Bailey’s brows went up and her lips were pressed together to hold in her laughter. “Um, I think we all do but I can see you felt you resembled that remark. Want to talk about it?”
No, I do not.
“It’s just that I have lousy taste in men,” Willow heard herself saying, the words flowing from her lips despite her attempt to stem the tide. “I always pick the wrong ones.”
Peyton shrugged. “We haven’t done much better but your luck has got to change at some point, don’t you think? I mean, all men can’t be bad.”
Their little optimist…Peyton. She was so sweet and so naive.
“Sure they can,” Willow shot back. “Movies, books, and magazines practically count on it.”
“Josh isn’t like that,” Bailey said. “Chase went out of his way to tell me what a good guy he is. If you like him, go for it.”
“I told him to back off,” Willow sighed. “And then I told him about my childhood and then we slept together.”
Bailey and Peyton almost came out of the water as Willow shook her head frantically. “I mean we slept. For real. Just innocent sleeping.”
Peyton leaned forward, a smile on her lips. “Was it nice? Being held?”
“Yes,” she admitted, remembering how warm and safe she’d felt. It was something she hadn’t felt in a long time. “It was nice.”
Bailey tapped the water with her fingers. “He won’t make the first move. He’s too respectful of the distance between you. If you want him, you’re going to have to do it.”
Groaning, Willow buried her face in her hands. “I have never had to make the first move with a guy in my entire life. They’ve always come to me. I’m not sure how to even do it.”
“What do men do?” Peyton asked.
“I don’t know—flowers? Candlelight? Romantic music? Wine?”
Bailey nodded in agreement. “Compliments too. And touching. Fleeting touches of your hand on his arm or his shoulder.”
“Are you suggesting I…romance Josh?” Willow asked, her voice shaky at the idea. “You must be joking.”
Bailey and Peyton were grinning at each other and Willow didn’t like it one bit. They were plotting something without saying a word; she could practically see the light bulbs above her friends’ heads. Damn.
The two women levered out of the jacuzzi and wrapped towels around themselves.
“We would never joke about this,” Bailey smirked. “We’re going to head home and leave you and Josh…alone. You know what to do. Music, candles, romance. He wants you, girlfriend, you won’t have to try hard. Just enough to give him the hint.”
After much discussion it had been decided that all of them staying in one house would make it too easy for Evandria to hurt them. Bombs. Fire. Or whatever else they had up their sleeve.
“Or after a night and day of thinking what a mess I am, he might turn me down flat.”
“He won’t,” Peyton assured her. “He looks at you like Chase looks at Bailey.”
“And Ellis looks at you,” Bailey countered.
Peyton shook her head. “We’re not going there right now. I just woke up from a coma—give me a break. Plus I’ve got to deal with Greg having another wife and kids. That’s not exactly conducive to romance. In fact, it makes me more cautious than ever. Next time I fall for a guy I’m having him checked out by a private detective.”
After everything they’d been through it wasn’t the worst advice in the world but in Willow’s case it was too late. She’d fallen, and hard.
Willow’s friends were putting on their robes. They were really going to go.
“Don’t leave me. I need you here.”
Peyton shook her head. “We are the last thing you need. You’ll be fine.”
Reluctantly, Willow pulled herself out of the water and dried off. This was tough love at its finest. Could she do this? Did she even want to?
Yes, she absolutely did. Josh was the man she’d been waiting for. The kind she’d dreamed about all those years ago when she was still innocent and naive.
Seduce a man. How hard could it be?
Chapter Twenty-One
After Josh showered, he pulled on a pair of running shorts and a t-shirt and padded downstairs on bare feet to get a cold beer from the refrigerator, the dogs at his heels. Chase, Ellis, and the ladies had left rather abruptly but Peyton had been complaining about being tired. With her so soon out of the hospital Ellis had immediately stood up and bundled her into the car, Chase and Bailey on his heels.
Josh had asked Willow how she was feeling as well but she didn’t directly answer the question. Instead she’d said something about the jacuzzi and wine, which didn’t make much sense but he didn’t press. She’d been through so much these last few days that she might simply need an evening to chill out, have some alone time. He’d grab a beer and go into his room and read, let her have her house to herself for a change. Even though she’d revealed a great deal about last night, that didn’t mean she wanted him around all the time. She was probably sick of him by now. He’d give her some space.
Last night. He hadn’t been able to get it off his mind. He shouldn’t blow it up and make it more than it was. She’d allowed herself a moment of vulnerability but that didn’t equate to a relationship. Having feelings for him wasn’t a slam dunk. She did trust him though and that was a good start. He could live with that, for now.
As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard the soft strains of Michael Bolton along with the flicker of candlelight. Willow had turned off the lights in the living room and lit several candles, the scent of vanilla heavy in the air. The dogs sniffed and then headed straight for their beds in the corner. It was bedtime. They had to be worn out from all the attention they’d received today. Chase had thrown the tennis ball for them until his arm was sore.
What was Willow doing? Meditating?
“Honey?” Josh called into the empty room only to hear soft footsteps behind him. He turned and the air was sucked from his lungs. Willow stood there in shorts and a halter top, holding a champagne bottle and two glasses, her eyes wide and her hands trembling. She was nervous and now so was he. This was clearly more than meditation.
“Honey?” he asked again. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she denied with a shake of her head. “I thought it might be nice for the two of us to relax and talk. Maybe have a glass of champagne.”
He hated champagne but if it would get her to open up to him he’d drink a whole damn bottle of it. “Sure, that sounds good.”
She thrust out the bottle. “Can you open it?”
“Absolutely. Why don’t we sit down?”
Back to the couch where they’d fallen asleep last night curled around one another. He managed to pop the cork without taking out an eye, the bubbles exploding from the top. After filling their glasses, he set the bottle aside, watching her closely. Her hands were still shaking and her knuckles were white where she gripped the crystal flute.
“A toast?” She raised her glass and he did as well. “Here’s to us.”
Us? There was an us now? He sure as hell wasn’t going to argue. Holy shit, was that what this was all about?
“Willow,” he asked gently after taking a sip of his champagne and placing the flute on the coffee table. “What’s going on here, honey?”
She shifted on the cushions, her gaze everywhere but looking at him. Yep, something was going on, all right. She was the kind of woman that looked a man in the eye. “Nothing. What did you think was going on?”
Her bottom lip was trembling and he had to squelch the urge to capture it with his mouth. There was talking to be done.
His gaze flickered around the room. “Candlelight? Music? Michael Bolton? Honey, are you trying to seduce me?”
Willow was so bad at this Josh didn’t even recognize what she was trying to achieve. This was past sad and well on its way to pathetic.
“No,” she replied immediately, then hated that it was a big, fat lie. She was a
person who believed in honesty, especially after her marriage to the king of secrets and lies – Alex. “Maybe.”
His handsome face split into a grin. He was either happy about it or amused.
“Honey, you don’t have to go to such trouble.” He indicated the candles and champagne. “For you I’m a sure thing. Just crook your finger and I’ll drop everything and come running.”
Oh. Good. That was very good.
Her neck pooled with sweat, she lifted her heavy hair up trying to catch a cool breeze. She was shaking with nerves and she didn’t seem to know what to do with her hands either, eventually placing them on her thighs and rubbing the damp palms against the material of her shorts.
“So…”
“So,” he smiled and chuckled, obviously enjoying her display of tension. “How about a dance?”
He was asking her to dance for him? It was a strange request, but okay. She’d need better music than this. Before she could say so, he’d taken her smaller hand in his and gently led her to the middle of the living room where he pulled her body close, his hands splayed wide at the small of her back.
“I’m not a huge fan of Michael Bolton but I think we can make this work,” he murmured in her ear as they began to sway slowly to the music.
Willow buried her face in the soft cotton of his t-shirt. “I didn’t know what kind of music you liked so I chose the romantic favorites channel on the television. I think they’ll play someone else eventually.”
She felt his chuckle under her cheek. “I wouldn’t care if they played heavy metal. I get to hold you in my arms and that’s all I care about.”
Her cheeks suffused with heat and her arms tightened around his waist, his flat abdomen pressed to her softer belly. How much he was enjoying this was beginning to make itself known, hard and ready against the top of her hip.
“This is nice,” she said awkwardly. “Better than at the ball.”
Laughing, Josh dropped a kiss onto her bare shoulder and the skin practically sizzled from the contact. “I hated that damn tuxedo. At least we’re both comfortable this time.”
They didn’t say much of anything for the next few minutes, seemingly content to hold each other and dance, pressed so closely together. Willow took in a lungful of his heady scent, a combination of spice and citrus and male. He was so incredibly masculine without being an asshole about it, comfortable in his own skin. While she on the other hand…
Jumpy and sweating like a whore in church. She wanted him but it has been so long. She wasn’t sure she even remembered what she was supposed to do. It all seemed so far away and hazy.
“Honey?” His voice in her ear sent a bolt of electricity straight down to her toenails. “I’d like to kiss you.”
A kiss. Yes, she wanted that too. Tilting her head up, their gazes met and the nervousness that up to that moment had controlled her drained away, no match for what she saw. There was nothing in his eyes but kindness and adoration. No reserve or cruelty. No self-immersion. It was just Josh, his emotions laid bare for her to see and she had nothing to fear from him. She’d known that last night and she was reminded of it again tonight. This man would never hurt her.
So when he kissed her, capturing her lips with his own, she put everything she had into it. All her pent-up emotions and desire were poured into that one moment. Her fingers clutched his shoulders as the world spun on its axis. She’d had more kisses in her life than she could count but this was different. He wasn’t trying to get anything from her.
He was giving.
When his tongue slid over her lower lip, she opened to him immediately, not wanting to let him go. If this could go on forever she’d be happy to let it. When he finally lifted his head, his eyes were heavy-lidded and his fingertip traced her jaw, a slow smile spreading over his face.
“That was the best kiss I’ve ever had,” he declared with a grin. “Nothing else has even come close. Not even when Amy Camden taught me to French when I was thirteen. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.”
Giggling, she stood on her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “She did an excellent job. Maybe we should do it again.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he breathed before capturing her lips again, this time less tentative and more…everything. His fingers caressed the nape of her neck as his mouth traveled leisurely down her cheek to nibble at her jaw and ear. Her heart stuttered and her breath caught when his tongue found the spot where her pulse beat madly, nipping the flesh with his teeth.
Lifting her into his arms, he sat down on the sofa, arranging her on his lap so she was straddling his thighs. In this position, she could feel his impressive erection press against her, and she wriggled slightly drawing a tortured moan from him. His grip on her hips tightened and he pushed her back slightly to lessen the friction.
“Honey,” he hissed. “You have to go easy on me or I’m going to get the wrong idea.”
Frowning, she shook her head and pressed open-mouthed kisses on his neck and jaw. “No, you have the right idea.”
“Honey,” he said again, his tone more desperate than before. “Let’s talk about this for a second.”
The last thing she wanted to do was talk. She’d made a decision here but he wasn’t getting the message. Slipping her hands under his cotton t-shirt, she caressed his chest, tracing his ridged abs with her fingers. Unceremoniously, she found herself lifted into the air as Josh stood, placing her on her bare feet while Josh backed up, his hands on his knees as he took several deep breaths.
She stepped toward him but he shook his head and held up his hand in a stop sign. “No, you stay over there. I just need a minute here.”
It would have been cute if this had been happening to anyone but her.
She crossed her arms and pouted. “You said you were a sure thing.”
He straightened and smiled. “Honey, I am, but I think you need to think this through. You might think you’re ready but maybe you’re not. I don’t want you to rush into something and then regret it in the morning. I couldn’t take that.”
“I won’t regret it.”
Of that, she was positive. She’d waited a long time for this moment but it had finally arrived.
“I know you think that now but tomorrow—”
“I’ll be just as glad that I did it,” she interrupted him. “You’re treating me like a child, Josh. I’m a grown woman and I’ve had sex before. I’m no virgin here. Far from it.”
He walked toward her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Have you? Since Alex?”
“No, but that’s because I hadn’t found anyone I could trust, plus I’m too old for casual sex. I wanted it to mean something.”
His thumb traced her lips. “It would definitely mean something and it wouldn’t be casual. If we do this it’s because we’re going to try and make this work, Willow. I don’t want a few nights with you while I’m here and then leave. If I go to bed with you, I want you in my life. I’m not talking about getting married or anything like that, but I am talking about—well, being a couple.”
She wanted to smack his forehead. “What do you think I’m talking about? Hit it and quit it?”
Rubbing the back of his neck, he turned away from her. “Honey, I’m just a humble veterinarian. You’re a millionaire. Or hell, maybe a billionaire. I’m not sure and I don’t care but I’m well aware I’m not in your league. Not even close.”
That’s what this was about? Money?
“I don’t care,” she said flatly. “I don’t care about the money and I never have. I could have landed another rich man in the last five years but I never found one that made me feel a tenth of what I feel for you. Would it be terrible if I said that I’m glad that you’re just a normal guy with a normal job? I don’t want a titan of business. I want a man that loves me and puts me first before his career. A man who would make our relationship a priority in his life. From what I’ve seen since the day I met you, I think you’re that man. It doesn’t hurt that you like dogs as much as I
do.”
He whirled around and yanked her close, their bodies pressed together. Lowering his head, he kissed her, one hand cupping the back of her head and the other at the curve of her bottom. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, putting everything she felt into it. If he didn’t understand her words, maybe he would understand the emotion.
By the time he lifted his head, they were panting, their fingers tugging frantically at their clothes. For Willow it had been far too long and she couldn’t wait much more. His shirt went flying over her shoulder and her hands went to the waistband of his shorts before she stopped, a slim shred of sanity still left in her fogged brain.
“We should go upstairs. There are beds up there.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Clothes hit the floor at a rapid rate until there was nothing left to take off. Willow had left modesty and shyness on the side of the road a long time ago. There had been no room for it in her chosen profession. She was accustomed to the salacious looks from the patrons but the expression on Josh’s face wasn’t anywhere close.
It was carnal, yes, but so much more. Loving. Worshipful.
The same way she was looking at him.
Golden skin from being outside. Lean and muscular but not overly so. He had the physique of a baseball player or perhaps a swimmer with his wide shoulders and lean hips. His abdomen was flat and her fingers reached out to brush the skin stretched taut over his torso. His hand captured hers and he lifted it to his lips before turning it over and pressing a kiss into the palm.
A wave of white-hot heat swept through her veins and her knees almost buckled from the onslaught. Backing up toward the bed, she knelt on the mattress as Josh joined her, pulling her into his arms.
“Honey, if you change your mind all you have to say is stop and I will.”
Running her hands up his chest, she linked them behind his neck and leaned in to kiss him, nibbling on his generous lower lip. “For a sure thing, you’re hard to convince. I’m not going to change my mind. I want this and I want you. Are you having second thoughts?”
Midnight Of No Return (Midnight Blue Beach Book 2) Page 15