WADE HAD EXPECTED JOSIE to look good in the glitzy gown, but not this good, he thought as she stomped toward him cantankerously, her thick white socks making soft, thudding noises across the scuffed-up tile floor. The neckline of her dress was lower in front and in back than he had imagined, scooping down to reveal a good three inches of shadowy décolletage and creamy white breasts. A garland of pale pink petals draped the entire neckline of Josie’s gown, drawing attention to her slender shoulders and sexy arms, her equally feminine and impressive bare back. The sheer, clinging silk caressed her taut midriff like a lover’s caress, before sliding down across her hips and swirling sexily past her knees to the floor. Wade had only to see her move and zero in on the soft, jiggling motions of her breasts beneath the thin silk and the raised imprint of her nipples to know she had dispensed with her bra, right along with her shirt and jeans. In fact, just looking at her made his heart pound and his mouth water.
Not that she had done anything specific to entice him, he thought, as she marched toward him in a drift of her everyday orange blossom perfume. She hadn’t combed her hair. She didn’t have on a lick of makeup. She wasn’t wearing the sexy shoes or the glittering jewels the dress demanded. And yet she was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
So beautiful he found himself wondering what she would look like if she had taken the time and energy to seduce him. And that being the case, he thought, as she ground stubbornly to a halt just in front of him and he lifted a hand to her face, he might as well indulge his curiosity just a bit.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, incensed, as one hand flattened against her spine and his other hand slid through the silk of her hair.
“Helping you out a little bit,” he murmured, his nimble fingers already releasing her hair. He combed his fingers through it deliberately, not stopping the sensual motion until her hopelessly tousled mane fell in soft waves around her face and shoulders. “Much better,” he pronounced softly, knowing he was never going to forget the way she looked right here and right now.
Josie shot him a drop-dead look. “I hardly think so.”
Wade grinned. There was nothing he enjoyed more than helping a woman realize her full potential. “See for yourself then,” he drawled, taking Josie by the shoulders and guiding her toward the mirror. “See?” he goaded cheerfully. He forced her to look at her reflection, noting silently that she looked like a disheveled princess on the lam, just waiting to be captured and tamed by her prince. “You were made to wear a dress like this after all.”
“No, I wasn’t,” Josie snapped back stubbornly, defiantly clinging to her tomboy ways. Looking highly insulted by the observation, she twirled around to face him and poked a finger at his chest. “And especially not here. And especially not now.”
Wade didn’t know why Josie was so opposed to behaving like the sophisticated woman she could so easily be. He did know it was a crying shame to let all that suppressed sensuality and hidden femininity go to waste. A crying shame to let a woman as passionate as Josie ignore her true potential.
“Yes here. Yes now,” he countered.
Her glance collided with his. “Oh, what do you know!” Josie sputtered back, incensed.
A lot, Wade thought, as he studied the bright flush of color in Josie’s cheeks. He didn’t know why he suddenly envisioned the two of them together, locked in a fiery embrace. He just did. And he’d bet—from the sparkle in her azure blue eyes—that Josie was envisioning it, too. Which made his next move one heck of a lot easier.
Half his mouth slanting up in a self-assured grin, he did what he had been wanting to all evening and took her into his arms. Acutely aware of the heavy thudding of his heart, he guided her against him, so they surged against each other, length to length.
“I know this...you’re all woman, Josie,” he murmured as she studied him with misgiving. “In here.” Wade touched her temple gently and felt her tremble softly in response. “And in here.” He grazed the silken curve of her breast, just above her heart.
A breathless silence strung out between them. “When are you going to stop fighting it and just let yourself be who and what you were meant to be?” he demanded.
“And what is that?” Josie breathed as he scored his thumb across her lower lip again and again and again.
“Exactly what you think,” Wade said, knowing she felt so deliciously warm and right he didn’t ever want to let her go. “My woman.”
Even as Wade bent his head and kissed her, he knew this one caress wouldn’t begin to suffice. Not tonight, or any other. Their lips had just begun to fuse, and already he wanted another kiss that was deeper and more searing and more intimate than the last. Already he wanted another kiss that was full of passion and heat and want and need. And damn her, he thought as she melted against him helplessly, if she didn’t seem to want it, too.
THE LAST THING JOSIE EXPECTED from Wade when he saw her in this dress was a kiss, but as the fiery caress continued, she found herself as lost in the miracle of it as he. She had waited a lifetime to be kissed like this. She had waited a lifetime to feel like this. He tasted so good, so undeniably male. Needing to be closer, she stood on tiptoe and wreathed her arms around him. It felt so good to be wanted. It felt so good to be held against him, Josie thought, as she opened her mouth to the insistent pressure of his. His tongue plundered deep, their kiss taking an even more urgent turn. Her breasts pressed against the solid wall of his chest. She could feel his erection pressing against her, hot and urgent.
Desire welled up inside her. Her knees went weak. Her hips moved. For so long she’d had walls around her heart; she’d wanted nothing more than for someone to tear them down. Now it was happening. Too fast. Way too fast, Josie thought shakily, reminding herself sternly that her relationship with Wade was supposed to be about business and nothing more. Knowing she had to stop it now—if she were to stop it at all—Josie flattened her hands across Wade’s chest and shoved with all her might. She tore her lips from his. As they surged apart, as inevitably as they’d come together, Wade stepped back, away from her. He looked stunned by the swift change in her mood.
Aware her lips and body were tingling everywhere they’d touched, Josie rubbed the moisture from her lips and grumbled, “You shouldn’t have done that.”
Obviously, she thought, as she cast a quick disparaging look at his face, he didn’t agree. He thought they should have done that and a whole lot more.
Aware that for the first time in her life she had finally met a man who would give her the complete uncompromising physicality she had always craved, Josie grabbed the discarded elastic band in one hand, the length of her hair in the other, and began quickly redoing her ponytail.
Watching her, Wade merely grinned, “Doesn’t matter what hairstyle you’re wearing, Josie,” he teased, his eyes sparkling with an unabashedly amorous light. “It’s not gonna deter me one bit.” Just that quickly he hauled her back into his arms and kissed her until she was awash in sensation and moaning low in the back of her throat.
Much more of this, Josie knew, and they’d end up in her bed! She had to do something to cool his ardor. And the only thing she could think of was to ask him what he clearly did not want to be asked. “So,” she said breathlessly, breaking free. “Just who is Sandra—” Josie lifted her chin, enunciating clearly “—and what did she do to you?”
“You sure know how to put out the flames.”
You sure know how to start them, Josie thought, hoping he would not notice how her knees shook. Josie whirled away from him, her long silk-chiffon skirt rustling as she moved. “Not going to tell me?” Josie prodded mercilessly as she bent to turn on the lights.
Wade scowled as pools of yellow lamplight flooded the trailer living room. He looked very unhappy she’d brought the subject back around to Sandra. Again. Despite the fact he had announced earlier that topic was off-limits to one and all. “Does it look as if I am?” he shot right back, lounging against the counter that separated
the kitchen from the living room.
“Okay. Fine. Don’t tell me, then.” Josie tossed her head like the sassy debutante she once was. “I’ll just ask around the next time I’m in Laramie.” Satisfied she had successfully cooled Wade’s ardor with her nosiness, she said, “I’m sure someone there will know.”
He straightened and lazily crossed to her side. “Don’t,” he advised, wrapping an arm about her waist.
Determined not to let him see how much his nearness was affecting her, Josie lifted an insouciant brow. “Afraid?” she taunted lightly. She wished he would be. Anything to keep her from following her passion and tumbling recklessly into his bed.
His hot gaze skimmed her upturned face as he corrected, “Annoyed.”
“Then join the club,” Josie advised. Because they had no business kissing each other the way they had. Or ever entertaining kissing each other again. They had a business deal to see to the finish. Getting involved with each other could only interfere with that.
Silence fell between them. Evidently he realized her curiosity about him was as real and long lasting as their kisses had been. He released her, and walked over to examine a houseplant on the counter that had died due to lack of attention some time ago. He rubbed the crumpled brown leaves between his thumb and forefinger. “She was my fiancée,” he said at last.
Now they were getting somewhere, Josie thought. “What happened to break the two of you up?” Josie asked. And why was it so hard to discuss?
Wade dropped the crumpled leaves in the dirt that lined the red clay planter. He searched Josie’s face for a long moment. “She cheated on me,” Wade said grimly. He shrugged his broad shoulders and released a weary sigh. His eyes collided with Josie’s again. “And I found out about it in the most humiliating way possible. I came back early from an out-of-town trip and let myself into her apartment and found her in bed with someone else.”
Josie could only imagine the horror of that moment. Her heart going out to him, she touched the back of his wrist with her hand. Her eyes holding his, she shook her head and murmured gently, “That must have been awful.”
Wade nodded, jaw tightening, and didn’t bother to deny it.
Aware his skin was very warm—too warm—Josie dropped her hand and stepped back a pace. “Did Sandra ever give you an explanation why?” It took every ounce of self-restraint Josie possessed to resist the urge to stand on tiptoe and smooth a hand through his hair.
Wade looked as if that had made it even worse. He nodded and reported in a low, matter-of-fact tone. “Sandra said it was clear I cared more about my various investments than I cared about her.”
Josie studied him. Along with the hurt was resignation, and some degree of lingering consternation. She knew all about that—the guilt and secondguessing of past events—too, for she had suffered the same. “Did you?” she asked Wade softly. As long as they were being honest.
“Maybe.” Wade shoved a hand through his hair. As he paced the small living room, he flexed his shoulders restlessly. “I don’t know.” His eyes took on a brooding faraway look. Finally he continued, frustration coloring his low tone. “The hell of it was that Sandra never once told me she felt neglected, let on she was unhappy or gave me a chance to correct things. Instead of telling me how she felt, and why, she ran around behind my back and humiliated me.” And that, Josie noted dispassionately as she dumped her long-deceased houseplant in the trash, Wade apparently could not forgive. To the point that he hadn’t been serious about a woman since, at least according to Lilah and John McCabe. Since that time he had only dated women they all knew were wrong for him. Josie understood the need to do that, too. It was far easier to wall yourself off from hurt than open yourself up to it once again.
“That must have really hurt,” Josie empathized softly.
“It taught me something, though,” he said, his low voice firm with resolve. “I’ll never be involved with a woman who doesn’t trust me enough to confide in me or lies to me again. The first hint of dishonesty, and I am out the door.”
The first hint of dishonesty and I am out the door.
His measured words ringing in her ears, Josie felt a flush begin in her chest and creep up her neck. “Why do you date only shallow girls, then—at least according to your parents?”
Wade glanced out the window, at the drilling rig, before returning to her face. “Because at least they’re honest with me about what they want from me. Whether it be my money and position or a millionaire cowboy to squire them around, at least I know where I stand with them, and I know why.”
That made sense, in a convoluted sort of way, Josie thought, as she took her empty planter over to the sink. “Sandra, I take it, wasn’t a debutante, then.”
“Nope.” Wade leaned against the counter and watched Josie squirt a generous dollop of soap in the planter and then fill it nearly to the brim. “Sandra was the girl next door, the girl everyone loved and trusted. She grew up right here in Laramie County. She was a couple years younger than I was and went to a different high school, so I didn’t really get to know her till she’d settled in Houston and began work as an architect there. But once we started dating, as long as we were together, I at least never saw anyone else.”
Only, Josie thought, to end up being betrayed. Just as she was betraying him now in a different way. Josie swallowed as guilt assailed her anew. “I’ve got to get out of this dress,” she murmured, her hands clenching the silk. Avoiding his glance, she picked up her long, swirling skirt in both hands and pivoted away from him. “I’ll be right back.” Her feelings in turmoil, she fled.
SO, WADE THOUGHT, studying Josie’s stricken expression and retreating back. His suspicions were true. Josie was hiding something from him. Gus was obviously struggling mightily with his conscience over something, too. Not to mention the fact that Ernie and Dieter seemed to be looking to Josie for direction, more than giving it to her or simply being on the same Wyatt Drilling Company team. Hell, maybe Ernie and Dieter were hiding something from him, too. The question was what, Wade thought as he began surreptitiously looking around Josie’s trailer.
As far as he could tell, everything on the site was proceeding as it would normally. There was nothing unusual about the seismic surveys she had shown him, the samples coming up from the well or the three-dimensional computer exploration. Their integrated expert system had done a superb job of bringing together all the information and processing it. And the heat-flow readings had seemed on the level, too. So what was she hiding? Wade didn’t know. But he damn sure intended to find out before all was said and done. And the only way to find out was to stick close to Josie. And to do that, be would need a reason. A damn good one. One she’d be hard-pressed to deny.
Josie emerged from her bedroom, dress box in hand. Though she had a studied air of nonchalance about her, her cheeks were still filled with a guilty flush. And she couldn’t quite bring herself to meet his eyes.
Admitting to himself all over again how good Josie looked in the red denim shirt and jeans, Wade snapped his fingers. “I know where—and when—you can wear the dress.”
“Really.” Josie tossed her mane of glossy dark hair. She gave him a withering look. “Where?”
Wade crossed his arms over his chest. He stood, legs braced apart. “The retirement party for my parents.”
Josie blinked. Her tongue snaked out to wet her lower lip. “That’s going to be black tie?”
Wade nodded He’d originally intended it to be so, as a way of honoring his parents and a way of giving the good folks of Laramie a chance to kick up their heels and celebrate. Now he had another reason, too. To show off Josie in that dress.
“Wade, I told you,” she murmured softly. “I’m not comfortable in clothes like that.”
Then she should be, he thought, because she was one beautiful woman—even in jeans. Gussied up, she’d have hearts turning cartwheels all over the place. “Then I’ll teach you how to be,” he coaxed softly. And maybe in the process he’d get close en
ough to get her to let down her guard long enough for him to figure out what was really going on here with his land, his money and the hidden lake of oil he was sure was down there somewhere.
Josie licked her lips and continued to stare at him. “You’re kidding, right? You’re not seriously talking about doing some sort of Pygmalion thing with me?”
He shook his head and stepped as close to her as he dared. “Unless you’re afraid it can’t be done.”
Josie smiled at him tightly and lifted her chin. For a second he thought she was going to try to deck him. “I know it can’t be done,” she said eventually, regarding him with a hauteur as cold as ice.
Wade grinned back confidently. He ignored the way she had her hands balled into fists and planted on her hips. “You’re forgetting. I have the Midas touch.”
“And you, cowboy, are forgetting what a tomboy I am at heart.”
Wade frowned, his exasperation beginning to get the better of him once again. He ran a hand across his jaw and realized that although he had shaved that morning, he needed another shave. “You’re saying I can’t do this?”
“I’m saying,” Josie corrected evenly, as she elbowed him aside and strode past militantly, “that I won’t let you.”
Wade shrugged. He watched as she stepped around throw pillows that had tumbled from the sofa to the floor and straightened stacks of business papers that were already perfectly straight. “Fine.” He shrugged, aware he hadn’t expected her to be this stubborn. Damn it, he liked spending time with her. Even if he wasn’t sure he could trust her. And he liked kissing her even more. “Then I can’t let Wyatt Drilling keep drilling,” he countered, just as mulishly.
Wildcat Cowboy (The McCabes of Texas #2) Page 6