Turn My World Upside Down: Jo's Story (16 page)

When the first pitch was thrown, the crowd concentrated on the game. Jo took the opportunity to half turn around and whisper, “What’re you doing here?”

Cash shrugged and peeked inside the magic basket. At Nana’s benevolent nod, he snatched up a wax-paper-wrapped sandwich and opened it. “Promised Jack I’d come.”

“He didn’t tell me he invited you.”

“Any reason why he should have to?”

“No,” she admitted, but she damn sure wished Jack had given her some warning. A hard smack of a bat on a ball had her head whipping around. She followed the hard-hit ball into left center field and let out a sigh of relief that Jack hadn’t been responsible for fielding it.

Then turning back to Cash, she said, “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

His features tightened before he made a deliberate effort to relax them. “Been busy.”

Why that should make her mad, she didn’t know. But he’d been avoiding her and she didn’t like it. Sure, she hadn’t much liked it when every time she turned around, she’d practically tripped over him, either. But damn it,
she
was supposed to be the one doing the avoiding.

He
was the one who was supposed to do the flirting,
play the little games he was so damn good at. The man was a maestro of seduction. Why the hell wasn’t he trying to seduce
her
?

What? Was there something wrong with her? She wasn’t good enough?

Frowning, she clapped hard as the second baseman fielded an easy base hit and threw the runner out at first.

She shifted uncomfortably on the bench seat and actually
felt
Cash sitting behind her. His knees brushed against her back and she fought the rush of something hot and steady pumping through her. She wouldn’t look back. Wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of speaking first. Not again, anyway. For God’s sake, was she
hideous
? Had she all of a sudden become
grotesque
?

He wasn’t interested, huh?

Well, fine.

Neither was she.

Her body tingled in direct contrast to her thoughts. Damn it. Of
course
she was interested. What? Was she
dead
? And now that she thought about it, she was pretty sure even a
dead
woman would sit up and take notice of Cash Hunter, the bastard.

Another batter stepped up to the plate, caught the first pitch and hit it high and right. Jo stood up slowly, her gaze locked on that ball as if, just by concentrating, she could guide the damn thing safely to Jack’s mitt.

She sucked in a breath and held it.

Cash’s hand came down on her shoulder.

Heat rushed through her.

Jack ran back, back.

Around her, she heard the collective intake of breath and knew her family was concentrating as hard as
she
was.

The ball fell from its sky-high arc and plummeted like a bullet toward earth. Jack ran, his usual clumsiness gone in the excitement of the moment. He held out both hands for the ball, still running, running, and then suddenly,
slam
.

The ball hit his glove, and his free hand trapped it within, just as she and Cash had shown him. He’d made the third out with no trouble at all. Jo hooted and shouted, jumping up and down on the narrow wood plank, high-fiving her brothers-in-law, and then planting a quick hard kiss on Nana’s papery cheek. Adrenaline kicking, pulse pounding, she turned around to look at Cash and read the same rush she was feeling flashing in his eyes.

She wasn’t sure how it happened.

Did she go up on her toes?

Did he bend down to her?

Did it
matter
?

One minute she was breathing, the next, his mouth was locked on hers and air was a secondary consideration. Her head spun, her blood raced, and as if from a distance, she heard the cheers from the rest of the crowd. In the celebration of the moment, he pulled her hard against him, and took her mouth like Grant took Richmond. Like Mike took a shoe sale. Like . . . hell, who cared?

Then he let her go abruptly, as if she were on fire or something and, hey, maybe she was. Her head was buzzing and she swayed unsteadily for a long second or two. Then she blinked hard, shook her head to clear her vision, and wobbily turned to watch her little brother.

Holding the ball high, Jack raced in from the field
triumphant, and Jo would have sworn she could read by the light shining in his eyes. Applause burst out around them like fireworks on the Fourth and Jack’s grin was as wide as the sky as his team filed into the dugout to take their turn at bat.

Still revved, lips still humming, Jo turned around to look up at him, and his gaze locked with hers with a powerful slam of something hot and steamy and overpowering.

“He did it,” she said, after swallowing a knot of something unexpected lodged in her throat.

“Never doubted it,” Cash said tightly, jamming both hands into his jeans pockets as if to keep himself from touching her again.

That’s fine. He didn’t need to touch her again. She’d already gotten her bright idea. “I think we should talk.”

His eyes narrowed and she felt him take an emotional step back. “After the game.”

Jo inhaled sharply, deeply, then nodded. She’d waited this long. She could wait eight more innings. “After the game.”

Cash tried to slip out after the game.

Get away clean before Josefina could arrange for the little
talk
she wanted. But there was no getting away. Not while Jack wanted to recount every play, every victory. Not while the rest of the Marconis closed around him, drawing him into the center of their lives, their world. Making him a part of the celebration as he’d never been before.

He glanced from one to the other of them and wondered if any of them had ever stopped to realize just what they had in each other. Probably not. People who
grew up with love, with family, rarely appreciated it. It was just . . .
there
. Like air.

But for a man too much alone, it was impossible to turn away from it.

Even when he knew he
should
.

Since his father’s unexpected visit, Cash had purposely kept his distance from Jo. He’d felt too . . . raw. Too close to the edge of a precipice he’d stepped away from years ago. He’d hidden out in the workshop. Buried himself in the work that had always been his salvation. Hell, he’d even avoided the kid. But he couldn’t bring himself to break his promise to attend the boy’s first game.

Now he’d kissed Josefina and the hole he’d been digging for himself had gotten a hell of a lot deeper. He couldn’t afford to care. Couldn’t indulge himself in affection that would only lead to disaster.

“Come, come,” Nana announced, her high, thin voice cutting through the rush of conversation. “We go home now. Issa time for supper.” She laid one gnarled hand on Jack’s shoulder, then shot a look at Cash. Her wide brown eyes shone at him. “You come witha Josefina. We have gnocchi.”

Tempting. “Thanks, but—”

Nana had already turned around, marching steadily toward the parking lot. “You havea supper with the
famiglia
. Issa good.”

With shrugs and smiles, the rest of the Marconis fell into step behind the matriarch, leaving Jo and Cash alone on the empty field.

“Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to come,” she said, before he could find an excuse to blow off the invitation. “Nana’s just used to giving orders.”

“You take after her, then?”

Jo’s lips twitched. “Strong women run in my family.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“I’ve been noticing a couple things, too,” she said, and glanced around as if to assure herself that they really were alone on the deserted playing field. When she looked back at him, she said, “For instance, I noticed that you’re a pretty good kisser.”

One eyebrow lifted and he knew he should head her off at the pass before she said any more. It’d be better for both of them if they just forgot all about that one little slip. Right. He still had the taste of her in his mouth and a sharp jab of hunger reminded him that they were all alone and one more kiss wouldn’t be such a big deal.

“And?” he asked.

“And,” she said, stuffing her hands into the back pockets of her neatly pressed jeans. “I don’t actually
hate
you.”

“I’m touched,” he said wryly, and had the satisfaction of seeing her grimace.

“Anyway,” she continued a heartbeat later, “like I said, that kiss was pretty good, so I was thinking that we should probably just have sex and get it over with.”

He blinked at her. Damned if she didn’t always find a way to surprise him. She stood there with that ponytail swinging, staring up at him through clear, sharp blue eyes, and invited him into her bed like another woman would say “Let’s go shopping.”

Everything in him yearned to grab her. Pull her close and devour her mouth again. To sink into the heat of her. Feel her legs wrap around him, drawing him deep.

And a second later, those images splintered and he snatched at reality.

“No.”

“We could meet at your place and—
what
?”

“I said no, thanks,” he repeated, though it cost him. Sleeping with her would be the easy thing to do. And maybe, in the long run, the safest. If they spent the night together, Jo would leave. He’d lose her. Lose the time they spent together. Lose hearing her laugh or snarl or bitch. Lose seeing her on job sites. Lose even the dream of her.

And he wasn’t ready for that loss just yet.

“Why the hell not?” she demanded, jerking her hands from her pockets to slam them onto her hips. “You want me. I know you do. You
kissed
me.”

From the parking lot came the muted roars of engines firing up, cars pulling away. In the distance, the ocean rushed to shore, sending a rhythmic heartbeat of sound reverberating through Chandler.

“Didn’t say I didn’t want you,” he said tightly.

“Well, then, what’s the big deal?” She threw her hands wide and let them slap to her sides again.

“If we have sex, you’ll leave,” he said flatly. Though it cost him some to admit the truth, he gave it to her. “I’m not ready for you to go.”

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Taking a half-step back, she stared at him in stupefied shock. “Are you
kidding
me?”

He shrugged off her anger. “You know what happens to the women I sleep with, Jo. Hell, you gave me enough shit about it last year.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“I’m right and you don’t want to admit it.”

Shaking her head briskly, she sent her ponytail into a wild fly-and-bounce. Then, as if she couldn’t bear to stand still a minute longer, she paced around him in a tight circle, her steps quick, her boots pounding the sparse grass flat.

“I’m offering to go to bed with you and you say no because you don’t want to ‘lose’ me.”

“That’s right.” He turned in a circle, following her progress, mostly because he was getting the feeling it wouldn’t pay to take his eyes off her.

“Well,” she snapped, stopping suddenly to poke him in the chest with her index finger. “You can’t
lose
what you never
had
.”

A flash of heat shot through him and he welcomed it. Hell, even he couldn’t believe he was turning her down. He should just sleep with her. Get her out of his system, reclaim his solitary life and be fucking grateful. But he couldn’t do it. Couldn’t make himself lose her before he absolutely had to.

It had been too long since he’d cared. Too long since a woman had
mattered
to him, on any level.

“You’re just pissed because I turned you down.”

“Damn skippy,” she said, folding her arms across her chest, shooting one hip higher than the other, and tapping the toe of her work boot against the ground. “You’ve been flirting with me for a year. You wormed your way into my life. Buddied up with Jack. Charmed Nana. Hell, even
Mike
likes you and she doesn’t like anybody!”

Cash gritted his teeth and fought down the snarl of anger nearly choking him. “You’re saying I did all that to get to you? Hell, no ego problems with you, are there, Josefina?”

“Hah!” Her laugh was short, harsh, and sounded painful. “
You’re
going to call
me
an egotist? The man who thinks that if I go to his bed, I’ll then run away from my whole life because of the
glory
of his touch? Jesus, listen to yourself once in a while, will you?”

He was tempted. God, how he was tempted. But he bit back on his own hunger and dialed down the temper streaking through him. “It ain’t gonna happen, Josefina,” he said, with a slow shake of his head.

Jo felt every inch of her body humming with a fierce fury that had her trembling with the force of it. She’d expected him to say “sure” and take her off to his house. Hadn’t they been building toward this for a damn year?

She had to have sex. It was time. Time to prove to herself one more time that she could do it.

And damn it, Cash was supposed to be ready and willing.

“Your problem is,” she said, her voice just a low hum of fury, “you’re afraid I’ll shatter your damn Woman Whisperer reputation. When you sleep with me and I
don’t
go, your rep is shot to hell.”

“Whatever helps you sleep nights,” he muttered, raking one hand through his hair.

“Oh,” she said, snorting a laugh, “I’ll sleep just
fine
, trust me.”

She wouldn’t, though. She’d been prepared to do the deed and prove to herself one more time that she was still whole. That her past hadn’t really screwed up her present. That, damn it, she could be
normal
.

So now, she was more determined than ever to get him into the sack. On
her
terms. No Marconi ever turned away from a challenge. Whether Cash wanted
her or not, she was going to have him naked and panting.

Soon.

She leaned into him, until her mouth was only a breath from his. Keeping her gaze locked on his, she watched flashes of heat he couldn’t hide sparkle in his dark eyes and she knew she’d scored a point already. Foolish, foolish man. He’d already lost and he didn’t even know it.

“You know what, Cash?” she asked, licking her lips and sighing just hard enough to brush her breath against him. “When I want you naked, I’ll have you.”