by Joanne Rock
Although she couldn’t help but be miffed that she’d earned the rep without any of the fun it implied. She’d networked her butt off on those nightclub outings, pitching her fashions to the social elite. She’d hoped to catch a few trendy clients who didn’t mind taking a risk on a new designer. One of her few impulsive moves during that time had been a kiss in a back alley with a cute guy who’d flirted with her relentlessly. All the other pictures the media had gathered to create the “party-girl” montage had been from her rebellious teenage years, before she’d channeled her energies into productive creativity.
“Hmm. I don’t think any judge would see much of a threat in a five-foot trespasser bearing fifty pounds of design swatches.” Keith hopped out onto the dock to help the speedboat owner with the young family tie his craft to a cleat. “But how about we debate it over coffee?”
He flashed white teeth, his easy charm drawing her toward him in spite of herself.
“I’m five foot three, actually.” Leaving her books behind, she stepped onto the dock, while the kids in the striped shirts and their mom came closer to the bow to watch Keith tie the line. “And I happen to have great aim with a can of Mace, although since I was drugged at the time, I probably didn’t pose much danger.”
Finishing the knot, Keith reached up to give each of the preschoolers a high five. Turning to Josie, he held out his arm.
“Are you ready?”
Her heart sped foolishly, even as she told herself they were only sharing a couple of eggs in the most out-of-the-way restaurant she could find. One meal together and she’d head for home.
“Absolutely.” Ready to battle the unwise attraction long enough to thank him for delivering her safely to shore, she dropped her fingers into the crook of his elbow.
This would be like any other friendly networking meeting, she told herself. But as her skin tingled from that small, casual touch, Josie feared her body was ready to betray her good intentions at the slightest provocation.
AN HOUR OF BREAKING BREAD with Josie had yielded a wealth of useful information about her. They hadn’t found a restaurant still serving breakfast at noon, so they’d settled for sandwiches and microbrews at a quiet local pub.
Now, while they finished off the last of the beer and waited for the check, Keith steered the conversation back to his discovery that she was as much a workaholic as he’d been up until this week. Apparently, she’d worked in the fashion industry after college, then taken a job at a large interior-decorating firm before starting her own company eighteen months ago.
“So, you know, I’m taking a vacation for the first time in three years.” He kept his empty longneck in his hand, hoping the waitress would be slow to return, since he still wanted to learn more about the woman across from him in the tall, private booth. “When’s the last time you took a stab at some rest and relaxation?”
“Hmm.” She played with the unused knife near her plate, flipping the heavy piece over and over on the scarred wood table. A series of skinny silver bands covered her ring finger right up to the knuckle. “I went to Mexico with some girlfriends before I started at that big interior-design firm, so that would be…two and a half years ago.”
Nearby, a busboy juggled drinks for a corner table full of older women who’d ordered a big, candle-covered birthday cake a little while ago.
“Almost as long as me.” Keith shifted in his seat, his knee lightly grazing hers. Once. Twice. Until she looked up at him, almost as if to accuse him of flirting with her on purpose. But his expression must have remained neutral enough, because she went back to playing with her knife.
Her cheeks had gone warm again, though, and he noticed she soon set aside the knife to take a drink of her water. He was determined not to let this attraction get the better of him today, determined to pursue her without getting lost in her dark eyes.
“Yes. I think I’m overdue for a vacation.” Her lips were damp from the water glass, shiny and kissable. “But I’m really trying to lock down a shot at a cable show to bring local decorating inspiration to people in the Boston market.”
With an effort, he pulled his attention away from her lips while a group at the bar broke out in raucous laughter. The establishment wasn’t packed to capacity, but it was plenty busy for the midday meal.
“Which means you have no intention of taking a vacation anytime soon.” Keith had made enough excuses to friends over the years that he recognized the blow-off. The certainty that it was better to work than to play.
No doubt about it, Josie was driven.
“Well, I hired an employee a few months ago, so if I fail now, it’s not just me who loses out on a paycheck. Plus—” she released the knife and rested her fingers on the table, not all that far from his “—I’m trying to get out from under college loans and some financial help my parents gave me when I was starting out. I’ve come to the point where I don’t want to feel I owe anyone anything.”
He wanted to move her plate aside and cover her hand with his. Stroke each finger and plant a kiss in the middle of her palm before venturing up her arm. He remembered exactly how smooth she felt from those brief touches the night before.
“That’s admirable.” Keith tried to keep the thread of the conversation, knowing he had to be on his game if he hoped to convince her to take a chance with him. “It’s rewarding to build a company from the ground up. It took a lot of effort to get Green Principles off the ground, but it was really worth it.”
The deal he had brewing now, in fact, would make them a global affiliate with the Wholesome Branding marketing firm. Green Principles services would be automatically offered and recommended to all Wholesome Branding clients. Keith’s company was entering a new phase of growth.
“So what does your firm do, exactly?” She’d asked attentive business questions all through lunch, keeping the conversation on less personal footing wherever possible. Which made it damn difficult to proposition her.
He kept wondering if she remembered much of what he’d said to her the night before. Did she recall him touching her? He clenched his fingers, fighting the need to remind her.
“We’re a consulting company.” He focused on the words and wished he hadn’t finished his drink. “We hire out to big business to help them navigate increasingly tough environmental laws and to create environmental initiatives unique to their industry. Our goal is to help them be more than just compliant, but actually cutting edge.”
The company had started out so high-minded and grassroots oriented that he’d been surprised by how lucrative the business had become. Astonishing how much a guy could accomplish when he focused on work instead of finding the right woman. Of course, that meant he hadn’t had a date in a dog’s age….
And, amazingly, Josie appeared interested. Not just in him, but in his work, too.
“Hey, folks.” Their flustered waitress, with a ketchup stain on her blouse and a trayful of empty glasses, paused at the table. “Sorry to take so long, but we’re short a busboy today.” After sliding the bill across the table, she removed their plates. “I hear we’ve got a cold front coming our way. No rain yet, I hope.”
Josie peered between the beer signs in the window toward the street. “It was nice out when we came in,” she replied, reaching for the slip of paper.
Over his dead body.
“No way.” He snatched the check with ease, the appropriate bill already in his hand. He put them both on the waitress’s tray alongside the empty glasses. “I’m buying your silence with this meal, remember?”
While the waitress helped his cause, hurrying away amid protests, Keith realized their time together was drawing short and he hadn’t accomplished nearly enough over lunch to justify propositioning Josie quite yet. Damn it.
They left the pub and walked out into the midday sunlight. He steered her toward a wooden bench by the sidewalk to discuss where to go next. The downtown area remained quiet now that the high tourist season had come to a close. But a few rented mopeds and bicycles fi
lled a rack nearby. He didn’t want Josie to leave, but convincing a woman he’d known for less than twenty-four hours to get back on board the Vesta with him to sail off into the unknown was unlikely.
Working against him was most of what he’d learned over lunch—that her ambition rivaled his own, that she never took time off and that she would be “thrilled” to make a pitch to Murphy Resorts should they ever be interested in exploring design alternatives at any of their properties. In fact, as a man who’d been hit on by business prospects of his own in the past, he’d recognized Josie’s smooth redirecting of the conversation anytime he’d veered into mildly flirtatious terrain.
But he’d learned something else intriguing about her over lunch.
She wanted him.
That wasn’t arrogance on his part. It was fact. It didn’t matter that she presented a charming professional image. He could tell by the way her pupils widened when he leaned closer that she wasn’t as unaffected as she pretended. Then there’d been moments when her gaze had lingered on him those extra few seconds before she looked away, her cheeks turning a shade of pink that didn’t come from a makeup compact.
The signs were there. It was just a matter of helping her act on it.
“So what’s your time frame for the trip to Charleston?” she asked, hovering by the bench he’d pointed out, then peering back to a storefront behind them. “Actually, before you answer that, would you mind terribly if we popped into this store for a clean shirt so I can return the one I borrowed?”
She plucked at the worn cotton fabric of his brother’s too-large tee that said Navy in big block letters. On Josie, it read Av, since the other letters were hidden in the excess material at her sides.
“Sure.” He regretted not thinking of it himself. He’d been so focused on getting what he wanted with her, he’d neglected to consider what she needed. An oversight he would not repeat. As they approached the boutique, he held the door for her. “I’ll be curious to see if a decorator spends a lot of time choosing clothes or if the professional eye makes the process faster.”
She slid past him into the dim, artsy store filled with more mannequins than actual clothes, her slight figure barely stirring a breeze, yet commanding attention even in an oversize T-shirt. Something about the way she carried herself—confident and brisk—gave the impression she was someone important, someone people should recognize.
After greeting the salesclerk with a wave, Josie peered back at Keith over her shoulder.
“Normally, I dress with the same care I’d use when decorating a room, since the way I look is kind of an advertisement for the business.” She moved toward a rack full of white blouses, and walked her fingers through the hangers in search of the right size. “I mean, who would trust a decorator who shows up in yoga pants and a T-shirt? Clients expect someone in my line of work to look more put together.”
Moving through the store with efficiency, she had two shirts and a pair of pants in hand already. As she turned toward the next rack, he anticipated the move and stepped in front of her. Surprising her. Surprising himself, to a certain extent. He hadn’t planned to make his play for her here and now, but he didn’t want to wait any longer.
The dimly lit, overly air-conditioned store created an odd sense of privacy, since the loud, pulsing music isolated them from the lone salesclerk chatting away on a cell phone at the counter in the back of the shop.
“I hope you don’t see me as a client you need to impress.” He calculated their distance in inches. Not nearly close enough. Still, her elbow brushed his chest as she clutched the hangers to her.
Belatedly, she retracted her arm, tightening her grip on the clothes as if she could halt the attraction between them by not touching him. He hoped like hell that trick wouldn’t work.
“I know better than to presume anyone will sign on with me,” she protested, carefully keeping things on a safe footing. “You haven’t even seen my work—”
Waving off her words, he shook his head.
“Not because of that. I’m sure you’re very good at what you do. What I meant was, I hope you won’t let business get in the way of something…better.” He had to put his cards on the table soon or she’d be dressed in new clothes and penciling him into her appointment book for a sales pitch before they said goodbye.
“Hey, hon,” the young salesclerk shouted to Josie over the loud music, one hand over her cell phone to muffle her voice. “The fitting room is in the back. There’s a place where your friend can have a seat while you try stuff on.”
She gestured toward an archway near a shoe rack, the huge cocktail ring she wore glinting under one of the store’s blue spotlights.
And thank you, Miss Disinterested Salesgirl. She’d just given Keith the break he’d been looking for.
“Can we talk for a minute?” He took the clothes from Josie’s arms. “Let me carry these for you.”
Judging from her expression, she had mixed feelings about a conversation in the dressing room. But hey, if he was going to give her a hard sell on the merits of spending more time with him, better to do it in a public place where she knew she could walk away, than on the boat, where she might feel trapped.
He led her under the arch near the shoe rack. A love seat had been situated near a small table holding a coffeepot and a pitcher of water. The sofa sat across from a three-way mirror. A smaller room with a bench inside was visible beyond a half-drawn velvet curtain.
Behind him, Josie’s flat shoes clicked double-time to keep up. He used his lead to deposit the clothes she’d chosen in the fitting area, then he backed away to sit on an arm of the love seat so he didn’t look like some loser in the market to catch a view of her naked. Not that he wasn’t in the market, per se. But he had every intention of waiting until she offered that opportunity to him freely.
“I’m not sure—” she began.
He rushed to cut off that line of thinking.
“I’ll get out of your way in a minute,” he assured her, vaguely wondering why he felt so compelled to push her for more. “But I want you to do me a favor and think about something first.”
In his mind, he had a game plan. He’d list the reasons she needed a vacation and why he was in the ideal position to give her that break right now. He would admit his attraction and dare her to deny her own.
Right now, though, she stood close enough to touch. Her sexy brown eyes tracked his every movement as he stepped even closer. No one could see them. In the distance, the salesclerk gabbed on as if she wanted the world to hear about her weekend plans with a guy her father hated. And the electric chime on the front door would alert them when anyone else came into the store.
Keith’s game plan shifted in a hurry.
“Something for your consideration…” He bracketed her shoulders in his palms. Steadying her.
Right before he gambled everything on a kiss.
4
JOSIE’S HEART FLUTTERED wildly. Palms damp, knees shaky, she had all she could do to stay still as Keith leaned closer. More than anything, she wanted to meet him halfway. Or maybe tackle him in the fitting room and pull the curtain so no one could see.
But no, every bit of restraint she could muster amounted to her waiting like a deer in the headlights for her tall, sexy sea captain to lay claim to her mouth just the way she’d dreamed the night before. When the soft warmth of his lips brushed hers—once, twice, with slow deliberation—she thought she’d melt on contact. Sweet sensation flooded her veins and sent an undeniable bolt of heat between her thighs.
That had never happened before. Well, never so pointedly nor so quickly.
He touched only her shoulders. And, of course, her mouth. The rest of her swayed toward him like a magnet, the draw of anticipation too powerful to resist. The music blaring over the store’s speakers—an angsty punk-rock ballad—seared into her brain, forever associated with the man and the moment. Like a love scene swelling to crescendo on-screen in time with the gut-wrenching lyrics, Josie wrapped her ar
ms around his neck and hauled him closer, pressing herself to him.
She couldn’t recall any reason why she shouldn’t be with this man. Right now, she could only think about how much she wanted this. Him.
He speared a hand through the hair at the back of her head, anchoring her. His other palm spanned her lower back, his pinkie straying onto the curve of her hip, stirring the low, liquid heat.
“Come with me,” he urged, the request surprisingly possible given the way her body was responding.
“Not here,” she murmured, her overeager imagination trying to think of a better alternative. “Somewhere private…”
He edged back the barest fraction, his green eyes finding hers in the dim, moody lighting of the store.
“I meant—” He closed his eyes for a moment and she had the feeling he was trying to get a grip on himself.
In fact, she’d almost bet on that, since the rigid length of his arousal nudged her belly.
Before she could apologize for plastering herself to him like silk with a static-cling problem, he opened his eyes again and took a deep breath.
“Josie, I want you to come with me on this trip to Charleston. It’s my first vacation in forever and it could be yours, too. I’m not sure how long it will take—a week or more, depending on the weather.” He sucked in another deep breath, and it seemed to her he was willing his whole body back under control. “We could explore this thing between us….”
A wicked impulse made her roll her hips against him.
“I’d love to check it out thoroughly,” she admitted, scarcely able to believe he was propositioning such a thing, let alone that she would even joke about taking off with him on a sexcapade thinly disguised as a shared vacation.
“I mean it.” He lifted his palm to her cheek and the gesture felt so…familiar.
