Personal Assets (Texas Nights) by Kelsey Browning Read Free Book Online

rapped a gavel on a portable oak podium up front. No surprise who was holding the hammer.
    Robert Shelby.
    Allie’s father.
    Perfect. If he could’ve come up with any way to slip out unnoticed, Cameron would’ve been back at the garage before Shelby could say “Robert’s Rules of Order.”
    “I’d like to call this meeting of the Shelbyville Chamber of Commerce to order.”
    Cameron was eyeing a side door when it inched open and Allie slid inside without a sound. He’d wondered if she’d be here. Seemed like her kind of shindig.
    Just like he’d wondered since Monday when she was going to show up at his garage to talk about “the sex thing.” Not that he’d counted the hours or anything. All seventy-one and a half of them.
    She beelined for the closest empty chair, which happened to be the one on Cameron’s right. Had he been set up? He glanced at Roxanne on his other side, but she was rearranging her hash browns into a swirl pattern around her plate, looking completely innocent.
    Today, instead of kid clothes, Allie wore a slim skirt the color of key lime pie and a floaty white meringue...uh...shirt. His gaze trailed down the length of her calves and rested on a pair of high-heeled sandals. The toes peeking out were painted the color of peaches. She scooted into the chair, and the sweet smell of cinnamon drifted over Cameron.
    “Hi,” she whispered.
    His dress pants tightened and his stomach growled. Was she a seductress or a fucking fruit salad? Cameron choked on his laugh.
    “What’s so funny?”
    He shook his head, but it was hard to listen to a business owner talking about unemployment, tax breaks and the fall elections over the sound of Allie shifting in her chair and his messed-up thoughts about her. Was he actually considering getting involved with her when she’d been clear about the physical-only boundary? If so, he was already going back on his promise to himself. The noise in his head rose, making everything else sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher. Mwah , mwah-mwah-mwah-mwah.
    Cameron felt a tap. Allie’s slender hand rested on his forearm.
    She jerked her head toward the front of the room, indicating he’d missed an essential piece of information. She leaned closer. “They want you to stand up and talk about your business.”
    “Uh...” Shit. The action in his pants hadn’t completely ramped down yet. Not full mast, but he could not stand up.
    Allie’s dad stared down from the podium. “Mr. Wright, if I understand correctly, you have purchased Alistair Kaynes’s garage and plan to install some type of automotive repair service.”
    This was the only time Cameron had ever felt a warm fuzzy for the man.
    He grabbed the napkin from his lap and eased to his feet, careful to keep the white fabric in front of his crotch. Well-mannered people looked at a man’s face when he talked. He had nothing to worry about. “Good morning. I know many of you already, but for those I don’t, I’m Cameron Wright, Emmalee’s son.”
    He cleared his throat and continued, “Recently, I bought the fine piece of property at 629 Main Street.” That earned a few laughs since the whole town knew what a shithole Scoot’s garage had been for years. “I’m renovating and will open for business, providing both paint and bodywork, within the month.”
    He started to retake his seat, but someone from across the room asked, “You planning to hire any help? Because we sure could use more jobs around here.”
    “I’ll probably need a couple of painters eventually.” What he didn’t say was auto painting was a specialized job, not something anybody off the street could excel at, and Cameron planned to offer excellent auto bodywork.
    “And did I hear something about you working on classic cars?”
    Cameron smiled even though most of his brain power was still working to persuade his dick to chill out. “I plan to restore cars and provide general body repair services for the community. I’m glad to be back