Erected (Erector Set, Book One) (2 page)

How many times had he said that in his life?

She stopped almost in midclump and stared up at him.

“Why would you do that? You don’t even know me.”

He grinned at her. “I know your name, the kind of car you drive and that you have a broken foot or ankle. That’s more than I know about a lot of other people.”

Including some of the women I date. So what does that make me?

“And that’s enough for you to give me a ride?” She tilted her head slightly. “What if I have a gun in my purse and I plan to hold you up?”

He couldn’t help it. He laughed. Hard. She was such a little spitfire. He just wanted to pick her up in his arms and—

Uh oh. Don’t go there.

Ness Bowen glared at him. “Well, I could.”

Josh pulled himself together. “If you plan to shoot me I’d suggest you not make such a spectacle of yourself. Otherwise when they find my body people will remember.”

“You’re laughing at me.” Accusation speared from her eyes along with angry fire. At least it was better than the river of tears.

“No, darlin’. Just at your predicament.” He took her arm again. “Come on. It’s getting later and we need to get your car so you can get home.”

She sputtered at him as he guided her toward his truck. He thought she might give him some sass when he lifted her into the cab but even she realized it wasn’t too practical for her to climb up with her cast.

Josh thanked the valet kid and hopped up into the driver’s seat, glancing over at Ness.

“Seat belt,” he reminded her, hiding another grin at the look on her face.

“I
know
that,” she hissed, fastening the two pieces together with a loud
click!
Then as he pulled slowly out into the street she cleared her throat. “I want you to know what I did tonight is totally out of character for me.”

“Hey. You were stressed and in a difficult position. No biggie.”

“It is,” she argued. “I never, ever have a meltdown like that. Never.”

“Okay.” He figured the less he said about it the better. “So how’d you get the cast?” he asked.

“The cast?”

“Yeah. You know. That thing on the end of your leg.”

Vanessa tightened her hands into fists in her lap. Her cast. Well, of course he’d want to know how she got it. But since she’d already made herself out to be six kinds of a fool she wasn’t sure she wanted to tell him. He probably
did
think she was crazy. She was just so shaken about her car being gone that the professional exterior she wore at all times had shattered, leaving her emotionally defenseless.

Way to go, Ness.

“The cast,” he prompted.

“A-An accident.” There. Maybe he wouldn’t ask anything else.

“Accident, huh? What kind?”

She felt more than saw him glance at her. Sensed the blazing blue of those eyes that had taken in every visible inch of her on the sidewalk. Why couldn’t her white knight have been in his sixties with a slight paunch, gray hair and bags under his eyes? Instead she got…hmm, let’s see…about six foot four of absolutely mouthwatering masculinity. Thick black hair layered in an obviously expensive razor cut. Equally black and thick lashes fringed those startling blue eyes. The rest of his face was set off by a square masculine jaw. Only a custom-tailored jacket could fit those broad shoulders so smoothly and the slacks that clung to his lean hips and long legs were definitely made to order. A light-blue silk shirt, hand-tooled leather boots and a Stetson topped off the outfit.

He shrieked money. And self-assurance. The kind of man she dealt with every day in her job with the Hallowell Corporation. Of course, after the fool she’d made of herself she didn’t dare tell him that. He’d probably think she was lying.

Anyway, what did it matter? She was finished with good-looking, sexy men. Once you got past the packaging they were all liars and users. Dumping you without even telling you. Surprised because they all assumed that, like them, she wanted only hot, uncomplicated sex. The world was like a sexual merry-go-round. You changed seats every time it stopped.

Each time, her sense of humiliation was greater and it took her longer to recover. She still couldn’t get over her anger at Seth, who’d texted her—
texted
her—as she waited for him at a fancy company event, to tell her he wouldn’t be there. Oh and by the way, he thought it a good idea if they cooled things. No big deal. Right, Ness? Of course, it didn’t help that the next day she saw him in the newspapers and on the internet with his next flavor of the month.

She was done with that. For a smart woman she’d made an incredible number of foolish choices in the love life department. She was no one’s flavor anymore except hers.

“Ness?”

Josh’s deep voice broke into her thoughts, the timbre of it rolling through her and spiking her pulse.

“Um, yes?”

“I didn’t think that was such a hard question.”

“Question. Right. Can you just repeat it? Please?”

Quit mooning over this guy and pay attention.

“Sure.” Was he laughing at her again? “I asked you what kind of accident. That married you to that cast. And by the way, is it foot or ankle?”

“Ankle.” She wished she had a jacket to burrow herself into. “It was, um, an auto accident.”

“Auto,” he repeated. “As in car.”

“That’s usually what an auto is,” she snapped, digging her fingernails into her palms. They were on the interstate now and she prayed that they’d get to the towing yard quickly, before she either turned into an ungrateful shrew or had another meltdown.

“So that’s what you meant when you said you’d already had a car wrecked recently.”

“Uh huh.”

Let that be the end of it. Please.

“Well, we’ve still got a ways to go to the towing yard,” he said in a conversational tone, “so why don’t you tell me how it happened?”

Right. How it happened. I was late for an appointment and trying to make a call on my cell and steer through traffic when I had an unfortunate meeting with a garbage truck.

“I had a sort of disagreement with a city garbage truck,” she finally said.

“Who did the disagreeing?”

Was he mocking her?

“It was his fault,” she huffed. “He shouldn’t have been where he was at the time.”

Josh laughed again, a warm sound that slipped over her like melted chocolate. “Let me guess. Parked and picking up trash.”

Ness wanted to smack him. “And too far out in traffic to allow people to pass.”

“Why do I have the feeling there’s a lot more to that story than you want to tell me?” He took the off ramp and pulled onto the frontage road.

“That’s all you need to know. Anyway, my foot got jammed when I was braking and my ankle broke. End of story.”

“Not quite. Your car was totaled, right? That’s why the one we’re going to retrieve is so brand new.”

“Yes. I just picked it up yesterday. The first day I could drive again.” Being without wheels had been
such
a pain in the ass. “And they’d better not have damaged it! Anyway, I’m done talking about this.”

Or anything else.

More than anything, more than the inconvenience or the hefty chunk of change it would take to ransom her car, Ness was embarrassed that she was coming across as a flaky airhead. And a weepy one to boot. How embarrassing. She was a corporate vice president, for goodness sake. She created marketing strategies and directed massive public relations campaigns. Made a six figure salary and lived in an expensive condo. And she just knew—just
knew!—
Josh McMann, comfortable in his expensive clothing and his tricked out truck, was sure she didn’t have a brain in her head.

She knew too much about men like him. All figuratively gathered in their arrogant boys’ club. She knew what they wanted. Someone hot in bed but not too aggressive. Smart but not brighter than they were. And successful only to the level where they didn’t compete. On top of that, happy with no-strings relationships or casual hookups because, well, there’s still such a big world out there. Right, babe? Ness knew she was a challenge to the men she dated because she wanted something else. She wanted someone who valued her as a person. Unfortunately, the men she chose turned out to be self-centered jerks who forgot her when the novelty of new sex wore off. Because she was a high-powered corporate executive they assumed she had the same cavalier attitude toward relationships they did. Okay. She’d tried the other end of the spectrum, but her one fling with a biker turned out to be a disaster. Then he’d disappeared for two months while he went off on a road trip with his buddies. His reaction when she didn’t fall back into his bed?
Hey, babe, we just took a little trip. What’s the big deal? I figured you’d still be around.
And then he laughed.

She was finally coming to the conclusion that her best sex life was spent with her drawer filled with toys. They didn’t argue with her, didn’t miss dates and always made sure she was satisfied.

“We’re here.” Josh’s voice knocked her mental ramblings into pieces.

Ness looked around. Definitely not the best part of town.

Josh had pulled up to a very tall iron gate that stretched completely across the entrance to the lot. On the left were two very bright lights on posts, one of them illuminating what looked to be a speaker box. Several steps up sat an ugly yellow brick building with a light on inside.

“I think you have to get them to let you in,” he said. “Come on. I don’t want you standing there by yourself.”

Ness unsnapped her seat belt, determined she could get down from the truck unaided and snatch back a little of her pride. But Josh immediately had her door open and lifted her down. The feel of his strong hands at her waist sent unwelcome tingles skittering through her. When she clunked her way to the call box Josh’s hand was right at her elbow, steadying. She hated to admit how much she appreciated it, as threatening and forbidding as this placed was. She pushed the Talk button.

“Yeah?” The voiced sounded like its owner had smoked too many packs of cigarettes.

“I’m here to pick up my car.”
That you all but stole from me.

“All right. But just you. By yourself.”

Josh leaned forward. “She’s injured and I’m not about to let her up there alone.”

“Only the owner of the car,” the voice came back. “Rules, you know.”

“I can call a cop to help if you’d rather.”

Ness wasn’t sure if the irritation in his voice was for the very rude person in the building or with her and her situation.

“I really need help,” she added. Because everything else aside, she really didn’t want Josh McMann to let go of her right now.

There was a pause, then, “Fine. But be warned. I’m armed.”

“Sociable place,” Josh muttered.

The climb to the building was awkward and the process of paying what she considered an exorbitant fee aggravating. But finally she had her receipt and Josh was helping her down another short flight to the parking area. Since the small gate to the building had clicked shut behind them he rode out to his truck in Ness’ car, a brand-new BMW in a brilliant white, a contrast to the navy interior. Her pride and joy.

“Thank you for your help,” she told him in a formal voice. “I do appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.” He grinned. “It helps me keep my white knight status up to date.”

She sat there, waiting for him to get out, when of its own volition her mouth opened and words fell out.

“Let me take you to dinner to thank you.” Did she actually say that? The words seemed to come from someone else’s mouth. Take him to dinner? She really
must
be crazy. The way he was looking at her in the glow from the harsh spotlight, it seemed he thought the same thing.

“Dinner,” he repeated.

Oh, hell. Can I take it back? Why, why, why did I say that?

“Um, well, yes. It seems the polite thing to do after you went to all this trouble for me.”

He lifted one of her hands from the steering wheel and rubbed his thumb sensually over the knuckles. Damn. There went those shivers again.

“I can’t say I’m not surprised but my mother taught me never to be rude to a lady. So yes. Dinner would be nice. Why don’t I make a reservation for… What time is good for you?”

Ness tensed. The jerk probably through he was being smooth and attentive by taking everything out of her hands, but damn it. She was in control of this situation. She was!

“Since this is my invitation,” she said, smoothly extricating her hand, “why don’t
I
make the arrangements and I’ll
meet
you there.”

One corner of his mouth kicked up. “An independent woman.” Then he dropped his gaze to her foot. “In a manner of speaking.”

“In a manner,” she huffed. “Do you have a business card? I’ll call you or email you with the arrangements.”

One eyebrow lifted. “Like a business meeting.”

Good. He understood. “Yes. Exactly. That’s what it is. You helped me out of an awkward situation and I’m satisfying the favor. And now I think I need to get home.”