On the soft soles of her ballet flats, she climbed the steps and approached the control booth, her grin stretching as wide as the sun above her.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE MACHINE RUMBLED to life and John froze.
What the hell?
Gripping the lap bar, he hauled it up and stood. Sasha Todd gracefully skipped up onto the steel platform beneath the carriages. She was dressed in white shorts that revealed her long, slender legs and a simple red T-shirt. His breath caught. Did she have any idea how stunning she was?
She smiled, mischief glinting in her black eyes. “Sit down, John. Let’s take a ride.”
He blinked. “Are you crazy?”
“What’s the matter? Don’t you like rides?”
He tried and failed to muster some semblance of authority as the machine started to move. “No. Turn this thing off.”
She quirked an eyebrow and curved her fingers over the back of the carriage. “Yet you want to run this place? You can’t do that without knowing the fairground inside out. That includes the rides. Move over, I’m jumping onboard.”
Their eyes locked and once again, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. Why the hell did the woman managing the fairground have to be so physically arresting? God, he wanted to write about her. Describe her in words in a vain attempt to let the damn world know how unnervingly beautiful she was.
He lowered into the seat, steadfastly avoiding her gaze. He concentrated on keeping his pride in place and not giving in to the temptation to grip the bar again. The ride picked up speed and the carriage shifted as she hauled herself up and sat down next to him, pulling the lap bar down with her.
The distinct smell of something musky and sexy drifted as she tossed her long hair over her shoulders. The tendrils whispered across his cheek, and John closed his mouth, trapping the inconceivable urge to groan.
She wriggled her behind deeper into the seat and settled back with a sigh. “So...what’s the plan today? Enjoy the fair? Cook the books? Fire me?”
Attraction gave way to irritation, fueled by the nonchalance in her voice. “You do realize this thing is moving, right?”
She shrugged and glanced around before focusing entirely on him. “Sure. Now is as good a time as any to get acquainted, don’t you think?”
John swallowed. Jesus, her eyes are ebony-black, like two huge pieces of jet. He snapped his face forward. “Do you know something?” He slid his arm across the back of the carriage above her shoulders. “If you want to play some stupid game in a bid to annoy me, that’s fine. I’m the one in control here, whether you like it or not.”
“Is that so?”
He faced her. Her eyes blazed with anger, and he glared straight back. “Yes.”
“This isn’t about control. This is about me taking one look at you, sitting on this ride dressed for a wedding, and wondering how you think you’re going to run this place.”
He huffed out a laugh. “Wearing a suit dictates whether I’m capable of running the fairground? Wow, clearly you give me more credit for my clothes than my business acumen.”
She scowled and her cheeks flushed pink. John fought the guilt that knotted his gut.
He hated being snappy with any woman, and with Sasha his hostility didn’t sit well at all. The ride gathered momentum and they wove in and out for a few seconds. “I haven’t got time for this. We’re supposed to be in the office talking things out like adults.”
“Adults? Adults don’t hang up on each other midconversation.”
“Adults don’t talk to their bosses without respect. If you think you can speak to me the way you did last night, you’d better think again.”
She glared. “You still don’t get it, do you?”
“Oh, I get it. I get it completely. Kyle...”
The ride rumbled up another notch and the carriage shot forward with such force the remainder of his words were obliterated by the slipstream. Holy crap. They sped between the empty carriages at such speed, John had no choice but to slip his free hand onto the bar next to hers. He tightened his fingers along the back of the seat.
He glanced at her and scowled. She stared at his white-knuckled hand, her lips curved into a smug smile. She met his eyes. “All this tension and we’ve only just got going.”
He glared, focusing on her mouth rather than those damn eyes. It soon became clear her mouth was no safer option, but what the hell else was he supposed to look at? His gaze drifted lower—to her breasts—and he yanked his eyes right back up. No. Anywhere lower was out of bounds. “I’m not talking business with you whilst riding a damn fairground monstrosity like this.”
Her smile stretched to a grin. “Whilst? God, you are so British. Do you always speak this way or is it just for Freddy’s and my benefit?”
“Look, I want to know how the hell... Oh, God.” The ride lurched into an abrupt frenzy and took off at a speed to which no child under the age of sixteen should ever be subjected. John gripped the bar and held on for dear life.
Sasha’s scream of laughter bore a hole the size of the damn cove into his ego, but he’d be damned if he let go. Whoosh! They sped in between the carriages, barely missing a fatal head-on collision with each maneuver.
“Relax and enjoy the ride, Mr. Boss Man. It’s fun.” She lifted her hand from the bar and jabbed both arms high in the air. “Woo-hoo!”
“Are you purposely trying to emasculate me?” he yelled over the whizzing and screaming of the ride’s mechanical parts working at a ridiculous and feverish tempo.
“Emasculate you? Me?” She winked. “Never.”
Even as they went in for another sweep at breakneck speed, he couldn’t drag his eyes from hers. A smile tugged traitorously at his lips as adrenaline seeped into his blood. Her eyes were wide with childlike excitement; her bright teeth were straight and white with the sliver of a pink tongue barely showing within. He drank in the sight of her. God, she was something else.
“Cat got your tongue, John?”
A strange clunk rumbled through the mechanics and his burgeoning smile vanished. “What was—”
Her smile dissolved. “Oh, God.”
The excitement in her gaze was replaced with horror. She slapped her hands hard to the bar and held on. Dread dropped like a rock into John’s gut. This did not bode well.
“Here we go.” She gritted her teeth.
“Go? Go where?” John looked ahead.
Another rumble and the ride spun into free fall. Her hands ripped from the bar and she was flung into his side from the force of gravity whizzing around them. She smashed into his rib cage and the breath left his lungs. “Bloody hell.”
Instinctively, he dropped his arm to her shoulders, keeping her flush to his body for safety. He had no idea what he could do to protect her when it was clear an Amazon woman couldn’t have fought the pressure that had spun her slight frame across the seat at forty miles an hour.
“How the hell do we stop this thing?” he yelled.
“I don’t know.” Her jaw was set in consternation.
His eyes widened as he stared at her profile. “You don’t know.”
“I thought—”
“No, Sasha. Thinking was the last thing you did.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” She turned.
John stared into her eyes. An apology from her was the last thing he thought he’d hear. Not today, tomorrow or ever. Her hair blew back and forth across her face, her brown-black eyes wide and beautiful.
He grimaced. “So, this isn’t going according to plan, huh?”
Her gaze ran over his face to linger at his mouth. The ridiculousness of their situation gave way to physical awareness. The desire to kiss her filtered through his mind. To show her who was boss and stop this damn power play she had going on. His mouth went dry. What was she doing to him? This was not the plan at all. School was out for the summer and by the time the new semester started he’d be home and back at work where he belonged. Getting wrapped up in a woman, in Sasha, was not a
n option.
He tore his gaze from hers as they whipped to the other side of the ride once more. “I’ll have to stop it.”
“What? You can’t. How will you get out of the seat, let alone anything else?”
Reluctantly, he slid his arm from her shoulders and attempted to lever an inch or two of space between them. “Try to pull away from me. Just a little so I can stand.”
“Stand?” Her eyes widened to manic proportions. “Are you insane? Stay there. I’m not being held responsible for getting you killed.”
He gritted his teeth and fought hard against the insistent pressure of the pulsating gravity holding them tightly together. His ass lifted about two inches before the ride shot off in another direction, landing him back on the seat with a violent shudder that reverberated up his spinal cord. “Bugger.”
Her totally unfeminine snort and ensuing screech of hysterical laughter trembled through his body. They were well and truly glued to each other. His gut tightened as laughter tickled at the back of his throat. He turned and she looked at him with such delight, resistance was futile.
He tipped his head back and laughed harder and louder than he had in years.
* * *
SASHA COULDN’T DRAG her gaze from the totally masculine sight of his throat, faintly grazed with stubble, as the sound of his deep, toe-curling laugh hit her in the center of the stomach. The taut skin at his neck vibrated and the sensuous, joyous sound was captured on the wind and whisked into her box of memories before she could think to resist. She couldn’t wipe the wide and undoubtedly stupid smile from her face.
He met her eyes. His shone with unshed tears. Bright blue like sapphires in the sun. Christ, what was she thinking? Sapphires in the bloody sun? She whipped her head around. She had to get off this damn ride. “Maybe we should try shouting for Freddy?”
“What?” He smiled.
Damn. He was more handsome than ever when he smiled. She closed her eyes. “Freddy!”
The screech of metal against metal ricocheted around them.
His laughter abruptly stopped and his body—so damn tight to hers, his biceps pushed her shoulder—stiffened. “What was that?”
She opened her eyes and stared ahead. Looking at him was far too dangerous to her game plan of throwing him totally for a loop—not that the plan was going all that well so far. “We’re slowing down.”
“But how? Wait. Did you know this thing would stop eventually?”
She shook her head and nodded toward the control booth. “Look.”
He turned. The skewed image of Freddy showed behind the reinforced glass. “Thank God.”
She screwed one eye shut and grimaced. “Maybe I shouldn’t have—”
He stared for a long moment as the ride slowed before he lifted his arm from her shoulders and looked away. “You’re right. You shouldn’t have.”
Realizing she was still pressed up against him without any need, Sasha hurriedly scooted away, leaving a foot-wide gap between them. Her heart raced. Had he just dismissed her? She looked at his hardened profile as he glared ahead at God only knew what.
“Do you know something?” She pulled back her shoulders. “I’m glad I did this. I wanted to see you knocked off-kilter for a while. You’ve no idea what it did to me, having you turn up here yesterday.”
He turned. His eyes were midnight-blue with irritation. “And your response to that when you saw me sitting on this godforsaken ride was to pay me back by giving me whiplash?”
She bit back a smile. “Yes. Now I’m done.”
“You’re...” He shook his head and rolled his eyes heavenward. “She’s done. My God.”
They sat in strained silence as the ride took its merry time grinding to a halt. When it finally stopped, she leaned over and expertly released the mechanism locking the lap bar into place. She shoved it upward, heedless of the fact he still gripped it. When his shoulders audibly clicked with the force of his arms almost leaving their sockets, she grimaced again.
“Sorry.” She jumped from the ride and stormed toward the steps.
“Hey,” Freddy shouted behind her.
God damn it. She turned. “What?”
He lumbered toward her. “What? Is that all you have to say?”
Heat pinched her cheeks. She’d acted recklessly. Anything could’ve happened. She and John could have been stuck on there. The circuit could’ve caught fire. She closed her eyes. “Just leave it, Freddy.”
“What in God’s name were you thinking?”
“She wasn’t thinking, but that’s my problem, not yours.”
Sasha snapped her eyes open. John stood toe-to-toe with Freddy, their eyes locked in silent battle. Her heartbeat pulsed in her temple as the two of them faced off. She abhorred violence and hated anything remotely nasty or tainted. Why did things suddenly feel so much worse than they had since Kyle was locked up? Why had she started a fight with his son instead of playing nice and seeing what happened?
She cleared her throat. “Look, Freddy’s right. I shouldn’t have started the ride with no one controlling it. I was mad, and it was stupid.”
After a few seconds, John nodded, his eyes still on Freddy. “There you go. She’s sorry. Let’s leave it at that. Sasha and I have somewhere to go this morning, so I want you to get the staff organized for opening this afternoon. Okay?”
Sasha stared. Going somewhere? Together? Alone? “Where?”
John glanced at her. “Just a minute.” He turned to Freddy. “Okay?”
Freddy looked from him to Sasha, his suppressed anger showing in the reddening of his cheeks and inflating veins on his bald head. “Okay. I’ll see you when I damn well see you then.”
He flung a final scowl at her and John before stalking back toward the office. Sasha turned. John stared at her, his face a mask of angry determination. She swallowed. Her impetuous nature had once more turned around and bitten her in the ass.
“Well?” She forced her gaze to stay on his. “Where are we going?”
“Out.”
“Out where?”
He released his crossed arms and closed the space between them. Standing at around six foot two, he towered above her five foot six.
His gaze traveled over her face. “I don’t know anyone in this town. I don’t know about any competition, tension or who the hell Kyle’s enemies are. I need to know who, apart from you, is willing to pay good money to see me gone from Templeton before I’ve even had the chance for a cup of coffee in the local coffee shop. I want to know what I’m dealing with. You’re the person to help me with that.”
Unease rippled through her. “Why do you think I know Kyle’s enemies?”
“You’ve worked here longer than anyone. You must know what he used this place for.”
Revulsion swept a bitter taste into her throat. “I turn a blind eye to all that as much as possible. I hate what Kyle does. Hate it. I work here as manager only.”
“You really expect me to believe that?” He shook his head. “I don’t trust anyone with a connection to my father. That, unfortunately, includes you.”
“How dare you.”
He stared deep into her eyes for a moment before glancing over her head, his jaw tight. Sasha’s stomach knotted with traitorous attraction. God, he looked like a model standing there, all dangerous and brooding....
He narrowed his eyes. “I dare, because it’s beyond me how someone can claim to love something so much, but manage to tolerate a man who stepped on and then abandoned people whenever he wanted.” His eyes were an icy blue. “Who are you, Sasha? That’s what I want to know.”
He turned away, and she gripped his arm. “Wait.”
Anger seemed to burn from his skin, hot enough to scald her fingers through his jacket. Her hand slipped from his arm. A surge of unexpected sympathy rose behind her rib cage, and she quickly shook her head. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
He nodded stiffly before storming toward the office. Sasha remained welded to the grass. When he was out of sigh
t, she released her held breath and slumped. Now what? She didn’t want to be alone with him. That had never been part of the bargain. The frustration in his eyes from a moment before seeped into her conscience and lingered there, screaming with warning.
She sensed a pain as deep as hers in John...and that scared her. It took all her energy to fight the demons of her past and keep moving forward each day. She didn’t need the pull of caring about someone else. Especially not Kyle’s son, when it was Kyle who had unwittingly stopped her from bringing closure to her pain. Stopped her from winning a fifteen-year-old battle with Matt Davidson, the man who’d brought an end to her short-lived childhood.
She closed her eyes and her molester’s face taunted her from behind closed lids. In a single summer, his actions had tainted the fair and tarnished what Sasha held dear. Well, sooner or later she’d make it hers and she’d make it a good, clean place for all its future visitors. She’d make it a magical, fun-filled adventure, as it had been before him, before everything he made her do.
Opening her eyes, Sasha exhaled a shaky breath and strode toward the office.
CHAPTER FIVE
SASHA FOLLOWED JOHN into the graveled parking lot outside the Funland gates with her chin high and her decorum well and truly restored. She’d grabbed her bag from the office while John gave a glowering Freddy a few instructions. The lack of information about their intended destination had infuriated her equally as much as a spitting and angry Freddy.
Her gaze wandered and then stuck to John’s back as he marched ahead of her to his car. The temperature had risen and hovered at a pleasant eighty degrees. He’d removed his jacket and his broad, muscular back and strong shoulders shifted rhythmically beneath cotton as he strode forward. The guy’s butt didn’t look any worse in trousers than it did in denim—which initiated another tug on her already fraught nerves. Nerves that seemed constantly pooled in her damn panties.
What Belongs to Her (Harlequin Superromance) Page 4