a hard time.”
    It took a lot to annoy him. He was annoyed. “I seem to recall you calling me strongman and peanut butter fudge ripple. More than once.”
    “You have a point. Okay, call me cupcake. It’s only fair.”
    That was a major concession for her.
    “And I am sorry. And I appreciate you helping me.”
    Those were catastrophic concessions. His anger deflated. “It’s all good, Eve. I’ll see you in
twenty
minutes.”
    She laughed. Which was what he wanted. Getting Eve to laugh felt like an achievement worthy of recognition.
    “You’re a stubborn man.”
    “That’s the pot calling the kettle black.”
    “Except I’m not a man.”
    “I noticed. Oh, trust me, I noticed.”
    The erection was back, full force.
    “We’re going to end up having sex after the demolition derby, aren’t we?” she asked, her voice husky.
    Nolan loved that she just threw it all out there. Eve was definitely honest.
    Working together, competing, banging cars, the adrenaline rush, and a post-derby beer . . . yeah, she had the right of it.
    “I can pretty much guarantee it.”

CHAPTER
    FIVE
    EVE had grown up around cars and haulers and had been allowed to drive on her parents’ property by the time she was ten years old. It was no big deal to be behind the wheel of a hauler, and she wouldn’t have cared less what anyone else thought. So why was she nervous pulling into Nolan’s parents’ gravel driveway?
    Because Nolan Ford didn’t criticize or mock her.
    And she didn’t seem to irritate him.
    So for that very backward, messed-up reason, she was nervous