“Or the wolves panting at their doors?” JoJo added with a cackle.
It was like watching a train wreck. Or trying to run hard in soft sand. She couldn’t make it stop, couldn’t seem to engage her tongue fast enough. She could only sit and stare. At Riley. Solid, dependable Riley.
Like he was going to do something to fix this?
And then the horror increased as Billy Mac zeroed in on the direction of her gaze. “Hey, maybe you want to tell us a little about this hunka hunka burning love you brought with you this morning.” He pressed his lips to the mike, dropped his voice another octave, and added, “At the crack of dawn, I might add.”
Tanzy’s eyes widened. No, no. Don’t do this.
“Who is he, Tanzy? Inquiring minds and single women everywhere want to know. Or . . . is he off the market?”
“He sure doesn’t look like Santa’s helper to me,” JoJo added wickedly. He was already motioning for them to open the control door and send Riley in. Tanzy sent him an apologetic look . . . then frowned. Was that a smile playing at the corners of those lips of his? Lips she’d actually spent a decent portion of the night dreaming about?
“I believe this is the first time you’ve brought a guest, isn’t it?” Billy Mac asked suggestively.
“Maybe he wasn’t done howling when she had to come into work this morning,” JoJo said with a sly wink.
Finally—thank God!—she found her voice. “He works for my aunt. He’s just along for the ride, guys. No pun intended,” she added quickly, cursing herself for giving them such an opening.
But it was too late. JoJo was sending the wolf howl over the airwaves again and someone was miking Riley. This wasn’t a train wreck, it was a natural disaster.
“So, your name is?” JoJo asked.
And that was when Riley froze.
If Tanzy hadn’t been so frantic, she’d have enjoyed that deer in headlights moment. Immensely. Not that it was Riley’s fault he’d been dragged into this mess, but he hadn’t exactly fought against being pulled into it. Of course, she couldn’t actually imagine Riley getting physical or anything. But still, a few of those perfectly modulated words of his would certainly have calmed things down.
“I’d rather not comment on that,” he finally managed.
“Hooee,” JoJo crooned, “you got a voice on you, don’t you, sugar?”
Riley looked at JoJo in a whole new way.
Now Tanzy did smile, and sent Riley a silent thank-you for taking the focus off of her for a moment and allowing her to regroup. He had saved the day after all. Her hero.
“Ah, thanks,” Riley managed. “It’s in the genes. Nothing special.”
“Well, why don’t you let me be the judge of that,” JoJo murmured suggestively. “And we can discuss those jeans later, honey.”
Apparently Riley didn’t listen to the Billy Mac and JoJo Show—or he’d have known that they were the Will and Grace of morning drive time.
“So, you’re just friends, you say?” Billy Mac stepped in, filling the dreaded dead air. “What do you think of Tanzy’s latest theory? First off, would you categorize yourself as a wolf or a sheep?”
Riley’s gaze went unerringly to hers. And in that moment, Tanzy found herself wondering just what his answer would be. Which was ridiculous. It was obvious to everyone but JoJo apparently, what he was. Except . . .
She tore her gaze away. As much as she’d like to leave Riley to the two radio wolves, rational thought must prevail. She depressed her mike switch and said, “I don’t think he cares to share his livestock orientation any more than his name, guys. But I can share that many sheep in good standing have contacted me and are less than thrilled with my observations.”
They both turned on her like vultures on fresh roadkill. Or Billy Mac did. JoJo was still sending lingering glances Riley’s way. “So there is marital discord in response to your theory?” Billy Mac asked.
“Not the way you’re thinking. It’s more that men are surprised that their wives might occasionally fantasize about a quickie with some hot body, just like they do. Not that they really want to act on it, any more than their spouses do—”
She simply stared down Billy Mac’s “Yeah, right” and dry chuckle.
“Most of them, anyway,” she clarified. “But honestly, do you all really think we only care about getting our whites whiter and finding creative ways to cook leftovers? You think we don’t notice the nice butt on the UPS man? You think we don’t have a fantasy or two about doing the bicycle messenger right there in the elevator at work?” She smiled sweetly when Billy Mac almost swallowed his tongue. “We might not think about sex every two-point-three seconds, like men do, but I say we do pretty decently on a daily basis.” She had to work not to look at Riley, for fear of losing what little momentum she’d built.
Billy Mac finally recovered. “And that’s just the married women she’s talking about, folks!” He turned to her. “So, what about the single women? Are you saying if it’s available, they want it? Do women really have the hots for guys who just want a hit-and-run? Or do they want the hot sex, then secretly hope to tame the guy, dress him up nicely, and take him home to Mama?”
“I think some women want the thrill of satisfying sex without the attendant complications of a relationship, the same as guys.” She waved a hand before JoJo could jump in. “I know, I know, the safe-sex thing.” She leaned closer to her mike. “I am not, repeat not, advocating unsafe, unprotected random sex acts.” She grinned, then got snagged in Riley’s attentive gaze as she hit the stride that had eluded her all morning. When it worked right, it could be a real rush. And somehow, rather than distracting her, having him watch her now made it all the more stimulating. She didn’t question it, not right then. When you’re on a roll, you go with it and count casualties later.
“I am, however, advocating that with proper protection and precautions taken, women should get their satisfaction the same way men do,” she continued. “Whenever, wherever. And with the same lack of stigma that men enjoy, and have since the dawn of time.”
“So you’re saying wolves come in both genders,” JoJo said.
Tanzy shifted her attention to him, surprised. “You know what? I hadn’t thought about it like that, but you’re exactly right. Prowling isn’t the exclusive right of men.”
The station manager signaled that time was up and after one last wolf howl and a quick thanks for stopping by, Billy Mac switched to a series of taped commercial spots. “Entertaining as always,” he told Tanzy. “Thanks for letting us have some fun.” He looked to Riley. “Hope you didn’t mind, man.”
Riley merely shook his head and allowed one of the techs to retrieve his mike.
“You want to stick around a while?” Billy Mac asked Tanzy. “We didn’t get any call-in time and the board is lighting up like Christmas.”
Tanzy was glad she’d salvaged the worst of it and wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of there. But she also wanted to be invited back and knew Martin was hoping for that as well. Still . . .
“You have another appointment to get to, don’t you?” Riley quietly interjected.
Actually, she’d been planning on calling Rina and Susan to discuss shower plans over lunch, but Riley didn’t know that. She caught his gaze then, and realized he was giving her a speedy exit if she wanted one. Thanks again, she signaled with a brief nod, then turned a bright smile toward the disc jockeys. “He’s right. I’d completely forgotten. Good thing you tagged along,” she told Riley. “Maybe I should get my own personal assistant.”
“I was thinking the same thing, honey,” JoJo added dreamily, and Tanzy and Billy Mac laughed.
“Well then, until next time,” Billy Mac told her, shaking her hand, then Riley’s. “I’ll schedule more time for call-ins the next go-around. Maybe we’ll do an entire call-in show, whaddya think?”
“That could be interesting,” Tanzy said, but what she was thinking was, Not in this lifetime. It was tough enough dealing with these two. Sh
e knew she’d dodged another bullet this morning by not having to take callers. You never knew who was going to be on the other end on a live program, and sometimes that delay button just wasn’t enough.
Not to mention there was a certain individual she didn’t need to provide that kind of opportunity to.
Shoving thoughts of the note and SoulM8 out of her mind, she gathered her bag, and with a quick grin snagged a Dr Pepper from Billy’s minifridge, then followed Riley out of the station.
There was a small crowd gathered outside, which wasn’t all that unusual during the morning drive show. It was a bright, sunny mid-December morning, but it wouldn’t have mattered if it was foggy and dank. People always seemed to show up. Some were students from the nearby campus, some were commuters, some just passersby. Most were hoping Billy Mac or JoJo would send someone outside with a mike to give them their fifteen seconds of fame and let them ask a question or just gush.
Most of the time, Tanzy didn’t mind. Depending on the mood of the crowd, she’d occasionally respond to shouted comments, even sign an autograph or two. Today she just wanted to get in the car and get home. She should have been happy. The show hadn’t been a total disaster, she’d gotten the return invite. Martin would be happy, the sales reps in advertising would be happy. Why wasn’t she happy?
Because there was something about looking at a crowd of nameless people that made her edgy in a way she never had been before. She couldn’t help but eye them suspiciously, and hated that she felt that way.
Two women pushed through the small throng, making her jump slightly. Riley immediately pulled her back against him and was in the process of putting himself between her and the intruders when the women both smiled and shouted, “You tell it, Tanzy! You go, girl!”
More disconcerted by Riley’s immediate reaction to the perceived threat than by her uncustomary jumpiness, or by the women themselves, she managed a nod and thumbs-up before pushing on. Riley’s hand was planted on her lower back and he was steadily moving her toward the limo. But when she glanced back at him, his face was the same calm, imperturbable mask. Steady as she goes, Tanzy thought.
Someone in the crowd, probably a fraternity inhabitant, cut loose with a wolf howl. The call of the wild was quickly adopted by the other dozen or so campus denizens in the group. Several of the women joined in, pointedly showing the men that they could be wolves, too.
Riley bent down close to her ear even as he continued propelling her forward. “See what you’ve started?”
His deep voice gave her a hot little buzz, but it was overruled by her need to get out of the crowd and into the car. Sort of like the creepy feeling you got when you climbed the basement steps in the dark. Any other time she would have enjoyed the little buzz, milked it even, maybe shot him a wiseass grin and suggestive comment. But not at the moment. At the moment she was wishing she was some anonymous office-worker drone who’d never gotten the idea to share her every last thought with the public at large.
Then someone yelled, “Who’s the dude? Tell us your name!” The rest of the crowd chimed in.
Someone called out, “Take off the glasses! He’s hot, Tanzy!”
Another shouted, “Is he the next wolf on your list?”
Then the howls started again.
She heard someone chuckling close behind her, but didn’t dare a glance. The limo was so close . . .
“Is it always like this?” Riley asked, pressing closer as the crowd shifted inward.
“Sometimes,” she called back.
“You usually do this gauntlet alone? Maybe your editor has a point about getting some protection when you’re out on appearances.”
“The driver helps me out when necessary, or someone from the station accompanies me out. It’s harmless fun. They’re just fans.” Now if only she could shake the feeling that there might be one fan in particular out there, possibly in that very crowd, who wasn’t so harmless.
The limo was right in front of them, the driver was opening the door, when something sailed overhead from the rear of the crowd. Someone shouted, “Look out!”
The next thing Tanzy knew, her head was being pushed down and she was being body-planted onto the backseat of the limo. She straightened in time to see the driver already behind the wheel, even as Riley pulled the door shut behind himself. Which meant Riley had been the one to shove her in the car.
“Drive,” Riley barked at the driver, in a tone she’d never heard him use before.
They immediately pulled away from the curb and into the growing crowd. The driver did this for a living, Tanzy told herself as the crowd reluctantly shuffled away from the moving car. He’d moved far bigger celebrities through far bigger throngs than this. Thankfully the station and the mob quickly faded from view. A view Riley steadily watched until it was no longer visible. Only then did he turn to Tanzy.
Who was looking at him like she’d never seen him before. And maybe she hadn’t. “What the hell happened back there?”
“I don’t know and I didn’t think you wanted to stick around and find out.”
“It was a paper airplane, sir,” the driver informed them after hooking his radio back in its holder. “Everything’s okay.”
“Thank you,” Riley told him, then settled back in his seat as if everything really was okay.
She continued to stare at him, until he finally looked at her again. “Is something else the matter?”
Yes, she wanted to shout. Everything was the matter. “You didn’t answer me. What went on back there?”
“I think the driver explained that—”
“That’s not what I’m talking about and don’t pretend you don’t understand what I’m asking.”
He stared at her in silence for a long moment.
“Answer me, Riley. And take those damn glasses off.”
That had him raising his eyebrows, but nothing more. And the glasses stayed put. She folded her arms and stubbornly held his gaze. Finally he said, “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt. I’m sorry if I got a little rough.”
“That’s just it, you don’t get rough. Ever. And you don’t bark commands. It’s not in you. Or not in the you I thought you were.”
He simply looked at her and, in that damnably calm voice of his, said, “But then, you don’t really know me all that well, do you?”
“No,” she said just as reasonably, though her thoughts were anything but. “You’re right. Apparently I don’t.”
But I’m going to.
Friends know you better than anyone else.
Which can be really annoying. Especially when they point things out to you that you already know . . . and would sincerely like to pretend you didn’t.
Chapter 9
I’m telling you, Rina, I don’t know what to think.” Tanzy pushed back her hair as she leaned down to sip her milkshake.
“How can you drink those things?” Rina asked, sipping at her own chilled mango cooler.
“Milk’s good for you.”
“You’re forgetting the ice cream and chocolate.”
“No I’m not.” Tanzy took a long drink, then sighed with gusto. “What’s not to love?”
Rina just shuddered. “The only thing I like milky is my complexion, thank you very much.” She leaned forward and peered toward the dining room doorway, then glanced back to Tanzy. “So, what is it exactly that you think he’s hiding? And where is he hiding anyway?”
“He’s in Millicent’s offices on the second floor, on some conference call.” She picked at the chicken and arugula salad Rina had brought for lunch.
“You’re wishing those were fries and a burger, aren’t you?” Rina said, crunching on a walnut.
“It’s what any self-respecting person has with a milkshake.”
“I brought the food. You could have been sharing my mango juice.”
“Shoot me now,” Tanzy said with a shudder. “And can I help it if milkshakes are the one thing I know how to cook? Besides, Millicent has this killer blender th
at—”
Rina laughed and held up her hand. “Spare me, please. How you keep that figure, I have no idea.”
“Easy. There’s more of it to keep all the time,” Tanzy joked, slapping at her thighs.
“I hear you.”
Tanzy just snorted. “Right. When you live on arugula, it’s such a struggle.”
“Actually, Garrison has this personal trainer, Rod, who is amazing. I could send him over here if you’re interested.”
“His name is Rod? For real? Just exactly what kind of workout does he give?” Tanzy asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Not that kind, Ms. Sex-on-the-brain.”
“Oh, and not you? Wasn’t that you, just a week or so ago, lusting after Wolfgang? And really, what is it about him anyway? He is the last guy you’d look at and think, ‘Now, there’s a guy who must have women piling up at his feet.’ “
“It’s those eyes, I tell you,” Rina said with a dreamy sigh.
“Yeah, and it doesn’t hurt that the women he works with are butt-naked half the time.”
“I always wondered what it would be like. Modeling for an artist,” Rina pondered. “Those hooded, soulful blue eyes staring at you while he brushed you onto his canvas. Feeling each brush stroke as if it were—”
“Enough. You’re turning me on. And Wolf does nothing for me.”
Rina laughed. “Well, sex is fun and fun to talk about, but you do know there is more to life and love than sex.”
“I have a life. And sex is a nice benefit of it.”
“What about love? You want to grow old alone?”
“Does anyone actually plan to do that? It’s just the thought of living under one roof, under one blanket, with the same man . . . forever . . .” She shook her head. “Can’t picture it. Not yet, anyway.”
Rina propped her elbows on the table and gave Tanzy a considering look. “You’re already living under the same roof with a man. So why isn’t he under the same blanket already?”
“Riley?” Tanzy snorted a laugh, but it sounded forced, even to her own ears. “No thanks. I’m not ready to enter the sheep derby just yet.”
The Big Bad Wolf Tells All Page 10