“So deep dish pizza’s out, eh?”
“And everything else with more grease than protein.”
“Doesn’t leave much for a woman who says she likes to weigh her options.”
She stopped laughing.
Shit. Why’d he have to say that? “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. You’re entitled to your opinion. But I can’t let you, or anyone, push me into making a decision that’s not right for me.”
“As much as I enjoy a night out at the strip club, I find it hard to believe stripping’s a smart decision for anyone.”
Chapter Sixteen
Jenn’s stomach leapt into her throat. Greg had served up another opportunity to set the record straight, the second that day, and she couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t find the words that needed to be said.
She couldn’t lie, either. Not outright.
What did that leave? Even less than the limited menu choices she’d just given Greg.
Jenn chose her words very carefully. Each one had to count. Had to explain without flat-out saying she stripped. She walked a razor-thin line between bypassing the truth that might hurt her and telling an untruth that would surely blow up in their faces. “That kind of cash is hard to pass up with bill collectors knocking on the door.”
Did she manage to strike the right balance? She held her breath until he replied.
“You’re awfully hung up on money, aren’t you?”
“That’s what happens when you grow up without enough of it—something you’d know nothing about.” She heard the challenge in her voice and tried to soften the hit. “Your dad probably gave you a car for your sixteenth birthday.”
He gave a jerky nod. “Nothing special, though. It was a used Volvo.”
“I couldn’t even get my license until I’d saved up enough to pay for the tags and insurance on the beater Dad towed home from the junkyard. He had it running six months after my sixteenth birthday, but I was seventeen and three-quarters before I ever got to drive it.”
“So I come from money and you don’t.” His jaw clenched for a moment. “Does that really matter?”
“When it comes to us?” If there was an “us.” She wanted there to be. More than she ought to. “Not unless you make it matter. I’m not after your money.”
“I didn’t think you were.” He chuckled. “Anyone who fights wearing designer workout gear and brings back the change from an office supply run isn’t after cold, hard cash.”
“Glad we have that straight.”
“But, Jenn, there’s nothing wrong with having money.”
“Exactly what I was saying, remember? Stripping. Bills.” She stopped before she said something she couldn’t un-say.
“I guess I can understand that. I don’t have to like it, though.”
Where had she heard that before? She bit back a smile and seized the opportunity to change the subject. “That’s funny.”
“What?”
“You and your father are so much alike. What you just said sounded like what he said to you earlier. He respected your motives for calling Matt but didn’t understand them.”
“I’m beginning to realize I could do worse than grow up to be just like Big Jake.”
“Your father’s a good man. Just like you.”
“Thanks.” His smile was tinged with sadness. “You would have loved my mother.”
“I’m sure I would have.” She rested her hand on his knee.
“She’s a lot like you, you know.”
“So your father tells me.”
“He did?” Greg’s eyes were wide in the darkness.
She nodded, even as she gave herself a mental kick for bringing it up. This conversation was full of minefields. She paused while she tried to think of a way to change the subject yet again. She couldn’t exactly tell him Jake asked her to help him grow up. “Speaking of parents, mine would probably love you.”
“What’s with the ‘probably’? Why don’t we find out for sure?”
Talk about backfiring. “Y-y-you want to meet my parents?”
“Why not?”
“Because—”
Greg frowned. “You don’t have to worry about me embarrassing you. If it’ll make your folks uncomfortable, I won’t let on my father has millions.”
“And you, by extension,” she murmured absently. “It’s not that.”
Maybe it was, just a little. Greg wouldn’t intentionally set out to act snobbish, but he wouldn’t be able to help himself. His clothes, his bearing…everything about him reeked of money like a middle school girl who just discovered Love’s Baby Soft.
But that wasn’t the big reason she balked at taking Greg home to meet her parents. It was the pictures. Until she made him believe she was a twin, her parents’ place was off limits. Photos of her and Jess—together—were plastered all over the house. If he saw one of those before she told him the truth, it’d be game over.
It was time to clue him in. She knew that. And she would. She just wanted to be the sexy, desirable one for one more night.
“Jenn?” Greg watched her closely.
She refocused. Came up with a strategy to slam the door on talk of parents and money and everything else that had been going on. Her goal was to open another, sultrier one. “How about I call Mom and Dad tomorrow? Maybe they’ll agree to meet us for lunch.”
He shook his head. “Never mind. I don’t want to push.”
“Since when?”
He chuckled. “Okay. So I can be a little pushy.”
“A little?”
“I know what I want and I’m not afraid to demand it.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “You should try it sometime.”
His caress left a trail of heat in its wake. She leaned into his hand. This was right. The need to search for words fell away when they started speaking the language of love. Even better, he’d just opened the door by suggesting she ask for what she wanted.
This. She wanted this. Him. Wanting her. Jenn shifted to face him and splayed her hand on his chest. “Let’s go back to your place and see what comes up.”
“Great idea.” A slow, sexy grin lit his face. “You really need to ask for what you want more often.”
“You might be right.” She trailed her fingers down his torso to his stomach before primly folding her hands in her lap. “Start driving, boss.”
****
Ah, those laughing green eyes. Greg would never tire of Jenn’s sense of humor, or her delicious curves, or her spunky attitude. He laughed softly. “You’re cute when you’re bossy.”
One well-groomed brunette eyebrow arched. “Then why aren’t you driving yet?”
“In a sec.” He cradled her head in his hands and brushed his lips against hers. Her mouth opened immediately, so he invaded the warm, wet cave. She tasted like coffee and chocolate. She leaned into him, greedy for more.
Jenn’s ready response tempted him to get busy right here, right now.
While parked on a high-traffic street? Hello, headlines.
Thank God one of his heads was thinking straight. He cut off the kiss and thumped back in his seat. “How is it you can make me crazy and sane at the same time?”
Eyes still closed, she ran a finger over her kiss-swollen lips. “I don’t know.”
He took a few deep, centering breaths and then revved the engine. “Wanna know a secret?” When she looked at him and nodded, he grinned. “From this parking space, the office is closer than my apartment.”
Jenn’s shocked gasp temporarily drowned out the Eminem coming from the car stereo. “We can’t have sex in your office!”
“Sure we can. It’s the weekend, and it’s after eight. We’ll be the only ones there.”
Her mouth twitched like she was trying not to laugh. “I’ll rephrase that. We will not have sex in your office.”
“Okay.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Just know the delay is your fault.”
“If you’d started driving when I told you to, we’d a
lready be five minutes closer to your apartment.”
“Touché.”
He guided the car back onto the road and drove to his place as fast as he could. While he mentally cursed red lights, she called her parents to set up lunch.
“I admire you for that,” he said once she hung up the phone.
“For what?”
“The ability to think straight. All I can think about right now is getting you naked.”
Her laugh rippled through the car. “It was pick up the phone or start touching you, and I figured you didn’t need the distraction.”
“You’re right about that. It’s taking all my concentration to keep the car on the road.”
With that, he lowered his foot on the gas pedal. The sooner they got home, the better.
An agonizing thirty minutes later, they made it to the elevator of his high-rise apartment building. He wrapped his arms around Jenn and kissed her as if they’d been separated for years. When the elevator doors opened on his penthouse floor, they were both breathless. She looked dazed, so he took her hand and tugged her into the hallway.
Two minutes after that, he closed the door on the hall. Jenn stood beside him, all confusion gone. Her jade eyes were sultry with lust. Right now, they needed no words to communicate. He dropped his car keys onto the coffee table and settled his hands on her hips. Tugged her close. Settled her against his erection. She smiled and rocked her hips.
Too many clothes. They were both wearing way too much. He wanted her, naked—ten minutes ago. He scrambled to undo the button on her denim shorts and pushed them down, rough. Lacy green panties went with them, down to her ankles. She kicked free while she tried to divest him of his slacks.
He eased out of his pants and suit jacket and then finished stripping her. She was perfection. Her breasts, crowned with dusky pink nipples, were full and lush. She was the whole package: Flat stomach. Curvy hips. A nice handful of ass. Smooth, silky skin. Brains. A sense of humor. He trusted her. With everything he was and all his potential to be.
Then her fingers closed around his cock and all thought screeched to a halt. He ground out two words. “Bedroom. Now.”
She smiled and her eyes danced. “I thought you’d never ask.”
****
Jenn followed Greg down the hall. As frenzied as the build-up had been, she didn’t hold out much hope for her own personal happy ending. This was shaping up to be a “wham-bam” bang—and she was okay with that. More than okay. She’d take whatever she could get from this gorgeous golden god before the dreadful moment when he realized she wasn’t who he thought she was.
She shoved the thought aside. It had no place in the here and now. Greg was hers for the moment, and all she could count on was making the most of this moment. She dove onto the bed and he followed.
But instead of quick and dirty, he was slow and tender. He took his time. Concentrated every caress, every touch, every deep, meaningful look, on her. When he finally slid home, burying himself between her thighs, the pleasure was exquisite. She heard a whimper and realized it had come from her.
A chuckle rumbled from deep in his chest and radiated through her at every place they touched, especially where they joined intimately. “I’m not finished yet.”
“Don’t get cocky. I’m not either.”
“You will be,” he promised.
Somehow—God only knew how—he made good on his promise. Before he came, he pushed her over the brink. She dug her nails into impossibly broad shoulders and tumbled into an abyss of flashing lights and jumbled feelings. He was close behind. With one last, powerful thrust, he exploded. Then he pulled her close, his sweat-slick chest warm against her back.
Her laugh was shaky and she barely trusted her voice. “So that’s what it’s supposed to be like.”
“Every day.” His lips brushed her nape.
If only.
She wanted to believe. For now, she did. “Can I hold you to that?”
He laughed. “I hope you do.”
She fell asleep in Greg’s arms—and woke up the same way. Sunlight streamed into the bedroom, too bright to belong to the morning. She bolted upright. “Oh my God. What time is it?”
Greg sat up, too, and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He checked his watch. “Eleven-thirty.”
She cursed. “We’re supposed to meet my parents at noon. In Glendale.”
“Shit.”
She understood the sentiment. Glendale was a good forty minutes from Greg’s Scottsdale apartment. “You hop in the shower and I’ll call to tell them we’re running late.”
“Always organizing, aren’t you?” But he laughed when he said it, so she couldn’t be offended.
“Always.” She flashed him a grin. “You tell me I’m good at it.”
He jumped out of bed and bolted toward the bathroom. He tossed a reply over his shoulder. “Because it’s true.”
He might change his mind if he knew what a mess she’d gotten herself into. Jenn sighed and dialed her mother’s cell phone.
“Mom, Greg and I are running behind. Can you and Dad meet us at one instead?”
“Of course, sweetheart.” Her mother laughed. “I hope the sex was worth it.”
“Mom!” Jenn’s face burned.
“What? I certainly hope that’s why you’re running late.”
“We overslept is all.”
“Then you must have had a fantastic time last night.”
Good old Mom. Honesty was the best way to derail her one-track mind. “If you must know, yes.”
“Good for you, Jenn. It’s long past time you got in touch with your sexuality.”
She managed not to gag. Barely. Only by the grace of many, many years of handling such maternal comments did she know it was best to ignore them. “Thanks, Mom. So we’ll see you at one?”
“We wouldn’t miss it. I’m dying to meet the man who can make you gush.”
“I wasn’t gushing, Mom.” She hung up assailed by second—and third—thoughts about introducing Greg to her parents. Not everyone understood her mother’s frank talk. As for her father, no one was good enough for either of his princess daughters. “This has the makings of a disaster.”
Greg came back into the room then, rubbing his head with a plush ruby-colored towel. “What does?”
“You. Me. My parents.”
“Disaster over steak and cheese fries? Impossible.” He dropped the towel onto the bed and pulled her to him for a kiss. Beneath the identical towel at his waist, a certain part of his anatomy stirred.
Jenn flattened her hands against his chest and pushed. “I’m flattered, really I am. But I need a shower before we go.”
“Need any help?”
“In the shower?”
He nodded and his lips tipped into a grin. “I’m excellent at reaching those hard-to-reach spots.”
“I bet you are.” She laughed as she started for the bathroom. “But I need to take a rain check. We have to leave in fifteen minutes or less.”
Chapter Seventeen
Jenn retreated to the bathroom quickly, before she gave into the temptation to stay. They didn’t need to run any later. She stepped into the shower and turned on the spray. The steady stream pelted her neck and shoulders, massaging away the tension her muscles had taken on while she talked to her mother. As the tightness seeped out of her and swirled down the drain, she lathered up her hair and gave herself a pep talk.
“Your parents will love Greg and he’ll love them. Everything’ll be fine.”
“Sure I will. Anyone who produces a woman like you has to be good people.”
Greg’s sudden appearance startled her and she squealed. “What are you doing in here?”
“Checking to make sure you didn’t drown.” He pointed at his watch. “It’s been ten minutes.”
The water did seem cooler now than when she’d gotten in. “Sorry. I’ll be out in a second.”
She quickly rinsed her hair and toweled off. She rummaged in Greg’s dresser for the pric
ey yoga pants and tank top that had migrated there, along with half a drawer full of her stuff. Her two best suits hung in his closet, too, but they were more appropriate for work than a casual lunch with the folks.
“Ready,” she announced after she’d pulled on the workout gear.
“Let’s go.”
Soon Greg navigated his sports car through heavy Sunday traffic on the 101. His concentration left Jenn with her thoughts. And not one of them was positive. She couldn’t escape a premonition of doom.
Maybe she could head it off. “Greg, my mother is…blunt.”
“Like you.”
That was how he saw her? She squirmed in her seat. “Pushy.”
He chuckled. “Like me, then.”
“Anything can, and probably will, come out of her mouth.”
He turned his head slightly so she could see his eyes. His lips twitched. “By ‘anything,’ should I assume you mean sex talk?”
She nodded and squirmed some more.
“Relax, Jenn.” He squeezed her knee. “Did you forget I’m in a locker room eight months out of the year? I doubt your mother can come up with anything that will surprise me.”
“I hope that’s true.”
Still chuckling, he started regaling her with tales of shenanigans in the Condors locker room. All were decidedly raunchy; some were unbelievable.
“You really coated Luis’ jockstrap with Icy Hot?”
“I didn’t. But some jokester did.” Greg laughed. “When he put it on, he started hopping around and cursing in Spanish.”
Jenn imagined the lanky, dark-haired man she’d met at the home run derby doing just that, and she giggled despite her shock and horror. “That’s awful. How would you like it if someone did that to you?”
He shrugged. “They stuffed my locker full of rubbers. Hundreds of ’em came tumbling out when I opened the door during my first post-game interview.”
“What’d you do?”
“Turned it to my advantage with some offhand comment about my adventures in the bedroom.” His cheeks reddened beneath his tan. “That’s how the whole ‘Bartlesby’s Babes’ thing got its start.”
“So you didn’t sleep around?” She’d run across more than a few mentions of that club online, while researching for the derby. Not that it mattered to her how many women he’d bedded—much, anyway. In fact, she was pretty sure she benefitted from his experience. That still didn’t mean she relished the idea of sharing Greg with a crowd.
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