One of the Boys

by Janet Dailey

  His explanation made sense, but Pet couldn't relate it to the way he'd treated her these past few days. She eyed him warily, distrusting her ability to sort fact from fiction where he was concerned. He simply had too much influence over her ability to reason.

  "Is that what made you angry, Pet?" he questioned in a gentler tone as his gaze roamed over her face, then paused to linger on her mouth and watch it form an answer.

  "You're always making me angry." That was easy to admit. "You're always saying something to irritate me."

  "The next time I do," he murmured, moving closer, "why don't you try kissing me? I guarantee it will shut me up."

  Bending his head, he took her lips. Pet stood very still, inwardly shaking with the desire to put her arms around him, but she permitted her hands to go no farther than his chest, resting lightly on his shirt and feeling the heat of his body warm her palms. His mouth moved powerfully against her own, parting her lips and invading them with a hot sweetness.

  A whirl of confused sensation began taking over her body, spinning a fine web of dazzling brilliance. His hands pulled her from the wall and into the support of his arms. When his mouth grazed a path across her cheek to the lobe of her ear, Pet dipped her head against his shoulder in mute surrender, clinging to him.

  "Why did you say those things?" she murmured, still not understanding that part. "Why did you make me think you believed I was incompetent?"

  "I never intended you to think that." His voice was soft against her ear, his mouth brushing the cool metal of the gold stud earring. "I couldn't tolerate anything but the best from you because I knew you could give it to me. You could always give it to me."

  There was the heady implication that he was referring to more than her work. His hands glided slowly over her spine to press her against his hard, lithe body. Her head was spinning as he kissed her throat and followed the wildly pulsing vein in her neck to the sensitive hollow below her ear. Then he was seeking her lips again, consuming her with his hunger. Pet struggled for some semblance of control before he undermined it completely.

  "That party —" her lips were against his cheek, their moist softness scraped by the rough stubble of his beard, increasing their sensitivity "— was it a reward for doing a good job?" With each breath she inhaled the intoxicating smell of him and weaved at its potency. "Is that why you invited me?"

  "That damned party was the last place I wanted to go tonight," he muttered, lifting his head to satisfy himself that she did look kissed and aroused. "But I had to go. It was as compulsory for me to attend as it was for Ruby to give it. And I knew the crew would be having a celebration of their own. If you weren't with me, you'd be with them."

  "So you were just keeping me out of trouble again." Hurt, she flattened her hands against his chest, resisting, yet aware of the heavy beat of his heart.

  "I wasn't looking after you." Dane shook his head wryly. "I was looking after me. You get into a man's blood, Pet. I thought I had a chance of enduring that insufferable chatter if you were with me, but it all went sour within minutes after we arrived, and I couldn't understand why. I thought you wanted to be with me as much as I wanted to be with you."

  "Did you really?" She wanted to believe him, but she was afraid to. The doubt glistened in her green eyes.

  "Can you doubt it?" he demanded, and crushed her lips beneath his mouth, devouring them in a rapacious assault of passion that left her breathless and dazed.

  The pressure of the hand at the small of her back was fiercely possessive. She was hardly conscious of his other hand moving to stroke her hair. His fingers found the gold barrette that secured the top and sides in a single clasp at the crown. With a deft snap he unfastened it to let the silken length tumble free, and a half-muffled groan rippled from his throat as he tunneled his hand beneath the golden mass.

  "I've wanted to do that for so long." His mouth formed the words against hers, roughly moving over her lips with uncontained urgency.

  Desire flooded her mind and body, sweeping her high on a tide of emotion that was dizzying. In Dane's arms, held close to his hard shape, Pet forgot about the round bed and the rose canopy, and his ongoing affair with Ruby Gale. His dominating kiss could make her forget everything but this aching need for his possession, to be a part of his hard male vitality.

  His shirt became an irritating barrier, keeping her from the closeness she sought. Her eager fingers found the row of buttons and began unfastening them one by one until the metal buckle of his belt stopped them. Unable to resist any longer, she slid her hands inside his shirt and over his hard, fiat stomach to caress the taut skin covering his rib cage, His hand took the same license, slipping off the rope belt to glide under her blouse onto the bare skin of her back. When it, moved to the front to enclose a firm breast in its palm, a searing joy quivered through her.

  The loud voice singing in the hallway made little impact on her passion-charged senses, which blocked out the intrusion of noise. The crew's merrymaking had no part in her sensual revelry.

  "Hey, Pet!" A loud, slurring voice remarkably resembling Lon Baxter's called her name. "Wake up! You've got to come to the party!"

  The first hand to pound on the unlatched door swung it open while the combination of noise and movement cleaved their lips apart, but there wasn't any way they could untangle their hands from inside each other's clothes. In cold shock, Pet stared at Lon and the handful of other crewmembers clustered around her door.

  Dane recovered a shade quicker than she did, withdrawing his hand from under her blouse to let it rest reassuringly on her arm. His action drew her glance, and she shuddered at the grimness in his features and the accusing silence from her co-workers.

  "The door was open," someone mumbled in an attempt at an apology.

  "Yeah," Lon agreed, swaying belligerently in the opening. "We wanted to invite you to our party, but you were having a little private one of your own, weren't you, Pet?"

  The color that had receded from her cheeks came flooding back. She looked away from the door, pushing at the rumpled length of hair near her ear. Vaguely she was conscious of someone urging Lon to come away from the door, then Dane was letting her go to button his shirt.

  "All the parties are over, boys," he stressed in a tired voice. "It's time we all called it a night. We have to tear down and pack the equipment first thing in the morning."

  A few embarrassed mumbles of agreement followed his statement. The quiet shuffling of feet was a vast contrast to their exuberant, revel-rousing arrival as the men retreated down the hallway.

  "Pet?" His quiet use of her name lifted her head. Dane was near the open door, half-turned to study her.

  "You'd better leave," she said stiffly. "They'll hang around to see if you go."

  "I'm aware of that," he replied dryly.

  Staying close to the wall, she moved to the door and wrapped her fingers on the knob to close it while keeping a distance from him. Aftershock had started her thinking about the round bed with its giant rose canopy and a red-haired woman in his arms.

  "Good night." It was a tight sound, but she accompanied it with a proud toss of her head.

  Dane took a half step toward her, his mouth thinning, then stopped. "Good night."

  As soon as he was in the hall, Pet closed the door and locked it. She leaned against it, her knees shaking in reaction. Across the hall she heard his door open and close, then silence.

  She managed to keep her mind blank as she undressed and slipped on her nightdress. Switching off the light, she crawled under the covers of her empty bed. A few minutes earlier she wouldn't have been lying there alone, she realized, and tightly closed her eyes. The thought started a war between regret and gratitude. There wasn't a clear-cut victor by the time she fell asleep.

  FIRM AND WARM, a mouth eased itself onto her lips, gently moving over them to explore their curves. It coaxed them into a sensual pliancy, masterfully persuading a response. A sharp, masculine fragrance tingled her nose, clean, fresh and divinely
heady.

  What a delicious way to wake up, Pet thought as that warm mouth drifted kisses over her cheek and jaw. She arched her neck to allow access to the sensitive skin along its curve, and the mouth nibbled a slow path to the base of her throat and returned up the other side.

  A soft, sensuously contented sound came from her throat, inviting that pair of masculine lips back to hers to urge a further response. Arms that had been flung above her head in sleep were lifted to find the one who was causing all these wonderful sensations. Her languorous hands encountered a muscled set of wide shoulders encased in some smooth material that allowed her to feel the contoured outline of his hard flesh.

  A forearm rested on the mattress alongside her to position him above her while his other hand caressed the bare skin near the curve of her opposite shoulder. It was all so beautiful, so enchanted — like a dream that had come to life. Dane felt so solid and real, his thick springing hair curling around her fingers as she curved them to the back of his neck.

  Gradually it dawned on her that the dream was real. It was all the better when she slowly lifted her lashes and saw that rugged face poised an inch above her own. Finding him sitting on her bed and kissing her awake was much too pleasant a surprise for Pet to be shocked. Her initial reaction was curiosity. She shifted her head on the pillow to get a better look at him, her gaze wandering to the lazy half curve of his mouth and her hands sliding from his back to his arms.

  "How did you get in here?" she murmured with a flicker of a curious frown.

  "I forgot to return your key last night. Evidently I slipped it in my pocket," he explained absently while his fingers stroked the delicate curve of her neck. "This morning I found it when I was transferring my keys and change from my brown pants to these."

  "What time is it?" she wondered, rousing a bit from her delicious lethargy.

  "Seven-thirty," Dane admitted, and bent his head to let his tongue trace the hollow of her throat.

  For an instant Pet surrendered to the provocative sensation. Then his answer awakened alarm bells in her head. She shrank against the mattress to end the distraction of his caress.

  "Is it that late?" Pet protested. "I have to be at the center by eight to help pack up the equipment."

  "I know," he sighed, and lifted his head. "I stopped at the desk to leave your key. That's when I realized you'd probably forgotten to leave a wake-up call. I checked with the clerk and he verified it, so I used the key to do it personally."

  "You could have used the house phone," she pointed out impishly.

  "This is much more rewarding." He was so close, his mouth brushed her lips when he spoke. "I fully intended to wake up with you this morning until we were so rudely interrupted. This is the next best thing."

  Pet wished he hadn't brought that up. It reminded her of the stunned and accusing expressions that had been on the faces of the boys when they had accidentally barged in on her and Dane. She knew it wasn't because they had caught her in the arms of a man. No, it was worse than that. She had been in the arms of their boss.

  "You'd better let me up." She nudged him with her hands in a gentle reproof to move. "I still have to get dressed."

  "I have a better idea," Dane murmured, settling more firmly into place. "Instead of you getting up, why don't I climb into bed?"

  "No!" Her refusal was too quick and too weak, because she had never been exposed to a sweeter temptation in her life.

  "Why not?" It wasn't a question to which he expected an answer as his mouth traveled onto her lips as soft as a wind song, and the probing point of his tongue traced their outline.

  His fingers slid the strap of her nightdress off her shoulders. It immediately loosened the dark lace of the gown's bodice, allowing his hand to slide inside and cup her breast. Pet breathed in sharply in an unconscious and searing response. With masterful ease Dane explored and caressed its sensitive point into pebble hardness.

  It took a concerted effort to turn her mouth away from his tantalizing kiss. "Dane, I have to go to work," she insisted tremulously.

  "Have you forgotten?" He laughed softly against her throat, confident and male. "I'm the boss. I'm giving you the morning off."

  "A special assignment?" She resented the use of his authority.

  "If you want to call it that." He missed the hint of bitterness in her tone. "I want you, Pet. I want to make love to you." An element of urgency entered the rough pressure of his mouth against her cheek, rubbing closer to the edge of her lips. I'll see that you're satisfied, too — I've been told I'm a good lover. But with you, Pet, I'll be even better."

  He should have known it was the wrong thing to say. With a muffled cry Pet twisted from beneath him and rolled to the opposite side of the bed from where he was seated. She came quickly to her feet, grabbing the thin cotton robe draped over the end of the bed. A dark frown of confusion clouded his face.

  "Who told you were good?" Pet stormed. "Ruby Gale? While you were lying in her round bed with the giant rose overhead?"

  "What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded, coming to his feet to glare at her across the width of the bed.

  She hurriedly tugged the robe on. "This hotel room doesn't come equipped with mirrors on the ceiling. You'd better find yourself another room!"

  "Will you make sense?" Dane exploded.

  "I am making sense!" Pet retorted. "That's what makes it so … awful!" She choked on the last and pivoted away, blinking at the tears filling her eyes.

  "We aren't going to start this again," he warned.

  The knock on the door was a welcome interruption. "Yes? Who is it?" Her voice was strained. She quickly wiped at the trickle of tears on her cheek.

  "It's me, Lon. Aren't you awake yet?" There was a taut frown in the answer he called.

  "Damn!" she cursed softly. Of all people, why did it have to be him? Or was he checking up on her because of last night? Behind her there was a faint sound from Dane that suggested similar irritation, but Pet wouldn't turn around to look.

  "Yes, I'm awake," she answered back, her voice growing steadier in its volume.

  "When you didn't show up for breakfast, I thought I'd better check," Lon replied in explanation of his presence. "What did you do? Oversleep?"

  "Yes," Pet admitted. "Thanks for checking."

  "I've brought you some coffee."

  Which meant she had to open the door. She threw an anxious glance over her shoulder at Dane. His mouth was compressed in a tight, hard line, a grimly resigned expression on his features. She pushed her tousled hair away from her ear and walked reluctantly to the door, holding the front of her robe shut.

  Behind her, Dane made no attempt to conceal himself from view. Lon saw him standing at the end of the bed the instant she opened the door and his gaze flashed over Pet in silent condemnation.

  "I should have known why you overslept," he jeered.

  "It isn't like that at all," Pet denied his conclusion in a weary voice.

  "Like you, I also noticed she wasn't around," Dane inserted. "I brought her coffee, too. One cup." He lifted a Styrofoam cup to show the cameraman. "So you can lift your imagination out of the gutter."

  "Listen, you may be Dane Kingston, the big man around here —" Lon stabbed an angry finger in the air adopting a belligerent stance "— but you want to crawl in bed with her the same as I do!"

  Pet shivered at the cold rage that flashed across Dane's face. "I'm going to forget you said that, Baxter. Now get out!" he snapped.

  "Like hell" Lon took a step forward.

  "No, please." Pet half lifted a hand to stop him. "Both of you leave. Mr. Kingston was just going anyway … weren't you?" She cast a challenging look at Dane, her heart hammering at her ribs. The last thing she wanted was an ugly scene.

  He held her gaze for a fraction of a second, then strode forward. His hard glance flicked over her as he brushed past her into the hallway occupied by Lon Baxter, There had been a promise in his look that their discussion wasn't over, merely postponed.
>
  "I'll wait for you in the lobby, Pet," Lon stated.

  She simply nodded and closed the door. Her gaze strayed to the bed and the rumpled covers. A weakness attacked her legs, but she made them support her. What had begun as a blissful awakening had ended in such turmoil that she felt torn apart.

  Pet released her tense frustration in a flurry of activity, going to the closet and dragging out her faded jeans. She grabbed a soft chamois blouse, as well and tossed them both on the bed.

  Chapter Eight

  PET DRESSED in a hurry, taking time only to put some lipstick on and tie a green scarf into a knot that gathered the hair at the nape of her neck. Leaving the room, she mentally braced herself for Lon's inquisition, but he wasn't in the lobby when she reached it.

  Dane was, however, looking out a window in a relaxed stance. But when he turned to meet her, she realized he wasn't relaxed at all. He was a coiled spring, all poised to unleash that contained energy.

  "Where's Lon?" Pet glanced around, knowing she wouldn't find him, but the action provided her with a few seconds to readjust her defenses.

  The dark impatience of his eyes swept her. "I imagine he's at the center by now."

  "He said he'd wait for me," she reminded him.

  "I changed his mind." Dane stated what she had already guessed.

  "I fully hope that you intend to give me a ride, otherwise I'll be without transportation to work." There was the right inflection of challenging humor in her cool voice to make it a casual remark. Her raw nerves hadn't betrayed her.

  "I don't need to be reminded that you prefer work to a morning in bed with me. You've already made that clear." His smoothness was like the flat edge of a blade stroked threateningly across tender skin, and She paled a little at its silken quality of steel. "My car is out from."

  "Shall we go?" Pet walked to the door without waiting for him.