Can't Help Falling In Love (10 page)

T
ONY DIDN’T FOLLOW
her in immediately. The Book Nook was one of his favorite places on the face of the
earth, but he needed a minute or ten. He waved when she glanced out at him and pointed
at his phone.

He didn’t have a call. He didn’t plan on making a call unless it was to someone who’d
tell him to get his head screwed on straight. He’d already used a few of the techniques
he’d learned to cope with PTSD on the ride over. He might have to invent new ones
on the way back.

Or just go ahead and give in to temptation, here and now.

When he’d seen her talking softly to Misty in the lobby, he’d distracted himself from
the pang in his heart and surge of lust in his… well, Laura had waved him over
to the desk just in time. Work was his number one coping mechanism.

Then when she’d slid into his truck, he’d been two seconds away from sliding his hand
from her delicate ankles all the way up the satiny skin of her calf to the muscles
of her thigh. He wasn’t sure her skirt would have stopped him before he hit the promised
land. Instead of counting to ten, he’d counted to a hundred. And he could still feel
the phantom tingle in his hand.

In the truck, he’d gone on the attack. Telling her she ought to be able to support
herself had been a dick move. Maybe it was true. Maybe it wasn’t. He didn’t know her
any better than she knew him but therapy had taught him most people were battling
something. Still, sometimes dangerous times call for dick moves. All he’d wanted was
a little space, maybe a little distance between them so he could get a hold on the
urge to touch her. And he’d felt like a monster when she’d stiffened in shock and
turned away from him. He didn’t talk to people he didn’t like that way. For better
or worse, he liked Randa. Thank God she hadn’t cried. He’d have wrecked the truck
trying to fix things. No matter how close he was to losing control, he should never
have taken it out on her.

He took a deep breath and reached for his normal calm. The close confines of the truck
cab meant he could smell her perfume and shampoo, see the fine lines around her eyes
that she no doubt battled daily. He could have had one hand on her thigh and the other
wrapped in her hair while his mouth conquered hers before she realized he was coming
her way.

So far, he’d held on to his control. Barely. And watched her walk away, the red soles
of her heels flashing like warning lights as she’d walked into his favorite place
in the world.

Tony hung his head and said a quick prayer that she be difficult. Obnoxious. Demand
different books or complain about the selection or the price or something. There was
no coffee shop, no music playing, and one chair in the whole place. It was a bookstore
and only a bookstore. That’s why he loved it. It was quiet. There were books. It was
heaven. Maybe she could judge Roy, the owner, as unimportant and frost the place,
lowering Tony’s temperature in the process. He could regain his equilibrium, hold
on until Willodean made it back and either turfed her to the street or opened the
gates wide. He wasn’t sure which he was hoping for anymore. Throwing her out the day
she got here would have been safer, but as the memory of her in her bathing suit and
that damn short skirt flashed across his mind, he had to admit she’d already been
a lot of fun.

Tony closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He had to be smart. Much as he wanted
to kiss her, touch her, and more. He was just getting on his feet again. The wrong
woman could knock him flat on his ass. Randa already had his head spinning, and he
hadn’t even kissed her yet. He wanted to make sure she was into him for the right
reasons. He needed her to tell the truth. He hadn’t missed how she avoided his second
question about her father’s business.

He’d like to believe she hated lying as much as he did.

After her comments about her father and the family business, he was convinced she
felt the burden of her father’s expectations. That would be enough to convince a normally
truthful person to lie.

Wouldn’t it?

A little disgusted with his readiness to make excuses for her, Tony glanced at his
watch and then yanked open the door.

“Tony, this place…” Randa spun and pointed at a stack of books on the tiny counter.
Roy looked like he’d been hit with a falling piece of sky. His eyes were glazed over,
but they followed her as she moved through the small science fiction section. “This
is amazing. Thank you so much for bringing me.”

She couldn’t even cooperate with his desire for her to be difficult.

“Got anything new for me, Roy?” Tony did his best to ignore the death rattle of his
good intentions.

Roy nodded vaguely and pulled a stack out from under the counter. One of the benefits
of being a regular who read everything under the sun was that Roy saved him anything
he thought might hit the spot. More times than not, Tony bought every book.

But he never did so without thoroughly investigating them. Tony might have money now
but not so much he could waste it. Plus, he enjoyed his time in the Book Nook. He
picked up the stack and watched Randa sashay up to the counter. She dropped two more
books on her stack.

“Seven books. Surely that will keep me.” She looked over her shoulder and flashed
a sparkling smile at Tony.

Roy calculated her total and before he could tell her, Randa pulled a credit card
out of what must be the world’s smallest pocket and slid it across the counter. “Not
bad for less than fifteen minutes. Am I right?”

Roy blinked three times and then the corners of his lips tilted up in a creepy, dusty
smile. He put Randa’s books in a bag and slid it across the counter. “You have a nice
day. And make sure you come back. Get new books every week.”

Randa patted his hand and Tony nearly laughed out loud at the wonder on Roy’s face
as he looked down at her hand on his. “I’m just visiting, Roy, but if I’m ever in
Memphis, I’ll stop back in, I promise. This place is great.”

Instead of prowling, Randa nearly skipped over to where Tony sat with his pile of
books. He had no idea what they were. He hadn’t cracked one open yet. He spared one
second to worry about her snapping an ankle in the heels she was wearing, but mostly
he just enjoyed how her high spirits gave her steps extra bounce. And her breasts.
He could feel his weak control slipping again.

He wanted to smile at her enthusiasm. Rich girl or not, she loved a good book. And
this Randa, the happy one with no other thought in her head but celebration, she was
the kind of girl who could make every day better, every minute brighter. He liked
having this Randa in his favorite place.

She wagged her bag at him. “Quick draw, that’s me.” She pointed outside. “You don’t
mind if I check out…”

Tony shook his head. “Nope. Leave your books. I’ll carry ’em out to the truck and
meet you there when I’m done.”

She clapped and bent down to drop the bag at his feet. When she straightened, she
rested one hand on his knee and then kissed his cheek. “Thanks, Tony. New books and
a shopping trip. I’m pretty sure I’m going to survive now.” And before he could think
about what she might be flashing at Roy as she leaned over or even give himself a
stern talking to about keeping his hands off, she was gone. She paused at the door
and inhaled deeply with a huge smile of joy on her face. Then she waved and left.
Tony had lost track of where he was, and it took the jangle of the bells over the
door as it thumped closed behind her to bring him back to his senses. Roy ambled over
and they both watched her bounce down to the discount store on the corner.

“Got yourself a firecracker there, Tony.”

Tony glanced over at him and sighed. “Wish I knew what to do with her.”

Roy bugged his eyes out and tilted his head. “Ain’t you got
no
ideas?” He snorted and shuffled back to the counter. “I’ll just be ringing you up.
You’ll take ’em all. Why y’all are readin’ when you could be doin’ all manner of other
things, I have no idea.”

For some reason, he’d never expected Roy to turn into a life coach. The man made an
excellent point. The list of things he could be doing with Randa that would be better
than reading even the best book was lengthy. Tony shook his head and pulled out his
wallet to pay for the five new books. Usually this was the highlight of his week.
On his list of favorite things, nothing topped a brand new book. Hadn’t for a very
long time.

He had a bad feeling kissing Randa Whitmore would go straight to the top of the list.
Getting her naked would probably explode the damn list into small pieces with one
massive confetti bomb. And as soon as he’d seen the beautiful, genuine smile of pleasure
as she inhaled the perfume of books, he’d made up his mind to find out.

He rubbed his chest as he decided he also wanted to find out what it was she was surviving.
That didn’t sound like something someone at the top of the money heap would say. She
didn’t fit. There was another puzzle piece to study. He had a feeling the answer to
this question would be the hardest one of all to find.

A kiss should be much easier.

Now all he had to do was remember what it took to steal a kiss from a pretty girl.

Chapter Six

R
ANDA FELT TEN
years younger and at least twenty pounds lighter when she stepped through the automatic
sliding glass doors of the discount store to the sidewalk in front. She had new books,
new shoes, and a handsome man waiting for her. That was a very good day.

When he’d made the transition to handsome, Randa wasn’t exactly sure. It was either
when she’d gotten a load of his abs or when she’d walked into that tiny, lovely bookstore.
One or the other. Possibly both had tangled up into some fuzzy warm haze.

Not that it really mattered. All that was important was the restless tumble of…
something in her abdomen when she saw him get out of the truck where he’d been waiting.
He was tall and strong and healthy. His jeans and shirt had no designer labels but
they fit Tony well. And she wanted them off. Gone. Now. Or very soon. In fact, she
wanted someone to make a law that Tony Ortega should be shirtless at all times.

“That was fast.” He walked beside her to open her door. “Truck hasn’t had much time
to cool off.”

“My father says I spend money faster than the United States government.” Randa slid
into the seat. “And it’s not a compliment to either of us.” She wrapped her arms around
the yellow plastic bag and squeezed it. “I can only hope defense spending makes politicians
happy the same way books and shoes do me.”

Tony smiled and Randa watched his face closely to see if his eyes were locked on her
legs. She fought off the twinge of doubt when Tony quickly glanced away from her.
She yanked out the seat belt and clicked it while she told herself to think about
books. Handsome men might be hard to understand, but books would never let her down.
“Tony, I’m in. You can close the door.”

He muttered something that sounded like “No guts, no glory.” Then he straightened
his shoulders and stepped closer. “You were too fast in the bookstore. I wanted to
do this.”

His face was determined as he leaned towards her, and she lost her breath because
it looked like he was going to kiss her.

Then he did, his lips a warm shock against hers.

This kiss was a sweet hello. His lips settled on hers in an easy slide. When she gripped
his shoulders and tried to pull him closer, he smiled against her lips and his tongue
was a quick tease over her bottom lip before he rested his forehead against hers.
Randa didn’t move. She was afraid to. He was going to step back, and she didn’t want
him to. She wanted to stay right here with him. Finally he took a deep breath and
leaned back just enough to look her in the eyes. “There’s this one other thing I’ve
been dying to do.”

“Yes.” Randa nodded her head. She had no idea what it was, but she was ready.

Tony squeezed his eyes shut for just a second. The sound he made when he opened them
again was somewhere between a laugh and a moan. Maybe it was both. Randa understood
exactly what that felt like.

He pressed forward to kiss her again, his hand a hot support against the back of her
head and his lips aggressively seductive. This time he coaxed her lips open and teased
her tongue with his. Each tentative touch sent a shiver of awareness through her.
She wanted to press her breasts against his chest, get closer, so much closer, but
the seat belt pinned her down. Her breath was long gone when Tony ended the kiss,
his breath coming in quiet pants as he stared into her eyes, but when his hand rested
on her knee she tried to gasp. And when he touched her thigh, lightly rubbing his
hand on bare skin, she lost her mind.

She actually bit her lip to keep from moaning like a porn star. Because a man touched
her thigh. It was a little like she was back in high school but so much hotter.

Seduced in front of a bookstore. Did it get any better? More private, certainly. But
better, no way. Tony’s eyes were hot as he stared down at her.

Randa squeezed the hand on her thigh and said, “Satisfied?”

The look in his eyes was predatory. Tony shook his head. “No way. Not even close.”

Randa licked her lips. “Good. Me either.”

Tony cursed under his breath, stepped back, and slammed the door. Randa leaned her
head back against the headrest and tried frantically to figure out where they were
going from this point. Without the stupid acquisition report, she’d have had no trouble
finding her way. Straight into a hotel bed.

Tony leaned his hands against the hood of the truck, stretched, and… it looked
like he counted to twenty before he straightened and slid into the driver’s seat.
He buckled his seat belt and rolled his shoulders before he said, “Shoes, huh? Let
me see.”

In the list of things she’d thought he’d say, that would have been pretty low on this
list. “So you don’t want to talk about that kiss?”