by Lori Foster
“Great.”
Josh sauntered back to the table and began loading both plates with corn on the cob, stiff mashed potatoes and biscuits. When he reached for the chicken, Amanda said, “A breast please.”
Josh glanced up, winked, and pulled out two crispy fried chicken breasts. “See, we’re already finding things we have in common.”
Amanda opened a paper napkin into her lap. “You think so?” After that phone call, she had serious doubts. While she avoided sexual conduct, Josh apparently embraced it.
“Absolutely.” He saluted her with his glass of cola before taking a long drink. “Drinks, music and we both love breasts.”
Amanda choked—and then amazingly enough, she laughed. Josh was so outrageous, it was impossible not to be entertained by him. He said and did things she’d never before imagined, much less experienced.
At the sound of her hilarity, Josh looked very pleased with himself. He sat down across from her, propped his head on a fist, and smiled. “I like your laugh,” he said in a low, rough timbre.
Amanda struggled to collect herself. These spontaneous losses of decorum were not acceptable. She just couldn’t seem to help herself with him. “Thank you.”
“It’s sexy.”
Knowing she blushed, Amanda rolled her eyes. “It is not.”
“Yeah,” he said, searching her eyes and disconcerting her, “it is.”
Refusing to be flattered, she scoffed, then shook her fork at him. “A woman can’t believe anything from a man on the make.”
Josh looked startled for only a moment, then he threw back his head and roared with laughter. Trying not to smile with him, Amanda ducked her head and primly, precisely broke her biscuit in half.
That only made him laugh more.
His lack of propriety was contagious, she decided, making her say outrageous things now. She shook her head but inside, she felt more lighthearted than she had in years.
She watched him continue to chuckle, pausing to wipe his eyes every so often and then bursting into new fits of mirth. And he kept looking at her, his expression tender and hot and happy.
No one had ever looked at her with quite that combination of feelings. Seven years ago, she’d been too young to inspire any real or complicated depth of emotion from males.
Since then, she hadn’t been interested.
Finally, he dropped back into his seat, his laughter having subsided into occasional snickers. He rested his clasped hands on his hard abdomen and gave her a fond smile. “You’re something else, lady, you know that?”
Something else, but what? She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Instead, she said, “We need you to pose for the shoot as soon as possible.”
He nodded, but said, “Have lunch with me tomorrow.”
With a forkful of potatoes halfway to her mouth, Amanda wavered. Did the man ever give the right answer, an answer she could anticipate? Likely not.
She put her fork down and leaned toward him. “But…we’re eating now! Or rather, I’m eating. You,” she accused, “are just sitting there watching me.”
“I like looking at you,” he said, as if it explained everything.
Amanda sat back, mimicking his pose. “Well I would like for you to give me some answers.”
“Shoot.”
That took her by surprise. She hadn’t expected his ready agreement, which was probably why he gave it. “Okay.” She bent a wary look on him, but his smiling expression didn’t change. “When are you free to meet with the photographer?”
“My schedule rotates. I’m off tomorrow, then not again until Saturday. I regularly work ten hour days, and this week it’s eight to six, so I’m really not up to photographers on a work day.”
Tomorrow would be a Tuesday, less busy than a Saturday, but… “I’m not sure the photographer can do it tomorrow.”
“No problem. I want to see the poses first anyway, to see what I’m getting into. I warn you, I’m not going to do anything dumb.”
Amanda rushed to reassure him. “We want the men to look appealing and sexy, not dumb. You don’t have to worry about that.”
He looked far from reassured. “I want to see the poses.”
“I don’t…how?”
“Meet me tomorrow for lunch,” he repeated, “and we can look over the photos you’ve already taken. It’ll give me an idea what type of pose I want.”
“The pose isn’t up to you.”
“Yeah,” he said, “it is.” He stared at her, implacable.
Amanda wanted to throw a chicken bone at him. “You’re just doing this to force me to have lunch.”
He neither denied nor confirmed that. “We can meet at Marcos. Are you familiar with it?”
“Yes.” It was a nice family-type restaurant in the center of town, accessible from just about anywhere.
“How about noon. Does that work for you?”
“No, it does not. My lunch break is at eleven.”
“Eleven’s fine. I’ll be there. Or would you rather I pick you up from work?”
Throwing a bone became a real possibility. “No,” she groused between her teeth, “I’ll meet you.”
“Great. Don’t be late, okay?” After all that, Josh sat forward and dug into his food.
He knew how to eat, she’d give him that. In the time it took her to eat a biscuit and about a third of her piece of chicken, he’d downed no less than two legs, a breast and a thigh, along with the remaining biscuits and potatoes and two ears of corn.
Amanda shook her head in wonder. “Do you always eat so much?”
“Lusting after you has given me an appetite.”
Her mouth opened, though she wasn’t sure what she’d say, and the phone rang again.
Dropping back in her seat, Amanda waited with a “here we go again” feeling of dread.
“Josh? Are you there, sweetie? No? Well damn. I’ve been thinking about you, about last week and how fantastic you were, and now I’ve gotten myself all worked up. I miss you, Josh. Let’s get together okay?”
And then, just in case Josh hadn’t understood that blatant insinuation, she added, “I need you. And I promise you won’t be disappointed. Bye-bye.”
Amanda rubbed her forehead.
Josh said, “You want me to see if I’ve got anything for dessert? There’s probably some ice cream in the freezer, or maybe a couple of cookies.”
Cookies? He hungered for snacks while women everywhere hungered for him. Without looking up she said, “No. Thank you.”
“Coffee then?”
Her throat felt tight, her stomach was in knots. Josh was a rogue—carefree and fun loving—everything she knew she’d never be, everything she’d learned early on not to be.
Did he have women begging for his favors all the time? Apparently, or he wouldn’t be able to so easily ignore them. She sighed. “I think I need to be heading home, Josh.”
He managed a credible look of hurt. “You mean after I bought and served dinner, you’re not going to help clean up the mess?”
Even mired in melancholy, she smiled. “Yes, all right.” Josh sat there and watched while she made quick work of sticking the two plates, two glasses and silverware into the dishwasher. Everything else went into the trash can in his garage. It took her all of two minutes, tops. “There. All done.”
“I was really wanting some coffee.”
His expression was that of a hopeful child, and she almost ruffled his fair hair. The man was too appealing for his own good, and he knew it.
She lifted her coat to slip it on. “We’ll probably pass a place on the way back to my car that’ll sell you a cup.”
He stood, his movements so deliberate and precise she found herself automatically stepping back. She caught herself and stopped, bracing for his approach.
“Josh,” she warned, watching him edge around the table and come closer and closer.
“Amanda.” He stopped directly in front of her, making her tip her head back to see him. His stance was loose, relaxed, b
ut his green eyes seemed warmed from within, giving away the intensity of his thoughts. A shadowing of beard stubble on his face lent the illusion of danger.
Ha! He was dangerous, with or without beard shadow, and Amanda knew it. So did her heart and her head—and her body.
Catching the lapels of her coat, he asked in a rough whisper, “If I kiss you, just a teeny tiny kiss, would you faint on me?”
He was so close she could smell his cologne again, mixing with the sexier earthy smell of man. Her stomach flip-flopped. “Uh…” She nodded dumbly. “It’s probable.”
He bent closer. “Let’s see.”
At the last second, Amanda remembered that this was a game to him. He’d set out to get her in his bed as retaliation for the way she’d pestered him about the calendar. Kissing her now would only be the first step in his campaign to have sex with her.
It would be pleasurable, she had no doubts on that, but still meaningless. Never could she let that happen.
She ducked away.
Josh caught her arm and pulled her back. “Okay, I won’t kiss you. But don’t run from me, all right?”
She looked pointedly at his hand on her upper arm. “I can hardly run with you restraining me.” She raised an eyebrow, waiting.
He had the grace to look sheepish. His hand opened wide and he held his arms out to his sides. “Sorry.”
Amanda stepped aside to pull on her gloves. Her heart still raced from his nearness, from the close call. What if she had let him kiss her? No!
“We’re not ending the night like this.”
That sounded so ominous, his tone disgruntled, that she whirled around to see him, half expecting him to pounce.
Josh cursed. “Damn it, I didn’t mean… Don’t look at me like that. I much prefer your laughter.” He ran a hand through his hair, putting it on end. “I just don’t want you going home upset. I want you to understand.”
“Understand what? That you intend to…to…have your way with me, no matter what it takes and no matter what I think of it?”
His eyes glittered, one side of his mouth curled. A second later he chuckled. “Have my way with you?” He laughed again and when she scowled, he said, “Okay, okay, don’t get all riled. Truth is, I want you to have your way with me. I promise not to resist too much.”
“You’re impossible.”
“Not so.” His smile epitomized masculine charm. “Hell, most women think I’m easy.”
“And do they call here around the clock?” Amanda snapped her mouth shut. She wanted to choke herself, to bite off her unruly tongue, to somehow call the words back. She’d sounded petulant. She’d almost sounded…jealous. Damn.
Hoping to retreat, she held up her hands. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“Oh, but I want to tell you.” He wore a taunting smile, which perfectly matched his mussed hair and the sinful twinkle in his beautiful green eyes.
“Take me home, Josh.”
“Spoilsport.” His sigh was exaggerated and profound. “All right.” He pulled on his leather jacket, but she saw his satisfaction. The jerk.
Once they were on the road, Josh reached for her hand. She didn’t have time to evade him. He squeezed her gloved fingers and said, “Tell me you at least enjoyed part of the evening.”
She shouldn’t. If she gave anything away, anything at all, he’d use it against her.
“Come on, Amanda. Stop being a coward. Admit it.”
“If I’m a coward then you’re a bully.”
“Just meet me halfway. A little admission, that’s all I want. For now.”
“All right, yes.” She made a feeble attempt to retrieve her hand, but he didn’t let go and she wasn’t about to make an issue of it. “I enjoyed myself. It was a novelty.”
“A novelty? You calling me odd?” He didn’t sound particularly insulted.
“No, I meant going out with a man at all, eating fast food, listening to music and…laughing.”
“It’s been a long time since you dated?”
Thinking the truth would make him understand her resolve, she said, “Seven years.”
He almost ran the car off the road. “Seven years!”
“By choice, Josh.”
He fell silent for a long time. “You’d have liked the kiss, too,” he eventually predicted, “if you hadn’t run scared.”
She believed him. There were times when she craved everything he now offered. But she’d learned the hard way that sexual frivolity could mean disaster. And she already had one disaster to make up for.
“It wasn’t fear, Lieutenant. It was self-preservation. I have no intention of becoming another conquest for you.”
“Those women who called?” He waited, but she refused to reply. She could hear the smile in his tone when he said, “I don’t consider them conquests. That’s dumb. They’re just women looking for a little fun, and I’m glad to oblige them. It’s a good arrangement.”
“A good arrangement?” she repeated.
He shrugged. “Yeah. Casual dates, Amanda, nothing more.”
She looked at him in amazement. “Casual dates do not do unspeakable things!”
His face twisted as he tried hard not to laugh, but he lost the battle. “Unspeakable things?” he guffawed. “Is that what you thought? Were you imagining some type of perversions in that active little mind of yours? What? Tell me Amanda. Did you think I dragged out the fire hose?” He kept laughing—at her expense.
“Shut up, Josh.”
He couldn’t. But he did lift her hand to his mouth to treat her knuckles to a tickling, chuckling kiss. “You are so funny. Unspeakable things.” He shook his head. When they pulled up to a red light, Josh shifted toward her. “I can promise you this, Amanda honey, when I get you into my bed, you’ll not consider anything we do perverted or unspeakable.” His tone dropped. “You’ll just enjoy yourself.”
“And then I’ll start calling your house begging for your favors? Don’t hold your breath.” She should have stopped there, but she heard herself ask, “How many women do you see anyway? A baker’s dozen?”
“As of right now, only one.”
Her heart plummeted. “Someone special?” Not that it should matter to her. It didn’t matter to her. Her association with Josh Marshall was based strictly on the calendar. Once the photo shoot was finished she wouldn’t see him again.
He pulled up next to her Beetle, put the car in park, then tugged her just a little bit closer. Looking at her mouth, he said, “Yeah, she’s special.” He touched her cheek, drifting his fingers down to her chin, to the sensitive skin of her throat. “And very soon, she’s going to tell me all her secrets.”
3
IT HAD BEEN the slowest morning of his life. The minutes had ticked by, and after a night fraught with erotic dreams of Ms. Amanda Barker, Josh’s temperament was on the surly side.
What was she hiding?
In between those smoldering dreams of naked bodies and wet mouths and soft moans, Josh had worried. He didn’t like to worry, and generally didn’t waste his time with it. But that was before he’d gotten involved with Amanda.
He’d already considered every unspeakable thing that could happen to a woman and every one of them made him madder than hell. Somehow she’d been hurt, and he hoped whoever had been to blame was still around so Josh could get a piece of him.
That is, if she ever fessed up.
Just the fact that he wanted to avenge her, that he wanted to protect her, was strange for him. As strange as the damn worrying.
Whenever he’d slept, she’d occupied his thoughts. When he woke, he could think of nothing but her fear, her reservation. Seven long years. Incredible.
In the darkest part of the morning, when the chill air had kept him beneath the blankets staring at the ceiling, Josh had contemplated what he’d do if Amanda never softened toward him. What if she continued to refuse him, if she wouldn’t let him help, if she went on in her isolated, cold lifestyle?
What if he never e
ven got to kiss her?
No, he wouldn’t think that way. She had softened already, and he’d build on that. Last night she’d even been enjoying herself, until…
He made a sound of disgust. It had been unfortunate, those two calls coming in when they did. Amanda had relaxed enough to chat with him, to even tease him some. Then the women had called.
He was cursed with bad timing.
The restaurant was mostly empty when Josh arrived ten minutes early. He peeked in, but since he didn’t see Amanda yet, he decided to wait for her by the door. The day was cool, but not overly so and the sun shone brightly. It was a day full of promise—and he intended to take advantage of it.
He was deep in sensual thoughts when a soft female hand tickled the back of his neck. Josh whirled—and came face-to-face with Vicki, one of the women who’d called the night before. He started to scowl, but then she laughed and threw herself against him.
“Josh! I fell asleep waiting for you to call me back last night! What did you do, stay out all night?”
Josh said, “No, I—”
She kissed him, her soft mouth opening on his with determination. Josh held her back. “Vicki,” he chided, “slow down.” Her full-steam-ahead enthusiasm, which had first attracted him to her, now seemed a problem.
She leaned into him, pushing her full breasts into his chest, looking at him through her lashes. With one finger stroking his chin, she whispered huskily, “Come over tonight.”
“I can’t.”
“I’ll make it worth your while.” Her smile made a number of promises, all of them heated.
Josh grinned. He truly loved women and the way they flirted and teased. “Sorry, babe, no can do.”
Now she pouted. And Vicki’s pouts were enough to bring a man to his knees. Luckily, Josh had become recently immune, thanks to Amanda.
“But why not?”
“Because as of yesterday—” he started to explain, and was interrupted from behind with a strident, “Excuse me.”
Wiping the cringe off his face at that recognizable voice, Josh looked over his shoulder and sure enough, Amanda stood directly behind him, primly dressed in a soft gray business suit and matching cape, her arms stiff at her sides, her mouth set.