by Anne Rainey
“Here, let me help.”
Leo’s strong, warm hands closed around her waist and he lifted her in the air. He’d done it hundreds of times, but for some reason it felt different this time. More intimate. When he placed her on the bench seat their gazes clashed. Leo had the most amazing green eyes. She found herself unable to look away. “Thanks,” she murmured.
He didn’t move to shut the door. Merely stood there, staring at her…mouth, she realized. “You’re welcome,” he growled. Was he thinking about the kiss? Suddenly he stepped back and slammed the door. When he got in behind the wheel, Amanda stayed silent. No idea at all what to say, she surreptitiously peeked over at him. Her gaze landed unerringly on his thighs, then traveled upward to the fly of his jeans. And that’s when she knew the truth.
He was hard again. Hard for her. Oh, wow.
This is not real. We aren’t actually dating. Stop checking out his cock for crying out loud.
All the chastising wasn’t helping a damn bit though. The truth was there in plain sight. Leo had a hard-on for her. Why? Amanda wanted to ask. Be bold enough to simply blurt it out. They were friends, weren’t they? They’d known each other for years. They talked about everything. Well, everything except sex. And they were about to go away for the weekend.
They’d be together.
In the same cabin.
“You’re thinking it to death, aren’t you?”
The sound of Leo’s deep voice broke through her musings. “Huh?”
With both of his hands wrapped around the wheel, Leo spared her a quick glance. “Amanda, I can practically feel your panic. Why are you so worried about this?”
She turned in the seat so she could get a better look at him. Sure enough his cock was still a long, hard length beneath his jeans. She licked her lips. “It’s not that I’m worried.” He snorted, knowing her well enough to catch when she was covering. “Okay, I’m a little worried. This could end up being really weird for both of us. Beyond that, I’m not sure Mother will buy it. She’s very good at getting to the truth, especially with me. On the other hand, I’ve never been good at lying to her.”
“She won’t see through us.” Amanda stayed silent. Leo reached over and took her hand in his. The feel of his fingers, so big and warm, teased her senses. “I thought I proved to you on Wednesday that we could make it look plenty real.”
“As to that…” Amanda hesitated, unsure how to broach the topic of his erection.
His hand tightened. “Yeah?”
“You, um, got excited when you kissed me.” Amanda studiously kept her eyes on his face.
Leo cleared his throat and released her hand. He pushed his fingers through his hair, making a mess of the dark, shiny strands. Amanda had an urge to push her own fingers through Leo’s gorgeous hair. “Excited. Yeah, that’s one way to put it.”
She frowned. “Well, how would you put it?”
He made a left hand turn. “Turned on,” he bluntly stated. “Aroused. Hard as a damn rock. Ready to push you against the wall so I could get a better taste.”
Amanda’s face burned as an image of him doing exactly that filled her mind. The burn suddenly moved south and she couldn’t breathe, let alone reply.
Leo turned into the parking lot of one of their favorite Italian restaurants. He found a spot near the front and took it, then killed the engine. When he looked over at her, Amanda was hit with the full force of his arousal. She wasn’t the only one thinking naughty thoughts. That made her feel better. It also scared her. Leo was her friend. He was important to her. Tossing sex into the mix was sure to be a bad idea.
“I know. It’s crazy,” he said, as if reading her mind. “We’ve been friends so long that it feels…odd to suddenly be attracted to each other.” He reached out and took her hand again. This time he entwined their fingers, and Amanda felt a jolt of pleasure run up and down her spine. “I don’t want to run from this or pretend it’s not there. In fact, I’d like to see where it could go. Aren’t you a little curious?”
She let her gaze land on his fly again. Jeez, the man was big. “Yes, I’m curious,” she admitted, tearing her gaze away from him. Looking out the windshield, she noticed a man and woman walking into the restaurant. They were holding hands. Amanda stared as the middle-aged guy held the door for the pretty redhead. When he leaned down and kissed the top of the woman’s head, Amanda sighed. It was such a sweet gesture, so loving. Amanda had had nice relationships with men, but she’d never felt cherished or loved. The pang of jealousy that zipped through her in that moment wasn’t a good feeling. I’ll have that someday, she told herself. In the meantime…
“Promise me one thing, Leo.”
“What is it, sweetheart?”
“Promise me that if we explore this, this…oh whatever it is that’s going on between us, and it doesn’t work out that we’ll still be friends.”
Leo leaned across the seat and cupped her cheek in his palm. “You aren’t going to lose me. No matter what happens in Lake Tahoe, we’ll go right back to arguing over which movie to watch on Friday night the instant we come back. Deal?”
“Deal.” Then she glanced at his lap again and grinned. “Until we get to the exploring part, you might want to think about stock quotes or something equally as boring. Otherwise you’re going to give all the waitresses in there something to gossip about.”
Leo chuckled. “What can I say? That outfit you’re wearing is doing a real number on me, sweets.”
She waved a hand in the air. “Stop it. I want to eat. I’m hungry.”
“Me too,” he grumbled, glancing down at her chest. “That’s half the problem here.”
Amanda’s nipples tingled from the touch of Leo’s gaze. She tried to laugh, to keep things light, but it was forced. Truth was, she didn’t feel like laughing. She felt like doing some of that exploring Leo mentioned.
Waiting until they were in Lake Tahoe was going to be hell.
Chapter Three
Leo reached over the arm separating his seat from Amanda’s and pressed his hand against her jean-covered thigh. The thigh that wouldn’t stop shaking. They’d been in the air for a little more than twenty minutes, and she had yet to relax. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?” Amanda swatted at his hand, but Leo wasn’t about to move away. He liked the feel of her too much. He squeezed. Damn, she had such soft thighs. He wanted to know what they felt like without the jeans. Skin on skin. Christ, why couldn’t he stop thinking of Amanda’s curvy body? Since the moment his lips touched hers in the backroom of her bookstore, Leo had been hard as a rock and ready for action. She intrigued him. That’s all it was. Had to be. They were friends, and he’d never allowed himself to see her as anything else. That kiss had opened a door. One he wasn’t sure he wanted closed.
He let his hand travel up and down, massaging her, attempting to soothe her frazzled nerves. Damn, no one should be this nervous over a family reunion. What the hell were her parents like anyway? He’d never met them face-to-face. For damn sure Amanda’s attitude wasn’t giving him a cozy feeling. “Fidgeting.”
She stilled and took a sip from her ice water. “I wasn’t fidgeting,” she mumbled after swallowing the rest of the cold liquid. Setting the plastic cup back on the tray, she settled back and closed her eyes.
“Was too, but there’s no reason to be nervous. We’ll be there before you know it, sweetheart. Everyone will get to see that you’re head over heels in love. Your mom and dad will stay off your back and we’ll get a nice little break from work.”
She sighed and relaxed a little more. Leo kept his hand on her thigh, loath to break the connection. “I hope you’re right.”
He tsked. “I’m always right. I could’ve sworn you knew that.”
Her eyelids popped open, and she turned to stare up at him. “You weren’t right the time that mouse made its way into my kitchen. You said it wasn’t necessary to kill it. You put it outside and repaired the hole, remember?”
Leo smacked her thigh lig
htly. “You had to bring that up, didn’t you?”
She pointed a finger at him. “It came back and brought friends. I had a heck of time getting rid of those suckers.”
He watched as she smiled at him, as if in triumph. He wasn’t defeated yet though. “Okay, so, besides that one time, I’ve always been right.”
“Name one time and I’ll feel better.”
Amanda crossed her arms over her breasts, drawing his attention to the large globes. Damn, the woman could sure fill out a T-shirt. He cleared his throat and tore his gaze away from the tempting sight.
Leo had to think about it, partly because his mind kept bringing up images of Amanda’s tits, naked. Did she have small pink nipples or large mauve colored tips? Damn, he wanted to find out. He ached to wrap his lips around one and suck while he teased the other. Would she moan for him? Amanda was his best friend and by far the finest woman he knew, and all he wanted to do was strip her naked and spend the entire weekend in bed. He felt like a jerk.
Bringing his mind back to their conversation, he said, “That guy you dated, Jerry something or other. I told you he was a horny ass-wipe and that he only wanted in your pants. I was right. You broke up with him like a week later. Remember?”
“Oh, I’d forgotten about Jerry. Well, not forgotten, exactly. More like blocked him out.” She laughed. “He had so many hands I couldn’t keep up with him.”
Now that he thought about it, Leo had an urge to track Jerry down and kick his ass. A woman didn’t deserve to be treated like a piece of meat. Then again, hadn’t he just been thinking of sucking her breasts? Who the hell was he to judge? He wasn’t any better than Jerry. Damn. Leo forced himself to take his hand off her thigh, putting some distance between them. “So, I win. Which means you have to listen to me when I say all will be fine.”
Amanda smiled. “Okay, you win.”
“Now relax and enjoy the rest of the flight. We should be there soon.”
“Oh, by the way, my parents are meeting us at the airport. I-I told them about you.”
“You told them I was your boyfriend?”
She nodded and bit her lip before replying, “And that you’ve been prodding me to get engaged.”
Engaged meant gold rings with sparkly diamonds. “Shit.”
“What?” Amanda straightened in her seat and clutched her hands together in her lap.
Leo reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I don’t have a ring for you. A guy who’s in love and wants to get engaged would have a ring ready and waiting for when his woman says yes. Wouldn’t he?”
She frowned. “We’ll say we’re waiting to pick it out together. That’d work, right?”
“Yeah, that’s good.” Leo sighed. “Damn, this lying stuff is hard.”
Amanda laughed. “And neither of us is very good at it.”
Leo was struck by the way her laughter changed her facial features. Her eyes slanted a little, and laugh lines appeared at the corners. She’d always been pretty to him, but when she laughed he couldn’t look away. As if the sound had some magical quality. A magic only she seemed to possess. Had he ever laughed with the women he took as lovers? Probably, but he’d never wanted to say things to them just to hear their laughter. With Amanda he went out of his way to make her smile, to watch her let down her guard. It made his day when that happened.
At that moment the pilot announced they were about to land. Leo and Amanda both held their breaths. This was it. No going back. He’d be forced to kiss her, hold her hand, pretend to be her lover and do it all without screwing up their friendship. No problem.
As they entered the airport, Leo felt Amanda stiffen beside him. He followed her gaze and noticed a woman striding briskly toward them. She had blonde hair like Amanda’s, pulled up into a twist of some sort. Petite, delicate and frowning. It was the frown that did it. It made her appear unapproachable. Amanda might have her mother’s blonde hair, but as far as Leo was concerned, there’s where the similarities stopped.
“Amanda, dear.” She gave what appeared to be a forced smile, then hugged Amanda. If you could call the quick, loose embrace a hug. What the hell kind of greeting was that? She acted more like a stern schoolteacher rather than a mother greeting a daughter she hadn’t seen for a year.
“Mother,” Amanda said, her voice crisp as she stepped back, spine ramrod straight. Leo wrapped an arm around Amanda’s middle and pulled her in close. She relaxed, but not nearly enough to satisfy him.
When her mother’s gaze landed on the hand he had on Amanda’s waist, the forced smile disappeared. “Care to introduce me, Amanda?”
Amanda cast him a wary look. “Mother, I’d like you to meet Leo Prentice. He and I are…”
As Amanda stalled out, Leo came to her rescue. “We’re going to be married. Just as soon as I can talk her into it, that is.” After dropping that little bomb, Leo smiled and extended his hand, hoping to soften the woman a fraction. If anything she appeared colder—and she didn’t take his hand. Feeling like an idiot, Leo dropped it. Damn, cold didn’t begin to cover it. Amanda’s mother was a big old blast of arctic wind. He was more puzzled than ever how such an uncompromising woman could give birth to someone as warm and loving as Amanda.
She crossed her arms over her chest and arched a brow. “Pleased to meet you, Leo. I’m afraid Amanda has told me very little about you. What do you do for a living?”
“Mother, we can talk about all that later. It’s late and we’re anxious to get out to the cabin.”
“Of course, dear.” She put one hand on Amanda’s arm and led her down the long corridor. “Your father is in the car. He hasn’t been feeling well lately, and this heat is getting to him, I’m afraid.”
“He’s okay though?”
Leo heard the fear in Amanda’s tone and immediately wanted to take it away. He didn’t like seeing her worried.
“It’s just his age. A simple cold takes weeks to get rid of these days.” She spared Amanda another of those scolding glances. “We’re not getting any younger, Amanda.”
Amanda sighed. “Yes, I know, Mother.” She paused before adding, “Has Dad seen a doctor?”
“Yes, although he refused at first. He can be quite stubborn.”
Leo grinned at that. “So, it runs in the family then.”
For a second the woman smiled, and it appeared completely genuine. Just as quickly it was gone. “You’ll see that you have to be strong if you hope to have any say in this family.”
“Thanks for the advice, Mrs. Harding. I will be sure to remember it.”
“Call me Ruth,” she said, surprising him further.
“Okay, Ruth it is then.” Leo looked over at Amanda. There was no mistaking her expression for anything other than total shock. Leo winked and grinned. Amanda rolled her eyes, but he noticed she did smile back. Good. He much preferred to see her smiles.
The drive to the cabin proved mentally exhausting. Amanda’s father had a million damn questions for him. Finally, Amanda put a halt to the third degree and Leo was only too relieved. It wasn’t until they were dropped at the door that Leo realized Amanda’s father never corrected him when he’d called him Mr. Harding. Christ, he was definitely going to have his work cut out for him if he hoped to impress Amanda’s parents. Then he remembered the truth. It was all fake. They weren’t lovers, and he didn’t need to impress anyone. Only save Amanda from being tortured all weekend. The thought should’ve made him happy.
It didn’t.
Chapter Four
They were inside the cabin. Alone. Amanda had stayed at Lake Tahoe before, nearly all their family reunions were held there, but it’d never seemed more intimate than it did in that moment. She knew the layout. Two bedrooms, one with a king-size bed, not to mention a Jacuzzi-style tub. There was a kitchen, already fully stocked by her mother, like always. The woman thought of everything. The living room had a fireplace—a very romantic fireplace. She could too easily see herself with Leo sprawled out in front of it, naked.
>
Amanda’s heart rate sped up as she thought of the sleeping arrangements. Would he sleep with her or take the second room? To take her mind off all the annoying questions, she turned to him. “Thanks for putting up with my parents. I wish I could say the worst is behind us, but it’s probably not. They can be really tenacious sometimes.”
Leo walked down the small hall, compelling Amanda to follow. Breath caught in her throat as she watched him take their bags to the king-size bed and toss them onto the end. His and hers both. “No problem, sweetheart.” He looked around the room. “So, you’ve stayed here before?”
Her gaze was caught on the bags. “Uh, yeah.”
“With anyone?”
Amanda’s gaze darted back to Leo. He stood with his hands shoved into his jean pockets, legs wide apart. Lordy, the man was fun to stare at. “What do you mean?”
With a nod he indicated the bed. “Any guys ever stay here with you, Amanda?”
She swallowed, pushing down the blasted boulder that seemed wedged in her throat. If she didn’t know better she’d think Leo jealous. “No. Usually I come to these reunions alone. Remember? That’s why you’re here.”
Leo pulled his hands out of his pockets and stepped closer. Just a few steps, but the room wasn’t that large. The movement put him directly in front of her. A mere few inches of carpet separated them. She could smell his scent. Woodsy. Spicy. Male. Her temperature spiked. He cupped her face in his palm. “You and I are going to share that bed, sweetheart. Are you okay with that?”
Forcing down the tremors his touch invoked, Amanda said, “There are two rooms.”
“I know, but I don’t want to sleep in an empty bed. Do you?”
Did she? What would happen if she slept next to Leo all night long? Could she keep her hands off him? She didn’t know, but one thing was for certain. She didn’t want to waste a single second of this trip. She had Leo to herself, and she wanted to know more about the sudden sparks flying back and forth between them. The only way to achieve that would be to act like a woman and not a silly teenager on prom night.