by Lori Foster
He must not have wanted an answer, because he kissed her, his mouth soft on hers while his tongue slowly explored. Josie gasped and clutched the front of his cotton shirt, almost forgetting what she intended. But she needed to wrest control from him, to play the game her own way before she lost her heart totally. As it was, her feelings for him were far too complicated. And Nick, well used to his effect on women, would recognize what she felt if she didn’t take care to hide her emotions behind her strong physical attraction.
If he thought she was growing lovesick, he’d leave. And she wasn’t ready for him to go. Not yet.
He slanted his head and the kiss deepened. One hand slid inside the top of her dress and when he found her bare breast, he pulled back.
“Damn.” Hot and intent, his gaze moved over her mouth, her throat, the breast he smoothed so gently. “You’re naked underneath, aren’t you?”
“No.” A mere squeak of sound and she cleared her throat, trying to sound more certain, more provocative—more like the woman who had attracted him in the first place. “No, but too many underthings would have ruined the lines of the dress.” She tried a small smile, looking at him through her lashes. “I have on my panties.”
“I’d like to see.” No sooner did he say the words than he shook his head and took a step back. “No, we can’t. There’s not enough time. If I had you lifting your dress we’d never get out the door.”
Josie tried not to gape at him, to accept his outlandish words with as much disregard as he’d given them. The thing to do would be to laugh, to tease. Instead she straightened her dress, covering herself, and tried to find a response.
Such an assumption he’d made! As if she’d just lift her skirt at his whim. Of course, she probably would. Nick had a way of getting her to do things she’d never considered doing before. It was both unnerving and exhilarating, the power he seemed to have over her. Now she wanted the same power.
“Are you ready to go? I’ve made a few plans.”
He’d given up so easily. She hadn’t expected that. “What plans?” She crossed to the couch to pick up her purse and her wrap. The September nights were starting to get cool.
“It’s a surprise.” He lifted his brows and once again scanned her body. “Not quite as pleasant as your surprise, which almost stopped my heart, by the way.”
Feeling tentative, Josie smoothed the short skirt on the dress and peered at him. “So you like it?”
“Honey, only a dead man wouldn’t. And I swear, I appreciate your efforts. I’ll show you how much later, when we get to the boat.” He reached for her hand and pulled her to the door. “But right now we’re running a little late.”
She had hoped their only destination would be the boat. “Where are we going?”
He looked uncertain, avoiding her gaze. “I told you, it’s a surprise. Trust me.”
She tried not to look too disappointed. “What if I’d had other plans?”
He smiled as they neared his truck. “It’s obvious you did. And we’ll get to that before the night is over.” He opened the truck door and lifted her onto her seat. His gaze skimmed her legs while she crossed them. “That is, if I can wait that long. You are one hell of a temptation.”
Josie wondered at his mood as he started the truck and pulled away from the parking lot. He kept glancing at her, his dark brows lowered slightly as if in thought.
The sky was overcast and cloudy and she knew a storm would hit before the night was over. She could smell the rain in the air, feel the electric charge on her skin, both from the weather and the anticipation. She welcomed the turbulence of it, took deep breaths and let it flow through her, adding to her bravado.
She had to follow through, had to make certain she got the most out of this unique situation before her time with him ended. In a low whisper, she said, “I’m not feeling nearly so secretive as you.” She turned halfway in the seat to face him, aware that her position had slightly parted the skirt of her dress. “Would you like to know what my plans were?”
“I have a feeling you’re just dying to tell me.”
His smile showed his amusement, but it wasn’t a steady smile and seemed a bit forced to Josie. So be it. He wouldn’t be laughing at her for long. “I want to have my way with you.”
He hesitated, and his gaze flew to her again. “You care to explain that?”
Using one finger, she traced the length of his hard thigh. “If you think it’s necessary.”
“I believe it is.” His voice was deep, already aroused, and she drew strength from that; it took so little to make him want her.
“Tonight I want to know what you like, what your body reacts to. I want to drive you crazy the way you did me.”
He laughed, the sound suddenly filled with purpose. “Men are embarrassingly obvious in what we like and need, honey. Unlike women, who are fashioned differently, men need very little stimulation to be ready.”
Used to his blunt way of phrasing things, Josie didn’t mind his words. But she stiffened when they stopped at a red light and he was able to give her his full attention. His gaze was hot, intense. His hand slid over her knee and then upward and she sucked in a quick startled breath. “And you already make me crazy.” He spoke in a low husky whisper, and his cheekbones were flushed. “You’re so damn explosive. I’ve never known another woman who reacted the way you do. There’s something called chemistry going on between us, and it works both ways. I’ve been different, too, if you want the truth.”
“The truth would be nice for a change.”
“Don’t be a smart-ass.” But now his grim tone had lightened and he relaxed. “We’re hot together, Josie. Believe me, you make me lose control, too.”
She’d seen no evidence of that, but she wanted to. It was her goal tonight to make Nick totally lose his head. Exactly how she’d do that, she wasn’t sure. For now, though, a different topic would be in order. The present discussion had the very effect he’d predicted. Her pulse raced and she knew her cheeks were flushed. She wanted him, right now, and she was too new to wanting to be able to deal with it nonchalantly. “Do we have much farther to go?”
“We’re two minutes away from where I’m taking you.” He gave a strangled laugh. “And the way you affect me, I’m going to need five times that long to make myself presentable.”
She glanced at his lap, knowing exactly what he spoke of. His erection was full, impossible to ignore. And the sight of his need quadrupled her own. She leaned toward him, imploring, letting the thin straps of her dress droop and fall over her shoulders. In low, hopefully seductive tones, she said, “Let’s forget your plans. Let’s just go to the boat.” She reached for him, but he caught her hand and kissed the palm.
His gaze strayed to her cleavage, now more exposed, and he let out a low curse. “Sorry. But we can’t.” Incredibly, she saw sweat at his temples and watched as he clenched his jaw. He turned down a long gravel drive that led to a stately old farmhouse. It was a huge, sprawling, absolutely gorgeous home that looked as if it had been around and loved for ages. Josie hadn’t been paying any attention to where they were going, but now she realized they were in a rural area and that Nick was taking her to a private residence. Horrified, she stiffened her back and frantically began to remedy the mess she’d made of her dress, smoothing the bodice and straightening the skirt, retightening her belt. “Oh my God, we’re meeting people?” She thought of how she was dressed and wanted to disappear.
He jerked the truck to a stop beneath a large oak tree and turned off the ignition. “Calm down, Josie. It’s okay.” But he sounded agitated, too.
She gasped, then swatted at his hands when he reached out to help her straighten the shoulder straps of her dress. “Nick, stop it, don’t touch me.” She glanced around, afraid someone might see.
Her words had a startling effect on him. He grabbed her shoulders and yanked her close and when her eyes widened on his face, he growled, “I’m going to touch you, all right. In all the places you want to be tou
ched, in all the ways I know you like best. With my hands and my mouth. Tonight…”
Her stomach flipped and her toes curled. “Nick—”
In the next heartbeat he kissed her—hard and hungry and devouring—and she kissed him back the same way, forgetting her embarrassment and where they were.
He groped for her breast and her moan encouraged him. But before he made contact there was a loud rapping on the driver’s door and seconds later it was yanked open. They jumped apart, both looking guilty and abashed. Josie felt her mouth fall open at the sight that greeted her.
Standing beside the car, his grim countenance and apparent age doing nothing to detract from his air of command, stood a gray-haired man in a flannel shirt and tan slacks with suspenders. His scowl was darker than the blackening sky and his bark reverberated throughout the truck.
“If that’s what you came for, you damn well should have stayed home. Now are you gettin’ out to say your hellos and do your introductions, or not?”
Nick took a deep breath and turned to Josie, who was still wide-eyed with shock. Sending her a twisted smile of apology, he said, “Josie, I’d like you to meet my grandfather, Jeb Harris. Granddad, this is Josie Jackson.”
With sharp eyes the man looked her over from the top of her tousled head to her feet in the strappy sandals. Josie felt mortified at the scrutiny and did her best not to squirm. He shook his head. “You can be the biggest damn fool, Nick.” Then he laughed. “Well, get the young lady out of the truck before you forget your poor old granddad is even here.”
And with that, he turned and headed to his front porch, leaning heavily on a cane and favoring one hip. Josie noticed his shoulders were hunched just enough to prove he tolerated a measure of pain with his movements. The caretaker in her kicked in, and she briefly wondered what injury he’d suffered.
Nick cleared his throat and she slowly brought her narrow-eyed gaze to his face. “This is your surprise?”
He kept his gaze focused on a spot just beyond her left shoulder. “Yeah. Granddad called, asked if I could visit tonight.” He jutted out his chin, as if daring her to comment. “I didn’t think it would do any harm to stop here for a bit first.”
She opened her door and climbed out of the truck without his assistance. Nick was such a fraud. He didn’t want her to think he was a softy, but the fact that he hadn’t been able to refuse his grandfather only made her like him all the more. She glanced at him as he came to her side. “A little warning might have been nice, so I could have dressed appropriately instead of making a fool of myself.”
“Josie, Granddad is getting older. He’s not dead. He knows who the fool is, and he’s already cast the blame. You he’s simply charmed by.”
Josie looked down at her dress, and decided there was no help for it. She sighed. “How do you know?”
“Because I know my grandfather.” As Nick looked up at the house, Josie looked at him. There was a softness in his eyes she’d never seen before. “When I was a kid, I loved the times I spent with him here more than you can know.”
Because he hadn’t had anyone else. His mother had used him as a pawn and his stepmother and father had made him a stranger in his own home. She could have asked for better circumstances, but she wanted to meet his grandfather, knowing now that he was the only family Nick was close to.
Nick saw her frown ease and he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “You look beautiful. And I think you’ll like my grandfather. He’s the one who taught me everything I know.”
Josie rolled her eyes. Somehow that didn’t reassure her.
HE WAS LAYING IT ON a bit thick, Nick thought, as his grandfather said, once again, “Eh?” very loudly. Hell, the man’s hearing was sharper than a dog’s and not a single whisper went by that he didn’t pick up on. But for some reason he was playing a poor old soul and Nick had to wonder at his motives.
At least Josie no longer seemed so flustered. She continued to fuss with that killer dress of hers—she’d almost given him a heart attack when he first saw her in it—but she had mostly relaxed and was simply enjoying his grandfather’s embellished tales of life in years gone by.
The old bird was enjoying Nick’s discomfort. The small smile that hovered on his mouth proved he was aware of Nick’s predicament, but there wasn’t a damn thing Nick could do about it. Not with Josie sitting there on the edge of the sofa, her legs primly pressed together, the bodice of her dress hiked as high as she could get it. She inspired an odd, volatile mixture of raging lust and quiet tenderness. It unnerved him, and at the same time, turned him on.
Right now he felt as if lava flowed through him, and the volcano was damn close to erupting.
He shot out of his seat, attracting two pairs of questioning eyes. His grandfather chuckled while Josie frowned.
“I, ah, I thought I’d go get us something to drink.”
“Would you like me to help you, Nick?” Josie made to rise from her seat.
Before Nick could answer her, Granddad patted her hand and kept her still. “He can manage, can’t you, Nick?”
“Yes, sir.”
Granddad waved at Nick. “Fine, go on, then. Josie and I have things to chat about.”
Exactly what that meant was anyone’s guess. In the kitchen, he filled some glasses with iced tea, then stuck his ear to the door.
“I’m afraid you have the wrong impression, sir.”
“Just call me Jeb or Granddad. I can’t stand all that ‘sir’ nonsense.”
There was a pause. “Really, Jeb, Nick and I are only friends.”
“Ha!” Granddad made a thumping sound with his cane. “My old eyes might be rheumy, but I can still see what needs to be seen. And I ain’t so old as to be dotty. That boy’s got himself a bad case goin’, and you’re the cause. Probably the cure, too.”
Nick groaned. At this rate, his grandfather would run Josie off even before Susan could. Josie didn’t want the responsibility of another person, of permanence or commitment. This was her first chance to be free, and she wanted to widen her boundaries, to explore her sexual side.
Between Susan telling her how irresponsible Nick was and his grandfather trying to corner her, he probably wouldn’t last through the week. The thought filled him with unreasonable anger. He didn’t want things to end until he was damn good and ready.
His determination surprised him. He hadn’t felt this strongly about anything since his mother had sent him home to live with his father, making it clear his presence was an intrusion. Not even Myra’s ruthless attempts to alienate him had stirred so much turmoil inside him. Josie had tied him in so many knots, it was almost painful. But once he got her alone tonight, once he made love to her, everything would be all right.
“His mother and father are to blame for his wild ways, too caught up in pickin’ at each other to remember they had a son. And that witch Myra—she let her jealousy rule her, though I doubt Nick knew that was the cause. But you see, she knew I had cut my son out of my will. After he married her, I left everything to Nick. And it ate Myra up, knowin’ it. She couldn’t do anything to me, so she took it out on the one person she knew I really cared about.”
Nick groaned. Not only had his grandfather’s impeccable speech deteriorated to some facade of what he considered appropriate dotage lingo, but now he’d gotten onto an issue better left unaddressed. Nick still felt foolish over his last bout of personal confession with her. Josie didn’t want to get personal, but his grandfather was forcing the issue.
“I hear you’re a home health caretaker? Nick said you run a nice little business called Home and Heart. Could use someone like you around here.”
“Are you having some problems… Jeb?”
“Broken hip, didn’t you know? Busted the damn thing months ago, but it still pains me on occasion. Front porch was slippery from the rain and down I went. Poor Nick near fussed himself to death—reminded me of an old woman with all that squawkin’. Wouldn’t leave my side, no matter how I told him to.”
; “He did the right thing.”
“There, you see? He knows right from wrong when it matters. It’s just the women he’s got a problem with.”
Nick closed his eyes to the sound of Josie’s disbelieving laughter.
Granddad ignored her hilarity. “Now to be truthful, I’m pretty much recovered, but I just don’t get around the way I used to. I could use someone to check up on me now and then, without me having to go all the way into town.”
Nick used that as his cue to reenter the room. “Excellent idea, Granddad. Maybe Josie could help you out.” If he got her involved with his grandfather, it would be difficult for her to dump him and find another man to experiment with. She’d be pretty much stuck with him, at least for the time being, until the excitement wore off.
Josie didn’t look at all enthusiastic about the idea. “But don’t you already have someone in place? I should think—”
Granddad waved her to a halt. “Didn’t care for that woman they had coming here. She was too starchy for my taste. I discharged her. Told her to go and not come back.”
Nick remembered the incident. Of course, Granddad had been officially released from care anyway, and the poor woman whom he’d harassed so badly was more than grateful to be done with her duties.
“I could find someone better suited to you if you have need of a nurse, Jeb.”
Nick liked how she’d so quickly accustomed herself to speaking familiarly with his grandfather. He knew Granddad would appreciate it, too. It gave him a warm feeling deep inside his chest to see the two of them chatting. No matter how Granddad went on, Josie never lost her patience. She listened to him intently, laughed with him and teased him. Nick felt damn proud of her, and it was one more feeling to add to the confusion of all the others she inspired.
“Fine. Never mind. I didn’t mean to be a burden.”
