Mixing Temptation (7 page)

Yes, Caroline, I'
ll take off my clothes for you.

But there was one problem with that knee-­jerk reply.

“Caroline, I can't dance,” he said. “Not like the guys in the movie.”

“Sorry,” she said softly. And yeah, he could hear the teasing edge slipping away. “I got caught up in the . . .”

“Heat?” He pushed off the bed and reached for the edge of his T-­shirt. He'd pulled the fabric up a few inches before he remembered to move his hips. He rocked them from side to side. He was pretty damn sure he looked like a fool. But then her jaw fell open and her tongue ran over her bottom lip.

“What are you doing?” she demanded. She sounded as if one more hip thrust would send her voice spiraling into sultry territory.

“I'm giving it a shot.” He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. “Stepping out of my comfort zone.”

She nodded and her gaze had narrowed in on his stomach. “I've been doing that a lot lately,” she murmured.

“Oh yeah?” His hands moved to his silver belt buckle. But instead of freeing his belt, he focused on the hip thrusts, up and back as if he were pushing into her . . .

She'd have to be blind to miss the outline of his dick begging for freedom from his jeans. And judging by the way she leaned forward, shifting her weight to her hands on the bed . . .

Not blind.

She rose up on her knees. “Come here,” she said.

He abandoned the erratic movements and stepped up to the edge of the bed.

“Have you ever danced like that for anyone else?” she asked as she placed her palms on his chest.

“No,” he growled.

“Good.” She leaned closed and pressed her lips to his.

I'm yours,
he thought as he released his belt buckle and reached for her.
Your stripper, your date. . .

His fingers worked their way through her long, loose, wavy hair. He held tight to her as his tongue tangled with hers. He tried like hell to focus on kissing her. But her hands wandered, distracting him as her fingers reached for his belt and dipped beneath his jeans—­

Beep! Beep!

The car horn cut through the quiet night. Below them, one of the horses kicked the barn's wall in response. And yeah, he felt like kicking something too.

“I have to go. That's probably Lily,” Caroline murmured, pulling away from the kiss. But her fingers continued to toy with his belt buckle. “But I can't wait to see you dance your way out of your pants.”

“That's going to be one helluva third date.”

 

Chapter 6

“
J
OSH
S
UMMERS.
J
UST
the man I wanted to see.”

Shifting the pastry box to his left hand, Josh raised his right and waved to Noah. “Hate to disappoint you, but I stopped by on this fine Saturday morning to share homemade cinnamon rolls with Caroline.”

“She's not in yet,” Dominic announced as he pushed through the door that led to the staff only area in back. “She's running five, maybe ten minutes late. Josie's giving her a ride over, but she had to stop and change the baby first.”

“Have a seat,” Noah ordered in his best don't-­mess-­with-­the-­former-­Marine voice. He nodded to the line of empty barstools.

Big Buck's didn't open for another fifteen minutes and Josh knew the room filled fast on weekends thanks to the nearby university crowd. He'd never gone the college route, but he supposed that if he had he'd have preferred to study while sipping a pint of Oregon's finest microbrew.

Knowing he'd have to face the firing squad eventually, Josh set the box on the counter and claimed a stool. He eyed Dominic as the soldier-­turned-­bartender joined Noah behind the bar. Josh had planned to kick off the weekend with a sugarcoated kiss in the bar's back room. Instead, he was getting a lesson in Interrogation 101 from a former army ranger—­Dominic—­and Noah.

“You can each have one roll,” Josh said as he flipped open the box. “But the rest are for Caroline.”

Noah reached into the box first. “How was your date Monday?”

“And your movie night on Tuesday?” Dominic added.

“Good.” Josh smiled at the large blond bartender who managed to make the simple act of eating a cinnamon roll look menacing. But Josh was a long way from breaking under their fierce stares. Though he had to admit Dominic's dark hair and trimmed beard gave him a leg up in the threatening department. Add in the fact that both men played high school football and led their team to the state championship and you had one hell of an interrogation team.

But Josh had known these guys since they played in the peewee leagues even though they'd never been close. They'd lived in different school districts and their hometowns were about an hour apart. It cut into the intimidation factor.

“Where did you go on Monday?” Dominic asked as he examined the box's contents.

“Caroline didn't tell you?” Josh added a hint of feigned shock to his tone.

Noah shook his head. “Caroline told Josie that she should have worn her combat boots. But that's it. So where did you take her? The local pizza place in Independence Falls?”

“For a first date?” Josh raised an eyebrow. “No, I went with someplace more romantic. And private.”

He watched Noah bite down hard on the soft, fluffy pastry. And yeah, it was difficult not to laugh. But Josh managed as he plucked a roll from the box. He'd tasted one at home, but he had a feeling this conversation might drag on a while. The smell was too damn tempting to resist a second. If he had a third with Caroline, well hell, he'd hike it off later. Or maybe dance it off while he stripped down for Caroline . . .

Dominic rested his forearms on the polished wooden bar. “Just how private are we talking?”

“Are we really doing this?” Josh asked.

“Answer the damn question,” Noah said.

“I'm just saying, if we're suddenly ‘BBFs' and all”—­Josh paused and took a bite of his roll—­“we might want to break out the nail polish before I fill you in on the down-­and-­dirty details from my dates.”

“What down-­and-­dirty details?” Dominic growled.

Josh grinned. “Well, things got pretty wild in the hot tub.”

“Fuck,” Noah muttered.

“Not that wild,” Josh said, trying to add a note of o-­woe-­is-­me to his voice. “But I have high hopes for next time. And don't worry, I'll tell you
everything
at our post-­date sleepover.”

And now you laugh,
Josh thought. But the army ranger and the Marine had packed away their sense of humor for the day.

“Look, Josh, I've known your family a long time,” Noah said. “And you seem like a good guy. But I swear—­”

“I see,” Josh cut in with a nod. “This isn't a heart-­to-­heart talk.”

“If you hurt Caroline, if you push her to do something she isn't ready for, we're going to have problems,” Noah continued.

“I know,” Josh said. “And while I'm willing to bet I can hold my own seeing as I grew up with two big brothers, we're on the same page. I won't push her. But I also won't treat her as if she's broken. She went through hell and she doesn't need you, me, or your sidekick”—­he nodded to Dominic—­“acting like it defines her. She deserves to be wined and dined away from curious stares so I took her to my favorite vineyard for a sunset picnic on Monday. And we watched a movie my brother recommended on Tuesday. If you want to know more than that, you'll have to ask her yourself.”

The door to the back room swung open and Caroline marched in. She spotted the three men gathered around the bakery box and ground to a halt five paces from the bar.

Josh sat back on his stool and took another bite of his roll while he admired the view. She'd traded the borrowed boots for her preferred footwear. The I'll-­kick-­your-­ass combat boots matched with her don't-­mess-­with-­me expression, but not so much with her fitted jeans and long-­sleeve Big Buck shirt. This top hugged her curves compared to the oversized work shirts she usually wore.

“Ask me what?” Caroline demanded.

“The down-­and-­dirty details from our date,” Josh said.

Her gaze honed in on the pseudo-­interrogators behind the bar. Sure, they'd been looking out for her. And Josh appreciated that fact. The more ­people on Team Caroline the better. But he also hoped she gave them a little hell for crossing the line.

“I missed the locker room chat?” she asked.

“It wasn't like that,” Noah said.

“He's right. Nothing like that, sweetheart,” Josh drawled. “These boys are more of the bonbons and brunch type.”

“And here I thought they'd
promised
to stay out of my business,” she said with a sharp look at Noah.

“Don't worry, I'm making sure they remain true to their word,” Josh said.

She walked over to his stool and rested one hand on his thigh. He glanced down at her fingers resting on his jeans. As a rule, she didn't invite physical contact in public. He'd learned to respect that barrier. Hell, he'd kept his hands to himself during their picnic. He'd been granted a good-­night kiss before she climbed out of his truck, but even then he hadn't dared touch her. And he'd waited for her to make the first move after the movie. He wasn't in this for the score, and he sure as shit didn't want her hopping into bed with him to banish bad memories. He needed her to desire
him
.

But none of that changed the fact that he welcomed her hand on his leg right now. And he didn't give a damn about the former state champion athletes standing on the other side of the bar.

“So you didn't tell them about the hot tub?” she asked.

“Nope.” He shook his head and fought back a grin. “They don't need to know how you earned your rose, my sweet. Some things should remain private, you know?”

Including any and all references to my Magical post-­movie performance,
he thought.

“So true,” she murmured as she withdrew her hand. “But I think it's fair to tell your buddies here how much you enjoyed the theme of the movie, right?” She glanced over the bar at Dominic and Noah.

Josh nodded and tried to match her solemn expression.

“Josh really took it to heart,” she added. “He was rooting for the hero in the end.”

This woman's wry wit might push me over the edge.

He liked her. He'd been damn clear about that. But this could snowball fast with emotions piling up before their third date.

Without warning, she placed one foot on the metal base of his stool and climbed onto his lap. His arms went around her slim waist and held tight. Across the bar, Josh caught Noah's wide-­eyed stare and knew he was just as surprised by her move.

“Relax, Noah,” she said. “I learned the three date rule in high school.” And she reached into the box and pulled out one of the rolls he'd made just for her.

“You might need to clarify that one for Noah. He didn't exactly play by the rules when he started courting Josie,” Josh said before Noah could jump back into the conversation.

“No, he didn't,” Caroline said.

Noah shook his head and muttered something about opening up for paying customers as he walked away. His sidekick took one more roll from the box and turned to the half-­empty tray of clean pint glassware. With his back to them, Dominic stacked the glasses.

“I should get to work,” Caroline murmured.

“Finish your breakfast first,” Josh said. Even though prolonged contact with her perfect backside would probably leave him with a hard-­on that would linger and leave him aching.

“Mmm,” she murmured as she took another bite. She leaned back against him and that's when it hit him. She'd playfully sparred with Noah and shocked them all when she'd climbed onto his lap, but she wasn't playing defense. She felt relaxed in his arms.

“Caroline?” he said in a low voice.

She glanced at him over her shoulder, her lips lined with white icing from the roll, and he thought what the hell? Second chances were for going after the girl who made him feel like he'd found his future, right? And if he was open and honest with her, if he took his time, they could make this work. Sure, her problems were big. But he refused to believe this—­them, together—­was destined for failure.

With his arms still wrapped around her waist, he hugged her close. His lips grazed her ear. “I don't give a damn if Noah loosens up. But I enjoy seeing you like this. Relaxed. Carefree. Whenever you're ready for that third date, just say the word.”

She licked the icing off her lips. And yeah, there was no way she'd missed the large, imposing fact that she'd turned him on. His dick was close to bursting out of his jeans and begging for entry into hers.

“I have a dinner break before my evening shift,” she said. “Five o'clock.”

“I'll be here.”

C
AROLINE PUSHED THROUGH
the swinging door and tried to school her expression.

Don't think about Josh.

If she started skipping through the bar with a rack full of clean glasses while remembering how he felt pressed up against while she sat on his lap—­large and eager—­she would draw attention.

Her chin dipped to her chest and her shoulders hunched forward as if trying to make herself disappear. She stole a sideways glance at the nearly empty barroom. No one was looking at her. The small groups of college and grad students hadn't stopped midsentence to wonder who the woman with the dishes was.

AWOL. Outlaw. Fugitive.

Pushing past her comfort zone didn't change the fact that those labels hovered over her. They rose up like a solid brick barrier to a long-­term relationship with Josh. Part of her ached to reach the third date and beyond, but after that . . .

Josh wanted the massive timber-­frame house on the hill, the loving marriage, and probably the two point five kids to complete the American dream. She didn't hold that against him. She believed in that vision of Americana bliss. She'd fought to keep that hope alive. Or at least that was why she'd joined up. She'd wanted to be one of The Few. The Proud. The Brave . . .

But it didn't feel very brave to fight her commanding officer for her sense of dignity, for her right to dictate who touched her and how. And she wasn't proud of the fact that she'd lost that battle.

The familiar tension rose up and pulled at her shoulders, threatening her nerves. She'd spent most of the week thinking about her dates with Josh. The way he'd teased her at the end of that first night when they'd pulled up to Noah's childhood home, now her sanctuary . . .

Do you think you won a rose?

He tossed the question out there. She'd turned the tables and tossed it right back at him. He hadn't laughed at the idea that other men would fight for the chance to date her. He'd simply said yes.

But her life wasn't a reality TV show. They could have dozens of heart-­to-­heart conversations and when they finally moved passed kissing, when they finished the striptease they'd started in his apartment, she might leave the ghost of her bravery behind and run.

She stumbled and nearly dropped the rack of glasses.

“Too many cinnamon rolls?” Dominic asked.

“Josh baked and I missed it?” Lily turned to her boyfriend. “And you didn't save one for me?”

Dominic shook his head as he lifted the slab of wood that kept the patrons on their side of the bar. “Can't have you admiring another man's buns even if they're made of cinnamon and sugar.”

Dominic and Noah appeared at her side both reaching for the rack of clean dishes. But she held tight, glancing from one man to the other. “It takes two of you to handle a dozen customers?” she challenged. “Or are you waiting around to give Josh a hard time again?”

“Ryan's stopping by with Helena,” Dominic said as he plucked the rack from her arms and turned back to the bar.

Caroline took a step back. She wasn't eager for more getting-­to-­know-­you chitchat with an officer who lived and breathed the world she'd left behind.

“Helena was his best friend since they were in kindergarten,” Noah explained. “She wasn't able to make the wedding. Something to do with her husband's prior commitments, but she's in town for a quick visit and wanted to stop by.”