and everything.”
His nostrils flared as his eyes darted between Madame and her. “We’ll just seal it with a kiss, shall we?”
Before Char could protest his lips were on hers.
Holy crap.
He tasted like pure virile man. He parted her lips with his tongue and dove into the depths of her mouth. His lips were like velvet, perfectly formed against hers, which were not fighting but—partaking.
With a moan Char wrapped her arms around his neck—completely forgetting herself—and kissed him back. He made a sound low in his throat as his grip on her body tightened.
“This… is not a brothel,” Madame interrupted frostily.
“Could have fooled me,” Jake said against Char’s lips.
With a snort of laughter Char pulled away. “Thank you, Madame, for everything. But as you’ve just seen, my boyfriend and I need to go celebrate!”
“Well then, off you go.” Madame’s voice was high-pitched but her face was pinched at the mouth, as if she had just sucked on something really sour.
They left the store and made a run for it to Jake’s BMW. The minute Char slammed the door shut, they both burst into fits of laughter.
Jake started the car. “And I thought Grandma was crazy.”
“Right?” Char’s voice sounded a bit breathless. Great; now she couldn’t talk like a normal human around Jake. It was a kiss: one damn kiss to fend off the Cougar, nothing more.
“Thanks for that…” The car pulled to a stop at the light. “For helping me out. Had I been there alone—I’m pretty sure you would have seen me on the evening news.”
“Candy.” Char nodded.
“Huh?” The light turned green.
“That’s how she would have lured you into her bedroom. She would’ve made a candy trail to her bedroom. It’s how all the Cougars do it. Then, once you were there, she would have gotten you drunk, you would have accepted—anything to ruin memories of the night—and there you have it. Love slave.
Jake shook his head and snorted. “The way your mind works frightens me.”
“Hey.” Char lifted her hands in the air. “I’m just saying.”
Jake shuddered and pulled onto the freeway toward downtown. “So, drinks? I did promise and I’m pretty sure I owe you.”
After that kiss? No, it was actually she who owed him. The all-too-familiar pang of rejection washed over Char. Sure, she could go have drinks with him and then fall for all the things that most normal breathing girls fell for. He’d get just tipsy enough to ask her to come home with him. They’d share a cab, she’d say just one drink, they’d end up in his bedroom.
And she’d wake up to find a thank-you note and a twenty-dollar bill for her cab fare home on her pillow.
No thanks.
“Actually…” Char looked at her watch. “I can still put in a full afternoon at the office. Can you drop me off at the KOMO station?”
Jake nervously scratched his head and shrugged. “Sure, I mean if that’s what you want. I for one think margaritas are better than working any day.”
“Yeah.” Char put on her sunglasses. “Then again you’re kind of unemployed right now so…”
“Thanks for the reminder,” he grumbled, taking the downtown exit. “I’ll, uh, I’ll just look at what else Grandma has on her list and give you a call.”
“You’ll need my number.”
“I’ll get it from Grandma.” He shrugged.
Damn the man. He couldn’t even ask her for her number? Really? “Well.” Char opened the door once he’d stopped the car. “Wouldn’t want you to have to program me into your cell and risk taking up too much space from your booty calls.”
“Char, wait—”
She slammed the door before he could finish what he was going to say and walked purposefully into the office building.
Chapter Eleven
What the hell had just happened? One minute they were joking and laughing and the next Char was talking about booty calls and slamming the door in his face? What had he said? She’d seemed in a hurry so he hadn’t wanted to irritate her further by making her wait for him to get her number.
In his mind he was being a gentleman, or at least trying.
But according to Char he was being a jackass?
Women. Would he never understand them?
As he pulled out of the parking lot, contemplating all the reasons that kissing Char again would be a bad idea, his phone rang.
“What?” His voice was hoarse.
“Whoa, there… bad day?” Travis chuckled.
“I had dance class. You tell me.”
“I’m sorry, did you say you had dance class?”
“I’m not repeating it,” Jake said dryly. “Oh and by the way, Grandma may not make it to the wedding.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m killing her. Tonight. Either that or putting some sleeping pills in her Fiberease.”
“Oh. Well, just don’t use Benadryl. She’s built up a tolerance.”
“Yeah, well, ever since Kacey, I think we can all claim a tolerance. I swear last time I had allergies I went through an entire box.”
“Glad you’re still breathing.” Travis chuckled.
“Don’t be an ass. What do you want?”
Travis laughed again. “First tell me about the dance.”
“Mating dance,” Jake corrected as he took the exit to the tux shop. “It went well. Char saved my ass. The Madame, and yes that was her name, wanted a new plaything.”
“Come again?”
“Chew toy, plaything, man toy to dress up and play with. Yeah, you probably would have never seen me again.”
“Scary.”
Jake shook his head. “You have no idea. Anyway, I just dropped Char off at work and now I’m going to go get my tux fitted.”
“Okay.”
The phone went silent. “Trav, you still there?”
“Yeah.” He was quiet again. “I have to ask you something.”
“No, I won’t give you a kidney—take one of Grandma’s.”
“She only has one kidney.”
“My point exactly.”
Travis sighed. “It’s not that, it’s…”
“Okay, now you’re scaring me.”
“So, you know how Dad’s going to be walking Kacey down the aisle?”
Jake pulled into the parking lot and sighed. “Yes.”
“She, um…” Travis cursed. “She wanted to know if it would be okay if maybe… you walked with them.”
