by Lori Wilde
“Hey!” She shoved his arm. “A lot of men find me very attractive.”
Men like him. She could tell from the appreciative way his gaze skimmed her little black dress that he was enjoying the view very much. Yahoo! Looked like seducing Jared wasn’t going to be too difficult after all.
“Oh, you won’t get any argument from me. You’re good looking, but at times you can be...”
When he didn’t continue, she prompted, “Witty? Enticing? Intriguing?”
He chuckled. “Stubborn. So I couldn’t fix you up with just anyone. He had to be tough.”
Leigh rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. You didn’t even try to find me a date, did you?”
“No. I did. But the problem was, how to find you a date that was as...unique as the ones you found for me. Most of the guys I know are fairly normal. Although Barry Olsen can make the exotic dancer tattoo on his belly shimmy like a real woman. I considered setting you up with him, but he’s up in Wyoming at the moment. Sorry.”
Pretending to be disappointed, she said, “Some friend you are. Well, I guess I’ll see you at the parade meeting tomorrow night. Remember, everyone’s coming to your place to start assembling the floats. And whatever you do, keep an eye on Tommy and Kate. Those two disappeared twice last night. Who knows what they were up to.”
Jared winked. “I have a fairly good idea what they were up to.”
“Yeah, well, they need to cut it out, so help me keep tabs on them, okay?”
He nodded. “Fine. But what about tonight? You’re not seriously going to stay home. Not when I’m standing here, more than willing to be your date.”
Leigh put her hands on her hips and slowly studied his clothes. Although he looked gorgeous in his jeans and T-shirt, he was hardly dressed to match her.
“Gee, as tempting as it sounds to go to the local hamburger joint and have a milkshake, I think I’ll pass.”
“Whoa. Whoa.” Jared stopped the door from closing. “Come on. Change out of that slinky dress and into jeans, and I’ll take you for a ride on my Harley.”
That made her stop. Slowly she turned back to face him. Now this could definitely work in her favor.
“Will you teach me how to drive it?” she asked.
Jared laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”
Leigh reached out and tugged the door free from his grip. “Say good night, Kendrick.”
Once again, Jared stopped her from shutting the door. “Fine. Fine. If you’re serious about learning to drive one, I’ll run you through the basics tonight, then we’ll go to dinner. If you still want to learn after that, I’ll teach you once we’re done with the homecoming parade. Deal?”
Leigh grinned. This was perfect. Absolutely perfect. “Good. And just so you know, I’m holding you to that promise. Learning to ride a motorcycle is one of the three things I most want to do now that I have my freedom.”
He gave her a devilish smile. “Of course, I now have to ask what the other two things are.”
Leigh didn’t plan on telling all her secrets at once. She had him intrigued. She planned on keeping him that way.
As far as she was concerned, this game they were playing had just started. He might think he could change her mind about settling down, but he was wrong. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t change his mind about having an affair.
She was very good at getting what she wanted. “Give me a moment and I’ll go change my clothes.” Without waiting for his answer, she sprinted toward her bedroom. She knew exactly what to wear that would get Jared’s motor racing. Tugging on her favorite snug jeans, she added the new red sweater she’d bought last week. The sweater was a little too short to reach the top of her jeans, so a small strip of her stomach showed between the two.
That ought to get him.
Wandering out a few minutes later, she found Jared prowling her living room like a bored lion. He turned when she entered, then froze.
His gaze was heated as he studied her outfit. “Man, you look...” He blinked. Twice. “Good. You look good.”
The way he said the word good made it clear he meant she looked hot. “Thanks.”
Biting back a smile, she walked over and tugged her keys out of her purse. Stuffing the key to her house in the front pocket of her jeans, she then turned to face him.
“So where are we having dinner?”
Jared’s attention was riveted to the small strip of skin showing between her jeans and her top.
“I can’t help wondering if your belly button is pierced,” he murmured.
Since the top of her jeans just covered her navel, she knew he couldn’t see. At first, she started to tell him no, but then a better idea occurred to her.
“I guess you’ll have to find out for yourself,” she teased, liking the way he looked at her with such heat and intent in his gaze.
A slow seductive smile crossed his face. “Is that a challenge?”
She tipped her head and pretended to consider his question. “Take it any way you want.”
Jared chuckled. “Tonight should be interesting.”
She couldn’t agree more. Wanting to get started, she reached over and grabbed his hand. “Come on. I want you to teach me how to drive a motorcycle before it gets dark.”
Jared wrapped his hand around hers, and then to her surprise, tugged her close. Leigh’s breath caught in her throat and she tipped her head to look up at him.
“Just a second, okay?” His voice was soft, and smooth, and deep, and Leigh’s heart pounded in her chest. Ever so slowly, he leaned down until his lips were a whisper away from hers.
“I wonder if anything else on you is pierced,” he said softly.
Then he kissed her, his tongue gliding inside her mouth. With an eek, Leigh wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him back. Wow. This man could kiss. She couldn’t remember ever being kissed so thoroughly.
In fact, she was so busy kissing Jared that it took a minute for her to realize that the hand he had at her waist had dipped beneath the waistband of her jeans and was now exploring her navel. At his touch, the air seemed to catch in Leigh’s throat.
As his wandering hand continued to explore, she did the only thing a self-respecting modern female could do. She slipped the fingers of one of her hands under the waistband of his jeans.
Jared broke the kiss and with a chuckle, said, “Guess we both now know the other doesn’t have a pierced navel.”
She flashed him a grin. “Or a pierced tongue.”
**
For the tenth or eleventh time, Jared shook his head. “No, Leigh, that’s the brake. You just don’t seem to be paying attention.”
Man, that was an understatement. No matter how many times he ran her through the parts of the motorcycle, she didn’t seem to remember them. Normally he’d think it was because she really wasn’t interested in learning. But tonight, he figured she was as distracted as he was. That kiss had been wild. And they both knew good and well that a kiss like that promised more to come later.
He could hardly wait.
Walking up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist. “Tell me another one of those things you’ve always wanted to do,” he whispered in her ear. “Maybe we’ll have better luck with it.”
She leaned back against him. “Before I do, I want you to know I won’t marry you.”
He’d expected her to mention this sooner or later. He knew very well how she currently felt about love and marriage. That didn’t mean he wasn’t sure she’d eventually change her mind.
“Did I ask you to marry me? Seems to me we were talking about something else,” he pointed out.
Leigh turned within the circle of his arms until she faced him. “Okay. So we’re clear on this. If we’re going to do any more of what we were doing earlier, I want it clearly understood that we’re just messing around.”
Jared leaned down until his forehead rested against hers. “Yes. I agree. We’re just messing around. Now tell me another thing on your list.”
That was something he could easily do. “Fine. Let’s go then.”
With a squeal, Leigh threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. “I like a man who is so agreeable.”
Jared got on his motorcycle, and then helped her on as well. Yep, he planned on being agreeable. Very, very agreeable. So agreeable that pretty soon, Leigh would fall in love with him—whether she wanted to or not.
Then they’d talk about that whole getting married thing again.
He handed her one of the helmets, then put on his. “Wear that. You may want to use your brains later on in life.”
She laughed but did as he said. “Harhar.”
“Now hold on to me,” he told her. As soon as she wrapped her arms around his waist, he started the engine. Leigh immediately scooted closer to him and held him tighter. He loved the feeling of her pressed against him. So soft and warm.
“Drive really fast,” she said into his left ear.
Jared chuckled. Leave it to Leigh to want to be fast and wild. He headed out of town and more or less did what she asked. It would take them over an hour to get to Dallas if they didn’t get stopped for speeding. And he didn’t want to get stopped. Not tonight. He had too many things planned.
So he kept Leigh moving. Through dinner at a cozy little Italian restaurant, then club hopping. When they ended up at a completely insane place, he kept her close. Speaking of piercings, he and Leigh seemed to be the only people who didn’t have their lips and noses pierced.
“This place makes me feel a hundred years old,” Jared yelled to Leigh.
Leigh was standing in the middle of the dance floor, staring at people as they went by. “I know what you mean.”
When a man danced by with hair spiked so high it looked like spears, she shuddered. “Let’s go home.”
About time. Jared snagged her hand and pulled her through the crowd. He’d been waiting to head home for the past two hours.
When they reached his Harley, he once again handed her a helmet. She flashed him a sexy grin.
“Thanks for making two of my three wishes come true,” she told him. Then she leaned against him and kissed his chin. “I’m really enjoying this date. It’s so much more fun when you’re part of the date rather than merely ruining it.”
He chuckled. “Gee, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Have I told you tonight that I think you’re a really nice guy?”
Her compliment caught him by surprise. He honestly couldn’t remember anyone ever calling him nice and sincerely meaning it. “I don’t think many people will agree with you on that one.”
“They will. Eventually.”
Unable to resist, he leaned down and kissed her. He wrapped his arms around her and poured all the love and desire he felt for this woman into his kiss. It must have been pretty good because several people in the parking lot started hooting and hollering at them, cheering him on.
He broke the kiss when a kid with purple and pink hair slapped him on the back and told him to “Go for it, dude.”
“Um, thanks,” Jared told the enthusiastic spectator.
Leigh was laughing as they got on the motorcycle. “This place is insane.”
“Many days Honey doesn’t seem much better.” She leaned against him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “So are you going to do what he suggested?”
Jared wanted to think he knew what she was talking about, but he’d learned long ago to never make assumptions when it came to Leigh.
“What would that be?”
“Go for it, dude. I think it sounds like a wonderful idea.”
Jared grinned. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
**
The second Jared turn off the Harley and helped her down, she wrapped herself around him. No sense giving him the chance to change his mind.
Although from the way he was kissing her back, he wasn’t changing his mind anytime soon.
“Where’s the key?” he asked between kisses. “I don’t want the entire town of Honey watching us.”
“It’s almost midnight. Most of Honey is asleep,” she teased, reaching into her pocket to get the key. It wasn’t there, so she tried the other front pocket.
“Uh oh.”
Jared had been kissing her neck, but now he leaned back to look at her in the light from her front porch. “Uh oh, what?”
“Uh oh, I seem to have lost the key. Must have been when I was dancing at one of those places in Dallas. Well, we won’t worry about it. My address isn’t on it, so no one will ever know what door it fits. Let’s go back to kissing some more.”
Jared blew out a deep breath and gently held her away. “Seriously, we can’t stand in front of your house doing this. Since you’re trying to land a teaching job, I doubt if necking with the town’s bad boy will help.”
He had to be kidding. “You’re not changing your mind, are you? Please tell me you’re not changing your mind.”
“No. But before we go any further, let’s head to my house.”
She put her hands on her hips. “That’s too far away. Let’s just break in.”
“I’m not breaking into your house,” he said. “Who else has a key?”
She held up one hand and ticked off their options. “My big brother Chase. My other big brother Nathan. And my last big brother Trent, who also happens to be the chief of police. Which one do you think we should call?”
“None of them,” Jared muttered. “One look at the two of us, and whichever of your brothers stops by will string me up from the nearest tree.”
“You’re probably right there. At the least, they’d insist you head on home before they unlock my house.” She glanced around. Of all the stupid times to lose her key. She wanted inside this house now.
She knew if she didn’t think fast, Jared would change his mind. He’d say it was for the best, and then he’d kiss her and get all noble, call one of her brothers and leave once she was inside her house. All alone. And frustrated.
Not on his life. Even though he was pretending he didn’t care that all they were having was a fling, she knew he felt differently. She could feel what he felt in his touch, see it in his gaze.
And sure, she cared for him, too. Not in the “till death-do-us-part way,” but deeply. He probably wouldn’t believe her if she told him this, but she wouldn’t want to make love with him if she didn’t care about him.
But caring and marrying were two verrrrry different concepts.
Jared was looking at his watch. “Leigh, it’s late. Maybe we should do this some other time. Why don’t we call one of your brothers? I’ll stick around until they show up and let you in.”
Leigh snorted. “As if. You said you’d make love with me, and I’m not letting you off the hook, buddy.”
Jared chuckled. “Takes a particular kind of woman to say something like that to a man.”
Leigh nudged past him. “Yeah, well, I expect you to honor your promise.” She tugged on the doorknob. “Stupid door. Stupid key.”
When she glanced back at him, he was studying her. “When exactly did I promise to make love with you?”
He seriously couldn’t have changed his mind, could he? She looked him up and down. From what she could see, he still was very interested in the whole making love idea.
“Hey, you agreed to go for it, dude. If that isn’t a promise, I don’t know what is.” She tugged on the doorknob again. “Besides I bought a brand new red lace bra today that I’m currently wearing, and I’d like your opinion on it.”
Jared made a groaning noise and took a step toward her. Leigh laughed and held up one hand. “Down, boy.”
Then she quickly amended, “Forget I said that. But give me a second here. The locks on my house aren’t very good. I know you know how to break in.”
He frowned. “What do you mean the locks aren’t very good? Leigh, even
though you live in a small town, you have to be careful. First thing tomorrow, I’m changing your locks. You’re going to be safe.”
She bobbed her head. “Good idea. You do that. Right after you break in tonight and check out my red bra.”
Jared glanced around. “I don’t know.”
Oh, for pity’s sake. “Hello,” she said, then once he was looking at her, pulled aside the neckline of her sweater and flashed him a little peek at her bra. “Passionate lovemaking awaits inside.”
Jared made another groaning sound, then immediately set about examining the lock. Eureka. Nothing like flashing a man your undies to get him in gear.
“Which door is easier, the front or the back?” he asked, and she didn’t miss that his voice was raspy with desire.
“I guess they’re both the same. I’ve never rated them on an easy-to-jimmy scale, so it’s hard to say.”
“Very funny.” He examined the front door. “Opening this will be a piece of cake. You keep an eye out.”
“You bet.” Then just to make certain he didn’t lose his motivation, she proceeded to whisper naughty suggestions in his ear the entire time he was fiddling with the lock.
“We’re going to get caught,” he told her, but not with any conviction in his voice.
“I’m breaking into my own house, and everyone around here knows it’s my house. What’s the worst they can do to me?” She leaned forward and nibbled on his earlobe. “Put me under house arrest? I’d welcome it at this moment.”
Before Leigh could torment him much more, he threw open her front door and tugged her inside.
“That is the worst excuse for a lock I’ve ever seen,” he told her as he pushed the door closed and relocked it.
Leigh turned on the lamp by the couch, then pulled her red sweater over her head. She stood before him in a skimpy red lace bra and low-riding jeans. “Was it worth it?”
Jared grinned. “In the morning, remind me to write that company and thank them for making such a crummy lock.”
She grinned back. Tonight was going to be serious fun.
Chapter 8
