Spin Some More (2 page)

Penelope Judd was hardly predictable.

She was quite a little rebel and had been so her whole life. Trouble was as much a part of her as every living inch of her body, and she seemed to love it. The fact that she was reckless, though, didn’t mean she was careless. Oh no, Miss Disaster cared about a lot of things. She cared about trash and shopping and making Jason’s life miserable.

She was a very caring person when it came to all that. Very thorough and…dedicated. Shopping. There’s a word Miss Disaster understood. To her, it was an art form, a much needed “therapy”, which she happened to need often. A couple months ago, right out of the blue, she’d gone shopping for ten hours straight, only to decide to send all her purchases to charity out of damned remorse for spending so much. Jason had wisely suggested she just send the freaking
money
to charity. Did she listen? Oh no, because if it wasn’t weird or complicated, it wasn’t something Miss Disaster would understand.

Trash. There’s another word. Penelope obsessed incessantly about trash and whether some of their nearby neighbors recycled or not. Several weeks ago, she’d volunteered for a local charity that had her picking up litter around the whole freaking town throughout the weekends. Jason wouldn’t have minded if it hadn’t been for the fact that she’d taken the liberty of signing
him
up as well. So Jason had been picking up trash, watching with a pang of envy as men drove by in their convertibles with hot chicks by their sides, enjoying the good life while
he
got to hang around with the trash girl who was, as one of the local Cubans would put it, a little
loca
.

Penelope’s worst obsession though—he was damned sure of it—was him.

Making his life a living hell. She’d been born for it. Making him pick up trash, getting into trouble and creating the need for him to practically baby-sit her every hour of every day. He could hardly stand to be near her anymore. His balls were getting the blues!

Last time she’d invited him for a swim at her place she’d decided to take off her top so she wouldn’t get tan lines, and he’d wanted to throttle her with it. Prancing around her pool in a semi-nude state right in front of his startled eyes didn’t seem to bother her much, and it drove him insane. The woman was crazy!

Even her very own website design business wasn’t enough to divert Penelope’s overactive imagination. She still had way too much time on her hands. Jason didn’t appreciate having to spend half his days worrying about what trouble she’d get herself into when all he
should
be worried about was beating Tiger Woods at the PGA tour. Instead, he kept fretting over
her
. Her love life. Her whereabouts. The reckless streak she’d given free rein to lately.

She was making him want her—desperately.

And he shouldn’t. Not her.

Penelope Judd was just like Eve—but far more innocent and for that reason, all the more dangerous—dangling the dreaded apple in front of him every freaking single day, tempting him to just go ahead and fuck her.

Which of course he wouldn’t.

Jason liked his sex naughty, and Penelope Judd had no idea the million things he liked to do to women. She was too young. Too innocent. For God’s sake, she’d been playing with Care Bears less than a decade ago, and now she was ready to be tied down and fucked? He didn’t think so. Jason was not taking advantage of the twenty-three-year-old handful he’d grown up with—he’d seen her in diapers, for crying out loud.

And despite her being quite a bit of trouble, Penelope was a sensitive, sweet girl and not at all like the groupies with whom he indulged in one-night stands. She was not the kind of woman to take sex lightly. And Jason was only twenty-nine, so he wasn’t all that ready for commitment. Not that he’d ever commit to troublesome baggage like her unless he was really, really demented, which he wasn’t—at least not yet.

But he was getting there. Thanks to her.

Jason needed to get away from her pronto because he was at the threshold of losing all restraint and doing something really stupid. Getting sexually involved with Penelope was…out of the question.

Not even two years in his new home and he was already considering moving—

preferably to another country, or a deserted island, or Saturn even, far, far away from her.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of playing a silly little game with me, Jason,” Penelope said, her tone light as a summer breeze. It was hard to maintain the image of a cool, detached male with that last comment.

“Look, I’m saving you a whole lot of trouble. The way I see it you should thank me,” he said sullenly, roughly scraping his hands up and down her arms.

“The only thing I’ve got to thank you for is treating me like a child!”

Sighing in defeat, he dropped his hands to his sides. The heat from her body gripped him like a vise, doing unspeakable things to his insides. He could feel parts of his anatomy throbbing, the discomfort in his body gradually intensifying. “I’m looking out for you because it’s clear to me that you don’t,” he tried to explain for the umpteenth time, and for a silly second he was even tempted to agree to play just so he could get rid of her. His palms were starting to sweat and his body was heating up so fast he now also had hyperthermia to worry about.

But she didn’t budge an inch, instead tilting her chin up stubbornly. “I think I’m old enough to take care of myself. I’m not five, you know.”

“Well I’ve seen toddlers with more sense than you.”

She looked thoughtful for a moment, as if recalling something important. “You know? A lot of men might disagree with that. They think I’m very mature for my age.”

Though he knew that was impossible, he nodded just to appease her. “I’m sure they would.”

“A lot of men also think I’m really hot,” she said matter-of-factly, as if she’d actually conducted interviews.

Jason threw his head back and laughed for a whole minute at that, only sobering up when he suspected, by her narrow-eyed look, that she might actually hit him.

She rose on her tiptoes and glared at him. Jason was a whole head taller than she was and at least double her weight, so that extra inch made absolutely no difference but she obviously thought it did. She actually seemed to think she was intimidating him.

“It’s not funny, Jason.” He didn’t look the slightest bit contrite. “Sorry, but…‘hot’? Not really you.” He’d go more for “jinxed” or “calamitous” even. He wasn’t going to agree she was hot. Not out loud.

She wrinkled her nose at him, her brow furrowing into a scowl—and suddenly she looked ready for a wrestling match. He thought her teeth would crack when she gritted out, “You don’t
know
me.”

He chuckled softly. “Honey, I know you better than you know yourself.”

“You wish you did!”

He shrugged indifferently and said, “Fine. Invite one of your admirers to play then.

The ones who think you’re so flammable.”

She squared her little shoulders. “I think I will,” she spat haughtily, all furious now.

She
did
possess that fiery temper redheads were noted for, and it was a joy to watch.

Just Jason’s way of getting back at her for driving him completely, madly, absolutely insane.

“Now, you’re not angry at me are you?” he asked, his voice laced with sarcasm.

And now he actually didn’t want her to leave. He wanted to fight!

Jason was known to be a patient man, but Penelope had lately been testing him to the breaking point, and fighting with her seemed to be the only non-physical thing he could do with her to get a little release.

“You missed your chance,” she spat, her breasts rising and falling at each breath.

“Now I won’t play with you even if you beg me to!” She threw the door open and all but flew down the wooden planks that led toward the beach.

As if I’d beg her for anything
, he thought furiously.

She’d barely hit the sand when he found himself unexpectedly worrying, then cursing under his breath and following her. The truth was, he didn’t like pissing her off and he didn’t do it on purpose. If only she didn’t drive him so frigging nuts! The spin devil in Miss Disaster’s hands would be a complete catastrophe—and Jason had to stop her. He had to save her ass, just one last time and that was
it
.

“Penelope,” he called after her.

Ignoring him, she lifted the skirt of her dress and trotted across the sand toward her home.

“Penelope,” he said again, getting annoyed now.

When he finally reached her, he grabbed her elbow and whirled her around to face him. She yanked her arm free, all fire and haughtiness. Her cheeks were flushed and her breasts rose and fell heavily at each of her breaths.

“I’m just watching out for you,” he explained, wishing he could grab her shoulders and shake some sense into her. He’d tried that already, and it didn’t work.

Her chest heaved, her eyes glowing golden as she looked up at him. “I don’t need a watch dog, Jason.”

“I’m not a watch dog—I’m your friend,” he countered, framing her face with his hands. “Look, that spin devil is serious business.”

“And I’m totally up for it!”

“It’s wicked.”

“Just my kind.”

He smiled gently, his eyes filled with concern. “You couldn’t be wicked if you tried,” he softly said. “Even when you’re mean, you’re nothing but sweet. Sweet and innocent and…wholesome.”

That seemed to hurt her, for her whole body stiffened, her face tinting bright red with fury, easily matching the color of her new little pet. “I hate you!”

“Now, now, Penelope, you’re just—”

“And thanks for the toy,” she cut in, waving the spin devil in the air. “I’m sure it’ll work wonders on a
real
man!” And with that she walked away, leaving Jason staring dumbly after her. 

* * * * *

“Yes you are, you’re a cute little baby, aren’t you?” Penelope cooed to the bundle in her arms as she strode into her spacious two-story beachfront. The adorable plush devil looked right at home in her arms and she could almost swear he winked at her. He liked her coddling, oh yes he did, the little sweetie.

As she headed for the kitchen to separate the cans and plastics she’d recently picked up on the beach—scattered throughout the sand by some insensitive, thoughtless litterbug!—her smile faded as her thoughts returned to Jason.

For the life of her, Penelope had tried and tried to understand Jason, but it was proving to be too damned difficult. The man was impossible! Penelope couldn’t comprehend why he didn’t want her—it wasn’t like him to be so picky.

She’d tried
everything
to lure him. Sunbathing topless, wearing no underwear with her clothes, swaying her hips so hard her spine nearly cracked from the effort. When none of those worked, she’d tried sticking out her butt while bending down to pick up something—something she’d obviously had to drop herself, just to have an excuse to bend over—yet Jason would always find a far more interesting sight than her fanny.

Like the ceiling.

When
those
flirtations didn’t work, she decided to take a more upfront approach, unashamedly saying things that would leave no doubt whatsoever as to what she wanted. Last week, after they’d laughed for a whole hour during a card game, she’d looked into his eyes and said, “I think I’m hot”—and he’d just swallowed, blinked and then left, the chicken! His attitude was completely baffling, and extraordinarily deflating to a girl’s ego. She’d sent him
so
many hints the man had to be an idiot not to get the message, and yet he still refused to make a move on her.

For some reason she couldn’t even fathom, Jason still wanted to see her as the vulnerable, skinny little girl he’d grown up with in Miami. How long he planned to treat her like a silly girl, Penelope had no idea, but she was sick and tired of waiting for him to come to his senses. She was
not
sweet and innocent and wholesome, damn it! She was adventurous and impulsive and lately she’d been dying to have sex with him.

Maybe it was time to do something drastic, like tie him up and just go ahead and ravage him.

She could’ve bought any house anywhere in the whole world, and yet she’d bought this one, just so she could be with him and more importantly, to seduce his sorry, playing-hard-to-get ass. A whole lot of good that had done her. She’d made zero progress since moving last year, and during that time, she’d seen her previously active sex life totally dwindle right before her very eyes.

The fact that she wanted Jason so badly had made it pretty hard for her to get laid, especially since every man she met seemed to lack something. Yet the few times she’d been willing to overlook their flaws, the men had either stood her up at the last minute or suddenly backed out—which was most unpleasant. Especially when Jason was getting a lot of attention. Since the day she’d moved here, he’d been getting laid nonstop. Just after moving, she’d snatched up her binoculars during the middle of dinner only to watch slack-jawed as he and his friends fucked right there on the beach.

And really? The man was a stallion. It was as if he lazed around all day just to save up his energy for nighttime. He had a sexual appetite bordering on the twisted. And his choices! Why he seemed to want anyone else but her—even Martha, who was older than Penelope’s mother and way fatter—was downright mind-boggling.

After his golf tournaments, Jason never hesitated to reach out and grab some groupie’s butt or autograph the top of some girl’s tit. He totally loved that, and yet when Penelope used her wiles and acted sexy, he completely ignored her and made her feel childish and
so
not sexy.

Well.

Penelope had just about had it. Maybe Jason would like to think of her as this perfect little doll, but damn him, she was flesh and blood too. She had needs, desires, and she’d been so neglected lately she was damn near hospitalization from sheer and utter horniness. She felt so man-starved she’d probably need two dozen men to satiate the hungers in her body.

Penelope was not innocent. Though it had obviously escaped Jason, she’d stopped being a girl the day he’d kissed her cheek while on the swings at the park near her home, when she’d been only twelve. It had been an innocent, brotherly kiss, tender even, but from that day forward she’d been struck with her first and only serious case of puppy love. He’d been eighteen then and already dating—with a vengeance, it sometimes seemed—and Penelope had followed him around like a shadow, vowing one day when she was old enough,
she’d
be the woman in his arms. He’d sometimes let her tag along when he took a girl to the movies or for a burger, and whenever one of his girlfriends had anything negative to say about him bringing Penelope along, he’d dump her. Jason hated complications, so if trouble loomed on the horizon, he’d just quit and move on.