As she suspected, he’d turned the light on for a reason. He knew she was there.
Any embarrassment she might have felt at being caught hovering near the object of her fascination was lost as she gazed at him. Regardless of how hard she’d tried to hang on to it, her grudge over the past was gone, she realized. And all those softer emotions? It was too late to do anything about them. She wanted Josh Hill about as badly as any woman could want a man.
And not just for the night.
Taking a deep breath, she turned off the engine, got out and walked to the house. I’m a glutton for punishment, she told herself. She and Josh had too much history. If her father found her lacking, so would he….
But she and Josh had a hell of a lot of chemistry, too. Was that enough?
Josh saved her the trouble of knocking. He swung the door open as soon as her foot hit the step. Then he stared out at her, waiting. “Well?”
He wasn’t planning to make this easy. She looked back at her car and considered beating a quick retreat, but rejected that idea when he stepped outside to bar her escape. “Oh no, you don’t, you little coward.”
“I’m not a coward!” she protested.
He reached out to catch her by the shoulders. “If you’re not a coward, then say what you came to say and forget about running.”
She wasn’t going anywhere. Suddenly she knew that like she knew the sun would come up in the morning. Letting her arms wrap themselves around him, she wished he’d just kiss her and stop with all the demands. But when she tried to distract him by pressing her lips to his, he fended her off. “First you have to tell me.”
She stared up at him, amazed that she could be so in love without having known it.
He seemed to soften a little. He dropped several brief kisses on her forehead, her temple and each cheek, but he paused just short of her mouth. “I don’t hear anything, Rebecca.”
“I…I’m willing to risk it,” she murmured.
“Risk what?” he countered, his mouth still hovering temptingly close to her own. As he rubbed his nose against hers, she caught her breath in anticipation and felt the last of her pride, her fear and her denial give way.
“Risk everything,” she admitted. “It’s hopeless to fight it. I want you too badly.”
He grinned and hugged her. “That’s my girl. That wasn’t so bad, was it? And it’ll get easier as time goes by.”
“You expect me to say things like that a lot?” she asked doubtfully, slipping a hand inside his shirt to feel the ridges and contours of his muscles.
He finally kissed her, hard and hungry and demanding. “I do. I predict you’ll tell me you love me someday,” he whispered, his hands now buried in her hair, his lips next to her ear. “I’ll hear it over and over again when I make love to you, right before I make you cry out in ecstasy.” He grinned. “But knowing you, that’ll take a while.”
“I hope you’re not talking about the ecstasy part.”
“I’m talking about the ‘I love you’ part.”
“Oh, good. That can wait until you say it first,” she said, finding his lips for another breathtaking kiss.
Finally, he pulled back to look down at her and chuckled as he ran his thumb over the curve of her jaw in a touch that was so possessive, so tender, Rebecca thought she must be dreaming. This was Josh touching her. The man she’d been absolutely certain she hated…
Suddenly she couldn’t blame her father for admiring him. How could she, when she saw everything her father saw and more?
“That day might come sooner than you think. I’m halfway in love with you already,” he said. “Maybe I always have been.”
Rebecca blinked up at him, wanting to capture those words and let them burn inside her like a candle in the window of her heart. “Could you say that again?”
He laughed and gave her a meaningful pat on the behind. “You heard me. Now go to my room and take off your clothes. I want to see that tattoo.”
REBECCA STARED at Josh while he slept. God, he was handsome. She loved him so much it hurt. So much it terrified her. What if he woke in the morning and realized he’d made some sort of mistake? That she was nothing special, after all, just the girl from across the street who’d poured bleach on his lawn when they were in junior high?
He’d certainly known who she was when he made love to her, though. He’d made that abundantly clear. He’d kissed her neck and nibbled on her earlobe and murmured that he’d never wanted a woman more than he wanted her. And right before he’d brought her to a shuddering climax, he’d slowed his thrusts to the point of driving her crazy with frustration.
“Look at me,” he’d commanded. When she’d opened her eyes, he told her he was punishing her for all the rotten things she’d done to him over the years. He’d proceeded to build the tension in her body ever so slowly, until she was nearly begging for release. And then the exquisite wave of pleasure finally broke over her, and it was far too powerful to hold anything against him.
Still, she’d insisted on reciprocating.
She smiled in satisfaction as she remembered him trembling on the brink of his own climax. His gaze had locked with hers in that final instant and his eyes had filled with some unspoken emotion that made her feel both feminine and powerful. Josh wanted her. He really wanted her. Not only that, he knew every skeleton in her closet by name—and it didn’t seem to change anything.
She shifted so she could better see his face in the dark, too afraid to sleep for fear she’d wake up and everything they’d felt and experienced would be different. Come morning, Josh would have to confront his brother, and his family, and everyone else in town who could never imagine the two of them together. Come morning, they’d have to make some sort of decision as to whether there’d be another night like this.
Suddenly her father’s voice closed in on her, sounding loud and unmerciful in her ear, making her doubt. We haven’t had any crises for the past few weeks…we’re about due, aren’t we?…You’re not invited to the anniversary celebration unless you can behave yourself…
And then there was Mary: I heard Buddy broke up with you…I can certainly understand why…He’s coming back to me, you know. It’s just a matter of time—
“What are you thinking about?” Josh murmured.
“Nothing,” she lied.
He reached out and ran his thumb down the side of her face. “What I’m thinking is that you’re beautiful,” he said.