Suddenly Sexy

chapter 8



"Wait! I want to see the rest of the market." She jerked her arm free and walked off. She didn't really care about the rest of the market, she just wanted to avoid getting personal with him. Maybe he wouldn't notice her tactic, but she was a terrible liar. Pinocchio had a better chance of getting away with lying than she did.

"Okay, we'll walk around some more," he said, not sounding happy about it. "Then we're going somewhere to talk."

Not if Maddie could help it. She stopped at every stall, commented on every knick knack, read the back cover blurb of every secondhand book.

"Oh, look at these little jump suits," she cooed at a table full of knitted children's clothes. "Wouldn't Ronan look cute in one of these?"

"Very cute." Sam's voice rumbled behind her. He'd stopped sulking about ten minutes ago and she hoped he'd forgotten about the little talk he'd wanted to have. Nothing like an excess of shopping to numb a man’s brain.

"I'm getting one," she said.

"While you do, I'm paying a visit to the gents."

He squeezed her shoulder and his fingers lightly caressed her arm. Oh boy. That simple touch reminded her of last night, of his warm kisses, his smooth skin and his hand down her jeans.

"Are you interested in one of those jump suits, Ma'am?" said the man behind the table.

Focus, Maddie. "I'll take this blue one."

"Great choice." He took the jump suit and placed it in a brown paper bag. As they exchanged money, his fingers touched hers. Deliberately. Whoa! What the hell? She knew a pick-up touch when she felt one.

When she glanced up, he smiled at her. He was in his late thirties, a little taller than her with brown hair and eyes. He had a pleasant face, not handsome, but nice to look at nevertheless.

"Was that guy your boyfriend?" He nodded in the direction Sam had taken.

Good question. What the hell was Sam to her? Definitely not her boyfriend. Hell, he wouldn't even be interested in her after the weekend.

Ouch. Admitting that hurt. She tried to smile even though her heart was somewhere down near her toes and her stomach was churning. Although that could have been from too much ice cream.

"He's just a friend," she said.

The man smiled again, a nice open smile. "Good. In that case, would you go out with me tonight?"

Wow, he was fast. He must be tuned into Pheramour in a big way. She knew it wouldn't work on all men, even natural pheromones didn't, but at least she had some validation that it worked on more than just one. Two, if Justin counted. She was pretty sure he would normally have given her a wide berth if he saw her in public, but instead he’d come right up to her.

Yep, Pheramour was definitely working. No doubt about it. It was exactly what she and Beaker had hoped.

She could have kicked herself though. She should have been watching the reactions of other men in the market—and last night at the pizza parlor too—but she'd been so engrossed in Sam she'd almost forgotten this was an experiment, not a date. She wasn't meant to be forming life time attachments to anyone. Or having sex with them on her couch, or elsewhere, for that matter.

Maddie rubbed her stomach. Damned ice cream. Probably she should've avoided the second scoop.

"I'm busy tonight," she said to the vendor. "But thanks for asking."

He looked disappointed. Too bad. She felt sorry for him, but what could she do? He was attracted to Pheramour, not her, and she didn't want to give two men the wrong idea. It was going to be bad enough when Sam lost interest after she stopped using it, she didn't think she could face more than one disappointment. Some women would get a kick out of the power Pheramour gave them but Maddie only felt guilty for messing with their emotions.

And her emotions. Sam's attention, his feelings, weren't real. It was only a matter of time before his olfactory senses returned to normal and when they did, she was going to have to get used to the idea. She couldn’t afford to wallow and feel like, well, like she’d been dumped.

But being with him felt so good, so wonderful, that a sense of loss would be inevitable. She knew that like she knew the sky was blue. The little demon inside told her Sam's rejection would sting when she finally revealed the truth to him. She needed to prepare herself for it. Not encourage him too much, and definitely not sleep with him.

Maybe she should reject him first. That might help ease the pain. Or not.

She watched Sam as he approached. He was all tightly packed muscle on a lean frame, his walk lazy, not quite a swagger, and his shoulders wide and perfect for snuggling into. Desire coiled through her and headed south. She swallowed. Not sleeping with him was going to be torture. Perhaps fondling on the couch might be permitted...

Who was she kidding? Fondling last night had nearly led to sex. She couldn’t rely on Linda to call her whenever things got hot and heavy with Sam. She couldn’t rely on her scatterbrained sister for anything.

Sam grinned when he saw her. "Guess what I was thinking." The sparkle was back with a vengeance in his blue eyes. "Have they still got the paddle boats on the ake?"

"Huh?" Great. Real intelligent response, Maddie.

"Want to go for a ride on a paddle boat?"

Paddle boats only held two people. That meant close proximity to Sam. Alone. The thought sent ripples of excitement through her. Or was that the ice cream again? Most likely it was gut-wrenching terror. Being alone with him would lead to a talk about what was happening between them. Bad bad idea.

She looked up into his smiling face. He looked like he'd forgotten her earlier reference to dating other men, so maybe she was safe from a deep and meaningful conversation. What the hell. It was time she stopped over-thinking every situation and just did something spontaneous for once.

"Sure," she said. "Let's go."

They drove the short distance to the lake and hired the last paddle boat. The others were already on the water, filled with twelve year olds using them like dodgem cars to topple each other out. The paddle boats were sturdy but not enough to stop a few of the smaller girls from going for an unscheduled swim.

"This reminds me of when I was a kid," said Sam. He looked just like a kid too—dimpled cheeks, hair ruffled by the wind, jeans rolled up to the knees. He paddled hard towards the middle of the lake and Maddie was happy to let him go. No point in them both getting tired.

"Are you going to help me here or do I have to do all the work?"

"You're doing so well on your own, and I'm enjoying the scenery more this way."

He stopped paddling once they reached the middle and the boat drifted gently across the surface. Ducks and swans swam nearby, not seeming to care about the much larger creature sharing their lake. It was peaceful on the water, the noise from the traffic and crowds only a distant hum carried by the breeze. Maddie settled into her seat and enjoyed the serenity.

Until Sam placed his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. "This is nice," he said. "Just like when we were teenagers."

She leaned away and looked at him, one eyebrow arched. "I don't recall coming here with you as a teenager."

"You came here with your friends, right? Pete and I used to pick up girls in these boats." He chuckled. "Actually, we used to bump their boats until they fell in the water and got all wet. That's how we found out Mary Ellen didn't wear a bra."

"Mary Ellen's got four kids now." It was all she could say to keep the image of a bra-less Mary Ellen out of her head.

"So what about you?" Sam asked, looking at her through lowered lashes.

"I always wear a bra."

He laughed. "I mean, did you come down here and drive the men crazy in your wet T-shirt?" His gaze lowered to her breasts and heat prickled her neck.

"Not exactly crazy." Not with her extra pounds. And she was more likely to bore them to insanity in those days. Back then, her conversational skills were limited to test scores and homework. She liked to think she’d progressed beyond that but going by her track record with men, she couldn’t be entirely sure.

"You would now." His hot breath warmed her neck. He kissed her just below the ear and his hand touched her waist.

Oh boy. Now what? She was stuck in the middle of the lake with a man she'd wanted to bonk ever since she'd heard of sex, and now he was kissing her again. There was nowhere to go.

The hand felt warm on her stomach and his lips soft as he nibbled her throat, her ear, her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut as the kiss deepened and clenched all her muscles so she wouldn't give in to the urge to jump him.

"You feel so good," he murmured against her lips. "So soft. And you smell fantastic."

Smell? Maddie jerked away and pulled herself together. It’s just Pheramour, Maddie, not Sam. Nope, definitely not Sam. "I think we should go back now."

He blinked at her, his eyes half hidden by long lashes. "Not yet," he said, voice rougher than gravel. He took off his T-shirt and Maddie had to grip the sides of the boat to steady herself.

Mama Mia! His tanned skin was drawn tight over hard, corded muscles and a light dusting of hair trailed down his broad chest to his ridged stomach. Her fingers twitched, wanting to entwine themselves in the tiny curls disappearing into his jeans.

Down girl.

He made a sound in the back of his throat which she couldn't identify—maybe he was sniggering—and turned away, giving her a very pleasant view of a very powerful and smooth back. He was a mighty fine example of the male species. Oh yeah, a woman could dig her fingers into a back like that and hang on while he—

Sheesh. She needed to cool off.

He turned round again and touched the side of her mouth with his thumb. Had she been drooling? Or was he going to kiss her again? Neither if his mischievous grin was anything to go by. Had he known what she’d been thinking?

She blushed. Of course he knew. Sam Hennessy knew everything about women.

He stood.

"What are you doing?" She gasped. "You're not going in the water, are you?"

"Why not? I need to cool off." He grinned crookedly down at her. "You look a little hot yourself. Coming?"

She eyed the murky water. It wasn’t dirty but it wasn’t crystal clear either. She couldn’t see the bottom. "No thanks. I haven't got spare clothes."

"Don't worry about that. The sun will dry us off quick enough."

She glanced around. People milled on the banks and kids paddled around them in their boats. Some splashed in the water, others swam around after falling out, chasing each other and laughing. It looked refreshing and fun but not something she'd usually do, especially when wearing a short skirt and white T-shirt.

Then again, maybe that was exactly why she should jump in. Do something out of character once in her life. Hell, she was thirty, she'd been in the same job since college and never done anything more radical than sign a petition or two. She should do this.

Maddie stood, then remembered what she was wearing under her skirt and T-shirt. Very skimpy, very see-through underwear. If she got wet, everything would be on display.

She chewed her lip. On the positive side, at least someone other than herself would get to see her expensive lingerie. On the negative side, it might encourage Sam. She couldn't afford to encourage him any more, not when Pheramour was the motivator. She might not have the will-power to say no again.

"I don't think so," she said sitting down again. "People will see."

"So? Come on." He held out his hand. "Jump in."

She shook her head.

"Why not?"

"I think the question should be why?"

He shrugged. "Just for the hell of it." He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, making the boat wobble.

Maddie gripped the seat and glared at him.

"Come on, Maddie, don't think so much about it, just do it."

She sighed. Maybe it wasn't such a big deal. The sun would dry her quickly. All she needed to do was cover herself until it did. And it was about time she did something to break out of her good girl image. She was getting tired of it anyway and it hadn't got her where she was supposed to be except in a job which paid her bills but no longer inspired her the way it once had.

Oh hell, she should jump in. She looked at the water again. Did doing something radical have to involve getting wet? Maybe she could try a different cuisine instead. Tibetan sounded interesting.

She glanced up at Sam. He looked like the devil with a wicked half-grin as he rocked the boat. It was only a matter of time before they both toppled in.

"Stop it, Sam." If she was going to get wet, it would be when she was ready and not by falling out of the boat and making a fool of herself in front of everyone. In front of Sam.

He sat down with a thud. "What's wrong, Maddie? Why are you being such a—"

"Nerd?"

"I was going to say—"

He didn't get a chance to finish. Another paddle boat, powered by two teenage boys, slammed into them. The boys thought it was hilarious. So did Sam when Maddie slid off her seat and into the water.