by Cherry Adair
The windows of his Jag were steamed and so, apparently, was he.
“Where the hell have you been?” he demanded, slamming out of his car and following her to the front door.
Jessie unlocked the door but didn’t push it open. “I beg your pardon?” She had a feeling he was going to be the last straw of her day. Joshua stretched over her, pushing the door ajar and following her inside where it was blessedly warm.
“You heard what I said.” He started unbuttoning her kelly-green wool coat as soon as the door slammed shut behind them.
“Yes, but I didn’t believe my ears,” she said crossly, too tired to move. He was awfully quick with those buttons. The back of his fingers brushed her breasts and her nipples stood up to attention. “Did you need me today?”
“What’s wrong with...” he started, obviously perplexed by her waspish attitude. Until he saw the condition of her jeans and sweater as he drew off her coat. His pale eyes narrowed. The jeans had been old to start with. They had merely attained an extra patina of real hard work this afternoon. The poor sweater was another matter. Ripped and mangled, it was going to be fed into the trash as soon as she had the energy to do it.
“Who did this to you?” Joshua demanded with deadly calm, carefully drawing the tattered sweater over her head. Jessie couldn’t hold back the wince as the sleeve pressed against her arm.
For the last several hours, on the drive home, Jessie had fantasized about a long soak in a hot bath, not an interrogation. She looked up at his hard face, curious to see his reaction. “Billy,” she said sadly.
“Billy?” Joshua repeated coldly as he paused in his perusal of her Technicolor ribs.
Jessie sighed. “Bucking Billy. The cad. The horse,” she emphasized, only because she was too tired to clobber him. “He has no idea how to show a lady a good—”
“Billy is a horse?”
Jessie gave him a dirty look. It was weak, but still, she hoped, conveyed her feelings on the subject. “Didn’t we make a verbal agreement the other night?”
“Yes,” Joshua ground out.
“Well then, why would you think I’d be the first to break it?” You big jerk!
“Excuse me,” he said stiffly. “I forgot your propensity for danger.”
The most dangerous thing Jessie could think of right now was their proximity to the kitchen with its myriad sharp instruments. She sighed. Murdering him now would make life so complicated. Besides, she’d need energy for that. She heaved another put-upon sigh.
Joshua gave her an odd look. “Have you seen a doctor?” He did both a visual and tactile search, his hands cool and unbelievably gentle as they skimmed her body. His eyes were hot and hard. “Do you need to see a doctor?”
“No and no.” She needed more than his impersonal fingers on her skin. Jessie looked up at him. “I don’t know the procedure here. What am I supposed to do when I want you to hold me? Do I have to wait for sex?” She saw his lips twitch. “Because, believe me, as much as I loved what we did on Saturday night, I have to tell you I don’t think...”
“Oh, I think I can handle a little light touching without resorting to my basic animal instinct to throw you down and have my wicked way with you.”
His touch was gentle as he wrapped his arms around her, but Jessie had never felt anything as wonderful in her life. His firm lips brushed hers. Too lightly, too slowly.
Jessie deepened the kiss herself. What she lacked in experience, she made up for with enthusiasm. Her tongue explored his mouth, and he groaned, holding her more tightly. Jessie moaned. In pain. He quickly let her go.
“I heal quickly,” she promised.
“I hope so,” Joshua said dryly as he carefully swung her up in his arms and headed for the stairs. Jessie gave a muffled squeak as she went from vertical to horizontal.
“Why do you think I stayed away from you for three days?”
Jessie rested her aching head against his chest. Because you’re so darned perverse? “I thought you’d lost interest,” she said so quietly that when he didn’t answer right away she thought he hadn’t heard her.
“I left town before I was reduced to mauling you on the floor again.”
“You didn’t maul me.” Jessie was indignant. How like a man to take all the credit.
Joshua turned on the landing, heading for the bathroom. “If I’d known what you’d get up to while I was gone I’d have—”
Jessie stiffened. “Yes?”
“I’d have said, be careful.” He’d backtracked. Smart man. Jessie relaxed against his broad chest. She’d never been carried anywhere in her life. It felt wonderful.
He leaned over, turning the handles, and water gushed into the claw-footed tub. “Damn. You’re black and blue all over. Why can’t you have a nice, quiet little hobby like...needlepoint?” He sighed.
“That doesn’t say a whole heck of a lot about my charms,” Jessie said, imagining what her battered body must look like, yet too exhausted to move as he undressed her as if she were three years old. The bathroom rapidly filled with steam. “The water’s going to overflow.”
“I’m not making love to a woman who can barely stand.” He turned off the taps when the tub filled to the perfect depth. The man could be annoyingly precise.
“I could lie down,” Jessie offered. “The bath mat’s soft and fluffy.”
Joshua shook his head in amusement. “I’ll take a rain check. Tell me about Bucking Billy. In.”
She stuck a finger into the water. “Too hot.” He turned on the cold. Jessie stood there, letting him look at her bruised, battered, goose-bumpy body, thinking perhaps she’d fallen on her head. Because having Joshua look at her like this was more arousing than embarrassing.
“Unfortunately Billy had seen my likes before. He was no gentleman. I managed to stay on for three seconds. It felt like three years. He couldn’t resist a challenge, either.”
Joshua frowned. He was very close, and she noted how the steamy bathroom intensified the scent of his cologne. Her pulsed started throbbing. She hoped he’d kiss her. She hoped she had the energy to pucker up when he did. The timing was still right, maybe she could work up the energy...
At some point he’d shut off the water. “Bucking Billy won.” Jessie wanted to enjoy the hot, steamy water; unfortunately, she was just too darn tired to move. She gave Joshua a pleading look, and he took her hand and assisted her into the high-sided tub.
“Ow-ow-ow,” Jessie wailed as hot water met abraded skin. She didn’t feel the least like being brave tonight.
“Needlepoint,” he said grimly, picking up the washcloth slung over the spout. Jessie slid inch by inch under the water, and watched him froth the terry with peach-scented bubbles.
“Boooring.”
Joshua ran the soapy cloth over her chest. She glanced down. Her hard nipples poked out of the water. She glanced up. Joshua had noticed. Would he do anything about it?
“Close your eyes.”
Jessie looked up at him. “Why?”
“I’m going to wash your face. Close, you stubborn woman.”
Jessie closed her eyes. The peach-scented cloth drifted across her cheeks, over her nose, climbed her forehead, then brushed down to her throat.
“Wait,” he warned before she opened her eyes.
Jessie kept her eyes closed. It felt nice this way. Warm water lapped at her skin as Joshua carefully rinsed her face. She didn’t bother opening her eyes again.
She could feel each one of his strong fingers beneath the soapy terry cloth as he washed her throat, then slid down to sweep across her collarbones.
He swore, obviously coming across more bruises. “I hope they sent this nag to the glue factory.”
Jessie’s lids weighed a million pounds each. She had throbbing parts and colored parts and scraped parts, and they w
ere all telling her to shut down and sleep. “He’s a nice horse.”
“Yeah, right.” His hand shifted to her nipples. Ah. Her nipples perked right up at the attention. Other body parts started coming to life, too. She shifted without opening her eyes, water lapped the edge of the tub. She didn’t hear any water splashing the floor, so Joshua must’ve absorbed the overflow. Her lips twitched. “Are your pants wet?”
“Yes.” He sounded amused.
Jessie blinked her eyes open. He was very close. His pupils had dark blue around the edges. “You could get naked, and come in here with me.” It sounded a lot more needy than she liked. “Never mind. I’m not up to any fun and games tonight anyway—oh, that feels great.” The washcloth was gone and his slick bare hand was doing cleanup duty on her, apparently, very dirty nipples.
“Like that, do you?”
“Hmmm,” she moaned. Her lax body slid farther down into the hot water. Joshua’s steadying hand braced at the back of her head was the only thing preventing her from drowning. The fall from Billy, combined with the long drive back in the dark, had drained all her resources. She felt punch-drunk and silly and overwhelmingly glad Joshua was here with her.
“This is the second time I’ve been naked,” Jessie mumbled sleepily. Joshua chuckled as his soaping hands smoothed across her breasts and did an intoxicating slip and slide over her nipples. She wanted to purr.
“In your whole life?” He sounded so amused, she opened one eye.
“In your whole life.” She yawned. “You’ve only seen me naked once before. Mmm, that feels wonderful.” She spat out a soap bubble as he scooped water over her skin. Runnels of hot soapy water tickled her breasts.
“I’m going to be seeing you naked a million more times, Jessie,” he promised. “Preferably without these.” Underwater, his finger traced a bruise on her ribs. It was a sweet sensation.
“He took me literally, darn it.”
“Who?”
“God. When I was a kid I prayed my boobs wouldn’t get as big as my mother’s. She was huge.” Jessie yawned as Joshua chuckled. “I should have waited a few more years until I was a little bit bigger before asking.”
“You’re perfect just the way you are,” he said huskily, his breath fanning her damp face. “Any more would be excessive.”
There was something she’d wanted to tell him, but the steamy combination of the water and the unbearably gentle touch of Joshua’s hands made her forget what it was. She’d wanted to say...
She was asleep.
Joshua watched her face as he finished bathing her. He’d showered with women before. He’d bathed with women before. But they’d always been wide-awake and responsive. Washing Jessie as she slept was a novelty. Her cheeks had pinked up from the steamy heat. Her ridiculously long, black lashes lay still and spiky on her damp cheeks. Her sweet mouth curved with a faint smile.
Joshua bent his head and brushed his mouth over hers. Her lips were moist and softer than anything he’d ever touched. Sleeping Beauty, he thought fancifully.
Her sweet breasts seemed to float on the water, the nipples soft and as petal pink as her lips. He brushed a finger across one velvety nub. It tightened in response. “Damn it, Jessie—”
Never before had he wanted a woman so much. So why did it feel so good simply to watch her sleep?
* * *
SHE LOOKED HER usual bright and perky self the next morning as she walked into the kitchen, haphazardly rolling up the sleeve of a man-style white shirt she’d tucked into her jeans.
Her eyes widened when she saw him sitting at her kitchen table. “Well, good morning,” Jessie said cheerfully, clearly surprised to see him. She was no more amazed than he’d been. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d spent the night beside a woman, not making love. And despite three cups of coffee this morning, he was still trying to figure it out.
“Let me,” he said standing up and crossing the room, just wanting to touch her. She extended her arm, and he brushed the sleeve down before neatly folding it up to her purple elbow. Jessie’s eyes twinkled as she extended the other arm. Her skin felt warm from her shower and she smelled of shampoo.
She’d put her damp hair up in a lopsided ponytail, which had dripped a damp spot on her shoulder. He noted her total lack of makeup. Any other woman would have rushed to the pots to cover the bruises. For just a second he contemplated Jessie’s clear skin and candid brown eyes. There was not a shred of artifice about this woman.
“How do you feel?” He traced her cheek with a stroke of his thumb. She smiled.
“Terrific.”
“Terrific?” Joshua handed her a cup of coffee. She gingerly sat down, easing her body into the ladder-back chair. The pine table wobbled, despite the matchbook under one leg.
“How can you feel anything but god-awful? You’re black and blue and must hurt like hell.”
“Oh, this is good.” Jessie almost inhaled her coffee. “Of course it hurts. But I still feel terrific. The bruises and stuff are just a blip on the screen. I had so much fun yesterday, it was worth it.” She splashed more caffeine into the purple mug with a red ladybug on it, before she got up to hang on the open refrigerator door like a kid after school. “Wanna share cold pizza?”
Joshua glanced at his Rolex. “It’s 7:15 a.m.”
Jessie grinned over her shoulder. “And that means...?”
“Usually people eat cereal in the mornings.”
“I eat cereal at night.” Jessie took out a large rather greasy box, sliding it onto the table between them. There was one slice left. She looked up at him, her eyes dancing. “How do you feel about leftover spaghetti?”
CHAPTER FIVE
IT WAS A GOOD THING she wasn’t prone to excessive drinking or tantrums. Jessie swallowed two aspirin, more for the Joshua-size headache than for her cramps, and glared at the calendar.
She wasn’t pregnant.
Her cycle had always been erratic, but there was no mistake. The disappointment felt like a physical blow to her chest. Her throat had felt tight with unshed tears for hours.
The times with Joshua were becoming more and more like real dates. She didn’t want to date the blasted man. It seemed Fate conspired against her, as if the gods were challenging her to get to know him before they allowed her a child.
Jessie walked downstairs into her studio. She knew all she wanted to know about Joshua Falcon. He was impatient, arrogant, dictatorial and rude. He was also generous, insightful and an incredible lover. She groaned. She had told the guys the relationship with Joshua wasn’t personal, but it was becoming more personal by the day.
She didn’t like it. He had one purpose for being in her life, and one purpose only. She couldn’t lose sight of the whole point of this exercise. There was no use weeping and wailing and pounding her breast. If she wasn’t pregnant, she wasn’t pregnant. Yet.
She’d keep doing it until she got it right.
She stepped back from the samples she’d propped on the three-hundred-year-old refectory table she’d bought for a song and refinished herself. Arms folded, she critically eyed the wallpaper and fabric combination, visualizing it all in conjunction with everything else in the client’s living room.
Her own home was decorated in the primary and secondary colors she loved. The sunshine-yellow canvas sofa was strewn with plush pillows in blues and reds and parrot green. Various clay pots held grasses or twigs. A large brass spittoon on her drafting table held the mixed bouquet of iris and daffodils Joshua had sent her a few days ago. The cottage was a comfortable blend of antiques coupled with a very modern drafting table and her computer, which she’d used to prop up the enormous wallpaper sample book.
The client, a retired dentist, wanted Victorian and Laura Ashley. Jessie slowly walked backward, her hands framing the still life on her desk, her head tilted. “P
erfectomundo!” She stepped back and walked smack into a hard body. “Joshua.” She turned into his arms, lifting her face.
His mouth came down hungrily on hers as he angled her head for a perfect fit. Jessie wound her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. She made a soft sound of pleasure as his hands slid under her flannel lumberjack shirt and found bare skin.
She’d given him a key last month, the day after Billy, although this was the first time he’d used it.
She savored the feel of his fingers against her skin as his large hand skimmed up her back. “What are you doing here?”
“If it’s not obvious then my technique is lacking something,” Joshua said dryly. “I came to invite you to dinner. How about Japanese tonight?”
“Great.” Jessie unwound her arms. It was becoming too easy to be touched by him. Far too enjoyable to have his mouth explore hers. She strolled across the room, then plunked down in her seat and hit the save button on her computer. “I love Japanese.” She looked up at him. “I actually thought it would be hard to fit in with your rarefied lifestyle, but it’s not all bad.”
“You’d put up with the paparazzi and other hoopla for the food alone.”
“The travel benefits aren’t bad, either.” She wanted to touch him but rested her fingers on her keyboard instead.
“Good, because we’ll be eating that Japanese meal I was talking about in Tokyo.”
She should have realized, with Joshua, nothing was quite that straightforward.
“Not we, Joshua.” Jessie closed the wallpaper book before turning from her computer, resting her arm along the back of her chair. In a dark business suit, with a teal tie and his hair brushed back, he looked immaculate, efficient and cool. As usual. She knew she must look like hell with her hair haphazardly piled on top of her head and anchored with a couple of pencils. She wore no makeup and was dressed in black leggings and her favorite red-and-black plaid shirt which came to her knees. She hadn’t expected him. Usually at this time of the morning he was entrenched in his office in the city.