The Valentine’s Day Disaster (6 page)

Just one more taste and she’d hit the brakes.

His body grew harder, letting her know exactly how much he wanted her. How was it possible for a man to be so hard? Scary, his arousal. But exciting too. Her self-­esteem had taken a battering from Chad’s betrayal, but Josh’s desire made her feel powerful. Not only that, but she longed to prove Chad wrong. That she
was
good in bed. At least with Josh.

He nuzzled her neck. Dear God, he smelled so good. Masculine. Woodsy. His mouth claimed hers once more. One hand pushed up the back of her neck, his fingers spearing through her hair. The other wrapped tightly around her waist as if he would never let her go.

Without even realizing it, she’d been dreaming of a moment like this ever since they’d broken up. A sweet reunion. Reunited. All misunderstandings cleared up. Everything forgiven.

You’re romanticizing this.
You’re wounded. He’s wounded. You’re taking solace from each other, nothing more. If this was meant to be, do you think it really would have taken him ten years to show up?

Yeah, yeah, she knew that, but old fantasies died hard.

Except this reality was even better than those she’d dreamed. He was so hot and welcoming, comforting as a fire in the fireplace on a stormy winter night. Her high school sweetheart was in her arms once more.

“Do you . . .” She gathered her courage and stared straight into his eyes. “. . . want to come home with me?”

Before he could answer, headlights cut through the night, spotlighting them.

The car stopped on the road beside the park.

A siren gave a short blast. Blue and red lights flashed.

Oh, crap. It was the cops.

Chapter Six

T
HE
NEXT MORNING,
Jana arrived at the office the same time as Sesty. Her assistant carried a backpack over her left shoulder, her tablet computer in one hand and an extra tall cup of coffee from Perks in the other.

Sesty eyed the cup longingly. Why did coffee made at a coffee shop taste better than what she brewed at home?

“Somebody was busy last night,” Jana said in a singsong voice.

“Yes.” Sesty glanced around at the cutouts she and Josh had stacked around the office last night to dry. “We completed all the set designs. Another item we tick off our to-­do list.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” The look in Jana’s maverick eyes told Sesty something was up and her assistant approved of it. “I heard you got a ticket for kissing Josh Langtree in the park.”

She bit back a groan. “I didn’t get a—­”

“Hey, don’t be ashamed. Chad hasn’t put a ring on it or anything.” Jana shot a spiky glance at the third finger of Sesty’s left hand. “A girl has needs, and if Chad’s not meeting them . . .”

“We broke up.”

“What?”

“Chad and I broke up.”

“When? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Two weeks ago. Chad dumped me for the new barista at Perks.”

“Skank!”

“Chad or the barista or me?”

“Certainly not you.”

“I
was
kissing Josh in the park.”

“Good for you.”

“Does that make me a skank?”

Jana plunked her backpack down on the rolltop desk. “You worry too much about what other ­people think of you.”

Sesty made a pretzel of her arms and laid them across her chest. “I don’t feel good about it.”

“What?”

“The kissing thing.”

“Why not?” Jana wrinkled her nose. “Is Langtree a terrible kisser?”

“No. He’s a great kisser. Maybe the best kisser ever.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“He was my first love.”

“Ah-­ha.” Jana raised a finger like Sherlock Holmes ferreting out a clue. “You’re afraid of falling in love with him all over again.”

“We do live in Twilight with that stupid legend that if you throw a coin into the fountain and wish for your one true love, you’ll be reunited.”

“Did you do it?”

“No! I did not have sex with him.”

“Not that, although, why not? Did you ever throw a coin into the fountain and wish to be reunited with him?”

“Fifth amendment.”

Jane took a sip from her coffee. “You are so screwed.”

“Come on, that legend isn’t real.”

“Hey, you’re the one who threw the coin into the fountain, not me.”

“I’m such an idiot.” Sesty pounded her forehead with the heel of her palm. “It could never work between us.”

“Why not?” Jana asked reasonably.

“He is who he is.”

“And who is he?”

“A NASCAR star.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Sesty shrugged. “You know.”

“Oh no, I’m not letting you get away with this. You are
not
claiming he’s out of your league, because he’s not. He would be damn lucky to have you.” Jana bobbed her head so fiercely her dreadlocks shook.

“Thanks for the loyalty, but I’m talking about his career. Josh takes risks for a living—­”

“And you’re seriously risk averse.”

Sesty pressed three fingers to her lips, took a deep breath. “It’s why we split up in the first place.”

“So stop kissing him.”

“I don’t think I can.”

“Sure you can. It’s called self-­control, and you’ve got more than a monk in a monastery.”

Sesty paced her way around the room, skirting the new teddy bear cutout with his pristine face. “I can’t get involved with Josh.”

Jana plunked down in the desk chair and watched her like she was the lead actress in a telenovella. “So don’t.”

“My home is here. His life is on the road. It would never work out.”

“Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?”

“It’s just Valentine’s Day fever. I’m falling under the spell of the hype.”

Jana’s dreadlocks trembled again “Easy enough to do around this place.”

“It’s ridiculous. Just say no, right?”

“Unless you want to say yes.”

“I don’t . . . want to say yes.”

“Then don’t.”

“I’m lying, I do.”

“Then go to it.”

“Aren’t you going to give me any useful advice?”

Jana pantomimed kicking Sesty’s butt. “Quit obsessing about him and get back to work.”

“Thank you. I needed that.”

“You’re welcome. I fully expect you to kick my ass if I ever fall for this sop.”

“Will do.” Sesty straightened, dusted off her hands. “Did you get the issues straightened out with the stage manager?”

Jana pressed her lips together as if suppressing a smile and her eyes lit up. “It’s handled. No budget increase needed.”

“The cleavage worked, huh?”

“That and my natural charm.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “I convinced him to get creative and find a way around the union rules.”

“You are my hero,” Sesty said. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

Jana consulted her tablet computer. “We need to select the music that will be playing for each bachelor as he steps onto the auction block. I’ve already got a few suggestions.” She passed the list she’d made on the tablet to Sesty. “Ain’t No Other Man,” “Wild Thing,” “Hot Stuff,” and “Burning Love.”

“Ugh.” Sesty sighed. “More romantic stuff we have to wade through.”

“What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”

“After this event is over, I’m going to be bulletproof. Teflon. Love will bounce right off me.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“Is it hot in here or just me?” Sesty slipped off her jacket, moved to open the window.

“Weatherman says it’s supposed to be freakishly hot today. Seventy degrees or something weird, and humid to boot.”

“In February?”

“Crazy, I know.”

“That’s good I guess, if the warmth holds out. ­People will be more likely to show up for the auction if it’s not cold. What does Saturday’s weather forecast look like?” Sesty tapped her chin.

Jane pulled a face that looked as if she’d bitten down on aluminum foil. “You’re going to hate this.”

“Rain?”

“Into each life some rain must fall. Although I think the exact words the weatherman used were ‘winter thunderstorm.’ ”

“Seriously?”
Don’t whine. You’re not a whiner.
“Okay, it’s not a big deal. All the more reason for ­people to come in out of the weather and ogle our bachelors, right?”

“There you go. That’s the spirit. The old Sesty is back. Looks like Josh’s lips gave you the attitude adjustment you needed.” Jana pumped a fist. “Rock on, Josh.”

She didn’t have the heart to tell her assistant her new attitude was just a big dose of fake it till you make it.

“Hey,” Jana said, her voice dry but her eyes full of mirth. “I think I have the prefect song for you to play when Josh gets up to strut his stuff on stage.”

Sesty fell for it. “What’s that?”

“Prince. ‘Kiss.’ ” She belted out an off-­key rendition. “Perfect lyrics, iTunes here I come.”

“You’re enjoying my misery aren’t you?”

Jana laughed with wicked glee. “Immensely.”

S
ESTY SPENT THE
rest of Thursday morning dealing with the logistics of the bachelor auction—­touching base with the auctioneer, proofreading the programs before Jana sent them to the printer, meeting with the organizers of Holly’s House to give them an update.

No grass grew under Jana’s feet. She hustled social media with a buildup campaign that was now showcasing Josh as the premier bachelor on the auction block, and she was getting an encouraging number of retweets and Facebook likes on Twilight’s Web site.

Meanwhile, Sesty was so busy that she almost forgot about Josh.

Almost, but not quite.

Just when she was completely absorbed in her work, he’d steal into her mind and rob a few minutes of her thoughts. In response, she’d snort, shove her bangs off her forehead—­brush that man right out of her hair—­and get back to it.

A little after one o’clock she glanced up from her work and looked out the window at the stately courthouse
Texas Monthly
once proclaimed the prettiest town square in Texas. On a day like today, spring breathed across the land, whispering promises of flowers to come. Sesty didn’t fall for it. She’d been raised in North Texas, knew the untrustworthy weather could snap in a second. Summer was the only reliable season. It got blistering hot in June and stayed that way through September.

Something else she wasn’t going to fall for was the man strolling across the courthouse square headed straight for her office.

Her pulse did a little break dance.

Monkey pudding. She wasn’t ready to see Josh again. Not yet. Not until she’d had time to sort out her feelings. After Sheriff Hondo had admonished them for breaking curfew last night and sent them on their way, she spent the night tossing and turning and spinning scenarios she had no business spinning. Seeing Josh before she was ready to deal with him would only compound her confusion.

Get out of here.

She snatched up her purse and barreled for the door, hustling down the hallway toward the back staircase that exited into the alley, her sensible pumps tapping out a hollow rhythm against the aged boards.

“Sesty!” Josh called out from the front staircase just as she reached the rich oak banister in the back.

Crap.
How did a man with a bum knee move so quickly? Was he part ninja?

“No time.” She waved a hand at him over her head without turning to look. “Appointment. Gotta go.”

“Hang on, we can walk and talk.”

She didn’t wait, plunged down the stairs, every nerve ending in her body throbbing with excitement and fear.

Josh clambered down the steps after her. The man just kept coming. “I need to talk to you.”

What? Did he need an anvil to fall on him to realize she did not want to talk to him right now?

“Later. We’ll talk later,” she called, forcing cheeriness into her voice so he wouldn’t know how unsettled he made her, then broke through the exit door and out into the alley.

She skirted a Dumpster, ignoring a fry cook from the neighboring restaurant who was lounging against the side of the building smoking a cigarette that did not smell entirely legal. The guy snubbed out his smoke, ducked back inside with a sheepish air.

And damn if Josh wasn’t still following her. “About last night—­”

Sesty stopped in the middle of the alley, turned back and raised a palm. “I have no memory of last night.”

“Kiss amnesia, huh?” He smiled at her with a tenderness that almost stopped her heart. A grin bomb. Boom! He detonated it on her, knowing exactly what he was doing. He’d used it on her before, primarily the night he’d coaxed her out of her virginity.

Not that she’d been that hard to convince.

“What kiss?” She blinked rapidly, buying time to mentally vacuum ever speck of restraint she possessed as a force field against that smile.

“Denying it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen,” he drawled, trying to reel her in with that sexy voice.

She folded her arms over her chest.
Knees, don’t wobble now.
“Meaning what exactly?”

“Meaning . . .” He looked flummoxed.

“See? The kiss meant nothing. It was good. It was great. Okay, maybe the best damned kiss ever, but so what? In the grand scheme of things it doesn’t mean a thing.”

“It means there’s something still there.”

“Still where?”

“Between us.”

“No it doesn’t.” It was getting really hard to breathe with him staring at her like that. So much for inner fortitude. She spun on her heels, stalked away.

His footsteps padded behind her.

“Stop it,” she called over her shoulder.

“Stop what?”

“You’re skulking. Stop skulking.”

“Then stop running away and talk to me.”

“Fine.” She spun around, heaved a heavy sigh. “Talk.”

“Apparently, I shouldn’t have kissed you.” He came closer.

“Okay, now we’ve got that straight, let’s move on.”

“I shouldn’t have,” he said, reaching out to grab her elbow before she could turn away again. The second he touched her, goose bumps froze her skin. “I shouldn’t have, but I did.”

“Look, this doesn’t have to be a thing. Let’s not turn it into a thing. We’ll just shut up about it and move on.”

“I don’t want to do that,” he insisted.

“But I do.”

“Are you saying that your world was not rocked?”

“Yep. That’s exactly what I’m saying,” she said, nodding her head so vigorously her dangling earrings slapped against her neck. “No rocking going on. My world was not rocked. In fact, it was the opposite of rocked. My world is solidified in cement.”

“After I kissed you.”

“That’s right.” She wished he would let go of her elbow and stop looking at her like she was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

“Then why did you invite me home with you?”

“Do I do that?”

He held up both palms. “My mistake. I thought since my world was rocked, yours was too.”

Something shifted in his face, darkened his eyes. Disappointment? Her heart staggered, and it hit her with breath-­stealing rawness that this man, once known only for being the cockiest daredevil in Hood County, was now a NASCAR star and she didn’t stand a chance with him. Not long-­term. Not for happily-­ever-­after, and that’s all she’d ever wanted.

So here’s the part where you just say hang it all and have wild monkey sex with him.

“Nope.” She stubbornly hardened her chin. She could not let him back into her life. Soon as he was healed, he’d be back on that NASCAR track surrounded by adoring fans, zooming off without her. “Not rocked.”

He inclined his head, his hair falling across his forehead. Why did he have to be so damn charming? “You sure about that?”

“Positive.”

“Could it just be that you’re scared, because it’s understandable if you’re scared. Your boyfriend cheated on you. He burned a hole through your heart. You’re afraid if you let me in again, I’ll hurt you too.”