THE LAMP BEHIND THEM caught the lighter tones of Charity’s soft brown hair. It played with the side of her face, making her eyes seem larger and more mysterious. She had a look about her, a combination of satisfaction and “what the hell was I thinking?”
Not that Josh had any answers. The sex hadn’t been planned, but it sure had been good. One second he’d been pissed about her date with Robert and how unexpectedly good she’d looked, the next he’d been hell bent for taking anything she offered. He wanted her again, but slower this time. He wanted her in his bed, naked, with all the time in the world to explore her body, touch her soft skin. He wanted to taste her everywhere. He wanted to make her come in a thousand different ways. He wanted to lose himself in her over and over again. So much for being a guy who didn’t ever get involved.
“You have the Hendrixes,” she said. “They’re your family.”
It took him a second to remember what they were talking about. “They’ve always been good to me. Denise wanted a daughter. After three boys she was desperate to try one more time. She really wanted a girl. She got three.”
Charity’s eyes widened. “Must have been a shock.”
“Uh-huh. By the time I moved in, the girls were about three. They were a handful. Still are. Denise was pretty sick after they were born. For a while, the doctors were afraid she wasn’t going to pull through. The boys were scared and there were three babies to worry about. To make the kids feel better, their dad said they could name the triplets.” He grinned.
“That sounds like trouble.”
“Not so bad. They’re Nevada, Montana and Dakota.”
“It could be worse.”
“I heard Oceania was in the running.”
She winced. “Okay, then Montana is a whole lot more mainstream than that.” She looked at him. “You enjoyed living with them.”
“I did.”
“Everyone here has ties,” she said, sounding wistful. “A history.”
Josh swore silently. At times like this, he really hated the position Marsha had put him in. The secret was hers to keep or tell, but the longer she was quiet, the worse it was going to be.
“I think it’s better if no one knows what happened tonight,” he said quickly, to distract her.
Charity’s head snapped up. “What?”
“People will talk, what with you being new and all in town.” He shrugged. “I don’t want anyone to know you’re using me.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Using you?”
“You took advantage of me. Tempted me with your feminine wiles so you could trick me into having sex with you.”
She put her glass of wine on the coffee table and launched herself at him. Fortunately his drink was also safely on the table, so he was able to catch her.
She wiggled and twisted, shrieking, not quite hitting him, but coming close. He wrapped his arms around her and held her still.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“Because if you were trying to hurt me, you failed.”
“I know.” She shifted so she could glare at him. “I’m not using you for sex.”
“You didn’t even buy me dinner first.”
She shrieked. “You’re the guy.”
“Great. So you not only took advantage of me, you’re sexist, too.”
“Dammit, Josh.” She shoved at his chest, then dropped her head on his shoulder. “You make me crazy.”
“I do what I can.”
She chuckled. “I’ve never known anyone like you.”
“I get that a lot.”
“I didn’t mean it as a compliment.” She looked up at him again, her expression serious. “About what we did… It would probably be better if we didn’t talk about it. You’re right. I am new in town and while I do believe you’re not the wild man everyone thinks, no one else does.”
“I know.” He cupped her face, then kissed her. “You’re not the type to enjoy being another notch on my bike.”
“I’ve never heard it put quite like that, but it gets the point across.”
As she stared at him, looking both worried and hopeful, he knew she wasn’t trying to be cruel. That in her world, privacy mattered and her reputation was everything. A reputation he could destroy with a casual comment or two.
He’d been living in the public eye for so long, he’d forgotten what anything else was like.
She smiled slowly. “Is there a fan club? I should probably join.”
“I’ll get you an application. The dues are reasonable and you get an autographed picture of me, suitable for framing.”
She laughed. “Really? Is it that bare-butt shower shot?”
“How do you know about that?”
“Sheryl, my assistant, had it as part of her screen saver. I had to ask her to remove it.” She lowered her voice. “It’s not exactly appropriate for a work setting.”
“Probably not. You don’t have to worry. The fan club doesn’t send out the butt shot.”
“Too bad. It was impressive.”
“Yeah?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Good.”