“You don’t know much about me?” He lifts one eyebrow and puts his palms on the counter to lean closer. “Except you know I’ve got what it takes to make you writhe and claw my back.”
And there it is. Him dropping that embarrassing past between us. “You know damn well what really happened in your truck,” I snap. He’s the only one capable of pushing my buttons in seconds and making me so flustered it’s hard to think straight.
“I know what really happened,” he agrees with a nod. “In broad daylight too. You spread your legs wide and moaned and then left me high and dry.”
I press my hand to my chest. I’m going to have a fucking heart attack because of him. “You son of—” I choke off the rest of the words, desperately seeking my inner calm. He could make a monk want to drink himself into a stupor. “For the hundredth time, I never intended to steal your truck.”
“You were trying to hotwire it.”
“So I was, that’s true, but I was trying to help Butterfly Buck and I’ve explained that repeatedly since then.” I mentally curse the day the elderly man told me he’d lost his key and needed to get home urgently.
I have a soft spot for the elderly and thought I was doing a good deed when I broke into the truck that I thought Buck was pointing to. I was neck deep under the steering wheel when Jonas yelled and Butterfly Buck beat a hasty retreat. Everything went from bad to worse after that.
Especially when his elderly former school teacher who was prone to leaving her hearing aid at home had noticed what was going on and loudly said, “You should not for-NI-cate in public.”
“Buck never admitted he was there,” Jonas says skeptically.
I take a deep breath and exhale slowly. I don’t know why Buck hasn’t come clean about it.
“You knew you were busted, so you slapped your kinky ass handcuffs on my wrist then hiked your dress up trying to get away.”
My inner calm goes on vacation. “I didn’t hike my dress up; it slid high when we fell backward onto the seat and you know you handcuffed me first!” I put my hands on the counter mimicking his stance. “And you nearly got me arrested though I was innocent.”
“Sure darlin’. If that’s how you want to rewrite our history, go ahead.”
“There are days when I really hate you, Jonas.”
“Your nipples don’t seem to agree with you.”
I immediately straighten and cross my arms over my chest. “I’m standing beneath the air vent. It’s not you.” At least not this time.
“We both know you’re lying. Just like we both know I have what it takes to give you the best sex of your life.”
I do, but I will swear off orgasms for life until I die and turn into a husk of unfulfilled need before he’ll get me to admit that. I smile and try not to look below his belt buckle. “You don’t even have what it takes to give me the best sixty seconds of my life.”
He adjusts his Stetson. “Darlin’, don’t challenge a cowboy. I ride for a living.”
“So?”
He bumps his thighs with his fists. “Strong thighs, all night rides.”
I press my teeth together and speak through them, “Your strong thighs and your dick won’t get that close to me.”
“Don’t act like your panties weren’t wet then and aren’t wet now.”
I close my eyes and count to three. Damn him and his knowing smile. Damn him and his hard body. Damn the wetness of panties past and present.
I need to regain control. Opening my eyes, I reach below the counter and snatch the sheet of paper I’d put there when I came in this morning. “Here. This is a schedule for you.”
He doesn’t move to take it. “Schedule?”
I shake the paper. “Schedule,” I repeat firmly.
He still doesn’t move.
“I’ve outlined all the sleeping, eating and showering arrangements to minimize our time together,” I explain.
His eyes widen. “Is this a joke?”
