“I like a woman with an appetite.”
“What do you want, Lucky?”
“A private confab.”
“I’m not in the mood for another of our little chats.” Somehow, he always got to her.
“I’m willing to make your job easier.”
“What job?” she asked, following the question with a slug of beer.
“Getting close to me.”
She nearly choked out the mouthful of liquid, but somehow managed a save. Swallowing hard, she said, “Come again?” directly in the face of his devilish grin.
“Here you go, honey.” A plate plunked down before her. “Another beer?”
Stunned by Lucky’s arrogant statement, she muttered, “Uh, I’m not done with this one yet.”
“Catch you in a few.”
The moment the waitress was out of hearing range, JoJo turned back to Lucky, her gaze steely. “Now, what was that you said about getting close to you?”
Expression guileless, he insisted, “Later, on full stomachs,” and took refuge in his own brew.
Considering her steak sandwich as if it were Lucky’s flesh, JoJo bit into the beef with a savagery that was oddly satisfying. Mouth full, she glared at him, wondering if he was making it his life’s work to torture her, or if he was merely the most hostile man she’d ever met.
“So you don’t believe in coincidences?” he asked.
Still working on the mouthful of food, she shook her head and made a negative sound.
“Neither do I.” He sprawled back in his booth, staring at her steadily, as if looking for a reaction when he said, “I’m referring to the Bushwhacker incident.”
JoJo swallowed. “What about it?”
“Eli takes care of the old bull himself. I asked him about the boombox. First he’d heard of it.”
“What about Vincent?”
“’Vincent didn’t seem to be around this morning. At least that’s what Paula said when she and Rocky couldn’t find him to get those horses.”
“Maybe that’s because he was working in the enclosure.”
“Maybe. But working at what?”
“I just thought…I don’t know.” She hadn’t seen signs of any work in progress inside the pen, but then, she’d been otherwise occupied and hadn’t exactly taken too close a look. “There must be some simple explanation.”
Agitated, JoJo took another bite of her sandwich. For a moment, she thought Lucky was going to let the subject drop, but that turned out to be hopeful thinking.
“Let’s see,” he mused. “We have a boombox in an enclosure with an irritable old bull…a gate left open…you heading for the house right past that gate…a tape of music that’s from a show at my brother’s hotel…music that you dance to.” He swigged some beer and nodded. “Uh-huh. Must be a real simple explanation.”
JoJo suddenly lost her appetite. Lucky was making a weird incident out to be more than she was comfortable with. He was either intimating that she’d pulled the stunt herself…or that someone had wanted to see her hurt. She didn’t like either conclusion. She figured he believed the first. She didn’t want to believe the second. Buried beneath her self-assurances, the nasty suspicion that trouble had followed her from Las Vegas had plagued her, but she’d put it off to her nerves, to sheer imagination.
She’d been similarly dismissive of whatever had spooked Spitfire the day before.
Those noises had sounded like gunshots, she remembered, whether or not they’d actually been aimed at her.
JoJo was shaking inside and trying to look normal. She didn’t want Lucky to see how much his taunting bothered her. She didn’t want him to smell her fear.
For she was afraid. Of what had happened to her with Marco and Lester. Of the way it had affected her, unsettled her mind. But most of all, she was afraid of Lucky.
From the moment they’d clashed, he’d made no bones about wanting her off his land. She’d defied him by staying. She’d angered him…and she didn’t know what he was capable of. He wasn’t like Nick. He wasn’t even like Caroline. He was an unknown quantity, a man with a blank past.
He could be anything.
Could have done anything.
Could be willing to do anything to get rid of her.
Chapter Five
JoJo meant to keep Lucky’s obscure past and possible threat to her in mind. Somehow, she managed to force another swallow of food past the lump in her throat. The task looked to be a bit easier when his steak arrived—chewing would keep his mouth busy doing something other than continuing to put the fear of God in her.
“You ready for that second beer?” the waitress asked her.
“Sure. Keep it lite.”
Lucky pushed his empty mug toward the blonde, as well. “Fill it up with premium.”
Thankfully, Lucky made no further reference to the “Bushwhacker incident,” as he’d called it. But the implication lay before JoJo like a tangible thing. She played with a French fry, breaking the potato stick into bits. If Lucky noticed, it didn’t give him pause. He began wolfing down his steak as if he hadn’t eaten in days.
Would Lucky Donatelli actually have planted the seeds of doubt in her mind if he’d been the one responsible for luring her into a dangerous situation? Then again, he had been conveniently handy to catch her escaping over the fence.
Hmm. Guilt by proximity?
She didn’t think the accusation would wash. And she hadn’t actually been hurt. Besides, he’d been close enough to “save” her if necessary. Maybe he’d merely wanted her to be scared enough to run back to Las Vegas.
But why?
JoJo realized Lucky had expected to have the run of the property. He and Eli. What if they were up to something they didn’t want anyone else to know about?
“You certainly have a healthy appetite,” she said when he continued eating nonstop. “What have you been doing all day?”
“I managed to keep busy.”
“With Eli?”
“We had things to do,” he agreed.
“Around the ranch?”
“Mmph.”
The noncommittal sound could mean anything. JoJo took another bite of her sandwich. Fat chance that he and Eli could carry through some secret plot now. He had not only her to contend with, but three other unforeseen guests, not to mention his sister.
Caroline!
Suddenly it occurred to JoJo that not only had Lucky been in the vicinity of the enclosure right after the episode, but so had his sister, and she’d shown up unexpectedly, too. Caroline never had made any bones about her antipathy for the women Nick dated and though JoJo and Nick had merely been friends, she’d been no exception. Caroline had been nearby when Nick had offered her the stay at the ranch. And as the sister of the owner, she probably had access to a recording of music from the Caribbean’s show, as well.
JoJo wouldn’t put it past Caroline to play a nasty trick on her. Maybe it had something to do with Sasha’s marrying Nick. Her best friend never would have left New York City if not for her.
And maybe Lucky was innocent of wrongdoing, after all.
Relaxing her guard a little, JoJo allowed herself to eat, if not actually enjoy, the rest of her sandwich and half of the second beer. Then she sat back to study Lucky, who was in the process of cleaning his plate.
“Are you really done with the rodeo circuit?” she asked.
“I never said.”
“Well, are you?”
“Could be.”
“Depending on…?”
“On whether or not some plans I have work out.”
Had she nailed it or what? JoJo tried not to let her triumph show. “What kind of plans?”
“Not ready to talk about them.”
“Not even with Eli?”
“Eli’s involved.”
“So secretive.”
“So nosy.”
Not the first time he’d said so. Again the nagging suspicion that he’d counted on her inquisitiveness to lure her into the enclos
ure.
“Nothing wrong with a little curiosity, is there?” JoJo asked, lifting her mug.
Lucky sat back, his agate eyes trying to bore a hole through her. “I guess not…even if it’s about Marco Scudella, right?”
At the abrupt change of subject, JoJo nearly choked on her beer, her involvement with Marco being the last topic she’d expected him to bring up.
“How do you know about Marco?” Then it came to her. “What am I thinking? Of course…Caroline.”
“She said you were engaged to him.”
“Did she?”
“Engagement still on?”
She’d never formally told Mac, alias Marco, to go where the sun didn’t shine, but that merely had been an oversight, a fact that didn’t concern Lucky.
“What’s it to you?”
It took him a tad too long to say “Nothing. Just a little curiosity. Or does that curiosity thing being okay only apply to you?”
“You haven’t been forthcoming about anything, so stuff it.”
Not wanting to get further into the subject with a virtual stranger, JoJo was relieved that the waitress chose that moment to appear.
The blonde started clearing plates and asked, “Anything else?”
“My check,” JoJo said.
“You can give it to me,” Lucky offered.
“Give him everything he deserves,” JoJo said, “but I intend to pay my own way.”
The blonde’s eyebrows shot up. “Whatever.”
Setting down the dishes on a nearby tray, the waitress scribbled on her pad and tore off two checks. JoJo wasted no time settling her bill, leaving an overly generous tip rather than having to wait for change.
“Have a good one,” JoJo told Lucky as she shot out of the booth and out of the establishment.
The parking lot was dark but for the neon sign that cast a reddish glow over everything in its path. She’d hardly set foot on the pavement before Lucky caught up to her.
“What’s the rush?” he asked, trying not to limp.
“I walk fast.” She dug her keys from her pocket. “Long legs.”
“So I noticed.” He was noticing now, his eyes seemingly glued to them, even in the near-dark. “We have some unfinished business.”
A warning shot through her. “I don’t think so.”
Despite her protest, Lucky headed her off, cut between her and the Cherokee. He took the key ring from her, unlocked and opened the driver’s door. She held out her hand, expecting to get the keys back. Ignoring the silent demand, Lucky twirled the ring around a finger, jangling metal against metal, as if daring her to go for it.
Tension stretched between them. JoJo considered her options. She wasn’t about to give Lucky the satisfaction of contact sport, no matter that the thought set fire to her imagination. Only because she wasn’t going anywhere without those keys did she finally give in.
“All right. What exactly do you want to talk about?”
“The reason you’re here.”
She chose to take him literally. “I’m here because you won’t let me leave.”
“At the ranch.”
“It’s called a vacation.”
“You said you didn’t believe in coincidence.”
Were they back to Bushwhacker? “I don’t.”
“Then why did you arrive on Macbride property a half-dozen hours after I did? Just long enough to pack a couple of bags and drive down from Las Vegas?”
Now she was lost. “I don’t get the significance.”
“You’ve got great moves,” he said, moving in on her, making her catch her breath. “All the earmarks of Sally Donatelli trying to figure an angle on getting his wayward son back into the family business. I’m sure he figured I couldn’t resist you if you tried hard enough, that you could lead me back into the fold.”
Slowly, through a haze of warmth dancing along her nerves, it dawned on her. “You think I’m doing your father some kind of favor?”
His voice was low—menacing?—when he said, “More like working for him.”
She licked her lips and backed up toward her vehicle. “I work for your brother.”
“Show girls don’t make squat.”
“I make enough to get along,” she said defensively, trying to work up some natural outrage…trying to break the connection that should be ticking her off.
“But you’d like more, wouldn’t you?”
Who wouldn’t? But she wasn’t willing to prostitute herself to get more. Figuring he’d met plenty of women who might, she tried to remain calm. She had to consider the source.
“You’re way off base.”
“Am I?”
Lucky inched closer, his not-so-subtle physical threat making her heart race.
JoJo felt confused…scared…intrigued. On the one hand, she wanted to turn tail and run. Find someplace safe where Lucky couldn’t find her. On the other, she wanted to challenge him, to see where it would take them. Yet, underlying the physical motivations, she wanted Lucky to recognize her integrity.
“The reason I accepted your brother’s offer to stay at the ranch was because I needed some time to myself,” she told him. “To mentally unwind.”
“From what?”
“Personal reasons.”
She didn’t feel comfortable sharing the nightmare she’d gone through with a stranger…especially not one who was ready to think the worst of her. And who knew what exactly Caroline had already told him about her relationship with Marco? From the way Lucky seemed to remain unmoved, she sensed the truth fell on deaf ears.
“Tell me you haven’t been running a number on me,” he said.
“I haven’t been running a number on you.”
Again the truth. Any connection between them was real, at least as far as she was concerned. Despite his opinion, attraction was nearly overwhelming her. Blood pulsed through her body to her extremities, the tingling in her fingers urging her to reach out and touch him.
“What about last night?” he whispered.
Remembering how she’d been held fast when she’d wanted to go to her room—the same invisible tension tying her up in knots now—she asked, “What about it?”
“You gave me all the right signals.”
Her blood pulsed in a rushing sound through her head, a sensation at once sensual and frightening.
“I wasn’t coming on to you.”
JoJo’s eyes widened as Lucky came on to her so swiftly she couldn’t think. One step and he pinned her back against the driver’s seat. He was barely touching her, but heat coiled along her nerves. He raised his arms, hooking his hands on the roof of the vehicle.
Still, she envisioned them thigh to thigh, belly to belly, breasts to chest. And before she could do anything to shatter the fantasy, he made it real.
His head plunged. They made contact.
The rushing sound in her head blotted out any rational thought that might urge her to stop now, before it was too late. Acting on age-old instinct, she responded, opening her mouth, inviting him in.
Lucky explored her offering, nipping at the sensitive flesh just inside her lower lip, then deepening the kiss, his tongue plundering. JoJo arched her back away from the vehicle, her breasts flattening against his chest. A sound issued low in his throat, and his thigh somehow wedged its way between hers, its pulsing rhythm reminding her of sex.
Wet warmth flooded her, and all lucid thought fled. JoJo gave in to the moment. The sheer excitement. The ache unlike any she’d ever known building in her.
She slid her arms around Lucky’s back, and dug her fingers into the heat of his flesh through the soft material of his shirt. She was floating, and yet her limbs were heavy, taking away her will to move them if she would.
Not that she had any such desire.
For a moment, Lucky might have done anything to her, might have convinced her to do anything to him.
Then suddenly, he broke the kiss and pulled back, giving her more than breathing room. Giving her space enough to come t
o her senses, to make her wonder what had just happened.
The red glow of neon illuminated Lucky’s face, and JoJo went cold inside. If the kiss had affected him, she couldn’t see it in the harsh features that glared at her. He looked like the very devil he was named for— Lucifer incarnate. She was certain he’d meant to prove something, to punish her with that kiss.
Embarrassment flooded her in sickening waves, and it took all JoJo’s willpower to do nothing more damaging with the flat of her hand than hold it out when what she really wanted to do was smack him.
“My keys.”
JoJo gazed at Lucky steadily and was rewarded with the key ring being slapped in her hand. Her fingers curled around the metal, and while the urge to flee was there, she did not immediately jump into the driver’s seat. She’d been treated despicably by one man, and she’d never had the satisfaction of telling him what she thought of him. No way had she wanted to visit Marco in jail under any circumstances.
But Lucky was here, a captive audience, so to speak. And she would think less of herself if she let this go. If she let him think he had won in some way.
“I don’t know what kind of numbers you’ve pulled on other women,” she began, her voice sharp, “but I’m not them. Nor am I a woman who seduces men for favors or for pay. If you think you taught me some kind of lesson, think again. You might be his son, but you just proved that you don’t have half the polish of Sally Donatelli.”
JoJo took a bittersweet satisfaction in the further darkening of Lucky’s visage. Part of her thought she should be afraid. But she was pumped, her adrenaline at an all-time high. And wanting to leave on a high note, she slid into the Cherokee and grabbed the door handle.
“You’re in the way,” she said bluntly.
His gaze glued to her, Lucky stepped back. A thrill of warning shot up her spine as she swung the door closed and started the engine. He still hadn’t moved off when she pulled out of the parking spot and drove away.
Once on the highway, JoJo felt her adrenaline plunge, leaving her body limp and trembling. Her hands were shaking, too. Wondering if she were crazy to antagonize a man who gave off every indication that he could be dangerous, she couldn’t feel regret at her castigating him. He’d deserved everything she’d said and more.
Lucky Devil Page 7
