She leaned her head forward, nearly pressing her lips against his ear. Then her teeth scraped his earlobe.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I think it’s quite convincing.”
She straightened again, slowly running her fingernails over his skin as she did. She didn’t know where this confidence had come from. Where the know-how and seemingly deep, feminine instinct had come from that allowed her to toy with him. But there it was.
She was officially playing the part of a saucy minx. Considering that was what he had hired her for, her flirtation was a good thing. But her heart thundered harder than a drum as she walked back to Riley, picked up his carrier and flipped her hair as she turned to face Joshua.
“I think I’m going to bed. I had best prepare myself to meet your family.”
“You’ll be wearing something different tomorrow,” he said, his tone firm.
“Why?” She looked down at her ragged sweatshirt and skinny jeans. “That doesn’t make any sense. You wanted me to look unsuitable. I might as well go in this.”
“No, you brought up a very good point. You have to look unsuitable, but this situation also has to be believable. Plus, I think a gold digger would demand a new wardrobe, don’t you?” One corner of his lips quirked upward, and she had a feeling he was punishing her for her little display a moment ago.
If only she could work out quite where the trap was.
“I don’t know,” she said, her voice stiff.
“But, Ms. Kelly, you told me yourself that you are a gold digger. That’s why you’re here, after all. For my gold.”
“I suppose so,” she said, keeping her words deliberately hard. “But I want actual gold, not clothes. So this is another thing that’s going to be on you.”
Those blue eyes glinted, and right then she got an idea of just how dangerous he was to her. “Consider it done.”
And if there was one thing she had learned so far about Joshua Grayson, it was that if he said something would be done, it would be.
Five
Joshua wasn’t going to try to turn Danielle into a sophisticate overnight. He was also avoiding thinking about the way it had felt to kiss her soft lips. Was avoiding remembering the way her hands had felt sliding down his chest.
He needed to make sure the two of them looked like a couple, that much was true. But he wouldn’t allow himself to be distracted by her. There were a million reasons not to touch Danielle Kelly—unless they were playing a couple. Yes, there would have to be some touching, but he was not going to take advantage of her.
First of all, she was at his financial mercy. Second of all, she was the kind of woman who came with entanglements. And he didn’t want any entanglements.
He wasn’t the type to have trouble with self-control. If it wasn’t a good time to seek out a physical relationship, he didn’t. It wasn’t a good time now, which meant he would defer any kind of sexual gratification until the end of his association with Danielle.
That should be fine.
He should be able to consider any number of women who he had on-again, off-again associations with, choose one and get in touch with her after Danielle left. His mind and body should be set on that.
Sadly, all he could think of was last night’s kiss and the shocking heat that had come with it.
And then Danielle came down the stairs wearing the simple black dress he’d had delivered for her.
His thoughts about not transforming her into a sophisticated woman overnight held true. Her long, straight brown hair still hung limp down to her waist, and she had no makeup on to speak of except pale pink gloss on her lips.
But the simple cut of the dress suited her slender figure and displayed small, perky breasts that had been hidden beneath her baggy, threadbare sweaters.
She was holding on to the handle of the baby’s car seat with both hands, lugging it down the stairs. For one moment, he was afraid she might topple over. He moved forward quickly, grabbing the handle and taking the seat from her.
When he looked down at the sleeping child, a strange tightness invaded his chest. “It wouldn’t be good for you or for Riley if you fell and broke your neck trying to carry something that’s too heavy for you,” he said, his tone harder than he’d intended it to be.
Danielle scowled. “Well, offer assistance earlier next time. I had to get down the stairs somehow. Anyway, I’ve been navigating stairs like this with the baby since he was born. I lived in an apartment. On the third floor.”
“I imagine he’s heavier now than he used to be.”
“An expert on child development?” She arched one dark brow as she posed the question.
He gritted his teeth. “Hardly.”
She stepped away from the stairs, and the two of them walked toward the door. Just because he wanted to make it clear that he was in charge of the evening, he placed his hand low on her back, right at the dip where her spine curved, right above what the dress revealed to be a magnificent ass.
He had touched her there to get to her, but he had not anticipated the touch getting to him.
He ushered her out quickly, then handed the car seat to her, allowing her to snap it into the base—the one he’d had installed in his car when all of the nursery accoutrements had been delivered—then sat waiting for her to get in.
As they started to pull out of the driveway, she wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her hands over her bare skin. “Do you think you could turn the heater on?”
He frowned. “Why didn’t you bring a jacket?”
“I don’t have one? All I have are my sweaters. And I don’t think either of them would go with the dress. Would kind of ruin the effect.”
He put the brakes
