Tarzan & Janine (8 page)

“Yeah, Dad, I know. I was real lucky,” he muttered.

Scott’s lips twisted.

Tanner frowned. “Is there something in particular you wanted, Dad?” He hoped to end this conversation and get back to his day trading, so he could continue to build a comfortable nest egg to retire on when his father finally fired him from the used car business.

“Nope, just wanted to congratulate you on all the free publicity. By the way, Beans and I wanna know when you’re airing the next episode of The Tarzan and Janine Show?”

Tanner muffled a groan.

“What was that you said, son?”

With a sigh, Tanner crossed his fingers. “Next Friday, Dad.”

“Great, that’s just great. I look forward to seein’ you two. Funniest thing I’d ever seen. Beans thought it was an accident, but I told him it was your clever idea.”

Not often did he receive praise from his father, and Tanner...well...being Tanner, wasn’t going to let him down over the phone. “Thanks, Dad. Well, I have to go.”

“Hey Tanner, just one other thing,” his father added.

What now?

“Leave all the sales to Scott and the other salesmen on the floor. You can concentrate on the marketing. If you can bring them in, the sales force can clinch the deals. Got it?”

“Got it,” Tanner grinned. No more sales for him. “Gotta go, Dad. I’ll talk to you later.”

Pressing the speaker off button, Tanner sat staring at the phone for several minutes, stunned. His father had actually told him he was doing a good job. God, being appreciated felt good. Almost as good as his daydream, except for the one fly in the ointment.

Janine.

Tanner leapt to his feet, grabbed his car keys, and headed for the door.

“Where ya goin’?” Scott stepped aside to allow Tanner through.

“I’ve got just a few short days to cook up the next commercial, and I haven’t got the key ingredient.”

“And what’s that?”

“Not what...who,” Tanner said. “Janine Davis.” No way was he telling his father he didn’t have her contracted for the next commercial. He could handle this little challenge. How hard could convincing her to sign one little piece of paper be?

Chapter Five

Tanner stood outside Janine’s apartment, clutching a bouquet of roses, a box of chocolates, and his flagging confidence. A lot was riding on this meeting, and he couldn’t screw it up.

He jabbed a finger to the doorbell and then waited, his palms growing clammy. What if she said no? That single word could mean he’d be fired from the family business faster than he could say, “Hey Dad, a funny thing happened...”

After what seemed like an eon, the door finally opened and there she stood. Her hair curled in wild disarray around her face. Even with sad, red-rimmed eyes and smeared makeup in need of repair, she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

Tanner sucked in a breath, his gut clenching liked he’d taken a hit in the solar plexus. His well-thought-out speech slipped from his thoughts like water through a sieve.

He stared at Janine, tongue tied and gripping the bouquet as though it was a lifeline in a sea of teenage, raging hormones. What was wrong with him? He wasn’t asking her out or courting her. He wanted her to work for him. Yet an image of her climbing up his body and wrapping her legs around his waist shot through his mind, spurring his cock to immediate titanium hardness.

His gaze slipped downward from her face, taking in the fact that she wore a fuzzy old robe with pink rabbits and lambs scattered all over it. Her feet were encased in Bugs Bunny slippers, complete with six-inch ears, and she clutched a box of tissues.

“What do you want?” she asked in her breathy voice, then blew hard into the tissue in her hand.

“Are you all right?” Tanner asked in lieu of answering her question. As soon as he saw her, he’d forgotten what he’d come about. “You look like you’re not feeling well.”

“I’m fine.” Her mouth tightened and her brow furrowed. Before she could say anything else, her bottom lip trembled and tears welled in her eyes. “I’m just freaking fine.” Without warning, she slammed the door.

Tanner shoved his foot in the crack before the door closed all the way and winced. “Ouch.” Had he been wearing anything else besides his cowboy boots, his foot would have been hurting a lot more.

“Serves you right.” Janine scrubbed a hand over her wet cheeks. “I hope I broke it.”

“Sorry, not today.” Tanner pushed the door wide.

Janine shrugged and turned away, leaving him to close the door behind himself.

Whatever had made her cry had something to do with him. Tanner tossed the flowers and chocolates on a table in the hallway and followed her into the living area. “What’s wrong, Janine?”

“I’m too
flamboyant
.” She snatched a tissue from a box on an end table and pressed it to her leaking eyes.

“In a beautiful way.” Tanner removed the tissue from her fingers and dabbed at the tears coursing their way down her cheeks. “Is that a crime? I find it to be one of your more charming attributes.”

“But you can’t be too flamboyant and be a serious actress.” She glanced up into his eyes, her own shadowed and as pathetic as a kicked puppy.

“And you want to be a serious actress.” His chest squeezing tight, Tanner gave in to the urge to draw her into his arms.

Janine stiffened inside his embrace. “It’s your fault.”

“I’m sorry.” He smoothed a hand over her hair, learning it was as soft as he’d imagined.

She sniffed, her hands on his chest, holding him back. Then she melted against him, resting her head against his chest, the tears flowing. “I wanted that part real bad.”

“What part?”

She smacked a palm against Tanner’s chest. “In Miller’s play.”

“If I could give it to you, I would.” He tipped back her head and brushed the hair from her face. Then he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. Her skin was soft and her hair smelled of spring flowers. Tanner’s gaze lowered to her mouth.

Her lips trembled.

That movement was Tanner’s undoing. He gathered her closer in his arms and pressed his lips to hers.

Her mouth trembled beneath his then her head tilted, their noses aligned.

What started as a tender need to comfort her changed. And even though his better sense yammered in his ear about the fact he was pushing too fast, too hard, Janine’s soft little moans built a full-fledged, raging inferno of desire.

Tanner decided not to think.
Just feel
. He slid his hands inside her fuzzy robe, his fingers meeting the bare skin around her midriff. The soft curve of her waist tempted him to discover more. He moaned into her mouth.

Janine’s hands skimmed across his chest and around his neck, pulling him closer. Her lips parted and their tongues touched. But then she broke away, gasping for air.

They stared at each other for a long, charged moment. Her big blue eyes were wide with shock. Her mouth formed a pretty pink O.

Tanner’s body hardened, his breaths steadily deepening. With a slow deliberate move, one she could refuse if she had the mind, he shoved the robe over her shoulders. It fell silently to the floor, and Janine stood in front of him, naked and more beautiful than he’d imagined. “That Miller is a fool,” he muttered, bending to trail a kiss down her jaw, following the long line of her neck to the sweet curve of her shoulder.

Her fingers threaded through his hair, and she moaned softly. “I wanted it so badly.”

Fire ignited in every cell of Tanner’s body as he stroked her back, his fingers sliding down to cup her rounded bottom. “I’ve wanted to do this since I met you.” Then he lifted her, wrapping her long, slender legs around his waist.

Her head fell backward, hair falling over her back, brushing against his arms. “Don’t get too attached. I plan on going to Hollywood.” She gasped when he captured a perky nipple between his teeth. “Oh, man, that’s
amaaaazzing
.” She cupped the back of his head and pulled him closer.

He carried her across the floor and into her bedroom where he laid her on the mattress, her legs draping over the edge. For just a moment, his gaze took in the beautiful sight before him.

Rising to sit, Janine grasped the button at the waist of his jeans and struggled to free it, her fingers jerking at the fabric, ripping it loose. Then she slipped down the zipper, yanked to pull the material apart and down, and his cock sprang free.

Her eyes widened. “Oh, my.”

“Anything the matter?” he asked, biting his cheek to hide his smile. Then he frowned. Was she disappointed?

“It’s so big.” She wrapped her hand around its girth and stroked him from tip to balls.

“Oh, baby, do that again and there’ll be no stoppin’.” He laid on the bed beside her, his fingers drifting along the curve of her waist.

“Did I ask you to stop?”

Her trademark scowl was so cute he felt his cock jerk. “No. But wait.” He pulled out of her hands and pressed his forehead against hers. “We really should stop.”

She sniffed. “On account of I’m such a horrible actress?”

He bit the tip of her nose. “On account I’m so darn hard, I won’t last a minute inside you. And we really do need to talk.”

Her eyes welled. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”

Tanner fingered a loose strand of her hair then pushed it behind her ear. “You’re mad at me?”

“I am.”

“You’ve got a funny way of showin’ it, ma’am.” Because he didn’t want her to stop crying or worse, start yelling, he pressed the solid ridge against her lower belly.

Her eyes widened and dried right up. “We really gonna do this?” she whispered.

“Only if you want it.”

Her blonde brows lowered. “You always so accommodating to your co-stars?”

“Never had one before. But since it’s you, I guess so.”

White teeth bit into her full lower lip and Tanner nearly howled, but he kept it inside, waiting to see whether she showed even an inkling of hesitation. He didn’t want her to regret being with him. He thought it just might kill him if she ever did.

Her lip slid from between her teeth, and she peeked from beneath the wet fringe of her eyelashes. “You owe me.”

“Figurin’ on takin’ it out on my hide?” A man could only hope...

Janine trailed a finger slowly down the center of his chest.

Tanner leaned his torso to one side, letting her decide how far south that pretty painted finger scratched. When it scraped down the length of his rigid cock, he held his breath.

“Don’t go making plans or anything. This doesn’t mean a thing.”

He’d hit her with the contract...after. “That a yes?”

She blinked once, and then gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Tanner breathed a sigh of relief then reached behind him, sliding his wallet free then dropping it in the center of her soft belly. “Behind the credit cards.”

She picked up the wallet, flipping it open, and then dug for the condom, which she withdrew with two fingers. She held it up. “Were you a Boy Scout?”

He gave her a crooked grin and held up two fingers. “Want me to repeat the oath.”

“No need.” Her smile crept slowly across her face. ”I was a Daisy. Doesn’t mean I came prepared.”

“I’m the one who came.”

“Not yet, you haven’t, cowboy.”

The way she said the words, and that soft, sexy breathy voice nearly did him in. But he held himself still while she tore the packet with her pearly teeth then rolled the condom down his length.

When it was in place, she blinked and raised her gaze to his. “Put it inside me, Tanner. Do it quick.”

Tanner rolled over her, waited as she parted her thighs and eased up her knees, then with a single prod found her entrance. He reached for both her hands and smoothed them up the bed, then laced his fingers through hers. “Hold on, sweetheart.”

Janine gave him a small smile, and then gasped as he pushed inside.

Again, he rested his forehead atop hers as he tunneled inside. “Never felt this good. This hot.”

“Bet you say this to all the girls.”

“I don’t. Really.”

“I’ll take your word.”

He unlaced his fingers and pressed his palms on the bed, then pushed above her, watching her face as he stroked gently into her over and over.

Her thighs rose, hooked around his hips, and held tight. Her fingers dug into his back.

Tanner reached down and gave her a hard kiss. When he lifted his mouth, he said huskily, “You can make some noise.”

“You need the encouragement?”

“All I need is you.”

Her breaths were coming faster, but so were his. Her eyelids dipped lazily down. “Feels so good, Tanner Pesky. Feels damn good.”

“Consider this the basic model. Then imagine it fully loaded.”

A gust of laughter shook her. “Compare my ass to the chassis of a car, and I’ll kick you to the floor.”