Unfortunately, she’d always been annoyingly peppy. She’d never pull off that ice queen thing.
“Beth.”
Case in point.
As soon as she heard Josh Larson’s voice behind her, her heart skittered, and she could feel her face getting hotter. She stood completely still with her back turned on him, watching with growing humiliation as Brooke and Damon looked at her first expectantly and then as if she belonged in a nut house.
“Beth.”
It didn’t help that Josh’s voice sounded again, louder and even a little amused. She didn’t want to turn around. She didn’t want to look into his baby blues and feel her heart skitter. She sure as hell didn’t want to listen to anything he had to say. The inane chit-chat that he’d tried to engage in all year. The one that said he’d either forgotten about their night, or it had been so insignificant that it wasn’t worth talking about again.
And the worst part was that she couldn’t bring it up herself for fear of looking like a complete stalker, or worse, letting him think she was bothered. Which she was. Hugely. But she absolutely couldn’t let him know that.
“Beth.”
This time it was nothing short of a bellow.
And she surely looked crazy. She could tell by Damon’s frown and Brooke’s widened brown eyes.
The sound of applause sounded as Zoe and Beck’s dance ended, and the band switched songs. All around her, couples made their way to the dance floor.
As maid of honor, she could dance with the best man next. But since the best man was her brother Grayson, who was currently nowhere to be seen, Beth seized the opportunity before her.
Without a word and refusing to acknowledge the blond hunk of no good behind her, Beth reached out and clasped Damon Wakefield’s wrist. “Come on,” she commanded before dragging him to the dance floor.
Making a mental note to apologise later to Brooke, she kept her nose in the air and stalked away, feeling a set of ice-blue eyes on her the entire way.
Chapter Two
So. She was still mad then.
Josh felt a grudging smile pull at his lips as he watched Beth’s tiny figure stomp across the room, dragging Damon behind her.
Feeling a stare on him, he turned to see Brooke’s speculative gaze raking over him.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Beth mad at someone,” she said, her dark eyes narrowed.
“Lucky you,” he murmured, his own eyes already hunting for Beth again.
For months now, he’d been torn between trying to talk to her and explain himself or just carrying on a friendly-but-distant neighbourly relationship.
In a town as small as Rocky Valley, completely avoiding each other wasn’t an option. Though she gave it a hell of a shot.
Sometimes, when he caught a glimpse of her golden curls, or she accidentally made eye contact and looked him with those huge blue eyes, he’d remember the lust that had caught him by surprise the night he’d kissed her. And he’d want her with a force that bordered on desperation.
Other times, he’d call himself all kinds of crazy for reacting that way to a woman who, while she was beautiful, was just a woman.
Mostly though he just felt an ever-present sense of guilt. Especially when he played cards or had a beer with her brothers.
Brothers who were rightly protective of their baby sister.
Josh figured that Beth hadn’t told Grayson, Zach, or Seth about their date night considering it’d been a year since then, and he still had all his limbs attached and two un-blackened eyes.
Maybe it hadn’t been that big a deal for her. Although a year of her shooting daggers at him or completely ignoring him and commandeering unsuspecting dance partners would suggest otherwise.
“What happened between you two?”
Josh had forgotten that Brooke was even standing beside him.
His entire focus was on Beth. On how she laughed up at Damon. The yellow dress that clung to her in a way that made him want to tear it off her.
Her body might be tiny, but it was mighty, and remembering exactly how it had felt pressed against his was starting to make things uncomfortable for him.
“Nothing,” he croaked. “I mean — I didn’t — we didn’t—“
He stopped talking because, truthfully, he had no idea what to say.
“Well, whatever it was, you should apologise.”
That got his attention enough for him to look a Brooke directly. He lifted his eyebrow, a little surprised by her audacity. He shouldn’t be, though. He’d learned pretty quickly upon arriving in Rocky Valley that everyone knew everyone’s business. And everyone felt compelled, even entitled, to comment on everyone’s business.
He’d found it stifling at first. Then charming. Now it felt like a stick to beat him with.
“You assume that I should be the one to apologise?” he asked with a wry smile.
“Aren’t you?” she shot back, obviously unimpressed with his attempts to charm her.
He gave up, pretty sharpish under her scrutiny. “Well, yeah,” he admitted, “but how did you know?”
Brooke rolled her eyes before turning them on Beth and Damon, and Josh noticed that she looked as happy about the couple dancing as he felt.
“You’re a man, aren’t you?” she asked, sounding way more bitter than he’d ever heard her before and, without waiting for an answer she moved away, gliding passed the dancefloor with her chin in the air.
Man, the ladies in this town took no prisoners.
The song ended, and Josh watched closely to see if Damon would hold on to Beth for longer than necessary, knowing that it would be none of his business and wondering why the idea of it bothered him so much. To his relief, they parted straightaway, and neither of them looked like anything other than two lifelong friends dancing at a wedding.
The band waited for the smattering of applause and hollers to die down before Chase, the lead singer and local lawyer, spoke into the mic. “We’re gonna slow things down again, folks, before we take a little break, so grab someone special and make this one count.”
He watched Beth refuse someone’s offer to dance and turn in the direction of the bar.
But he wasn’t about to pass this opportunity up.
Josh hurried around the bodies on the dance floor and stood directly in Beth’s path. He waited for her to look up but, just like that first night, her eyes were down, and she wasn’t looking where she was going.
Preparing for impact, Josh reached out and, just like the tiny hurricane she’d been at Bella’s Diner that night, Beth barrelled right into his arms.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she gasped before looking up and seeing who she’d bumped into.
She’d never be able to join their poker nights, Josh thought as he watched the myriad emotions flit across her face. Even if she was a dude, her expressions would give her away. The scowl she was currently directing his way, for example, was definitely screaming Not. Happy.
But right before the scowl, he’d seen a flare of desire, tiny and flickering out before it really got a chance to ignite. But it was enough that he didn’t drop his hands right away.
“You owe me a dance,” he said softly.
Her mouth popped open and damned if that simple action didn’t have his groin stirring to life.
“Excuse me?” she snapped. “I don’t owe you anything.”
“Well,” he began casually, wrapping one arm around her waist and clasping one of her hands in his much larger one. She didn’t seem to notice. “You did completely ignore me when I tried to ask you back there. Before you ran away.”
Her eyes narrowed. She probably thought it made her look intimidating. It just made her look cute and spitting mad like a feral kitten. He knew better than to tell her that though.
“I did not run away,” she hissed. “I was dancing with someone I wanted to dance with.”
He nodded to acknowledge the hit. She didn’t seem to realise that she was dancing now, too.
Again, he didn�
��t feel it was necessary to point that out.
“Well, maybe you don’t owe me anything,” he said gently and risked pulling her a little closer. “But I know I owe you something. An apology…”
Beth opened her mouth. Probably to argue.
“…and an explanation.”
That seemed to bring her up short.
She gazed up at him looking half suspicious, half enthralled.
And suddenly Josh’s throat was dry. He didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t tell her the truth, that much he knew.
It was too personal, not something he ever planned to admit to anyone. The reason he’d moved here in the first place.
“I am sorry,” he whispered, because he needed to say something. And because it was true.
If that call hadn’t come the night of their impromptu date, Josh knew he’d have called Beth. Probably that same night. That was how smitten he’d been. So, maybe it was providence that Ellen had called his cell while he was typing out a text to Beth. Maybe it was a sign that he should leave well enough alone.
It wasn’t as if he could have anything serious with Beth. Or with anyone, really. Chicago and Elaine had made sure of that. Had made it so he could compete in commitment-phobia at the Olympics.
Beth shrugged, but she was holding herself so stiffly that the gesture didn’t come across as casually as she’d probably wanted it to. “It’s not a big deal, Dr. Larson,” she said with a casualness that sounded a little brittle. Or maybe that was wishful thinking on his part. “We had a couple of drinks. Hardly something to still be talking about a year later.”
With that, she removed herself from his arms and hurried across the room and out through the opened French doors before he could even blink.
Josh reminded himself that he should leave well enough alone. Reminded himself that a casual fling with the Carroway girl wasn’t an option. And something serious with her was so far off the table it was practically back in Chicago.
He told himself all of this.
And then he followed her anyway.
Chapter Three
“If you’re not still thinking about it a year later, why do you ignore me and avoid me every chance you get?”
Beth was seriously tempted to just run again.
The Beckford place was huge, at least matching Big Sky Ranch for its size. But while she could probably get around at home with a blindfold on, she couldn’t do it here.
Plenty of lighting shone out here on the patio where table and chairs were dotted around, though they were all empty at the moment. She and Josh were alone out here, and the music from inside could still be heard at a lower volume.
But beyond the patio was darkness and tempting as it was, she wasn’t a complete idiot. Although, to be fair, her reaction to the man who’d followed her would suggest otherwise. He wasn’t wrong, either. That was the kicker. She’d spent twelve months angry with a guy who hadn’t called after spending approximately three hours in her company.
That made her beyond pathetic. It made her borderline crazy.
Everyone who knew Beth knew about her adoration for all things romantic, but even she could admit that she was overreacting when it came to Josh Larson. It had just seemed so special to her. So different. So real.
But it hadn’t been. And she was done making a fool of herself about it.
Straightening her shoulders, she turned to face him, knowing that, when she did, her heart would flutter, and her toes would curl. It was inevitable. And pathetic.
“Maybe I just don’t like you all that much,” she sniped.
His crooked grin should come with a health warning. It was grossly unfair. He didn’t deserve it.
“Maybe,” he acknowledged. “Or maybe it’s because you know it was more than just a couple of drinks.”
He stepped closer, and she had to stand her ground. There was no way she was going to budge and let him think his proximity was affecting her.
“Maybe it’s because we also had a couple of pretty explosive kisses.”
Beth’s heart thumped wildly at his words. The memory of his demanding lips against her own shot through her mind, and her whole body shuddered.
This was the type of thing she’d read about.
The type of thing she wanted so desperately.
But he doesn’t.
The voice of reason, quiet though it might be, reared its head and gave Beth the strength to arch her brow in an imitation of Brooke’s coolness from earlier.
“Did we?” she asked, trying to make herself sound haughty like Zoe. Instead, she sounded like a frog with tonsilitis, but she ploughed on valiantly anyway.
His grin was proof enough that he wasn’t fooled. She was about as sophisticated as the back of a horse, and they both knew it.
“You don’t remember?”
His voice dropped as he stepped closer to her, and she was suddenly surrounded by him: the scent of… the height of him… the breadth of those shoulders…
She tilted her head back, trapped in his ice blue gaze. But there was nothing icy about it. They blazed with a fire that scorched her.
“N-no,” she stammered, hating that her voice was giving her away.
“Then we should jog your memory.”
His smile was sin itself and before Beth could get her brain to engage, he reached out and pulled her closer.
Oh Lord, I’m in trouble, was her last sensible thought before his lips descended, and her entire body went up in smoke.
Damn, but he’d forgotten how good she tasted. How right she felt in his arms.
Josh had had no intentions of kissing Beth when he’d followed her out here.
But it had been a year since she’d let him get this close, and he was as tempted as ever by her.
Maybe it was sheer masculine ego that had made him ignore all the reasons he had for not kissing her again after that first night. Made him want to prove to her that their night together had been unforgettable. That his kiss was worth remembering.
But the second she opened her mouth beneath his on a sigh, sending desire shooting through him, he forgot all the reasons for kissing her and concentrated instead on just enjoying the experience.
He felt her arms reach up and tangle in his hair, and he pulled her body against his own, groaning into her mouth at the contact.
Josh could feel his self-control slipping from his fingers. Something that hadn’t happened since he’d been a randy teenager.
What was it about the tiny, blond ball of sass in his arms that made him forget all the reasons that this was a bad idea?
He dragged his lips from her own and pressed them to the pulse fluttering wildly in her neck. “Come home with me?” he whispered, his voice hoarse with lust.
“I-I—“
She was going to refuse, and Josh was surprised by how desperately he wanted her not to.
“Beth.” He reached down and pulled her even closer, watching as her eyes darkened with a desire to match his own. “You want this. I want this.” He kissed her again before mumbling against her lips. “Just for tonight. Please.”
The second the words left his mouth; Josh knew he’d messed up.
Her whole body went rigid, and she pulled her mouth from his own. The fire was still in her eyes, but it wasn’t desire putting it there. It was sheer, unadulterated rage.
“Just for tonight?” she repeated through clenched teeth. “Are you kidding me, Josh?”
He could lie. He could make promises that he wouldn’t— and couldn’t — keep.
But Josh knew the pain that lies, and empty promises made, and even if he hadn’t, the idea of tricking her into his bed nauseated him. “Beth, I’m sorry, I’m just—“
She cut him off, raising her hand as if to ward off the words. “Don’t,” she bit out, “don’t even bother.”
Her laugh was brittle.
“I’m so stupid. I actually thought—“
He wanted to ask what she thought, but he valued his life too much to risk it.<
br />
“We clearly want different things,” she said.
“I want you,” he answered quickly, sincerely.
“And I want more than a one-night stand,” she answered back, just as quickly. “So, let’s just pretend this didn’t happen. It should be easy enough for you. You’ve had practise.”
He winced as her words hit their mark.
He knew what she thought he was, the type of man he was coming across as: a player who wanted one thing from her, and that was it. Someone who wanted a roll in the sack with no obligation.
How to tell her that that wasn’t true? That he could find that easily among the women of Rocky Valley who were up for a good, short-term time. That if he had it in him to offer more, she was the one he’d happily offer it to.
Josh had the urge to defend himself, but he stayed quiet. Because what was there to say?
I wish I could be what you want. But I can’t.
It didn’t stop him wanting her though. Selfish bastard that he clearly was. Maybe Elaine had been right about him.
“I’m sorry,” he said. Again. Just as sincerely. Just as uselessly.
She stared at him, waiting for an explanation that she deserved, but that he couldn’t give.
Finally, after an excruciating silence, she shook her head as if he was the biggest disappointment in the world.
And right then, he felt like it.
“Me too, Josh,” she said with quiet dignity. Then, without another word, she swept inside, leaving him on the patio alone.
Chapter Four
He could barely see.
Not just from the anger that was coursing through his veins — something he was used to by now.
But because the snowstorm that had hit earlier than anticipated was making conditions downright dangerous.
He shouldn’t have agreed to come tonight. He was exhausted, straight off a twelve-hour shift in the ER.
But Elaine had insisted that he join her, more out of a desire to keep up appearances than actually wanting to spend time with him. And things were so bad between them.
He needed to fix them. Fix their marriage before the baby came.
Can’t Hurry Love Page 2
