Start Me Up (Mass Market Paperback)

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Product Description

Lori had always planned to get out of tiny Tumble Creek, Colorado, but when her late dad left her his beloved auto body shop, she'd stayed. Now, according to her crazy best friend, Molly, what Lori needs is some excitement, in the form of hot, no-strings-attached sex…and lots of it.

Quinn Jennings has buildings on the brain—not love and romance. A serious architect, he's delighted to discover that Lori is willing to skip dating protocols and head straight for the sheets. And aided by the steamy books on Lori's bedside table, he's busy indulging both of their wildest fantasies. But when life in Tumble Creek takes a dangerous turn for Lori, Quinn's protective instincts kick in.

Suddenly he cares. More than either of them ever expected….

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Baby, that is one fine ass."

Lori Love ignored the purring voice and gave the mounting bolt on the transmission of the old Ford one last turn, laying all her weight against the wrench.

"Oh, yeah. Work it, darlin'."

When the bolt felt tight enough, Lori wiggled the body part in question and tossed a grin over her shoulder toward the blonde behind her.

Her best friend, Molly, leered, eyebrows raised in suggestive appreciation. "Do fries go with that shake, girl?"

Lori stood and set the wrench on her tool chest. "I had no idea this look got you so hot." She smiled up at Ben Lawson, standing behind Molly and very pointedly looking at the ceiling. "You should get some coveralls, Ben. Molly likes them."

He rolled his eyes. "Are we done talking about Lori's ass yet?"

"Oo, I don't know," Molly cooed. "It's so cute and perky. Doesn't it just make you think about—"

"You," Ben interrupted, "are the strangest girlfriend I've ever had."

Lori nodded in agreement. "She's a strange girl, all right, but then you've been sheltered in this small town. Now, Moll, did you come here just to ogle my bottom, or is there something else I can do for you today? Lube job, maybe?"

They both descended into snorting laughter while Ben resumed staring at the ceiling in disgust. He was slightly more mature than the two of them put together. Good thing, considering he was the chief of police.

"I actually stopped by for a different reason," Molly answered. "Quinn's finally acknowledged that he can't fix his backhoe. He needs help. I'm hoping you'll stop by his place."

Thinking of Molly's older brother, Lori frowned. "Quinn's an architect. Why in the world does he own a backhoe? And why would he think he can fix it himself?"

Molly waved a hand. "You know those geniuses. Think they can do anything. I told you he's building a house up on the pass, right? His backhoe won't start and he needs to finish the groundwork before winter. He'll start the real building next spring."

"Wait a minute. You mean he's building it himself? I assumed you meant he was having a house built."

"Nope. He says it helps him relax. Who the hell relaxes by building a whole house? Could he be more of an overachiever?" When Molly looked as though she was going to get riled up, Ben tugged a lock of her blond hair between his fingers.

"Some of us don't have your artistic abilities, Moll." He flashed her a private smile that relaxed her immediately.

Molly wrote erotic fiction for a living, which used to cause stress between the couple, but apparently Ben had come to terms with her job. Very pleasant terms. Lori managed to hide her envy by turning away to straighten up her tool chest. Not that she was interested in Ben. She just wanted some hot sex of her own. Looking down at her striped gray coveralls, she didn't feel very hopeful about her prospects.

"I'll run up to Quinn's this week," she offered. "Where is he, exactly?"

"His driveway's right at the snow gate on the Aspen side. Turn left and the site's about a quarter mile in."

"Nice," Lori breathed. Quinn must have been doing really well with his architectural firm. Only thirty-four and building his own mountain home with the gobs of money he'd made designing mansions for billionaires.

After arranging to meet Molly at The Bar on Friday, Lori got back to work on the Ford. She enjoyed fixing cars, she really did. Her father had put her to work on an engine when she was just six years old, and she'd been doing it ever since. But she'd never planned on working in her dad's garage—her garage now—her whole life. No, that hadn't even been a possibility when she'd left for college at eighteen.

But now it was all hers: the garage, the tow truck, the snowplows, the old dump out back. A bounty of unwanted mechanical glory.

Lori sighed and slammed down the hood of the car. Life wasn't fair, but she was a big girl…. Well, actually she was way too short for her taste. Five-two and petite, which posed a problem when bossing around drivers and mechanics. But she was her father's daughter, stubborn and realistic and not inclined to whine. So after his accident, she'd left college, painted all the trucks lavender, and taken control of the business.

When Lori turned the key in the ignition, the Ford roared to life, bringing a sad smile to her face. This was her job now, and she was good at it, and that was that.

She backed the car out and parked it in the gravel lot, then noticed that Ben was walking toward her. Alone.

"Hey," she called as she jumped out. "Did you lose your girlfriend?"

"No, she's over at the market. I actually need to speak with you about something, but I can come back tomorrow if you like."

"No, this is fine. No problem. What's up?" Once she'd locked up the car and met his eyes, he tilted his head toward her house.

"Why don't we go inside and sit down?"

"Are you kidding?" she asked with a sharp laugh. Her dad was gone, her mom and grandparents long dead. A cousin lived somewhere in Wyoming, but if Lori was his emergency contact his life was even sadder than hers. She raised her hands in confusion. "Did you find out about that bank I knocked over? Because that was years ago. Childhood high jinks."

Ben pressed his lips together and stared, so Lori just shrugged and walked toward the house. Maybe one of her mechanics had been caught stealing cars or something. When she let him through the front door, Ben gestured toward the couch.

"Oh, come on," Lori scoffed.

"I think you should sit down."

"Ben, this is ridiculous. Just spill it."

He finally gave in. "All right. I've been looking into your dad's case…"

Lori's heart flipped over and made an awkward landing. "What case?"

He glanced determinedly toward the ratty couch again, then seemed to shrug into practical mode and plowed straight ahead. "The police station wasn't run with particular efficiency ten years ago when your dad was assaulted. Though the incident report was closed out, no one sent it to records. I've been slowly going through all the old files, trying to get everything where it should be. I ran across your dad's file last week."

Wishing she were at least standing next to the couch so she could lean against it, Lori forced her mouth to work. "And?"

"And I'm not entirely sure about what happened that night."

"It was a bar fight," she said firmly. "Just a bar fight like the other dozen he'd started in his life. And bad luck he hit his head on that rock."

Ben put his fists on his hips and looked down at the scuffed linoleum for a moment before he met her gaze again. "Lori, there's a possibility it may have been deliberate. I'm going to reopen the case. Quietly."

"What? That's ridiculous. Why would you do that?"

"I'm suspicious. That parking lot wasn't exactly littered with big chunks of granite. And if someone picked up a rock and hit your dad in the head, that's assault with a deadly weapon. And now that he's gone, maybe manslaughter or…"

Murder. He didn't say it, but Lori heard it anyway. Shaking her head in slow denial, she moved into the kitchen and put her hands carefully on the counter. The cupcakes she'd made yesterday glowed bright pink in the afternoon light, mocking the slow, bad turn her day had taken.

Ben continued, and the hesitation cleared from his voice as he took on his chief of police mien. "If he had died at the time of the injury, there would've been an examination, an autopsy. Careful evidence collection. But the focus was on saving your dad's life. Still, the scene photos don't show any other rocks around. The only object that could've caused the skull fracture is that one piece of granite and we already know it had his blood on it. It seems a bit too pat to me to think he just happened to have fallen square onto that rock.

"There were no defensive wounds on his hands, no evidence of a fistfight. And he wasn't found near his truck or even near the door of the bar. The back of the parking lot is an odd place to have a fistfight. Usually people just stumble out the front door and go at it."

"I suppose," she muttered, but she shook her head all the same.

"His autopsy reports are a bit of a mess with the healed fractures and surgical scar tissue, but I'm going to send the report off to Denver to get a second opinion. Just to see if there's any confirmation of my thoughts."

Lori tried to clear the sudden tears from her throat. "What is it you think happened?"

"I'm not sure." Ben sighed. "But there's a good possibility that someone attacked your dad from behind. Maybe when he was turning away from an argument, or maybe he didn't even know someone was there. But that's not much to go on. No one at the bar admitted to seeing anything after your dad left. He didn't argue with anyone while he was there, at least not according to the notes. I'm going to have to conduct new interviews, but I'd like to keep it quiet as long as possible."

"I…Okay. What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing," Ben answered quickly. "You don't need to do anything right now. Like I said, I want to keep this quiet. I'll just be making some inquiries, trying to fit the pieces together. But I didn't want you in the dark about my suspicions."

"He's dead now," Lori murmured. "It doesn't matter."

But of course it did.

Lori couldn't sleep that night. She tossed and turned for hours. By four-thirty she felt as if she might implode, as if all the thoughts swirling through her head would finally pull her in on herself and—poof!—she'd be gone. Her father, her life, the things she'd wanted for herself…She couldn't take it anymore, so she got up, showered and headed for the garage to change out the fuel pump on Mr. Larsen's Chevy.

The air outside was perfect and crisp, but Lori only cracked open the garage door a few inches. She didn't want to take any chances with curious bears. Especially if they were looking for breakfast.

As she worked at wrestling the old pump out, her thoughts became clearer and slightly more painful.

What if Ben Lawson was right? What if her father had been deliberately hurt? His skull fractured, his brain dam...

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: HQN Books (July 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373773900
• ISBN-13: 978-0373773909
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,947 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Revs up any engine, July 6, 2009

By	Judy "book reader" (Cincinnati, ohio United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Start Me Up by Victoria Dahl is a sexy treat that will delight every romance reader.

Lori Love had thought her life would be so different then how it has turned out. When her dad became gravely ill she came home to Tumble Creek to help run his auto body shop.
Upon his death its all hers and she has been happy to have it. But lately she finds herself restless and on edge. Something is missing in her life. Her best friend Molly decides Lori needs a no holds bar affair. Lori sets her sights on Quinn Jennings Molly's brother.

Quinn Jennings always had a soft sport in his heart for his sister's friend Lori Love. When Lori suggests a no strings affair, he readily agrees. Quinn's architect work has always been first in his life and Lori knows him well enough to understand.

Both Quinn and Lori both enter into this affair with their eyes wide open. When things start happening to Lori and the garage the dynamics between them change.

Victoria Dahl had me hooked with her book Talk Me Down. She continues her witty characters and all out sexy romp in Start Me Up. This book is funny, sexy and everything that a romance reader will adore. I am thrilled I found this author. I am eagerly looking forward to the next book in this series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun and Steamy Read, September 10, 2009

By	Dale Smith "Malatogirl" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I enjoyed this book, the story line/plot was not as good as the first in this two book series (book 1 "Talk me down"), but the physical attraction between Quinn and Lori in this story was alot hotter than book number one's main characters, although the Hero was alot hotter descriptively in book number one. I believe Quinn could have had more details given about his physical appeal. There were a couple of moments, it could have been considered an erotica and its funny how the heroine in book number 1)"talk me down" was an authur of Erotica books and it still did not steam up the pages like this one did. Let me clarify that the hotness did not take over the whole story, which made it all the better when you got to those scenes and the last chapter when Quinn compares Lori's physical attributes to architecture was so sweet(there is back ground to this, will need to read it to understand) and it was oh so hot at the same time. This author has a way of writing romance and moments of steaminess along with creating characters with personalities that you want to keep reading about that makes it all work. I myself enjoy her stories a great deal, even her historical romances have been okay(which I am not a huge fan of). I thnk this authur and book are worth the read, I suggest reading book 1"talk me down" first to get a history of the characters in this book.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Read for Fans of The Author, July 3, 2009

By	Michelle R (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Start Me Up is an enjoyable read, but the secondary plot and actions of the heroine were occasionally tiring.

Start Me Up has characters in common with Talk Me Down. The heroine and BFF roles have been flip-flopped! Lori and Molly are fund friends, a blast to read about, but I think the combination of them in real life would be exhausting.

Quinn, the hero, kept calling the heroine Lori Love -- well, it's her name -- and I kept wondering what it reminded me of... Then it hit me, 30 Rock and how Tracy is always calling Tina Fey's character Liz Lemon. Lori finds it cute, but as someone who grew up with a similar type of name -- one people couldn't resist saying in full -- well, that's another flashback.

Lori and Quinn are an appealing couple. Quinn is, on the surface, a nerdy architect, but the concentration he brings to his work is also of great use in more...hands on endeavors. And the hands up endeavors are decidedly naughty and fun. I appreciated them more than in Talk Me Down actually.

I liked these people as a couple -- the way she understood him, even his tendency to be late or forgetful -- and the way he worked hard to understand her desires, even if it meant homework. :)

However, overall, I liked Talk Me Down more. Maybe it's because I read it recently and so I wasn't completely ready for another heroine who routinely keeps important information a secret. Ben, the sheriff and the love interest in Talk Me Down, is probably getting a complex from people not telling him anything. Need the info!

The mystery plot had moments of interest, but key elements of that plot were, um, elementary and so early on I started waiting for Lori -- who is a quite intelligent character in all other ways -- to catch up.

What I enjoy is that every heroine I've read by Dahl has some spirit and sass -- even in the case of the submissive Lily in The Wicked West. It means that the heroines might be initially shy over expressing their needs, but they always overcome it because it's treated as a given that those needs matter. It means that I will select books by the author again and again.

This was a worthwhile read for me and I recommend it, especially for fans of the author. I'm really looking forward to Lead Me On, the next book in the series, which is scheduled for early 2010.