* * *
Josh drove them back to the construction office, his mind clicking over possibilities. He wasn't going to let Lori shut him out again. No way. It might take all the patience he could muster, but he was going to woo her back into his arms.
Tonight. He was afraid if he let her go too long she might turn from him altogether. She might find it was easy to live without him, just when he was learning how much he didn't want to live without her.
Unsure exactly how to go about breaking through to her, he left Lori alone for the rest of the afternoon. He wanted to get her away from the office, preferably at his home, but it wasn't until he happened to glance at the calendar on his desk that he thought of a way to lure her there.
He didn't bring it up until five o'clock, when she stood in his doorway, her purse clutched in her hands. "I'm going home now," she said, her gaze trained somewhere over his left shoulder.
"Big plans for the evening?" he asked, keeping his voice casual.
Her eyes darted toward his face, darted away. "Um, well, the usual."
"If you're not too busy, I was hoping you could do me a big favor."
She darted another look at him, as if trying to gauge exactly what kind of "favor" he had in mind. He worked at keeping his expression bland.
"Well, um. Okay, I guess," she said.
He smiled. "Great. Let's go." As she sputtered in protest, he swept her toward the front door, turning off lights as he moved.
"Josh—"
"I only want a few minutes of your time," he lied. "I need a woman's … touch."
Her eyes narrowed. "What is it exactly that you want from me?"
He opened the front door and gestured her through. "Two of my sisters have birthdays next week. I bought two sweaters and I need help deciding which sister gets which one." As quickly as he could, he locked the office door, then set off toward the parking lot as if it was a given that she was following.
He heard her sigh and was grateful to the early-evening darkness for hiding his smile. "It won't take long," he said. For me to ease you over your resistance.
Josh took it as a good sign that she only sighed again. In just a few short minutes, he pulled into his garage and she pulled in after him, to brake her car in his driveway.
He hurried inside and had the front door open, the heat turned up and the lights on, just as she mounted his porch steps. "What can I get you to drink?" he asked, as she crossed over the threshold.
"I won't be here long enough for that," she told him firmly.
"Okay." He shrugged. "Follow me, then." Whistling softly, he led the way into his bedroom.
Instead of stepping inside, she hovered on the threshold. "Josh. I don't know…"
Pretending not to understand the source of her hesitation, he pulled open the door to his walk-in closet. "Yes, I realize you don't know my sisters. But you're another woman, so your opinion is bound to be better than mine."
A bag in each hand, he exited the closet and approached his king-size bed. Without looking at Lori, he pulled out the sweaters and spread them against the caramel-colored comforter. One was cherry-red and casually styled. The other was dressier, indigo, with embroidered black flowers around the neckline.
His mother had selected them for him before she and his father had taken off on their latest trip.
"What do you think?" Trying to appear completely innocent and somewhat baffled, he gestured toward them with his hand, then looked over at Lori.
His breath caught in his lungs. As he'd been fetching the sweaters, she'd been busy too. The top two buttons of her blouse were unfastened and she was combing her fingers through her newly released hair.
It wasn't a come-on, her little frown and focus on the sweaters made that clear, but she looked softer than she had all day. Warmer.
And she was four feet from his bed.
She stepped closer, and her hand left her hair to stroke the texture of each sweater. Josh thought of that hand stroking him and he closed his eyes.
"You have good taste, Josh," she said. "Both these sweaters are beautiful."
He opened his eyes, smiled, tried his best to look innocent again. "Thanks. But I still don't know which one to give Elaine and which one to give Lisa."
Lori tilted her head, her gaze on the sweaters. "Tell me about them." She sat down on the edge of the bed.
Josh considered pushing her back against the mattress. He thought about the five buttons of her blouse that were still fastened and how warm and peachy the skin beneath would taste.
"Josh?" A note of wariness entered her voice. He cleared his throat. The point was to woo her, not worry her, he reminded himself. "Let's see. Elaine is my oldest sister. She's the tomboy of the three. The one that taught me how to throw a curve-ball, as a matter of fact. On the other hand,, Lisa is the beauty queen of the family. We used to have to yell 'Fire!' to get her out of the bathroom."
"Hmm." Lori pressed her lips together and touched each sweater again, obviously considering. "I think the more casual sweater for Elaine then, and the one with the flowers for Lisa." Against the creaminess of her skin, her lips stood out, rosy-pink.
His mind not on anything but her mouth, and the taste of it that he remembered so well, Josh shook his head. "Nah." His mother had told him that Elaine would love the blue, and Lisa the red. Lori's eyes rounded in surprise at his instant rejection of her advice, and he quickly caught himself. "I mean, do you really think so?"
"Josh…"
Hell, there was that wary note again. As if it was the most casual thing in the world, he dropped to the mattress too, sitting on the other side of the sweaters. With a frown, he pretended to look them over. "Maybe I should have bought them toasters or something."
"These are much better than toasters," Lori said. "I promise you. Why don't you tell me what they look like?"
Thinking quickly – Lord, he was such a smart guy – he bounced off the bed and jogged into the den for a photo album. He was back in his bedroom and back on the bed – beside Lori this time – before she had a chance to guess his ulterior motive.
His thigh pressed against hers as he opened the leather-covered book so that it crossed both their laps. The first page displayed a photograph of the Anderson family – three big sisters huddled around a blanket-wrapped bundle that was Josh.
She laughed. "Is this you?"
He savored the first light-hearted sound she'd made all day. "Three days old." With a finger he indicated first one little girl and then another. "That's Elaine. That's Lisa. The one who looks like she's about to pinch me is the sister closest to me in age, Dana."
Lori turned the next page herself, and laughed again as she took in the two-page spread of Josh in various stages of undress. "Not very modest, are we?"
He didn't try to suppress a grin. "Hey, even at two months old I knew – when you got it, you gotta flaunt it." With his elbow, he gave her a teasing jab. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Lori looked up from the album, amused. Josh stared at her beautiful face, so achingly close. His own humor evaporated, replaced by hunger as his gaze ran from her eyes to her mouth to the pulse beating, suddenly frantic, in her throat.
She hastily dropped her gaze and turned several more pages until the photos showed the girls as teenagers. "Well," Lori said, her head studiously bent over the album. "It looks to me as if Elaine's dark hair would be perfect with the red sweater and Lisa's blond with the blue."
That pulse was still drumming in a frenzied rhythm at the base of her throat. Josh shook his head, thinking only of what it would feel like, beating against his tongue. "Elaine's favorite color is blue. Lisa's devoted to red."
Lori paused. "You didn't want my opinion at all, did you Josh?"
He winced. "It's not that I didn't want your opinion…"
She looked up, pinned him with her eyes. "You didn't need it then."
"Lori, I—" He closed his mouth, opened it, ran his hands through his hair, only the truth in his mind. "I need you."
/> Her gaze shifted away, and she shoved the album off her legs in order to stand. "I should go."
"Why, damn it?" He hated the feeling she was slipping away from him. He pushed the album onto the mattress and stood too. Then with an effort, he softened his voice, remembering he had to charm her if he could. "I thought we agreed to give what we have some time. A chance."
Her fingers wove together in front of her. "I—" She broke off, shrugged.
Josh took a long breath, dredging up every scrap of patience he could find inside himself. He knew she'd been hurt. Frightened. He knew he had to tread lightly. "Just a chance, Lori."
But she shook her head and started for the doorway. "No, Josh," she said. "I don't think—"
"Don't think!" As if from a great distance, Josh saw himself bolt toward her, take her arm and spin her around. This wasn't wooing her, this wasn't charming her, this wasn't treading lightly. He knew it wasn't, but if doing those meant letting her get away, then to hell with patience.
His blood rushed through him in a blaze of heat. He shook his head, trying to clear his suddenly hazy vision, trying to shake his senses back into order, but there was only Lori. Her eyes, her mouth, the beauty that he couldn't let walk away from him without a fight.
His hand tightened on her arm. He hauled her close, yanked her to her toes. Bending his head, he kissed her. Hard.
* * *
Chapter 12
« ^ »
Lori's body stiffened beneath Josh's hands. He cursed himself and eased up on her mouth, but he couldn't, wouldn't let her go. "Honey," he murmured. "Lori."
She turned her face, so his lips ran across her cheek. "Josh," she said, the ache in her voice echoing the ache in his heart. "I'm worried that—"
"No." He wasn't going to let her worry. That was worse than thinking. "Just kiss me," he demanded.
She still hesitated, then slowly, so slowly, she turned her face back to his.
And that was the last time he asked her for anything that night.
With her mouth beneath his once more, Josh lost all finesse, all patience. Desire burned in his blood and he couldn't think of anything but bringing her against him, with him. His hands slid to the open V of her blouse, his fingers curling over the edges of the material as he kissed her. When her tongue met his, his hands jerked.
Buttons pinged as they scattered across the hardwood floor, but the sound barely registered over the heavy thump of his heart. The skin of her shoulders was warm under his palms, and he followed her racing goose bumps as he pushed the sleeves of her blouse off her arms.
The still-fastened cuffs trapped the blouse at her wrists, but he was too needy to fool with it any longer. Instead, he left it hanging, concentrating on all the creamy skin between her mouth and her bra. He licked it, sucked on it, drew its scent into his lungs.
Then he buried his face in the valley of her breasts, her heartbeat against his lips, her softness against his cheeks. He felt her shudder, but he also heard her moan, so he didn't stop.
He couldn't stop.
His mouth settled over her lace-covered nipple. He sucked it in, closing his eyes as it hardened against his tongue. His hands ran down her back, over her hips, cupping her buttocks to press her body against his erection.
He surged against her, his body seeking. Desperate for more of her, he lifted his shaking fingers and unlatched the front clasp of her bra. The cups parted and he pushed the bra straps toward her wrists, too.
She cried out when he fastened his mouth on her bare nipple. The sound made him pause, but then she arched her back, offering more of herself to him.
His head spun. Need driving him like a whip, he lifted her into his arms. Somehow he found her nipple again, latched onto it and felt her jerk. But she wasn't shrinking away from him, she was lifting herself still closer, and he gave her what she silently asked for.
Sucking strongly, he turned toward the bed. He opened his eyes to find his way, and the sight of her half-bared body bowing in his arms caused another deluge of lust to rush through his blood. Groaning, he reached back to flip off the light, hoping the darkness would slow down his heated response.
But it only made the night more intimate.
He had to feel her, skin-to-skin.
The photo album thumped to the floor as he pushed it aside to lay Lori against the bed linens. His fingers fumbling in haste, he worked on his own shirt, only managing to undo a couple of buttons before he grabbed the tails and pulled the thing over his head.
His jeans came next, and he threw them off with the same amount of impatience. He rolled on a condom, then his fingers found the button of her pants. He tore at it, frustrated when the tab of the zipper stuck. Finally it gave, and he slid the fabric down over her long, silky thighs.
She wore boots, and he gritted his teeth in frustration as he worked them off. Then, finally, she was naked.
He climbed onto the mattress, then moved between her legs, the sleek skin of her inner thighs gliding against his knees as he sought the place where he wanted to bury himself.
The head of his shaft just touching her slick heat, he froze, his body shuddering at the sensation. He sat back on his heels. "It's so damn good." His voice was guttural, hard.
His palms ran up the inside of her thighs, then he pushed his thumbs through the springy hair at their apex. His body still against hers, connected only by the most delicate of sexual kisses, he pushed her folds open and found the nub hidden there.
He stroked it, the callused tips of his thumbs strumming it one after the other. Lori moaned, but he didn't stop. Couldn't stop making her respond.
"I do this to you," he said. The coiling tension in her body was obvious as she lifted her hips, causing her body to swallow two inches of his. He groaned, fighting the lure of that hot, tight glove, as his fingers continued to provoke her, tease her. "You're mine."
Her hips tilted higher, trying to take more of him. Closing his eyes, he lifted himself away, not giving her another inch. His fingers continued playing; her body strained.
"Josh…" She was pleading for him, for release. But he was in control here. Every response was his to command, the fire inside her his to stoke. Tonight, every sensation in her body was his.
He took her high, reading the level of her passion in the trembling muscles in her body and in her ragged breath. With her hands still trapped by her blouse, she couldn't touch him, and he liked that too, he liked that she was completely at his mercy.
Then, when she finally let out a passionate sob, he relented. He firmed his touch, stroking her faster, harder. She sucked in one shallow breath, her body bowed one final time, then it shook, jerking against his in unmistakable pleasure.
While the waves were still moving through her, Josh let himself go. And plunged.
Her body convulsed around his, milking pleasure from his invasion. Josh gritted his teeth, trying to prolong the sweet agony, but Lori defeated him. Her inner muscles closed around him on another pulse of passion and he plunged deep, drew out, plunged deeper.
His release surged out of his heart. Like a shout of desperation it came from the deep depths of his soul. Fierce delight flashed through him, shook him, and he poured it into Lori's body, trying to give back everything he'd taken.
He came back to himself moments – hours? – later. His skin went cold as he realized he was on top of her. He was holding her down.
"Lori. I…" He rolled off her, landing on the other pillow. He threw his arm over his face. "I'm sorry … I wasn't thinking."
My God, he was supposed to be wooing her! Instead, desperate not to lose her, he'd manhandled her, forcing her to respond to him, forcing her to take his touch on his terms. His gut clenched. "I'm so damn sorry."
In the darkness, he couldn't see her face, he didn't sense her movement. Somehow she'd freed herself from her blouse and now her palm cupped his cheek. He flinched, the gentle touch stinging more than a slap. "Josh," she said. He couldn't read the tone of her voice. "You have to know
I liked it."
He hauled in a deep breath. "I know you … that I satisfied you. But Lori, I know I was all over you. I know I didn't give you much, if any, choice."
"Josh, it's okay—"
"It's not okay. I wanted you to know that you could trust me. I betrayed that."
"Oh, Josh." Somehow, she found his hand and brought it to her cheek. Her face was wet.
Oh, no. She'd been crying.
"Lori—"
"Just shut up, Josh," she said, though there was no anger in her voice.
"But you're crying."
"Because I'm happy." She pressed his hand harder against her soft skin. "I do trust you, Josh. Do you think I could have enjoyed myself so much if I didn't? For the last four years I've wondered if I'd ever be normal again. Have normal responses. Not be afraid. Tonight, with you, Josh, I felt normal. I wasn't afraid. Not for one instant."
Something twisted in his chest. "Honey, I…" At a loss for words, he reached for her, closing his arms gently around her body.
"I won't break," she said, sighing as she snuggled closer.
But he might. He was weak with gratitude. He closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek against the top of her head. "Lori," he said. "We've got to give this a chance."
He could have told her his heart, his love, required it, but there was only so much a man could demand in one night. Her mouth touched the center of his bare chest. "I know," she whispered.
Josh drifted off to sleep. When he woke some time later, he blinked, dazzled for a moment by the glow of the bedside lamp. Lori was sitting up on the pillows beside him, the sheet tucked under her arms and the photograph album open in her lap.
He watched her in silence for a moment, enjoying the sight of her in his bed almost as much as the little smile playing over her mouth as she turned the pages. Then she stilled, her expression turning serious.
Curious at the sudden change in her mood, Josh lifted onto his elbow to peer at the page. Then their gazes met.
"She made a beautiful bride," Lori said.
Josh glanced down at the wedding photograph of his wife Kay, then looked back at Lori. He half smiled. "Yes. She did."
IN LOVE WITH HER BOSS Page 14
