Stark Naked (4 page)

Lunch? With him? Her mind was yelling
no, no, no. No men, remember
? But her body was screaming
yes
.
Hot guy
.

“Um, well…” She couldn’t seem to make her mouth work properly.

Matt looked around to either side of him. Reenie realized people were outside now taking advantage of the nice weather. Puttering in the miniscule yards. Washing cars. Eyeing Matt with curiosity. “Maybe you could invite me in and we could discuss it a little further.” When she didn’t answer him, he shrugged. “Okay by me, but I thought you might want to take this away from your neighbors.”

Reenie did not want him inside her townhouse. He might be on his best behavior, but she was still too vulnerable and he was too tempting. Nevertheless, she couldn’t make herself send him away.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

He looked up at the sky. “Nice day. Sunshine. Blue skies. Perfect for eating Tex-Mex food outside under an umbrella. Maybe having a drink. Come on, Reenie. What can it hurt and I’ll feel a lot better.”

“All right,” she said at last, suddenly aware that the neighbors were staring openly. She knew she was stupid for doing it but he made it sound so appealing. And what could happen out in the open? It sure beat dusting and cleaning the bathroom. “You can wait in the living room while I change.”

She opened the door to let him step over the threshold. Thank heavens the first floor was in presentable shape. She’d just unpacked the last of the boxes this morning so she didn’t look like a nomad moving in or moving out.

“That chair is comfortable.” She pointed to the big arm chair where she loved to sit with her laptop, then handed him the television remote. “Since it’s Saturday there must be something on the sports channels to watch.”

He stared at the big-screen television. “Holy cow. I didn’t think women bought televisions like this.”

Reenie had bought it because she loved college football, but she wasn’t about to get into that with him. At least not right now. No discussions about anything. She’d have a polite lunch with him, accept his apology and that would be that.

“Enjoy yourself. I won’t be long.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he smiled. “That’s what they all say.”

He dropped into the chair, placed his Stetson on the table next to it and turned on the television. With his long legs stretched out before him, the fabric of his slacks clung to the muscles she remembered all too clearly from the night before. The dark curls of chest hair peeping over the open neck of his shirt brought back the image of his hard chest and flat abs and his…

Stop! Stop, stop, stop!

Reenie stood there for a moment longer, searching for something to say, then bolted for the stairs.

He looks too damn good sitting in my living room.

She tried to chase away the butterflies in her stomach while she showered and washed her hair.

Lunch. It’s just lunch. Not a date. Not with Mr. Sexy.

She kept up a running dialogue with herself while she blow-dried her hair, smoothing out the wild curls with a big brush, and applied makeup with more care than she took dressing for work.

What to wear? What to wear?

Not too dressy. This was just a Saturday lunch and she certainly didn’t want him to think she was primping for him.

Oh, yeah. Like that’s not what I’m doing right now.

Not too casual either.

She finally settled on a pair of cream-colored slacks and a deep blue short-sleeved sweater that brought out the blue in her hazel eyes. Gold studs at her ears. Feet slipped into the fancy Yellow Box sandals, and she was ready. One last look in the mirror and she almost chucked the whole thing. Who was that stranger with the glowing skin and the heat of expectation flashing in her eyes? Damn. He might think she was actually looking forward to this.

Well, dimwit? Aren’t you?

Purse. Keys. Deep breath.

“All set?” Matt asked, taking one last look at the television screen before turning it off.

When he rose and turned to look at her, the expression on his face, as if he’d just been pole-axed, made all the extra care she’d taken definitely worthwhile.

“Well.” He just stared at her. “Too bad I don’t have a big stick with me. I’ll need it to beat off all the other men. Just remember, you dance with the fella who brung you.”

Chapter Three

He took her to Casa Rio on the famous Riverwalk. It was a warm spring day and the locals as well as the usual tourists were crowding the walk on either side of the narrow San Antonio River. Opened in the 1930s following a disastrous flood and the construction of a dam that created a narrow bend in the river,
Paseo del Rio
is a network of walkways along the banks of the river with shops and restaurants taking up every inch of space on either side. Casa Rio was the first restaurant to open there and even in California Reenie had seen pictures of the restaurant with its colorful outdoor umbrellas and the gaily outfitted waitresses.

They sat at a table right at the river’s edge among the throngs of people moving along the stone pathway. Sightseeing barges with drivers calling out areas of interest floated by and pigeons hopped around looking for handouts.

“I guess I should thank you for helping Amy get me into my bedroom,” he said after the waitress took their drink orders. “Sad to say the last thing I remember is standing in the doorway to the family room.”

“You do remember you were naked, right?” she teased, and was rewarded by the flush creeping up his face.

“As if I could forget,” he muttered and rubbed one hand along his hip. “I’ll have a reminder of that for a long time. And thanks to whoever tossed the dish towel over me. I hope it covered my, um, assets.”

Reenie swallowed her grin. “Are you asking for a recommendation? I wouldn’t think you’d need one.”

“I’m not sure exactly how to take that.” He gave her a lopsided grin.

“Only that I understand from your sister that you’re quite the player. You should be able to get plenty of letters of reference. Maybe from all the women in your little black book.”

“My sister should learn to keep her mouth shut,” he grumbled. “Anyway, she tends to exaggerate. Greatly. And I don’t have a little black book. Or a book of any color.”

“Oh, come on. All you guys do. It’s your personal record.”

Matt opened his mouth to reply but whatever else he might have wanted to say was interrupted by the waitress bringing their drink orders—frozen margarita for Reenie, who had discovered last night they could be very addictive—and beer for Matt. He was tilted back in his chair, tipping the bottle to his mouth. She tried not to stare at the flex of the muscles in his neck when he swallowed or the strong lines of his body as he sat there loose and relaxed. A tiny shiver walked down her spine and she wished again that he didn’t make her skin hum and her blood sizzle. Wished she could get the image of his naked body out of her mind so she could stop drooling mentally. She knew behind those sunglasses his dark, dark eyes were focused on her.

Of course, he was funny and that Texas drawl was smooth as butter, sliding all over her. His natural charm immediately drew her in while at the same time it put her on her guard. She could feel herself falling for him that quickly. Damn. She was just a glutton for punishment. It took every effort of will she had to keep herself in check.

“You know,” he said in his hot deep voice, “people who come here say the Riverwalk is the place for romance.”

“Really? Well, today it’s just a place to eat, right?”

“You’re tough, Reenie,” he said at last. “Did anyone ever tell you that?”

She bit delicately into a warm tortilla chip. “I’ve heard that a time or two.”

He leaned forward slightly. “I’d sure love to find out what makes you tick.”

Just taking me to lunch my ass. I knew this was a mistake. I just knew it.

Reenie had so many conflicting feelings regarding this man. She wanted to despise him, to flip him off in disdain like a disgusting insect. Instead she kept remembering his naked body, the sight of his impressive cock. And the way her own body had responded to the sight of him. And now, listening to his deep voice with its easy Texas drawl, she felt herself drawn to him like a fly into a spider’s web. Emotions she didn’t want to deal with were battling their way to the surface.

She’d run to Texas to get away from men like him and then one had fallen naked at her feet. Literally. But he was so good at this, whatever
this
was. She was sure it was a technique he’d perfected over the years, one that easily lured women into his arms and his bed. She’d been caught like that before by Asshole Aaron—Mr. Double A—and he hadn’t been nearly as smooth as Matt Stark. Men like him should come with a warning label.

She nibbled on another tortilla chip and sipped at the chilled margarita. No way was she giving this man any kind of clue about herself. She needed to get past this meal, get home and try to pretend he didn’t exist. She’d had enough of men like him.

“This is going to be a very boring lunch if only one of us is talking,” he teased. “I thought maybe we could get to know each other a little. I could tell you a little something about me, you could do the same. Pretty soon we’re almost friends.”

He tipped up the bottle of beer again and Reenie could hardly drag her eyes away from the flex of muscles at his throat as he swallowed. Clutching her own drink, she took a large swallow, blinking her eyes at the sudden burn in her throat.

“Easy, sweetheart,” he said. “Margaritas are meant to be absorbed slowly into the system. I’ll go first. Remember me? I’m Amy’s brother and I run Stark Ranch. Five thousand acres, ten thousand head of cattle. I can ride a horse and rope a steer.” He grinned. “And even play guitar.”

Reenie wished she could erase the erotic images cluttering up her mind, but the more Matt Stark talked the more she remembered his naked body and his impressive package. She took another swallow of drink as if that alone could wash everything away.

“Your turn,” he prodded, when she didn’t say anything. “Come on. It’s real easy.”

She let out a slow breath. Okay, she’d play his little game, get through lunch, then send him on his way. Damn it.

“Reenie Davenport. I do web designs and maintenance. Right now I’m working for Orion Promotions. End of story.” She wished he’d take off those damn sunglasses so she could see his eyes. You couldn’t tell what a man was thinking if you couldn’t see his eyes, although she wasn’t really sure she wanted to know what Matt Stark’s thoughts were.

“So what do you do at Orion that’s better than what you did in L.A.? What
is
Orion anyway?”

“A special promotions company. Events. Fundraisers, Stuff like that. We used to do their web stuff and promotional material for them, but they decided they wanted to take it in-house. They knew me from the work I did for them and offered me the job.”

“There.” He grinned, that lethal, sexy twist of his lips. “See how easy that is?”

Reenie found herself sitting on the edge of her chair during lunch, chewing and swallowing without really tasting her food. Which was too bad because they were eating at a great place, the sun was out, a soft breeze danced in the air and the food was excellent. Under normal circumstances she’d be kicked back enjoying herself, the color and the ambience.

But these circumstances were far from normal. For one thing Matt Stark was a tempting treat and he knew it, slowly seducing her with his molasses drawl and his teasing comments. She wanted to be in control but somehow she had a feeling that control was slowly eroding. The sexual tension she’d felt the minute she opened her door to him was like the elephant in the room, invisible but taking up all the space.

For another, it seemed every good-looking woman strolling the Riverwalk knew him and stopped to say hello. If looks could kill, the ones thrown at Reenie would have had her dead under the table. She lost count after a while of how many stopped by, kissed him with total disregard for her presence, trailed their well-manicured fingernails down his cheek and whispered in his ear.

At first Matt seemed to enjoy it, almost as if he wanted her to know what a catch he was. But before long, Reenie saw his body stiffen as women approached, his attitude toward them growing less and less receptive. He reached across the table at one point and took one of her hands in his, a silent signal that caused more than a few frowns.

“You told me you’re not a player,” she teased after a long-legged blonde tried to press a particularly hot kiss to his mouth. “Doesn’t look that way to me.”

He shrugged. “No big deal. I’ve lived here all my life and know a lot of people.” But he didn’t look at her when he said it, and there was no mistaking his discomfort.

“Uh huh.” She shook her head. He could make excuses but none of the women who’d stopped at their table acted like casual friends. No matter how incredibly sexy Matt Stark was, she had no intention of being another name on what was obviously a very long list.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed the men going by ogling you,” he told her.

“Ogling?” She grinned. “Who even uses that word anymore?”

“I do. I’m an old-fashioned kind of guy.”

“Oh, yeah. Right.” She forked a bite of enchilada into her mouth. She
had
noticed one or two men giving her more than a passing glance. Her ego needed it after all the women fawning over Matt.

“And that’s what they were doing,” he insisted. “So don’t go throwing stones at me.”

“At least they weren’t undressing me with their eyes and looking like they wanted to strip me naked. Or giving me seductive caresses or trying to kiss me.”

“Okay. Good point.” Then he grinned, a curving of his mouth that got to her like nothing else. She had to clench her jaw against its power. “Maybe all those predatory women could have asked me for a description of your unclothed body,” she suggested with a hint of sarcasm.

“Predatory?” He laughed. “You do have a way with words.”