Take What You Want (5 page)

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re implying.”

His gaze darted up to hers. Low and sexy, in a voice she felt deep inside, he whispered, “I think you do.”

The sound of her order pad hitting the floor was her first sign she’d dropped it. With her cheeks burning, she bent down to get it, then rose, flustered. “Can I get you started with a cup of coffee or some juice?”

“Just coffee. Cream, no sugar.”

“Right.”

She’d already started to turn away when he spoke again. “Oh, and Ellen?”

He was gazing straight at her. In the light, his eyes were even more beautiful. “Just so you know, for next time… I make a mean French toast.”

The next thing she knew, she was back in the kitchen with her head in the walk-in freezer.

The man out there couldn’t possibly be real.

Once her internal temperature had returned to something that could be remotely considered healthy, she stepped back and slammed the freezer door closed. From the prep table, the cook was staring at her again. She gazed at him levelly and lied. “Hot flash.”

She stalked back out and grabbed the coffee pot and a couple creamers. Standing in front of Josh’s table again, she fought to not make eye contact or to let her knees shake as she poured him his cup. Before she could pull the carafe back, he lifted his hand and ran a fingertip along her wrist.

“Ellen?”

She shivered and jerked her arm away. “Yeah?”

“Look at me.” His expression was so earnest when she finally brought her gaze up. “Did I upset you?”

“No. No, I just…” She forced a smile. “Did you figure out what you want to eat?”

“I don’t know…” He continued to look at her with a certain wariness, like he really wasn’t sure if he’d pushed too far. Like he was retreating to safer ground. “Do you have any suggestions?”

She considered him for a moment. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an older couple being seated in another part of her section. While she was usually glad to have extra customers, it was oddly disappointing. It meant less time she could spend at this booth.

Her whole posture softened. He’d come here for her. Yeah, he was coming on a little strong. And no, she didn’t know how to be herself and be with him. But she could try.

Taking a conciliatory tone, she offered, face flushing again, “Well, the French toast is popular, but considering that’s one of your specialties, maybe that wouldn’t be the best idea. Maybe the blueberry pancakes? Or if you want something savory, the eggs Benedict is one of my favorites.”

“Eggs Benedict sounds perfect. Need some protein, you know?”

She sure did. She’d been craving it herself earlier this morning. “I’ll have it right out.”

She was turning away when he caught her with a low, tentative murmur. “Any chance of me making that French toast for you someday?”

She faced him again, even as she was walking backward toward her next table. “I don’t know, Josh. But you just may.”

For the next hour, she danced around the restaurant, bringing him his food and checking in on him between visits with her other tables. His quiet flirtations kept her breathless, and she responded more and more in kind, taking on all the mannerisms of a girl who was open to more. She touched her hair and her throat and laughed, giving him a genuine smile that rarely graced her face when she was at work.

As she cleared away his plate, he brushed a knuckle against hers. “When do you get off?”

When he was touching her? Any time he wanted her to, apparently.

Her whole body filled with heat as she refocused on what he was really asking. “Not for a few hours.”

“When?”

The words fell from her lips without her permission. “Four o’clock.”

“Can I pick you up?”

She glanced around the room, not sure what she was looking for. Maybe just an escape from the intensity in his eyes. “I don’t know. My car is here, and…”

“I’ll bring you back. Whenever you want.” He hooked his finger around hers, his grin deepening into something devilish and oh-so enticing. “Later tonight. Or tomorrow. After I make you French toast.”

Her heart pounded. Another night with him would be…amazing. Dangerous and amazing.

“Okay,” she breathed.

“Really?”

She nodded and stepped away. “Okay.”

For the second time in one day, Ellen pushed through a set of doors and had to fight down every instinct not to turn right around and head back the way she’d come.

Old Ellen would have done exactly that. Would have taken one look at Josh and his leather jacket, his black riding boots and the helmet in his hands, the long line of his body leaning against that shiny motorcycle, and would have bolted. Would have asked if he was crazy.

Spring break Ellen held her ground. She forced a smile and let her gaze drift up and down his form, lingering on the parts she knew felt best beneath her palms. Quirking up one eyebrow, she looked him in the eye. “Nice ride.”

He stretched out one arm, holding the helmet like an offering. “You up for it?”

Damn it. Damn it damn it damn it.

She’d had to mention motorcycle riding among her list of ridiculous hobbies when he’d acted so bored with her real ones.

“Always,” she lied smoothly. She strode toward him with as much swagger as she could muster and touched the shiny plastic of the helmet’s shell.

“Here. Let me.”

He handed her the helmet and stepped to stand behind her. A shiver ran up her spine as her pushed her hair from her face, grazing her neck as he did so. For just a second, he leaned in and pressed a kiss to the skin below her ear, whispering, “Don’t be nervous.”

“I’m not.” Her voice came out strained.

She wasn’t nervous. Not when he was touching her like that.

With care that melted her, he fit the helmet to her head and fixed the chin strap. “Fit all right?”

She had no idea, but when she nodded, it didn’t seem to move around. He grinned and reached in to stroke her bottom lip before lowering the visor. He turned back to the motorcycle and lifted another, larger, more complicated-looking helmet from the seat and put it on before slinging one long leg over the body of the bike. He looked so good up there, so comfortable, like he was a part of the machine with his hands wrapped around the controls.

“Well?” He twisted his head to look at her and nodded toward the space behind him.

Her whole chest fluttered, and not in a good way as her nerves resurged. She was supposed to know how to do this. Silently cursing the entire time, she copied his movements, one hand on his shoulder to steady herself as she climbed on. She found the places for her feet to go, then with only the thinnest layer of air between her open legs and his body, she settled her hands on either side of his waist, feeling too hot all of a sudden, too intimate here in the full light of day.

“You’re going to want to hold on a whole lot tighter than that.” His voice was muffled through their helmets, so it took a second for her to register what he was saying. Not that he left her time to process.

He reached behind his body and gripped the backs of her thighs, sliding her forward until they were flush, the pressure between her legs maddening as they spread around him. All the air left her lungs in a rush, and when she breathed in again, his scent surrounded her. In another swift adjustment, he grabbed her hands and pulled them so her arms wrapped around him tightly. She could feel the firmness of his abs through the gap in his jacket, feel the broadness of him as she molded to him.

After squeezing her fingers once, he put his hands back on the handles of the bike. “You ready?”

“Yes?”

His laugh rang out through the air, only to be drowned out by the sudden revving of the engine. He twisted his neck one last time. “Just don’t let go.”

And then they were off.

By the time they’d made it five blocks, she’d not only not let go—she’d lost feeling in her hands from holding on so tight. It was like nothing she’d ever experienced before, the wind and the speed and the vibrations from the engine, the sensation of flying, with nothing between her body and the ground. Nothing but Josh.

When he stopped at an intersection, he put his foot down on the pavement and rested one hand over hers. “Relax, Ellen. I won’t let you get hurt.”

She loosened her grip infinitesimally. “I am relaxed.”

If only it hadn’t been directed at her, she would have loved the deep sound of his laugh.

It should have been impossible to whisper sexily through two layers of protective plastic. But as he slid his palm along her thigh, he sure tried. “Trust me.”

The words echoed like they had last night. She’d trusted him then all right, let him take her how he wanted her, teaching her pleasure she hadn’t known how to take for herself. Through all of it, he’d kept her safe. All she’d had to do was hold on.

When he kicked off again and pushed the bike back up to speed, she let herself melt into him, still gripping tightly, but with a softness, too, to her arms and legs.

“That’s it, baby.”

As they sailed through the streets, he taught her how to lean with him as he cornered. With each turn, she took her cues from him more readily and sank into him more deeply.

All at once, the fear seemed to slip away, leaving her in motion, her body wrapped around that of a man she’d taken inside of her twice now. A man who’d held her and made her come, who’d kissed her and sought her out.

And she didn’t have to
try
to be the sexy woman from the past two nights. She
was
that woman.

She wanted to rip her helmet off and press her lips to his salty skin, to slide her hands down his torso and to the center of him. As she held him more sensually, she heard his groan blend with the roar of the engine. If she pushed her hands a little lower, she knew she’d find him just as hard as she was wet. Just as wanting.

His bike slowed, and for the first time in over a mile, Ellen took a good look at the world beyond his shoulders.

“What—”

They came to a stop right in front of the doors to the diner. He cut the engine, drowning the world in silence and his heaving breaths.

“Ellen, get off.”

Her chest cratered. “Why—”

He tore his helmet off and dragged her hand to exactly where she’d wanted it. Beneath her palm, his length swelled and pulsed. “Because. If you don’t get off this bike right now, I’m going to fuck you bent over the side of it.”

Yes, please
.

Before she could muster the presence of mind to tell him that, he had her waist in his hands, lifting her and depositing her on solid ground. Moving deftly, he loosened her helmet and lifted it, leaving her hair wild and mussed. The next thing she knew, his mouth was fit to hers, his tongue hot and probing as she yielded to him.

He growled and pushed her back, staring at her with hungry eyes.

“I’m not going to fuck you today.”

“Why not?”

His lips lifted on one side. “Believe me, I came here fully intending to. But I want more than that.”

More?

He grasped her hand and stared at her with that same intensity that turned her insides to mush. “Go out with me tomorrow night.”

“Out?” Her brain wasn’t catching up. “Like on a date?”

He cupped the side of her face, stroked her cheek with his thumb. “Exactly. Exactly, exactly like a date.”

Already hammering, Ellen’s heart broke into a sprint.

You can’t keep him
, she reminded herself. She’d picked him up for a night of simple fun. But the racing twist inside her chest rang out a warning.

Nothing about this was simple anymore.

Still, his eyes were imploring, his hand around hers so big and warm as it rubbed her palm.

She opened her mouth. And out of it fell a shaky, terrified, “Yes.”

Chapter Four

Tuesday

Josh rapped his knuckles on the doorway leading to the living room. “Hey, Ma.”

His mom looked up from her crossword puzzle and regarded him for a few seconds before smiling. “What’s up?”

“Nothing. Just wanted to let you know I won’t be home for dinner tonight.”

She set the paper aside and stood, picking up her empty teacup as she did. “Ah. Plans with your…
friends
again?”

“Yup.”

“And would these friends happen to include a girl?”

She said it so nonchalantly but with the same subtle invective that had colored her question about his
friends
.

Busted
.

“Possibly.” He grinned and darted his eyes skyward. “What gave me away?”

“Hmm. Let’s see.” She crossed the room to stand before him as she rattled off the inventory. “Collared shirt.” Her eyes traveled upward. “Effort expended on hair.” She leaned in closer. “Cologne.” Smirking, she asked, “Need I continue?”

“Nah, you’ve proven your skills.”