She reached for her drink, but before she could pick it up, he captured her hand in his. His fingers were warm and strong as he rubbed her knuckles. Jolts of awareness moved up her arm and from there zipped to all sorts of interesting places in her body. She felt languid and wholly feminine—an unusual combination for her. Normally she went for in charge and intimidating.
“I have a technical question,” he said as he shifted his hand so his thumb could rub against the center of her palm. “It’s about my aunt Ruth.”
“Which is?”
“She’s your grandmother.”
“That’s the rumor,” Julie said, trying to keep her mind on the conversation rather than getting lost in the need stealing through her. She told herself her reaction to Todd was more about the fact that she hadn’t been on a date in over eighteen months than anything he was doing. The problem was, she couldn’t seem to convince herself.
“If she’s my great-aunt and your grandmother,” he said. “That makes us…”
Ah, okay. She understood his concern. “Unrelated. She was your great-uncle’s second wife. They didn’t have any children together. She made it a point to explain all that. She didn’t tell you?”
He withdrew his hand and sat up. “No. She didn’t.”
“Now you know.” Speaking of Grandmother Ruth, Julie was going to have to send her a big thank-you when she got home.
“Now, I do.” He stood and held out his hand to her.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Inviting you to dance.”
Dance? As in…dance? She hadn’t done that since high school, and even then she hadn’t been very good.
“They don’t have dancing here,” she said, staying firmly in her seat.
“Of course they do. And now that I know we’re not cousins, let’s dance.”
She was torn between the fear of making a fool out of herself and the thrill of pressing her body against his. Because now that she’d bothered to notice, she could hear soft, slow music in the background. It sounded nice, but it wasn’t nearly as tempting as the man standing in front of her.
“Are you going to make me beg?” he asked.
“Would you?”
One corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. “Maybe.”
She rose and put her hand in his. He led her to the rear of the restaurant, where a three-piece combo played and several couples clung to each other on the small dance floor.
Before she could get her bearings, Todd pulled her against him and put his free hand on her waist. She found herself resting her fingers on his shoulder.
He was all hard, lean muscle, she thought as her thighs brushed against his. They weren’t close enough for her br**sts to brush against his chest, but she had a sudden wild and inappropriate desire to lean in and rub…like a lonely cat.
Too long without a man, she told herself. And wasn’t this a really inconvenient time to figure that out?
“You smell good,” he murmured in her ear.
“Copier toner,” she whispered back. “Do you like it? I had to change the cartridge today.”
He groaned. “Can’t you take the compliment?”
“All right. Thank you.”
“Better.” He smiled at her. “You’re not easy.”
“Now that’s a compliment I can get behind.”
“You like being difficult?”
“Sometimes. Don’t you?”
He moved his hand from her waist to the small of her back. “Sometimes,” he said, echoing her answer.
She looked into his eyes. “You don’t like people making assumptions about you.”
“You made them.”
“You made them as well. We’re even.”
“More than even, Julie. We’re good.”
With that, he lowered his head and lightly brushed her mouth with his. The kiss was unexpected but delicious. Her stomach clenched and her br**sts began to ache. He moved back and forth, but didn’t deepen the kiss.
Public place, she told herself. He didn’t want to embarrass her. She should appreciate that. And she would…in time.
He straightened, then cleared his throat. “We should probably go back and order dinner. You know, be responsible.”
For a heartbeat, she almost asked about the alternative. What would happen if they kept dancing and touching and kissing? Except she kind of had a feeling she knew the answer to the question.
Too much, too soon, she told herself as they stepped apart. She hadn’t been doing the dating thing for a long time—taking it slow made a lot of sense. But the man did tempt her.
He kept her hand in his as they walked back to their table.
“You never told me why you’re here,” he said when they were seated. “I told you Aunt Ruth asked me to come. What’s your excuse?”
He didn’t know? Seriously? Oh, my. This could be good.
“My mother and her mother have been estranged for years. Ruth popped back into our lives a couple of months ago. My sisters and I had never met her before. Mom hadn’t even mentioned her. Last week, at dinner, Ruth said she had a great nephew and suggested one of us go out with you.”
“Interesting.”
“More than interesting. She offered us…it’s not important.”
“Of course it is.”
“You’ll be insulted.”
“I can handle the truth,” he teased. “What did she offer?”
“Money.”
He stared at her. “She’s paying you to date me?”
“Oh, no. The dates are free. Now if I marry you, I get cash. A million dollars. Each. For me, my sisters and my mom. Pretty cool, huh.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched, but otherwise, he didn’t show any emotion. She couldn’t begin to imagine what he was thinking.
“We were all surprised,” Julie said. “We couldn’t figure out what could possibly be so wrong with you that your aunt had to offer that kind of money to get someone to marry you.”
“Wrong? With me?”
“Sure.”
She was enjoying herself, but trying really hard to keep him from knowing.
“We decided that one of us would go on a date and figure out how truly awful you were,” she continued. “We played Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine the most likely candidate.”
He actually flinched at that. “Rock, Paper…” He cleared his throat. “So you won.”
She allowed herself to smile. “Oh, no, Todd. I lost.”
Two
The waiter arrived to take their order. Julie placed hers, then waited while Todd did the same. He barely glanced at the menu, instead keeping his gaze fixed on her.
“You lost?” he asked, his voice slightly strangled. “As in, you didn’t win?”
She allowed herself a small smile. “Uh-huh. You know how it goes. The loser has to do the icky thing. That would be this date with you. Total ick.”
“You lost?”
He seemed unable to comprehend the fact that the three of them hadn’t been dying to be his lady for the night. Ah, the foolishness of men.
“If it makes you feel any better,” she said before taking a sip of her drink. “I’m glad I lost.”
“I can’t tell you how that confession moves me.”
“You shouldn’t take it so hard. Look at the situation from our perspective. Your own great-aunt, who has known you all your life, is willing to pay a woman to marry you. We figured at the very least you had a hump on your back and maybe some odd disease that left you twisted and bumpy. Like the Elephant Man.”
He nearly choked on his drink. “You thought I was the Elephant Man?”
“It was a consideration. And yet I showed up anyway.”
“You lost and I’m a mercy date. Great. I can’t believe Ruth offered you a million dollars.”
She thought that was odd, too, but hey, everyone had strange relatives. “Not for the date. Remember? The date is free. I have a really simple solution to the problem—don’t propose.”
He grinned. “Oh, sure. Easy for you to say, but now I don’t have any entertainment for the dessert course.”
As she laughed, she admitted to herself that he was nothing like she’d imagined. Anyone with a number after his name had to be stuffy and he wasn’t. She liked him—a lot.
“You should have gotten something for the date,” he told her. “Fifty thousand, at least.”
“You know, I didn’t even think of that. But if Grandmother Ruth mentions it again, I get a check.”
He gazed into her eyes. “I’m glad you lost, too.”
“Thank you. Although my losing wasn’t hard to predict. I’m kind of a sucker for scissor and my sisters know. So someone is always playing the rock.”
“Interesting way to determine your destiny.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Destiny? Are you implying you’re mine?”
She expected him to squirm, but he shrugged. “Neither of us thought things would go this well. Maybe fate had a hand in tonight.”
She groaned. “No talk of fate or the universe, I beg you. My sister Willow is constantly explaining how each of us has a destiny we can’t escape. She’s very sweet and I love her to death, but sometimes I want to choke her. Plus, if you could see the things she eats…sprouts and tofu and slimy drinks.” Julie shuddered.
He nodded sympathetically. “Vegetarian?”
“Most of the time. Although she has an entire list of foods that don’t count as meat. Like hamburgers at a picnic or hot dogs at a Dodger game.”
“Interesting.”
“She’s great. Marina is, too. She’s the baby of the family. Just think, you could have been out with either of them.”
“I’m happy with the sister I have.”
“But you don’t have me.” Although he certainly could, she thought wistfully, remembering how she’d felt his in arms.
“Give me time.”
Julie glanced in her rearview mirror for the hundredth time in the past seven minutes. Dinner had been fabulous. She couldn’t remember a thing about the food, although she was confident that had been great. It was the conversation she remembered. The sexy banter, the laughter—the connection.
She couldn’t remember the last time a man had pulled her in so completely. One minute she’d been dreading the evening and the next she’d wanted to stop time so it would never end.
Todd was amazing. Funny and smart and he got her humor, which didn’t always happen. And the physical chemistry…he could make her melt just by looking at her.
All of which was really nice, but was she prepared to take things where they were obviously headed? His offer to follow her home to make sure she arrived safely was a very thin disguise for what he was really offering—naked Todd in her bed.
The question wasn’t if she wanted that—she did with a desperation that left her hungry and restless. It wasn’t about wanting, it was about being sensible. She hadn’t had a man in her life since Garrett. Not that she was going to think about that lying bastard right now. The point was, she hadn’t been playing the dating game for a long time. She was out of practice. Sure, tonight had gone well, but did that mean she should celebrate by inviting Todd in and having her way with him?
She still hadn’t decided when they arrived at her place. She pulled in front of the single-car garage and climbed out of her car. The night was still and clear, not too cold because even though it was fall, it was still Los Angeles where real weather need not apply.
Nerves tingled and danced throughout her body. Every cell from her ears down begged her to take the very handsome and capable man up on his yet-to-be-made offer. Her skin ached to be touched and her feminine bits could use with a good ravishing. But her brain warned her to be careful. Sure, Todd was all things charming, but what did she really know about him? Besides, sex on the first date was so tacky.
He parked on the street and climbed out, then glanced around.
“Not what I expected,” he said quietly as he approached. “I thought you’d live in something new and shiny.”
The neighborhood was older, with a lot of houses having been converted into duplexes. Julie liked the settled atmosphere of the neighborhood and craftsman details inside and out.
“I’m close to work and I get to have a bit of grass,” she said. “I’m not really a condo person.”
He smiled down at her, then brushed her cheek with his thumb. “Good thing we didn’t go to my place.”
“Let me guess. It’s all glass and steel.”
“That, too, but mostly because it’s farther.”
With that, he kissed her.
His mouth was warm and firm, yet gentle. He moved slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, and she liked that. She liked how he put his hands on her waist and didn’t grab for anything significant.
She stepped in a little closer and rested her fingers on his shoulders. Thank goodness her purse had a long strap, so she didn’t have to waste time holding it. She wanted to have the freedom to explore his arms and back.
He was all hard muscles through the well-tailored fabric of his suit. He was also warm and alive and just tall enough that even in her heels she had to stretch a little to keep their mouths connected.
She definitely wanted the kiss to continue. Even without him deepening it, she felt tingles in all the right places and a few that surprised her. Her chest was tight, her legs kind of trembly and she had the sudden thought she was never going to be able to catch her breath again.