by Merry Farmer
Will was a wise man.
“Don’t worry about it.” Sandy tried hard to smile and wave the incident away. “It’s nothing. Really. Jogi and I had a good time during the orienteering event, but we just haven’t had time to stay in touch since then. Don’t make something out of nothing.”
“Okay,” Calliope said, trying to meet Sandy’s fake smile with one of her own. “Let us know if you need anything.” She sat back in her chair, her smile fading into confusion.
“Thanks.” Sandy sighed, shaking her head. “I’m just on edge because of this whole bank thing.”
“I’m sure nothing will come of that either,” Ted tried to reassure her from the other end of the table. “The fossil thing was a blip. Bonneville lost. The board knows that.”
“There’s a board election coming up,” Sandy said, not sure if it was an answer to his soothing or her changing the subject. “Even if nothing happened, the whole fossil thing could still affect the way people vote, whether they vote Dad out of office.”
“Can they do that?” Melody asked. “I mean, your family has owned that bank since it started.”
“We would still own it, but Bonneville, or whoever won the election, would become Chairman of the Board and have a controlling interest in the bank’s activity,” Rita explained. “It’s kind of a big deal.”
“I know nothing about how banks work,” Angelica said, swaying the conversation even further away from Sandy’s real troubles.
“Well, there’s a board of directors,” Rita began the explanation for her. “They determine most of the course of the bank’s financial decisions. The way the articles of incorporation were set up, votes are determined by how much stock the board members, who are also stockholders, own.”
Sandy tuned out as soon as she could, ostensibly focusing on her laptop again. All of the lines and numbers on the spreadsheet blurred as her mind’s eye conjured up an entirely different image. One of Jogi. Jogi smiling. Jogi watching her with that seductive fire in his eyes. A fire that was extinguished just when it started blazing.
And who did she have to blame for that?
Chapter Three
Two and a half months ago…
Jogi’s heart beat a frantic bhangra against his ribcage as he stepped up to Sandy’s apartment door. The scent of the flowers he clutched was making him dizzy. Or maybe that was the lack of oxygen to his brain from the fact that he hadn’t been able to catch his breath since Sandy swept into his life. The last month had been like some wild, filmi movie where the lovable loser ends up paired with the gorgeous siren. He kept expecting music to swell wherever he went and an item number to break out around him.
But that didn’t seem particularly likely in Haskell, Wyoming. He cleared his throat, ran a hand through his thick hair, and knocked on Sandy’s door.
He took a step back, scratching his chin as he waited. Growing a beard was not his idea of a good time, but Sandy had mentioned she liked it, so beard it was.
A heartbeat later, her door swung open, and there she was. Sandy Templesmith, the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She wore a slinky gold dress that rippled as she moved. It left her arms bare enough for him to get a tantalizing look at her toned muscles and cinnamon skin. But it was the smile that lit up her face, brightening her dark, mysterious eyes that sent his blood rushing south.
“Hey, Jogi.” She rested her weight on one high-heeled foot, raking him with an appreciative glance. “You look great.”
Like the dork he was, Jogi held his arms to the side and glanced down at his upscale trousers, jacket, and purple shirt. “This old thing?”
Sandy laughed—thank God—and gestured for him to enter her apartment. He tried not to stare too hard at her curves as he slipped past her into the main room.
“These are for you,” he said, playing it cool as he handed her the bouquet.
“Aww, thanks so much.” She took the flowers from him, a blush kissing her cheeks.
Their hands touched, and Jogi’s pulse kicked up another notch. As good as it felt, a rush of panic coursed through him. He’d been waiting for this night since they’d gotten back from the orienteering event, and it would be humiliating to spend the whole thing walking around like he had a flashlight in his pants.
Sandy breathed in the scent of the flowers, eyes lowering, her smile spreading wide. When her gaze moved up to him again, sparks sizzled through the air. Jogi’s reaction was immediate and physical. He clasped his hands in front of him in a desperate effort to hide what was going on. Judging by the shift in Sandy’s smile to something hot and encouraging, his efforts were in vain.
“Let me just put these in water,” she said.
As she turned to walk over to her open kitchen, her gaze dropped below his waist, and she bit her lip.
It was an entirely new feeling, that sense that he was a slice of cake about to be eaten. Women simply didn’t think that way about him. They saw him either as the cute boy who could fix their computer or the nice, acceptable guy who their parents would approve of. But from day one, Sandy had looked at him like he was bait and she was ready to spring the trap. How could a guy resist something like that? Especially when the woman licking her lips was as intelligent and accomplished as Sandy. Heck, even if she didn’t send his pulse pounding, he would still want to take her out and get to know her.
“Did Melody or Calliope sell you these flowers?” Sandy asked as she rested the bouquet in her sink, then searched through her cupboards for a vase.
“Neither. I think it was their mom.” Jogi walked slowly toward the kitchen, enjoying the view as he went. The way Sandy stretched and twisted as she checked her cupboards showed off the grace and athleticism of her body.
“Good.”
Her soft comment snapped him out of his appreciation. “Good?” He blinked.
“I mean, it’s nice to see Luna working in the shop now and then,” Sandy rushed on. “It gives Melody and Calliope a chance to get out and have some fun.”
Her comment hit him wrong. There was too much tension in her face all of a sudden, like her friends going out was her responsibility. He ignored it with a shrug. “Melody and Will have been spending a lot of time together since their epic win.”
Sandy’s expression softened, and her smile was genuine again. “Wasn’t that something?” She found a vase in a high cabinet above her sink and settled back onto her feet as she filled it with water.
“Who would have thought that the end of that thing would have been so dramatic when the rest of it felt like a soggy walk in the park,” he said.
Sandy laughed. “I certainly could have done without the rain. We were having fun up until that point.” She peeked sideways at him as she set the vase on her counter and started unwrapping the tissue paper around the bouquet.
Just like that, the mood was back. “It’s too bad the rain put such a damper on things.” He moved slowly into the kitchen, sliding along the counter to where she worked. “Who knows what would have happened if we hadn’t been washed out?” He came close enough to brush his fingertips down her arm.
Goose-flesh broke out across her skin, and he caught her shivering. Her soft, inviting lips spread into a tantalizing grin. “We might have had a chance of winning,” she said, dropping the flowers into the vase, then turning to him.
“Well, maybe.” He played along, resting his hands on her waist, debating whether it would be cool or decidedly uncool to wrap them around her backside. “I wouldn’t have wanted to steal Will and Melody’s thunder.”
“We could have made some thunder of our own.” One of Sandy’s eyebrows arched up, and she bit her lip.
Should he kiss her? He should kiss her. The signs were all there. Right? Maybe he should ask first, spell out the rules of engagement before things got out of control.
“I guess Howie knew what he was doing after all, to set us all up for a competition like that,” he said instead, no idea why he was hesitating.
Sandy slipped her arms up over
his shoulders, leaning closer to him. “Howie likes to throw people together, stir things up, see what happens.”
“Yeah, he does,” Jogi laughed. His body screamed at him not to hold back, to go for it, all of it.
“And I’m confident that you’re going to win the photography portion of the competition.”
Jogi laughed, uneasiness attempting to push away the lust that was flooding him. “I doubt it.”
“Oh, I’m certain of it,” she said, her voice beyond sultry.
“I didn’t enter.”
She blinked and pulled back a bit. “What?”
Cracks formed along the delicious feelings that had all but taken over the mood. Jogi shrugged, moving his hands up along the silky fabric of her dress. “I didn’t enter. It wasn’t required.”
“But your pictures were so good.” Her expression hardened into a frown. “You love photography. It’s your dream. Why wouldn’t you enter? There’s still time. Entries don’t have to be in until Tuesday.”
Things were definitely going in the wrong direction. The only thing Jogi could think to do was keep it light, turn up the heat. “I didn’t like the final results of the snaps I took,” he said, keeping his voice low. “I didn’t have the right equipment.”
“I thought you liked the camera Howie packed for you.” The purr was back in her voice and the temptation in her eyes, but things still weren’t right.
“It was a great camera.” He brought his mouth closer to hers, hoping she would take advantage of it, take advantage of him, and drop her line of questioning. “But I wasn’t satisfied.” He prayed she’d take that bait and get back to what was going on between them.
“Satisfied, you say?” Her eyes flashed. His heart pounded with desire and relief. “I’ll have to see if I can do something about that.”
“Will you?” With an internal fist-pump, he let go of the irritation that had started to get in the way of something much better.
“Oh, I know exactly what I’m going to do,” she hummed, then swayed even closer, pressing her hips into his.
The contact sent blood pounding through him, causing his cock to jump. He knew she felt it the moment her eyes turned wicked.
“You know, our dinner reservation—”
He didn’t have a chance to finish his thought. She surged against him, her mouth slanting over his. The explosion of need that followed blew everything out of his mind. He circled his arms all the way around her, shifting the balance of aggression in his favor and sweeping his tongue against her half-parted lips. His hand dipped down to cup her backside at last, and the fact that he was a nerdy nice-guy slipped his mind.
He pivoted enough to press Sandy back against the counter, then scooped his hand down her thigh to lift her leg over his hip. She made a tantalizing sound at the back of her throat and threw even more of herself into their kiss. Her hands roamed, down his arms, across his sides, and she undid the button of his jacket. That would have been sexy as hell on its own, but as soon as she tugged the bottom of his shirt out of his trousers, he knew he was gone.
Her hands slid under his shirt and up the bare skin of his stomach and chest. As hard as he fought to keep his wits about him, it was a losing battle. As their lips and tongues teased and entwined, he pulled the hem of her skirt higher and higher up her thigh until he reached the rounded softness of her backside. His fingers caught in the smallest pair of underwear he’d ever encountered. He hooked it and pulled down.
The way they were positioned, wedged against the kitchen counter with one of her legs hooked around him, he didn’t get very far, but it was far enough. His fingers brushed against silky-smooth, blazing hot flesh.
“Not fair,” he panted between fevered kisses.
“What?” She worked at the fastening of his trousers.
“You told me not to shave, but you did?”
She answered with a deep, wicked laugh, and plunged her hand into his pants.
The shock of pleasure that rattled through him as she caressed him was devastating. He wanted her hands all over him, just as he wanted his hands and mouth all over her. Her long fingers were doing things to him within minutes that he would never have dared to ask any woman to do before.
“Dinner,” he panted in one last effort to stick to the program for the night.
“No,” she answered. “Bed.”
She pushed back on his chest. The rush of air between them as their bodies parted left Jogi gasping. A drowned voice in the back of his head begged him to think, but there was no room for thought. Not the way Sandy was looking at him. She edged away from the counter and grabbed his tie, pulling him out of the kitchen. He was helpless but to go with her, jacket hanging off his shoulders, trousers unzipped, aching and buzzing with lust.
She kicked off her shoes as they crossed into her bedroom. She didn’t even bother turning on the light. As soon as her shoes were off, she let go of his tie long enough to shimmy out of her dress, tossing it aside in a golden cascade. Another throb of desire hit Jogi at the sight of her in underwear that was definitely meant to be seen, but only for a second. She reached behind her, and with a snap, the flimsy black lace of her bra came loose. She tossed that aside and wriggled out of her thong.
When she straightened, Jogi thought he might burst right then and there. She was gorgeous, perfect. The long lines of her body gave her the appearance of a dancer, and her full, round breasts upgraded that to full-on goddess. Her large, dark nipples begged to be sucked and teased. The roundness of her hips and denuded softness between her thighs begged for even more. He wanted her so badly he started to shake.
“Don’t just stand there,” she teased him with her voice, her eyes, her body.
He shrugged all the way out of his jacket and was halfway through loosening his tie as she inched closer. Her hands went for his crotch, pushing down his trousers and boxers, then stroking sensuously up over his erection as they dropped to the floor. An involuntary sound of pleasure ripped from him as her fingertips paid special attention to the flared tip of his penis. He scrambled to get his shirt off.
He almost had it, had everything but his wrists freed from the cuffs, when Sandy sunk to her knees, her hands gripping his hips. She took hold of him, guiding him to her mouth.
“No, stop, stop,” he gasped.
She glanced up at him, her eyes questioning. “Are you sure? I’d like to.”
He shook his head. “If you do, I’ll be finished in five seconds, and I’m not exaggerating.”
She must have seen the truth of that in his panicked expression, because she rocked back with a chuckle, sitting on the edge of her bed. “We’ll save that for later.”
It didn’t help that his imagination filled in the rest from there. He struggled out of his shirt and his pants as his cock strained up. Sandy was watching him as if he were doing an expert strip-tease instead of just barely holding it together. She bit her lip and inched her legs apart, leaning back on her arms and giving him a preview of what was to come. It was beautiful and agonizing at the same time. He’d never been with a woman who was so comfortable flaunting her body and her sexuality, and he wasn’t convinced the aggressive impulses her boldness raised in him were right.
But he sure was eager to find out.
He freed himself from his clothes at last and climbed over her, pushing her onto her back as gently as he could. Not that Sandy seemed to want gentleness. She reached for his hips, curling her nails into his backside.
“You know what I want, baby,” she whispered, wriggling beneath him as he fought to hold it together. “Give it to me.”
Something clicked in his brain a split-second before he would have dived into her. “Condom,” he panted, trying not to let his body touch hers too much. He had one in his wallet. Where was his wallet?
“Gotcha,” Sandy said. She wiggled her way up the bed under him, twisting to reach for her bedside table. Jogi crawled up the bed after her, knees on either side of her legs. When she twisted back, she had a silver PS
F condom packet in her hand. “Howie to the rescue.”
Jogi blinked. Between the shock of her having a spare condom at the ready and the mention of his boss, just enough blood returned to his head to give him the presence of mind to take the condom, open it, and put it on. Instinct told him to slow down, dial it back, and make sure she enjoyed everything as much as he was bound to. But as soon as he reached out for her, closing a hand around one of her breasts and brushing her nipple with his thumb, as soon as his mouth closed over hers again, she tilted her hips up to him in clear invitation.
Every last one of his plans to make their first time together awesome and memorable slipped out the window as he drove himself home. She was hot and slick and so tight around him that he immediately started moving inside of her. But the stab of disappointment in his hasty performance was eclipsed by the eager, sensuous sounds Sandy made.
“I knew you’d feel good,” she mewled, wrapping her arms and legs around him. “Yes, baby, yes!” She moved her hips in rhythm with him, giving him permission to let loose.
Which was exactly what he did. A heady sense of freedom enveloped him, and he let himself go in every sense of the word. It was hot, messy, and quicker than he wanted it to be, but damn, it was good. The sense of power that surged through him was addictive. It made him feel like he was on top of the world, like he could do anything, conquer any obstacle.
By the time his orgasm burst over him, exploding pleasure through his groin and out to his entire body, he’d lost track of everything, including how loud her bed was as it banged against the wall. He’d never done that before. But as the flash of orgasm filtered into steaming, post-coital contentment, the anxiety he’d dropped with his clothes came back. Had he gone too fast? Had Sandy enjoyed herself at all? Had she come?
The answer poured into his awareness with the sensation of her inner muscles squeezing him. She moaned, her face pinched with orgasmic bliss, and her fingertips still pressed into his back. It was the single sexiest thing he’d ever seen, and if he’d been ten years younger, just the sight of her coming would have made him hard and ready to go all over again.