Shifting Gears by Audra North Read Free Book Online

prevent. She’d save her fight for something that mattered.
    But what about you? Don’t you matter?
    The thought shocked her.
    Because for the first time in as long as she could remember, the voice in her head wasn’t tearing her down.
    She paused for a moment, debating—
    Then again, no need to cut off your nose to spite your face …
    She swallowed the lump of restlessness that had been clawing its way up her throat, trying to find a way out, and gave a tight nod. “I understand. I’ll go change. It’ll just take a minute.”
    As she turned to go back to her room, she told herself it was good sense and not her old cowardice that was pushing her to that decision. But every part of her hated the symbolism in her actions as she pulled off the blouse she’d been wearing and exchanged it for one that covered her over completely.

Chapter 3
    Grady did not like Matt Fogerty.
    In fact, that was putting it mildly. More specifically, he wanted to put a fist in Matt Fogerty’s face.
    They’d just finished a long and grueling day of interviews and discussions with the little weasel and Ranger was seeing him out the door while Grady waited in his own office, staring unfocused at the CAD program up on his laptop. There hadn’t been much time to work on his designs today, since Fogerty had sucked up every free minute, but now he couldn’t seem to get his head in the game long enough to make any progress.
    Kerri walked in and heaved a loud sigh as she dropped into a chair opposite Grady’s desk, and he turned his attention to her.
    â€œWhat did you think?” He kept his voice even, not wanting to sound too down on the guy in case Kerri had liked him. He didn’t want anyone thinking he was jealous or feeling resentful about being replaced. Though he had to admit that it didn’t feel great to be replaced.
    Sure, it had been his idea to leave in the first place. But this was more than a job, damn it. It was his family. No matter how much he wanted to carve out a place for himself, he could never walk away from his family.
    Kerri shrugged with her whole body. “He was okay. Definitely has the right experience. But I’m not sure he would fit in here. I’d almost like to get someone who’s totally green but has a great personality, just to be sure I never dread having to work with him in a race.”
    Good. So she had a similar read, at least. He furrowed his brow. “What about the day-to-day stuff? Would you dread working with him on that?”
    Grady would find it annoying as fuck. Something about Fogerty just rubbed him the wrong way. But in the end, Grady wasn’t the one who’d have to work with him every day. Kerri and Ranger and Bit and Neil and Danny and the rest of the crew would.
    And maybe Annabelle …
    Shit. That reminded him—he hadn’t had a chance to tell Kerri and Ranger about Annabelle coming in to interview for the team manager position.
    He was about to tell Kerri when Ranger walked in and strode over to Kerri and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “So? What’s the verdict?” Ranger asked before settling into the chair next to Kerri. Grady watched as Ranger reached out and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers through hers across the space between the chairs.
    What would it be like to have someone like that in his life?
    An image of Annabelle, sitting next to him like that and holding his hand, popped into his mind, and Grady felt a little jealousy stirring.
    Not of Ranger. That was his sister, after all. Gross. But he wished he had a relationship like that. One person who thought that what he did was great and worth buying into. Even if Carbon Works failed, if someone else believed in him and thought he was special enough to be with …
    Kerri smiled at Ranger. “I was telling Grady that I think Fogerty would be great technically and could probably guide us into some solid wins, but I’m