Tying You Down (3 page)

To her relief she saw David and Charlee through a gap in the crowd and she let out her breath.

“Jo?” Tate’s voice drew her attention back to him. He was frowning. “Everything all right?”

She nodded. “I was just watching out for Charlee. She’s dancing with a man who’s new in town.” Jo glanced in Charlee and David’s direction and gestured toward them. She looked back at Tate. “Do you know that man? He said his name is David Smith.”

Tate shook his head. “Can’t say that I do.”

Jo sighed and pushed a strand of hair from her face. “I’m having a hard time trusting any man I don’t know ever since Tess was taken. This David is probably a good guy.”

Tate gave a nod of understanding. “After Tess’s experience, I don’t blame you for feeling that way.”

Tanya arrived with Jo’s lemon drop martini and Tate’s Blue Moon beer that had an orange wedge at the mouth of the bottle. She also set a bowl of bar munchies between them.

After each had taken a swallow, Tate said, “Go out with me.”

This time she didn’t look away. “I…I can’t.”

He kept his gaze focused on hers. “I told you what I’d do if you said no.”

Her cheeks warmed. “You wouldn’t really do that.”

“If you don’t want that pretty little ass in the air while I carry you out over my shoulder, you’d better say yes.” He looked completely serious as he spoke.

At the image of her matching emerald green panties being on display for the whole club to see, she shook her head. “All right, all right. I’ll go out on a date with you.”

He grinned. “That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

“Only because you resorted to blackmail.” Now that she’d said yes, she was almost giddy from the thought of going out with Tate. It was hard not to smile too much.

“Next Saturday.” He braced his forearms on the table. “I’ll pick you up at ten a.m.”

She raised her brows. “Ten?”

“I’ve got something in mind that you’ll enjoy,” he said with a grin. “Wear jeans.”

“You move fast, cowboy,” she said with a shake of her head.

He put his hand over hers on the tabletop. “Hon, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

“Hi, Tate.”

Jo looked up to see her sister and David standing by the table and Jo jerked her hand away from Tate’s.

Charlee’s cheeks were flushed from dancing and her eyes sparkled. David wore a smile that made it easy to see why Charlee was so attracted to him.

“How do you do?” Tate stood as Charlee pulled out a chair and sat. He reached out his hand to David. “I’m Tate McBride.”

David shook it. “David Smith. Nice to meet you.”

Both men sat and scooted their chairs up to the table, David sitting across from Tate and Charlee sitting opposite Jo. David moved his chair close to Charlee.

Tanya came by and asked David and Charlee what they’d like. David said he’d be driving so he’d better stick to water. Charlee said she’d have another margarita.

“I take it you’re new around here,” Tate said to David.

The man nodded. “I commute during the week from Phoenix.”

“Planning to move to Prescott?” Tate asked.

David glanced at Charlee and smiled. Her cheeks turned pink. He turned back to Tate. “It’s a possibility.”

“Did you grow up in the Phoenix area?” Jo asked.

David nodded. “Sure did.”

“I played some baseball in high school,” Tate said. “Where did you go to school?”

David paused. “Phoenix.”

“Phoenix Union?” Tate asked.

“We moved a lot. Went to school all over the Phoenix area.” David shrugged and changed the subject. “Have you lived in Prescott all your life?” He said Press-scot unlike locals who pronounced the town name Press-kit.

Tate leaned back in his chair, his gaze focused on David. “Born and raised. Lived in Tucson for four years at the University of Arizona, but that’s the only time I’ve spent away from my home town. Where did you go?”

“Arizona State.” David settled his arm on the back of Charlee’s seat. “Majored in business.”

“What brings you to Prescott?” Tate asked.

“I’m with a large development company planning a large masterplanned project in the Prescott area. We are early in the process of targeting the right site.” He turned to Charlee. “So, you said you run a beauty salon?”

She nodded. “I’m a stylist and I manage the place.”

“It’s a great salon,” Jo said.

David studied Jo. “Your face is so familiar. I swear I saw someone in a magazine who looked a lot like you.”

Jo didn’t return Charlee’s quick glance at her. Instead, Jo hurried to change the subject. “What do you do when you’re in Phoenix?”

Tanya arrived with Charlee’s margarita and David’s glass of water. Tate said he wasn’t ready for another beer and Jo said she’d had enough martinis for the night.

When Tanya left, everyone turned back to David who was taking a drink. He set his glass down, clearly realizing everyone was waiting for an answer.

“What was the question?” he asked.

“What do you do when you’re in Phoenix?” Jo asked again.

He gave another casual shrug. “I have a cat and a few houseplants that need attention. I spend time with my nieces and nephews. I like to go to the games.”

“Arizona Cardinals fan?” Tate asked.

David nodded. “Diamondbacks and the Suns, too.”

They talked a little longer before David placed a twenty on the table. “I’ve got to head back tonight. I stayed later than I normally would.”

As David got to his feet, Tate did, too, and gave the man a nod. Charlee stood and she walked David to the door. Jo watched as they leaned close and talked a moment before David left. Charlee turned and with a smile returned to the table.

Jo was glad Charlee hadn’t followed the man outside to tell him goodbye since they didn’t know him that well. “Give him your number?” Jo asked as Charlee sat down.

Charlee’s smile was bright. “David said he’ll call me when he’s back in town on Monday.” She tilted her head to the side as her smile dimmed. “Do you think he will?”

“Most definitely,” Jo said and Tate gave a slow nod.

“Good.” Charlee looked happy. “I can’t wait.”

Chapter 3

Jo wiggled her toes in the warm water her feet were soaking in as she waited to get a pedicure at her and Charlee’s favorite nail salon. The sharp scent of nail polish remover and the acrylic used with artificial nails wafted through the salon. The smells were mixed with a warm vanilla scent emanating from a jar candle that was burning a few feet away from where Jo sat. Artfully positioned framed pictures of flowers were on the soft pink walls.

She turned to Charlee who was watching the nail tech test the water in the small tub at the foot of her own spa chair. Charlee relaxed in the padded massage chair and smiled dreamily as she focused her gaze on Jo. “I’ve seen David four times this week,” Charlee said. “I really think he could be the one.”

Jo bit the inside of her cheek to keep from telling Charlee she thought things were moving far too quickly between her and David if Charlee was already thinking he could be “the one”. Jo would just wait and see how things went before she even thought seriously about butting in.

Instead of voicing her thoughts, Jo asked, “What exactly does he do for work here?”

“I’m not really sure other than he’s working on a new masterplan community.” Charlee raised her fingers, studying the manicure she’d just been given. Her short nails wore a bright pink polish, her favorite color, and on each pinky a small yellow flower had been painted. “I think it is at the early stages.”

“What do you two have in common?” Jo asked.

“We like similar things, like the same movies and sports.” Charlee shrugged. “I’m still getting to know him, yet it feels like I’ve known him forever.”

“So, what kinds of things have you been doing this week with David?” Jo asked. “I haven’t seen you in Jo-Jo’s.”

Charlee lowered her hands. “Breakfast on Monday at the Hummingbird and lunch there on Tuesday, drinks at Nectars on Wednesday, and dinner at Rosa’s last night. He had to go back to Phoenix this afternoon so we didn’t have a late night last night.”

A nail tech started on Jo’s pedicure. “Where does David live when he’s here?”

“He has an apartment, not far from where I live,” Charlee said as a different nail tech began to give her a pedicure. “Wow, Jo, it feels like you’re giving me the third degree.”

“Just interested,” Jo said while hoping that the relationship between Charlee and David wouldn’t go as far as sex too quickly. She didn’t think her sister would go to bed with a man so soon, but it was hard to tell what a woman would do when she was infatuated with a man. Sex made things more difficult and blurred the lines between dating and a relationship.

“What about you and Tate?” Charlee gave Jo a grin. “Didn’t you agree to go out on a date with him tomorrow? What are you going to do with him?”

Jo tried not to show any sign of the thrill the thought of going out with Tate gave her. Then there were the images that “do with him” gave her that she tried to crowd out of her mind.

She acted nonchalant. “He’s picking me up in the morning. I’m not sure what he has in mind—he just said to be ready at ten.”

“Intriguing.” Charlee twirled a curl of her hair around her finger. “I’ve always liked the McBride brothers. They’re all really good guys.”

Jo didn’t say anything. She hadn’t been around any of the McBrides since she was eleven and her experience with men had really sucked since then. A man could appear to be a “good guy” when he in fact wasn’t. She apparently didn’t have great radar when it came to men, which was obvious due to the fact that she’d been hurt far too many times. Men had liked her because of her looks and the fact that she was a model. But that hadn’t stopped them from treating her like a doormat to wipe their shoes on.

She was a stronger person for it now, at least she thought she was. But she was also warier and far more cynical than she’d been when she was young.

“I can tell something’s bothering you.” Charlee reached over from her chair and squeezed Jo’s hand, which was resting on the armrest of her own chair. “You know that I’m here for you if you need me. Even when you were gone all I had to do was call you and you’d help me through whatever it was. I’ll never forget it.”

“That’s what sisters are for.” Jo squeezed Charlee’s hand in return. “I just wish I could have been here for you more than I was able to.”

Jo released Charlee’s hand as the young woman furrowed her brow. “The way Mother treated you was wrong. I hated her for sending you away.”

“Don’t let that ruin what good memories you have of your mother.” Jo studied her sister. “I was a reminder to her of both my father being gone and of how much he’d loved my mom before she was killed.”

Charlee gave a wry smile. “Like Cinderella.”

Jo laughed—she’d had the same thought more than once. “Not exactly. You aren’t an ugly or mean stepsister, and there’s been no glass slipper or prince that’s come my way.”

“Maybe Tate is your prince in cowboy boots.” Charlee looked hopeful, her blue eyes bright. “You know I want you to be happy more than anything.”

“I know you do.” Jo gave her a smile. “But a prince—no.”

Charlee turned her attention to the nail tech who was speaking to her and Jo leaned back in her chair. She closed her eyes and tried to relax and not think about cowboy princes and her day tomorrow with Tate.

* * * * *

Tate strode down the street toward his truck, having just come from the barbershop. Jo crossed his thoughts yet again. He pictured the gorgeous redhead and how she had looked last week when he’d had a few drinks with her and her sister, and the new guy Charlee had just met.

The thing with Jo was that she wasn’t just beautiful on the outside, but she was a beauty within as well. She never mentioned it, but Tate knew she was actively involved with the local charity that cared for abused and neglected children, not only volunteering her time but donating a considerable sum to the organization yearly. Jo didn’t make that public knowledge, but Tate had a friend who ran the charity and had been told of Jo’s generosity.

She’d also dropped everything in her former life to return to Prescott for her sister because Charlee had been alone in the world once her mother had died. Jo was loving and protective, and from everything he knew and from what others had said, Jo had a heart of gold.

He had a feeling she used her sophisticated appearance as a shield. He wasn’t sure from what, but he knew she was hiding something and that deep down inside she was still that little country girl he’d known when they’d just been kids.

Just as he reached his truck, he saw Jo and Charlee walking out of some kind of beauty salon several doors down from where he stood. Jo’s radiant smile as she talked with her sister made his heart thump a little faster and his gut tightened.

Damn, but Jo looked great in a pair of black pants and a russet brown blouse that draped softly over her breasts and tapered in at her waist. Her long red hair fell over her shoulders and down her back and her slender but curvy figure made his fingers itch to touch her everywhere.

He braced one palm on the hood of his truck and watched as the sisters hugged each other. As they drew apart, Charlee noticed him and gave him a little wave. Jo turned to see who Charlee was waving at and a hesitant smile touched her lips as she met his gaze.

“See you, Tate,” Charlee called out before turning and heading in the opposite direction.

He pushed away from the truck and walked toward Jo. She remained standing just outside the salon.

She pushed hair over her shoulder and looked almost nervous before straightening and putting on one of her sexy smiles. He liked the moment of vulnerability she’d shown that he knew she hadn’t intended to reveal.

He reached her. “Ready for tomorrow?”

She tilted her head to the side. “Maybe. If I knew what we were doing I might be more prepared.”

He couldn’t help a grin. “That would ruin the surprise.”

The corners of her mouth tipped up. “Jeans, huh?”

With a nod he said, “Yep.” He drew out his cell phone and checked the time. “How about a little lunch? It’s almost noon.”