Swerve: Boosted Hearts (Volume 1) by Sherilee Gray, Rba Designs

here?” Hugh asked, his sleep-roughened voice sliding through her, setting off happy tingles all over again.
    Tucking the dog under her arm, she turned and stifled a lust-filled moan. His chest was still bare—her gaze dropped—but he’d thankfully pulled on jeans, except he’d left the top button undone, and she couldn’t drag her eyes away from the thick hair peaking from the top.
    “Babe?” There was amusement to his voice now.
    Forcing herself to lift her gaze, she met his smiling brown eyes. “Yes?”
    “Come back to bed.”
    Edna thrust her hands forward. “Give me Rocky, girl. I’ll manage his walkies this morning.”
    Shay choked out a startled laugh. “Don’t be silly, Edna, and no, you won’t. If you fall down these stairs and break your hip, I’ll never forgive myself. And anyway, I can’t go back to bed; I have to get ready for work.”
    Edna took a drag of her smoke. “You’re looking a little flush to me.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Maybe a day in bed would do you good.”
    Good lord. Ignoring them both, Shay strode to the middle of the grassy patch in the center of the trailer park. Setting Rocky down, she held the lead Edna had already attached and waited. The dog did his business quickly. The poor thing had obviously been close to bursting. Picking him back up, she walked back to Edna, who was still standing in her doorway staring at Hugh. Hugh hadn’t moved, either—only his eyes weren’t on Edna, they were on Shay.
    She handed over the dog. “I’ll see you after work.”
    Edna nodded so enthusiastically, the lose skin hanging from her neck swung back and forth like an empty hammock in the breeze. “You get a better offer, I’ll be fine.” She tilted her head toward Harold’s trailer. “That old coot can help me with Rocky.” Then, with another cackle, she slammed her door shut.
    Hugh stepped back so Shay could get inside.
    “You gotta work?”
    “Yes.” And didn’t that just totally suck. “I need to be there in an hour, so I better get moving.”
    “An hour’s plenty of time.” He grabbed her hand when she tried to walk to the bathroom. “Give me fifteen minutes, and I’ll have you screaming my name before your PJs”—he tugged on the silky blue ribbon hanging from the front of her shorts—“hit the floor.”
    She didn’t doubt it, and she wanted that…badly. The man had proven he could do it, too, several times. “I can’t.” Her voice came out breathless, needy. “I have to get ready, that’s at least thirty minutes, right there. The walk to work, that’s another thirty. I’m already late.”
    His brows dropped. “You’re walking?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t have a car.”
    He straightened. “How do you get home from Woody’s?”
    “The bus.”
    She’d had to sell her car after she lost her job. She hadn’t had much in the way of savings to start with, and when her grandmother died, she’d used what she did have to go toward her funeral costs. Funerals were expensive. She still had two installments left to pay on her loan. Her grandmother was a generous lady, had been her whole life, would give the sweater off her back, and had done so. Shay had seen it with her own eyes. But this also meant her grandmother had left behind some debt, because if someone was in need, Gran gave, even if she didn’t have it to spare.
    Her grandmother had also been sweet and funny, and at times a little flighty. That meant she often didn’t plan ahead. Sylvie Freestone had lived life to the fullest, for each day. She didn’t like to think about the future, not for herself, at least. She’d also loved with everything she had. And Shay had loved her right back for it. Finding out her grandmother had somehow scrimped and saved to make sure Shay had gotten the best education possible had been a shock. She couldn’t repay her gran for everything she’d done, but Shay could give her grandmother the best funeral she could afford. And that’s what