He flashed her one of his wicked grins over his shoulder. “As a biologist,” he said solemnly, “you’d probably want to take the long way to your place, maybe take just a quick drive-by through the canyon to make sure you aren’t missing anything good.”
She couldn’t think of a single thing that could improve a shitty day more than being beneath the wide, expansive sky, surrounded by the majestic, glorious peaks, with 686 cc’s between her legs and the hottest guy in the universe to hold on to…“Well, if it’s not too much trouble,” she said demurely, making him burst into laughter.
God, she loved his laugh. It made her laugh, too, and she felt it bubble out of her with sheer joy, which backed deliciously up in her throat when he hit the gas. In three minutes they were off road and heading toward Mariposa Canyon, and then they were at the top of the basin, looking down at it.
“Hold on,” he said, and they leapt forward, for a minute completely airborne as they flew down the hill.
Her heart landed in her throat, in a very good way, in the best roller-coaster kind of way. Manzanita bush and wild growth whipped past in a blur as TJ followed the line of the trees straight down. She found herself screaming in delight, probably making him deaf, and she didn’t care. She leaned with him into the turns, her hands gripping him for all she was worth. Beneath her palms she felt the tight, hard muscles in his abs work as he maneuvered them up and across the steep, spine-tingling moguls.
“Crash, and I’ll kill you,” she yelled in his ear.
“You’re safe with me.”
“You’re the one without a helmet. It’s your thick skull that I’m worried about-”
She broke off with another little scream as he took them off a sharp cliff, then up and over the dirt moguls, through the brush and mud. She was still grinning an hour later when he pulled up to her place.
She slid off, pulled off the helmet, and eyed the bike. “Your bike’s all muddy now.”
“It’ll wash.”
“I guess since I enjoyed the ride so much, and we’re making such a concerted effort to be friends and all, I could offer to help.”
His eyes went all smoky. “What would you be wearing for this bike-washing event?”
“Oh my God. Are you going to turn everything back to Naked Friend?”
“Yes. But I’ll settle for a bikini top and short shorts friend.”
She couldn’t help it; she laughed again and turned to head inside, then found herself being slowly pulled back into him. “I don’t have any short shorts at the moment.”
He turned her around to face him. “You can owe me. Listen, I was actually hoping we could talk.”
Uh oh. His solemn expression sank in and her smile faded. “Just what I need. More talk, more trouble.”
“I’m sorry about causing you trouble,” he said quietly, all humor gone. “But I’m not sorry I went with you to Desolation, or that I learned what the problem was between us.”
She closed her eyes. “TJ.”
“In fact, we should work on that problem. I could fix it, if you’d let me.”
“Really?” she asked curiously. “How?”
He was quiet a moment. Lifting his head, he ran a finger over her shoulder. “By making a better memory.”
“Is this because I told you it was fine?”
He grimaced. “I’d like to think I’m not quite that Neanderthal.” He paused, then gave her a small smile. “But fine sucks, Harley.”
“We were teenagers.”
“Sort of my point. I do better now.”
She laughed softly and shook her head. “The Wilder ego,” she murmured. “Needing to be the biggest, the baddest, and the best in everything, especially bed. Nothing personal, TJ, but I’d rather have sweet, steady, and stable.”
“Like Nolan.”
“Like Nolan.”
“Then why did you cut him loose?”
“I told you, he-”
He just looked at her, and she let out a breath. Right. She could have turned that around-if she’d tried hard enough.
“But that’s not what I wanted to talk about,” TJ said quietly. “Can I come in?”
Had she ever been able to refuse him anything? “Yeah.”
CHAPTER 18
Harley unlocked her door, went directly to the kitchen, opened her refrigerator, and frowned in disappointment.
TJ stopped at her table and looked at the maps she had spread out there. “So you’re going to fill this out?”
She went utterly still for a beat, suddenly realizing what was with the maps-the employment application. And her pro/con list of his and Nolan’s qualifications. Embarrassment and horror filled her as she whipped around and leapt toward him. “Give me that.”
Not yet having caught sight of the list, he smiled. “It’s okay. The form’s just a formality for our pesky attorney.” He stopped short and blinked as he got a good look at what he was holding. “What’s this?”
She launched herself at him. “TJ, dammit, that’s personal-”
“Qualifications. Nolan.” He paused. “Gave you a job, nice body, nice smile.”
She was practically crawling up his body, trying to grab the paper. “Give it back.”
“You’re right,” he said, nodding his head. “Nolan does have a very nice smile.” He perused some more. “‘Haven’t wanted to kiss him since I kissed TJ.’” He cut his eyes to hers. “We’ll definitely be circling back to that.”
With a miserable groan, she gave up trying to reach the list and plopped her head to his chest. Beneath the hard muscle she could feel his heartbeat, steady and sure.
Hers, on the other hand, was racing.
He stroked a hand down her hair. “My pros. Best body in Wishful, maybe the planet. Nice to know.” He shot her a look so hot it singed her every nerve ending. “Right back at you, Harley.”
She smacked him in the chest. She didn’t put a lot of heat into it because she really wanted him to lower his arm so she could grab the paper before he got any further.
“Gave you your first man-made orgasm all year,” he read. He went silent at that. She could feel him watching her but she didn’t lift her head. Instead she smacked him again.
He cuffed both her wrists in one hand and backed her into the counter, effortlessly holding her there with his body. “So what exactly is it you don’t want me to see, Harley? That I know you? More than you’d like?” She could hear the smile in his voice. And that wasn’t all. She was plastered to him and he was hard.
She thunked her head against the rock-solid muscles of his chest. “You are such an ass.”
He laughed softly as he nuzzled her neck. “What if I told you same goes, that I can’t stop thinking about you either? And that if anyone’s heart is in danger here, it’s mine.” He said this in a low, rough whisper. “As for intentions…” He tossed the list aside and pressed into her, allowing her to feel exactly what his intentions were.
Suddenly it felt as if there was a whole heck of a lot less oxygen in the room than there’d been only a moment before, which had to explain why she’d melted into him when she hadn’t meant to. She tossed back her head to say something defensive, but the look on his face stopped her.
His smile was warm, affectionate even. His eyes…smoking hot. Bending his head, he pressed his jaw to hers, then kissed her temple, her jaw, that spot beneath her ear. “You have no idea what you do to me,” he murmured, running his hands over her. “Because if you did, you’d shove me out and bolt the door.” Then he kissed her mouth, long and hard and deep, and just when she was panting for air, desperate for more, he let her go.
Legs weak, she walked into the living room and plopped onto the couch.
