“Oh, don’t even think about it.”
My hand froze near the kitchen counter and I saw her eyes zoom in on the piece of Satan’s food I held. “You want me to eat it?”
“You’re not throwing it.”
“Then you eat it, princess.”
Irritation crawled into her features, and her head shook in dismay. “Eat the fucking bread, Josh.”
“Jesus, woman. You always this bossy?”
A smile broke from her as I chewed on the second most tempting thing in the room. “Only with you.”
“Why do I have a feeling that isn’t true?”
She shrugged and grabbed the pasta strainer. As she reached for the full pot of pasta, I gently pushed her over, taking control and grabbing it myself, heading to the sink to dispose of the water.
“You need to relax more, Josh. Enjoy great food every once in a while. When was the last time you had a meal like this?” She once again held a piece of bread to my lips, this time dipped in a flavored olive oil. I ate it freely, without letting my controlling ways take over.
I thought back, wondering when I actually enjoyed a dinner date with someone. Evelyn and I had some decent times together. That was before things had turned messy. Complicated. Ugly.
We served our dishes and sat at her small dining table, talking about Evan and Grace’s plans to leave soon and whether I would go with them. I wasn’t sure at that point, but I usually followed Evan where he filmed and found clients in that location. It wasn’t difficult.
We chatted easily enough and she eventually made her way to the kitchen, demanding I stay put, only to bring back a plate with tiramisu. “I’m not eating it.”
“Josh, don’t hurt my feelings.”
“Not eating this will hurt your feelings?” I gave her a skeptical glare, but she pouted those ruby lips and I leaned forward, grabbing my fork.
“Come on, we’re sharing.”
I took a bite and let the flavors of sugar, coffee, and cream hit my senses. My eyes closed in pleasure as I released a moan of elation. “That’s amazing.”
Her eyes brightened as she took a bite and nodded. “I made it a few days ago, and took some to work, so this was the last of it.”
“Why do you like cooking so much?”
“Growing up, I always cooked for my little sister, Ally. It became a habit, then a pastime, and now it’s comforting. I like when someone appreciates what I created.”
“Well, I’m enjoying it.” I instinctively lifted my fork to her lips. Her eyes stayed on mine as her mouth wrapped around the utensil. I imagined where else I’d love her lips. “But I think this might be what I like more.”
Her eyes were wanting as she finished her bite. “What?”
“Watching you eat, love. It’s beautiful.”
She tried to hold her grin back, but it couldn’t be helped. The flush on her cheeks made me assume the compliment was taken in stride, but she chuckled. “Oh, God, I’m letting myself fall for it. You’re good.”
I sat back, my brow furrowing as she studied the plate of dessert in front of us. “Fall for what?”
“Your irresistible charm, Mr. McKenzie.”
To say my grin was wide was an understatement. I had to look down to keep my face from giving away how elated that made me feel. I think she was the only woman to make me go weak so early on, and we hadn’t even slept together. I glanced at my watch and finally was able to look back at her as she finished licking off the remnants of tiramisu on her fork. This woman’s tongue gave me chest pains…not to mention crotch pains.
Knowing my thoughts, she stopped and straightened. “It got late, and I’m too full to do any self-defending tonight.”
“Ah, but attackers don’t wait for the perfect time.”
Her glare caused the fire we created earlier to dissipate as she lifted from her chair and began to gather the plates. I got up to help. “Well, let’s hope I won’t be attacked anytime in the next twenty-four hours. How about we pick this up tomorrow?”
“That’s fine. Hank needs to be let out for a walk tonight.”
“Oh, Hank. He’s something else.” I saw a sweet smile pass her lips as I moved toward the sink with her. We passed the dishes to one another and she stacked them, leaving them for another time.
“How so?” I grabbed the sponge and she shook her head.
“Don’t worry about the dishes.”
“Might as well do them now. Why don’t I help you?” Her eyes stayed focused on me as she stood frozen. “What?”
“I can’t tell if you’re doing this to be helpful, to show off, or because you’re a control freak.”
“All three.”
She moved about finding containers for the leftover food. “Well, at least you’re honest.”
“What did you mean about Hank?” I asked, returning to her earlier comment.
Her chuckle rang out as she opened the fridge. “Just that he’s trouble, much like his owner.”
I washed each dish and carefully set it aside to dry. “No, he’s a good boy.”
“Where did you get him?”
My heart squeezed as I recalled driving home from work that cold December evening. If I hadn’t heard him, if I had been one hour too early or late, he’d be dead. “I came home late one night and heard these tiny cries coming from a trash bin a few houses down. I went over to check and saw this wee pup on the ground—wounded, bleeding, and shivering.”
Marla had stopped the task she was doing as she listened intently, her beautiful eyes turning sad. “He was abused?”
I nodded, recalling the gaping wounds that needed stitches, and the way he tried to back away from my touch but could barely move. “I had to approach him cautiously. He was terribly hurt and frightened. I took him to the vet hospital, he had quite a few gashes needing stitches. I contacted the nearest animal shelter to let them know I had found him, but he didn’t belong to anyone.”
“You could’ve let them find a home. You didn’t have to keep him,” she spoke softly, almost as a test, to see what I would say. But she knew what my response was as I shook my head.
“No way. He was mine.” My eyes pierced into hers, conviction ringing through my reply. “The moment I saw him, I knew he didn’t belong anywhere else but with me.”
If she had warmed to that notion at all, I couldn’t tell, but what I did know was that she liked Hank. And I was beginning to think she was liking me as well.
Well, damn, how was I going to resist Mr. Sexy now? He was in my kitchen drying my dishes as I gathered my magazines in stacks and set them in their proper order. I hadn’t let my house get in disarray like this in a long time. I was actually neurotic about things being in their proper place, but work had been stressing me out way too much to care. The kitchen was almost spotless, thanks to the man who was winning me over with each interaction.
He rescued sweet Hank and nursed him back to health. If I hadn’t thought that was sexy as hell, then I wasn’t a woman. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if men were falling over too. Josh McKenzie’s tough exterior was not matching up with his gentle interior, and the more time I spent around him, the more he was beginning to liquefy my frozen heart.
The sexual tension between us was building, and I hadn’t forgotten his offer of going out with me when we had attended that speed dating crap Grace tricked me into. Sex with him might be exactly what I needed. He was leaving soon. Evan and Grace would be off to Atlanta in May to start rehearsals for his next movie with John Whitford, one of the world’s best film directors. I was sure Evan would need his personal trainer. Josh traveled everywhere with him and that meant that whatever this was between us, if it did gain momentum, it was finite.
The sound of his footsteps echoed and he approached. My mind was a jumbled mess as his body got closer to me. His loose, easy stride made my insides tingle with anticipation. The light wheat color of his hair was a tad bit long on the sides, and he needed a trim, but his eyes had turned a blue-grey now, and his skin
was perfectly sun-kissed. My God, I was fawning over him. Fantasizing like a young teenage girl after some boy-band member wasn’t my style, but in this moment I thought about those large arms and what they were capable of doing wrapped around me, and I felt like I was thirteen years old again.
When his hand reached up and cupped my cheek, my body went on high alert. His fingers gently grazed over the planes of my face, near the eye socket that was only now slightly swollen. Nobody at work had noticed, except for Cameron, whom I informed about the mugging incident. Cameron tried to touch me the way Josh was, however, I wouldn’t allow it. The idea of his hands on me gave me the creeps. He told me he would start walking me to my car, and that he’d do whatever it took to ensure my safety, but for some reason Cameron Gilles was the last person who made me feel safe. Not like this man.
I would’ve denied Josh’s touch, but my willpower around him was waning. His voice was low, husky, and he was so masculine. “Still some bruising.” He studied me as I gazed only at his chest. “I noticed the moment I saw you tonight. Hints of purple, yellow…”
“You want to put my make-up on for me, Bobbi Brown?” I could feel my pulse thrum against my skin, my heartbeat in my ears. But when he smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners, I was about ready to fall into a puddle of goo.
“This face is too beautiful to ever be hit, love.” Both hands braced behind my head, he moved forward and let his lips give a ghost of a kiss over my bruised eye. Holy hell, was it hot in here? Suddenly I felt very flushed and took a deep, steadying breath as I moved away. I tried to hold back the queasiness that overcame me. “Marla? What’s the matter?”
“It’s just warm in here. Is it warm? You warm?” I sprinted to the thermostat and lowered the temperature. My gaze stayed focused on it as I felt his body creep up behind me.
I stayed still, my senses on overdrive as I felt his body brush against mine. I turned to him, watching as he walked toward the door. I wanted to say something, do something, but I only stared with wide eyes. Every fiber of my being was saying keep away, he could be just like the ex-wanna-be-MMA-fighter I dated. My first love. Aiden Rhodes got the best of me. The docile woman I became around him had been unexpected, and when I finally stood up for myself, a slap across the face followed.
“Goodnight, Marla,” he nodded as he glanced back at me from the threshold. “Bolt the door, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
A wink accompanied his gentle smile as he shut the door behind him and left. My trembling hands fumbled for each lock, and I rested my warm forehead against the wood. Breathing fractured, I made my way to the bedroom, in need of a very cold shower.
“Morning, beautiful.”
“Meh.”
“Hello, to you, too,” Holden said, his light green eyes sparkling as he sauntered into my office. His blond hair was waved perfectly to each side as if the golden gods above swished their magic wands and declared him to be the loveliest of them all.
Stacks of papers sat in each hand and he passed over a set to me as he propped himself against my desk. “Late night?”
Nodding, I drank my coffee and kept my mouth shut about the sleepless night I had due to thoughts of a gorgeous specimen with lips as soft as a fluffy pillow. I kept visualizing what it would be like to be underneath his body, writhing in pleasure from his touch. Seizing my mind out of the gutter, I zoomed in on the paperwork. “Blencher?”
“Yep.” His eyes stayed inquisitively on me until Ana walked in, and he stood up instantly, his eyes roaming her body from head to high-heeled toe. “Hello, Ana-banana.”
She ignored him, strolling toward me with a white paper bag. “Good morning, boss. I got you a potato, egg, and cheese from Torchy’s.”
She plopped the bag in front of me with the Torchy’s Taco devil on the front of it. “Did you add the green chiles?”
“Absolutely,” Ana chimed as I unwrapped the warm foil and took a delicious bite into the flour tortilla.
“And you didn’t bring me one?” Holden’s face fell as Ana gave him a snarky glare. “I’m really hurt, Ana-bear.”
“I actually like Marla, whereas you just aggravate me.”
Holden put his hands up in surrender, his sweet lips pouting as he moved closer to her. “What did I do?”
Ana spun away, her voluptuous figure swaying with more confidence than I had seen since I’d known her. In fact, her wardrobe had changed as well. Gone were the baggy blouses, oversized pants, and flats. In their place was a tight, high-waisted pencil skirt and button-down shirt that emphasized every beautiful curve.
Holden stared, and when Ana was gone, he turned to me after wiping the evident drool from his face. “What did I do to her?”
“Absolutely nothing.” I raised my brows, hopeful he’d get the hint. Instead he reminded me of a lost puppy, unsure of who took his chew toy away. “Holden, what’s your deal?”
“Huh?”
“You dating anyone?”
His blond eyebrows lifted in surprise at my personal question. “No. Why? You wanna go out?”
I huffed and grabbed one of the spreadsheets he had put in front of me. I glanced at the numbers, but muttered, “You can’t be that clueless, can you?”
“Why are you women mad at me all the time?” His shoulders slumped in defeat, and I couldn’t help but smile at his inability to understand what the issue at large was. “You want us to ask you out, then you don’t, then you do. Females are insane.”
A chuckle emitted from the back of my throat as he grinned back. “You know what you’re doing, Holden Berryman. Don’t play innocent with me, bud.”
“I may know what I’m doing.” He flashed a grin as he picked up a piece of fallen egg from my desk and popped it in his mouth. “She didn’t bring me a taco though. I don’t know if my tactics are working.”
I shrugged my shoulder and passed the leftovers to him. He accepted the taco and finished it in two bites. “Ask her to get one with you next time.”
“Nah.” He shook his head and looked at me sincerely. “She’d only turn me down, and break my heart the way you’ve broken mine.” He winked sweetly, our laughs suddenly interrupted by a loud clearing of a throat.
“I need you both to get to work and stop fooling around. Anderson’s people are showing up in about an hour.”
Cameron’s grating voice got on my nerves, especially when he was rude, which nowadays seemed to be his prominent behavior. Holden stood up from my desk, passing Cameron, both men scrutinizing each other. It was evident they weren’t fond of one another, and even though I tried to hide my aversion of Cameron with professionalism, Holden didn’t give a shit. He hated the boss’s son, and he didn’t care if everyone knew it.
My gaze remained on the document as Cameron’s stayed locked on me. I could feel the thick air surrounding him, as if depression followed him wherever he went. He was like those black-cloaked monsters in that Lord of the Rings movie Grace forced me to watch. “Ringwraith,” I muttered, recalling the term.
“Excuse me?”
I shook my head, trying to get back into the reports that sat in front of me. “Nothing. Is there something I can help you with, Cameron?”
“You need to be prepared for this meeting. The last mistake you made cost this company a new prospect, and my father won’t be pleased to see you leading your team to another failed plan. We can’t afford to lose this client.”
Cameron’s darkened eyes were harsh and cold, and my nerves got the better of me. I nodded my head in compliance. “Of course, I’m making sure we’re at our best.”
“I hope so, because we don’t need another embarrassment like the last meeting where a simple question couldn’t be handled.” His mouth twisted into a sneer. “And I thought you were against office dating, Marla. It’s not your style, apparently?”
My brows furrowed in confusion. Before I could deny any interoffice romance, he turned and jutted out the door, muttering one last thing I swore I heard wrong. Did he just call me a whore?
“Whore?! No, no way. You heard wrong.” Grace picked up half of her Primetime burger and took a large bite, the sides of it oozing out brie cheese and truffle aioli sauce.
We had decided to meet up for lunch at Hopdoddy, and lucky for me, she saved us a spot before the line made its way around the corner. Jaime dug into the parmesan truffle fries we shared and sipped on her stout chocolate shake. “Why would he call you that?”
“I swear he said it,” I confirmed, nibbling at my El Diablo. The habanero and serrano peppers were delicious, but my appetite wasn’t quite there. “He must think I’m dating Holden.”
“You two do seem to flirt quite a bit though,” Grace contested as she pulled some fries from the cone-shaped basket. “I saw the way he looked at you when I went to y’all’s office Christmas party last year.”
“I’m well aware of Holden’s little crush, however, that was a long while back, and he’s now smitten with my co-worker Ana.”
“Is she the gorgeous curvy girl with the long brown hair?” Grace asked, then took a sip of her Mexican Cola. I nodded, wiping my mouth with a napkin. “God, that chick could be the next Ashley Graham. If she and Holden get together, they need to have babies. I think it would be an injustice to the world if they didn’t.”
“Speaking of babies,” Jaime blurted, “Dean and I are pregnant.”
Grace and I stopped in our tracks, food halfway to our mouths, at Jaime’s sudden admission. “Jaime, that’s amazing!” Grace yelped, embracing her in a hug.
“Holy shit, another bun in the oven.” I put my burger down, thinking about the fact that my friend and her husband were expanding their family. “Good job on Dean.”
“Well, I guess our couples’ therapy worked a little too well,” Jaime admitted. “We reignited the flame, and well, I’ll be ready to pop in November. So, Grace, if you want to plan that Fredericksburg getaway, let’s hope my morning sickness doesn’t take over. And now I can’t drink wine.”
A Promise Made (Promise #2) Page 6