by Sandy James
After a few repeats of the steps he’d taught her, Russ said, “Now we add the cowboy boogie.”
She laughed at the name and at how much she was enjoying learning the dance. “Show me!”
And Russ did, making it look effortless.
Counting with the beat, Joslynn thought she was doing well. Her mistake was glancing up to see how the rest of the dancers were doing. Missing a couple of steps, she stumbled against Russ, stopping herself from an embarrassing fall by grabbing his arm and holding tight.
That arm was as solid as steel, and the dimpled smile he gave her in response made her grin in return. “Sorry,” she murmured.
“No worries. You’ll get the hang of it.”
The song changed, and Joslynn was proud to hear her friend Savannah’s distinct alto fill the cavernous club.
At least Joslynn wasn’t feeling too awkward, because it took only a couple repetitions of the steps to dance without mistakes. Just when she thought she was getting good, Russ upped the ante.
“Time to add the slipknot.” He launched into a series of steps where his feet kept switching from crossing over to crossing behind so many times that she lost track.
Once again, she stumbled into him.
Russ put his hands on her hips and turned her to face him. “Watch me.” He whirled so that his back was to her and then took a couple steps forward.
Eyes glued to his feet, Joslynn found it much easier to duplicate his moves. Her athleticism kicked in, and she discovered the intricate steps weren’t as difficult as she’d feared.
She tried to focus on the task at hand, but Russ was making it damned difficult. He moved with such grace, which came as a bit of a surprise. She’d always considered football players to be a bit big and awkward.
She’d been wrong.
He’d shake that ass of his and all of her concentration would vanish. She lost her footing multiple times.
“And now…” Russ flashed her a heart-stopping smile as he pushed back the brim of his hat with his knuckle. “Time to add the double slide!”
The music switched to another up-tempo song, this time sang by a guy Jos didn’t recognize, but she loved his Tennessee twang.
When she forced herself to stop staring at Russ’s ass, she found herself truly enjoying the dance. She loved how he was constantly glancing over his shoulder to check on her, and when he finally had her join him at his side, she felt as if she belonged there.
It was so much fun to be a part of a group of people who were all dancing together—the same steps, the same rhythm—and she realized that she was actually getting a workout. It wasn’t as tough as running, but line dancing was definitely raising her heart rate and using muscles she didn’t normally use.
When Russ finally ended the dance, he chuckled and gave her a big hug.
She was so anxious to touch him that she tripped into his arms.
“Having a little trouble there, Josie?”
“A little. Sorry about catching your heels so many times.”
“I’ll live. So I taught my dance. Now we can do whatever you want. Wanna keep dancing? Or we could get a bite to eat…”
“I vote for the latter,” she replied. “The smell of the food is making my stomach growl.” Which was the truth but not even remotely responsible for her brain turning to mush. No, that was solely Russ’s doing, and the man wasn’t even trying.
He took her hand and led her to an empty table close to the dance floor. Then he gave a quick signal to one of the servers in the red T-shirts and black shorts, who nodded in return.
“Want a drink?” he asked Joslynn as he pulled out a chair for her.
She didn’t scold him for the gesture and had to admit to herself that she loved the courtesy he gave her when they were together. “Sure. How about some white wine?”
Russ whispered a few things to the waitress after she came over. She nodded, hurried away, and then he took his own seat. “I’m guessing this dancing thing was a bust for you.”
“Not at all,” she insisted. “I really got into it once I learned the steps.”
“Seemed like you had trouble with your footing.”
“Nah, I was just having some trouble concentrating.”
“Why?”
Because you’re so damn sexy. “Tough shift last night. Didn’t sleep well after. I’m a little punchy, I guess.”
The waitress came back with a glass of white wine and a beer in a frosted mug. She set them down and then cocked an expectant eyebrow at Russ. “The usual, boss?”
“What’s the usual?” Joslynn asked.
“Fried pickles to start,” he replied. “Might not be as healthy as what you’re used to, but they’re one of our signature foods. Sound okay to you?”
“Sounds yummy. I’m in.”
Russ nodded at the waitress. “Thanks, Tara.”
“My pleasure.” She turned to Joslynn. “Would you like a menu?”
“Sure. Thanks.”
After retreating to give Joslynn a few minutes to look over the menu, Tara returned. Joslynn ordered and Tara left them and logged on to one of the computer terminals near the bar.
“You guys have a lot of computers,” Joslynn commented.
“Brad’s big on making our jobs as easy as possible,” Russ replied as he nodded at one of the computers. “When the waitstaff logs orders, that info not only goes to the kitchen, but it heads directly into a spreadsheet that helps us with ordering supplies. Then we tailor the menu to what’s selling versus what’s stagnant. The waitstaff said the orders coming from the kitchen aren’t wrong nearly as often as when they had handwritten tickets.”
“Sounds like Brad found something that works for you guys. When we first went to all electronic at the hospital, some of the nurses were annoyed.”
“Why? I’d think it would make their jobs easier.” He leaned forward and folded his hands together, as though he were truly interested instead of simply being polite.
She obliged him with an explanation. “Most of them were used to making quick notes along the way and then charting at the end of shift or during downtimes. They hated taking the time to enter all the information as they went along.” She chuckled. “Although they were thrilled at the end of their shifts when they didn’t have to spend another hour or more charting.”
“What about you?”
“I embraced the change. It’s second nature now.” A frown formed. “So, have we reduced ourselves to talking about our jobs?”
Russ let out a warm chuckle. “I suppose we have.”
Tara returned and set the fried pickles between them. “Careful,” she cautioned. “They’re hot.”
Picking one up, Joslynn let out a gasp at the intense heat against her skin, immediately dropping the breaded pickle back in the basket and waving her fingers to cool them. “You ain’t kiddin’.”
“Your meals should be out shortly,” Tara said before shifting her attention to another table.
“I have a better conversation topic,” Russ said, quickly transferring a couple of pickles to the small plate he’d placed in front of himself. “How did you meet Savannah?”
As always, when she told the story, Joslynn framed her words carefully. “We met at a childbirth class.”
He’d been taking a swig of his beer and sputtered out some foam, exactly the reaction she’d wanted. “Gotta say that I didn’t see that coming.”
“Yeah, it makes a great story when anyone asks.”
“So, you were at a childbirth class?” Leaning forward, he whispered, “Do you have a kid I don’t know about?”
She loved catching him off guard. “I was teaching the class.”
“Now, that makes sense.”
“After the class, Savannah came up with a bazillion questions. We ended up going out for a cup of coffee and we just sort of hit it off. I was with her when Caroline was born since her dick of a boyfriend had abandoned her.”
Russ nodded. “I remember Michael trying to cash in when S
avannah’s star started rising.”
“Yeah, that was a bad time for her.”
“She’s lucky to have you,” he said.
“From what she told me, she’s lucky to have all of you guys and Chelsea around, too,” Joslynn said.
After eating the pickles he’d put on his plate, he pushed the empty plate aside and tossed her the same kind of frown she’d given him earlier. “So, now we’ve gone from talking about work to being a mutual admiration society?” He winked. Then he stood and held out a hand to her. “How about we go dance again before dinner is served?”
* * *
Russ enjoyed line dancing almost as much as playing football, but when he was able to head back to the dance floor, standing beside Joslynn and dancing next to her was the last thing he had in mind.
No, he wanted to hold her.
Thankfully, by the time he and Josie had finished dinner, the line dancing was coming to an end. When people filtered back to the dance floor, they did so with a more subdued attitude as the lights were dimmed and the music switched to a slower tempo.
Great for dancing cheek to cheek instead of at each other’s side.
Pulling her into his arms, he couldn’t shake the feeling that holding her felt…different. Right.
Perfect.
Swaying to the music, he loved how she rested her cheek against his shoulder, a kind of intimacy that usually only came with time. Yet he understood, and it was comforting that she seemed to feel the same draw to him that he had toward her.
Joslynn just fit.
She glanced up at him. “This has been so much fun.”
“Yeah,” he drawled with a grin. “It has.”
“So two dates down, and things are going well.” There was an uncertainty in her dark eyes, something he wasn’t accustomed to seeing in such a self-confident woman. “Right?”
Russ brushed a quick kiss against her lips. “Absolutely. Which means there’ll be a third. And a fourth. And…”
Her smile washed over him, and she laid her cheek against his shoulder again.
They danced for quite a while, so long he lost track of time. He didn’t mind. The night could go on forever so long as Josie was in his arms.
The music ended, a signal from stage manager Randy that the restaurant part of the club was winding down.
Josie eased back and glanced at her silver watch. “Are you still planning to take me home? It’s getting kinda late.”
“Yeah, we should probably get you back to your place.”
“You’ll get to see the Cottage.”
“The what?”
Josie let out a pleasant chuckle as she followed him to the front doors. “That’s what Savannah calls my house. The Cottage.”
Opening one of the double doors while she pushed the other open, he said, “That sounds intriguing. Will you give me the grand tour?”
“Of course. But as the name implies, don’t expect something big and grand.”
Once Russ had her in his SUV, he hesitated with putting on his seat belt and starting the engine, not wanting the evening to end. “Did you have a good time, Josie?”
She reached over and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. “I did. A very good time.”
He turned to face her, finding her smiling at him in a way that hit him viscerally. She hadn’t fastened her seatbelt, either. The temptation to kiss her was too strong to deny. When he leaned closer, she beat him to the punch.
Each time his lips touched hers, he was surprised by the wave of heat that flashed through his body. She was the first to heighten the exchange, slipping her tongue between his lips.
Her taste was now familiar to him, and he drank her in. When she tore her lips away, she was panting for breath. He was every bit as breathless and wondering exactly where they should go from here. Despite cautioning himself that he wanted more from Josie than a roll in the sack, he couldn’t slow his physical response to her. This woman filled him with desire almost too strong to fight.
“Can your seat go back any farther?” she asked, her husky voice washing over him.
Instead of answering her, he hit the button to push the seat back and smiled at her. If she wanted to neck in his car, he had no objections.
Smiling back, she moved closer until she could straddle his hips. As she lowered herself against him, he captured her mouth for another passionate kiss.
Russ tried to lace his fingers through her dark hair, but she’d tied it up in a ponytail. Fumbling with the fastener, he kept kissing her until he could cast the damn thing aside. Then he buried his hands in that luxurious, silky mass and growled his appreciation.
Joslynn had opened a few of the buttons on his shirt, and now she stroked his chest, playing with his chest hair as she sucked on his tongue.
His hard cock pressed painfully against the front of his jeans, and he wanted nothing more than to feel her slender fingers wrapped around it. At this rate, they’d be naked in his restaurant’s parking lot in the next five minutes. But he just couldn’t make himself stop kissing her long enough to ask if she wanted to go to a more private location.
Easing her lips away from his, she tickled his neck with her tongue. “I want you, Russ. Let’s go to my place. Now.” She followed that order with a stinging bite and then a soothing lick.
“My place is closer,” he said, breathless and near desperate to be skin to skin with her.
“Then your place it is.”
Chapter Seven
Russ fumbled with his keys, finally getting the door open and pushing it wide.
The look Josie flashed him was so full of desire that he sucked in a quick breath. She took his hand and led him into his house. Then she took off his hat, tossed it aside, and smoothed her hands through his hair. “Your hair’s so soft.”
What did a guy say to something like that? “Thank you.”
She nuzzled his neck. “And you smell so good.” Kissing and licking her way to his ear, she ran her tongue around the shell as her fingers began to open the buttons on his shirt. “So sweet,” she murmured.
He tried to catch his breath, to take a moment to think about what was about to happen and decide whether they should take this huge step. His body was ready.
Yet there was something holding him back.
After she finished with the buttons, she tugged his shirttail out of his jeans and spread the shirt wide. He shrugged out of the garment and cast it aside while she rubbed her nose against the patch of hair on his chest.
When her hands went to work on his belt, Russ felt as if he were caught in the middle of a tornado, swept up in the intensity to the point where he had no control.
He grabbed her wrists. “Let’s slow down, darlin’.”
Joslynn cocked her head but didn’t let go. “Slow down? Why?” She leaned in and kissed him again.
He tried to relax and surrender to her kiss.
But his thoughts suddenly clouded with doubt.
Before he could sort out exactly what was bothering him, she had his belt unbuckled and was almost done unbuttoning his jeans.
Something just wasn’t right—something he needed to work through before he opened up to her so personally.
Then suddenly he knew exactly why he couldn’t make love to her yet. Yes, there was a part of him that wanted to revel in the sexual storm. But he knew there was a much larger prize at stake.
There was something about her, something that told Russ he might have found someone who was worth taking a risk despite his possibly scary future.
Maybe it was the intelligence that radiated from her, or her quick, witty humor. Maybe it was the gentle way she’d cared for him in the hospital. Maybe it was how easy it was to just be with her, to talk to her, to share himself in a way he’d never wanted to with another woman.
Josie made him want to learn everything about her. Which meant he wanted to get to know her before they traded what could one day be a lasting relationship for a roll in the sheets.
He seized her w
rists again when she tried to slide his jeans over his hips. “Wait. Please. We need to talk.”
Her hands smoothed over his bare chest. “Talking is the last thing I want to do.” Her gaze found his. “Oh, are you out of condoms?”
“No. I’ve got condoms, but—”
Bending down, she licked his nipple, making him groan and drop his head back. Her fingers trailed down his chest, over his abdomen, and under the waistband of his briefs.
He forced himself to take a step back. “Wait. Please, Josie.”
Joslynn frowned at him. “What’s wrong?”
“We’re moving so fast…”
Her frown deepened. “Don’t you want me?”
“God, yes.”
With a stern glare, she folded her arms under her breasts. “And I want you. We’re consenting adults; we have privacy and condoms. So what’s the hang-up?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I need to tell you something.”
She dropped her arms and took a step toward him; he took one in retreat.
“Russ…”
“Can we sit and talk?”
“You really want to talk? Now?”
“Yeah, you know. Get to know each other a little better.”
A confused sulk formed on her face as her arms dropped to her sides. “I don’t understand. I mean, you’re a guy.”
He had no idea what she was talking about. “What?”
“You’re a guy,” she said. “Guys never want to stop and talk.”
“This guy does.”
She shot him an incredulous frown before she sighed. “Fine. Let’s sit and talk.”
Russ buttoned his pants and picked up his shirt. After thrusting his arms in the sleeves, he pulled it closed and fastened a couple buttons.
Joslynn had turned on the lamp and was taking a good look around his mess of an apartment.
“Sorry,” he immediately said out of habit. “I’m not here much, and cleaning isn’t my thing.”
She didn’t comment, just picked up the clothes he’d left draped over the sofa and set them aside before taking a seat.
He was having difficulty reading her, partly because he still wanted her so desperately he was having a hard time holding on to his resolve that they should wait. What they could share as a couple—the future they might have together—gave him strength…and a thin thread of patience.