Of course, Sean came back at just that moment, but he said absolutely nothing, just stared at the other man’s hand where it lay on Tess’s arm, a muscle in his jaw saying everything he didn’t.
Red snatched his hand back as if it had been scalded and quickly exited the room, not meeting Sean’s eyes as he did so, as if Sean was a rabid dog he was trying to avoid getting bitten by.
“What was he in here for?” Sean asked, reclaiming the chair that Red had vacated.
Tess looked him straight in the eye. “He came in here to molest me right under his best friend’s nose.”
Sean’s head snapped up from his plate. “He what!”
Tess rolled her eyes at him. “Well, when you came in here you looked at him as if you thought that’s what he – what we – were doing.”
Sean scowled. “Of course not!”
“Well, then why did he run out of here like a frightened rabbit?”
He waited a long beat before answering her, meeting her inquisitive gaze head on. “Because he knew I wanted to rip his arm off for touching you.”
Tess’s eyebrow rose. “Caveman much?”
“I don’t like other men touching my woman.” He wasn’t going to apologize for his behavior, if his tone was anything to go by.
“Well, if you’d found his hand in my crotch, then you’d have something to be concerned about. But since I wouldn’t allow him to do that anyway without flattening him myself, then you have nothing to worry about, do you?”
The mental picture of Tess cold-cocking Red who outweighed her by a good hundred pounds or so was so funny he couldn’t help snickering, even when she smacked him a good one for his impudence.
Chapter 4
Although that scene between them had her a bit wary – she didn’t intend to get involved with any man who had violent tendencies, no matter how hot his possessiveness made her – Sean gave her no other cause for concern while they dated. Well, except for the fact that he seemed to take any possible excuse to spank her. He was particularly assiduous about reddening her bottom after having borrowed her car and discovering it was a rolling deathtrap.
It was the morning of the first time they were going to sleep together – she just didn’t know it yet. The telephone rang at six thirty, just as she was stepping out of the shower.
“Yeah, what?”
Sean just laughed. She was usually so cheerful and pleasant – granted, more to her customers than to him, but still, overall, she was pretty laid-back and easy-going. He appreciated that more than he could tell her – not that she hadn’t warned him about what she was like before a civilized hour. “Wow, you really are little Mary Sunshine in the mornings, aren’t you?”
“Bite me. What do you want, and you’d better make it good, Maddox; I’m standing here dripping onto my carpet.”
Sean’s entire body clenched. “You mean you just got out of the shower?”
“Yes,” Tess replied distractedly, trying to simultaneously talk on the phone while contorting herself into an acrobatic position as she attempted to wrap her long hair with a towel.
“And you’re standing there naked right now?” He didn’t know why he was asking these questions. They were only driving him crazy, and with his truck out of commission he couldn’t do a thing about it.
“Yes...”
“Totally naked?”
Sometimes – especially first thing in the morning – she could be a little dense. It took her a bit to catch onto why he was dwelling on what was essentially the same question rephrased five different ways. Laughing softly, she let her voice get all throaty and low. “And what might you be wearing at this moment in time, Mr. Maddox?”
“I’m dressed, dammit, but I can be undressed in a matter of seconds,” he offered eagerly. “Really I can.”
That sounded about as close to pleading as she’d ever heard from him. “Well, unfortunately neither of us has time to indulge in phone sex, not that I’m opposed to such things as a rule. But I don’t want to be late for work.”
She heard his frustrated sigh, but was working on one of her own so she had little sympathy for him. After waiting for several long beats, she said, “Did you have a purpose for calling me at such an ungodly hour, or was it just to find out whether or not I was dressed?”
“Mmm,” he groaned, then forcibly brought himself back to the reason he was calling. “My truck died. Can you give me a ride to work?”
“Of course. I’ll be there in about a half-hour.”
“Will you be wearing what you’re wearing now, please?”
She leaned back a bit to see the thermometer through the sliding glass doors to the deck. “Sean, it’s three below zero out there. Any parts of me that you might have any interest in will have frozen solid and fallen off by then.”
Tess liked the sound of his laugh, more so for its rarity. It was warm and full and very deep, and it went right to her clit, somehow – like most of what he said or did, she was realizing.
“I gotta ask you another favor, though.”
“Yes?”
“Can I keep the car for the morning? I have to go into Portsmouth to get some special parts for a customer and I need transportation to do that this morning.”
“Sure – I’m just going to be at the shop all day, as always. You can keep it for as long as you need to, as far as I’m concerned. Just pick me up tonight. We were going out to dinner anyway, right?”
“Yes. Thank you. You’re an angel.”
Tess flushed at the compliment. “Just remember that the next time you decide to spank me.”
Of course, it sounded easier than it worked out to be, especially for her.
She didn’t hear from him at all during the day, which was
