The Fairest of Them All (4 page)

A voluptuous blonde with sexy, reproachful brown eyes, Natalie had been the darling of Beulah County High School when Carly had been an awkward nobody. Natalie was the kind of woman who somehow always seemed to make Carly feel less confident. It wasn’t just Natalie’s appearance. It was her manner. Even now, Carly had to resist the feelings of inadequacy the other woman’s presence generated.

“Russ, honey, when will you be taking your catfish to the processor again?” Natalie asked with an adoring smile.

“In another two months,” Russ answered simply.

Carly took another sip of her wine, swirled it around in her mouth, and wondered if it would taste better as the evening wore on.

Russ went to the podium to present the award for best new business contribution to the community, and Natalie finally acknowledged Carly. “That’s a cute little dress you have on, Carly. I wouldn’t have thought someone with your height could wear that style.”

While Carly tried to decide if that was a compliment or not, Russ returned to the table. Dancing began, and Natalie immediately pulled him onto the floor.

A furrow of irritation crossed Russ’s face, and Carly felt unexplainably consoled. She noticed his warm gaze returning to her throughout the dance. It made her feel attractive, desirable. . . . Carly rolled her eyes. What she really felt was crazy.

“Would you like to dance?” Bob asked.

“Why not?” Carly said with forced enthusiasm.

They shuffled along to the lovelorn song the band played. “She’s kind of overwhelming, isn’t she?” Bob asked.

“Natalie?”

“Yeah. She works for my boss. I didn’t understand why she gave me the big rush about coming to this banquet at first. Now I do.” Bob pushed his tortoiseshell glasses up on his thin nose.

Carly attempted to think of something kind to say about Natalie Conner. Glancing over at Natalie and Russ, she saw the woman press her well-endowed body into him and run her red fingernails through his hair. Carly gave up on saying something nice and switched the subject. “Have you been with National Electronics long?”

“Several years.”

She’d just suggested National Electronics hold their next company social on
Matilda’s Dream
when Russ cut in.

“You’re not holding up your end of the bargain,” Russ said in a no-nonsense voice as he took her into his arms.

Carly blinked. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re supposed to act like you’re happy to be with me instead of hustling Natalie’s date.”

“Well, Bob’s been a little more accessible. The way Natalie plastered herself against you, I’d have needed dynamite to blow you two apart.”

Carly felt his shoulder muscles tense beneath her hand, but she continued anyway. “Besides, you didn’t say anything about me fawning over you when I agreed to come to this banquet.”

Russ’s voice became very quiet. “If I wanted fawning, I could have Natalie.” His arms tightened, drawing her even closer. “I know it’ll be tough, but for the next few minutes, pretend you find me attractive.”

Her breath hitched in her throat. She wouldn’t have to pretend, she realized. Intellectually, she’d always known that Russ’s body was hard and firmly muscled, but she’d never noticed it as a woman would. In her present position, with her breasts heavy against his chest, her stomach fluttering against his abdomen, and his powerful thighs twined with hers, she was fully, femininely aware of him.

“Attractive,” she repeated in an unsteady voice.

Russ raised her hand to his cheek and nuzzled it. “Pretend you feel possessive about me.” When he lowered his mouth to the vulnerable skin just below her ear and made that same nuzzling motion, her heart jumped into her throat.

“Pretend we’re lovers,” he whispered into her ear.

His words hit her with such force, she would swear both the walls and the floor of the banquet room rocked and trembled. Her knees felt like Jello-O, and her head was cloudier than the sky during an electric storm.

For one brief moment, Carly stared into Russ’s eyes and saw the eyes of a hunter, hungry and predatory. She looked at his mouth and felt an achy emptiness inside her.

Then someone jostled her, and she came to her senses. Heat scored her cheeks.
This was Russ
.

“Have you lost your mind?” she asked breathlessly. “If you wanted Natalie to back off, you should have picked someone more believable. She’s never been threatened by me.”

“She is now,” he said mildly.

“Oh, yeah?” Carly couldn’t keep the disbelief from her voice. “Why?”

“You’ve got me.”

Carly opened her mouth to retort, but to her consternation, no clever words came to mind. She frowned.

The music stopped, and Russ caught her off guard, bringing her hand to his warm mouth. He kissed her bandaged finger. “What’d you do this time?”

A quiver danced through her. She slowly released the breath he’d stopped. “Boo-boo of the week,” Carly said and took another breath. Where had all the oxygen gone? “I had an argument with a paring knife, and it won.” She smiled and removed her hand from his, eager to put some space between them.

Russ guided her back to the table. “I think we can leave now,” he murmured, allowing his lips to brush her ear. “Unless you want to stay?”

Carly resisted the urge to rub away the effect of that distracting caress. Instead, she shook her head.

After a perfunctory good-bye to Natalie and Bob, Russ nudged her toward the exit. When they reached the car, she slumped into the leather seat with a sigh. “Well, tonight won’t have been a total loss if National Electronics starts giving me some of their business.”

Russ revved the powerful engine and backed out of the parking space. “I’m sure Bob will be calling you,” he said none too happily, recalling the interested expression on the other man’s face.

“Good. I’ll be that much closer to my goal,” Carly mumbled and closed her eyes.

Russ’s ears pricked up. “What goal?”

Carly sighed again. “I want to buy out my—” She broke off abruptly and sat up straighter.

“Buy out my what?” He looked at her. She was almost squirming in her seat. “Is it a secret?”

A long silence followed. “I guess it is.”

He didn’t push. From past experience, Russ knew that pushing her was a mistake. “If it’s important to you, then I hope it works out.”

Out of the comer of his eye, he saw her relax slightly.

“It is important. Maybe even vital. And I’ll make it happen or die trying. ”

Russ steered the car into a vacant parking space in her small apartment complex. He placed a hand on her delicate shoulder, loving the feel of her warmth and softness. “Well, I wouldn’t want you to kill yourself,” he said with a lazy grin. “But let me know if I can help you out.”

She wavered. It was only a few seconds, but he saw it in her eyes before she straightened and set her chin.

“I’ve got to do this myself.” She softened the statement with a smile. “But thanks anyway.”

Russ resisted the urge to pull her into his lap and kiss the resistance out of her. He trailed his fingers down her arm. “Time for all hardworking ladies to get to bed. Will you share yours with me? I’ve got a long drive back to the farm.”

He heard her soft gasp. Then she hooted with laughter.

“Give me a break, Bradford. When it comes to meaningless flirtations, you wrote the book—and sold it to my brothers. A woman would have to be crazy to take you seriously.” Carly smiled and poked his chest. “If you’ve got such a long drive, you’d better get moving.” Then she opened the car door and got out.

Russ watched her long legs and sweet rear end as she edged out. He felt the familiar heat, rubbed his mouth, and wondered if a man could die from being too patient.

He narrowed his eyes. His past was coming back to haunt him. He hadn’t counted on Carly not taking him seriously. This wasn’t part of his careful plan.

Now, if he rushed his seduction of her, Carly would think he was treating her like any other woman he’d dated. Which was the furthest thing from the truth. So what he must do, he realized grimly, was take it slow.

Giving a long-suffering groan, he followed her to her door. He watched her turn around to face him. Her hair was soft and feathery looking. The light played on her skin, making it look like satin. His hands itched to touch her so badly, he stuck them in his pockets.

“I’ll see you Thursday for the Hendersons’ anniver- sary.”

Russ nodded, studying her carefully. She cleared her throat and backed in the direction of the door. Was she nervous? His chest swelled with pride. He looked at her mouth and thought again about kissing her. Much as he wanted to, the time wasn’t right. He didn’t want to scare her off. When he leaned forward, he saw her eyes flutter in a feminine show of nerves, and he smiled inside. Then he kissed her on the forehead, just as one of her brothers would.

“Good night, Carly,” he murmured in a low voice and turned to leave.

He was almost all the way down the steps before he heard her soft reply. “Good night, Russ.”

It had taken her that long to form a response. Russ smiled on the outside that time.

But he shook his head when he recalled her flat shoes. He had a long way to go.

Could a person die of sexual curiosity? Carly wondered three weeks later as she brooded over a mailorder fashion catalog. Thus far, she’d escorted Russ to two functions, both business related. Since he was the most successful aquaculture farmer in the state, he was often asked to give speeches to assorted organizations. Plus, as an officer of Catfish Farmers of America, it was his duty to promote the eating of catfish at every opportunity.

They’d attended a fish fry put on by a volunteer fire department in a neighboring county. Then they’d driven into Chattanooga for a state tourism meeting. The second meeting had been especially beneficial for Carly as she had used the opportunity to promote
Matilda’s Dream
.

On both occasions, Russ had been attentive and charming. Just when she started to relax, he would whisper something naughty and teasing in her ear, or put his arm around her waist, or finger her earrings, or stare at her mouth in the most disconcerting way.

In spite of her resolve, Carly studied that firm, naughty mouth of his and spent a great deal of time anticipating how it would feel pressed against hers. She wondered how his bare chest would feel against her breasts.

At the end of both evenings, however, Russ kissed her forehead and disappeared down the steps, leaving Carly feeling disappointed and restless.

Carly scowled. Russ was totally wrong for her even if he sent her hormones into overdrive. She should be relieved she wasn’t forced to fight him off.

Instead, she began to worry about her image.

She knew she’d been terribly overprotected by her brothers. Of course, she’d dated a few men, always under the watchful eye of her brothers. To be perfectly honest, though, none of her suitors had tempted her enough to trade her chastity belt for a wild night in bed.

Presently, Carly was finding both the chastity belt and her pure reputation a strain. Being with Russ made her want to . . . experiment. Did Russ ever think of her as a desirable woman? Did he ever want to kiss her?

She discussed it in a roundabout way with her assistant Sara one afternoon. “Have you ever thought about getting your ears pierced?”

Sara pushed aside her long brown hair to reveal tiny gold studs. “My ears are pierced. See?”

“No,” Carly shook her head. “I mean several times.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” Carly sighed and looked at her daily planner without seeing it. “Maybe to change your image.”

Sara sniffed. “I don’t allow enough time in my schedule to put in three pairs of earrings every day. Do you?”

Carly thought about that and shook her head. “No.” She started to go back into her inner office, then turned back around, tilting her head thoughtfully. “What about high heels?”

“I like my feet.” Sara glanced down at her plain flats. “Why should I torture them?”

“Yeah,” Carly agreed, feeling foolish.

“This isn’t really about earrings or heels, is it?”

Carly hesitated. With the exception of her oldest brother, her entire family had warmed to her solemn, understated assistant. And since Sara had revealed that her parents were dead and she wished she had some relatives, Carly felt reluctant to say anything negative about her brothers.

“I’m just rethinking my image,” she finally said.

Sara nodded. “Have your brothers been making you crazy?”

“No,” Carly said, then smiled ironically. “At least not lately. With Ethan, Nathan, and Brick on that camping trip, things have been pretty quiet. But there have been some comments different people have made that have bothered me.”

“Like?”

Her smile fell. “Like Carly’s always been so shy and reserved. Like you’re just not that kind of girl.” Her voice became more clipped. “Like everybody knows you’re as innocent as the day you were bom.”

“Hmm,” Sara said.

“Hmm what?”

Sara smiled slowly. “Sounds like you’d like to be tarnished.”

Carly thought about all the ways she could be tarnished. Most of those ways involved Russ Bradford. She sighed. “Yeah.”

“Well, I’ve never set out to be tarnished. But if I wanted to ... be tarnished, I think I’d wear something from one of these catalogs.”

To Carly’s surprise, sensible Sara pulled out a half-dozen mail-order catalogs with clothes that accented the physical attributes of a woman.

Carly took them all home that night and called in an order before she lost her nerve.

Russ drove to Carly’s apartment and prepared himself for another easygoing, nonthreatening date. He didn’t really want to go to the mayor’s dinner party. What he wanted was to get some burning questions answered. Like, what did Carly wear to bed and how long would it take to get it off her? What color were her nipples and what did they taste like? Would she sigh or gasp when he spread her thighs and moved between them?