Текст книги "Surrender to Love"
Автор книги: J. C. Valentine
сообщить о нарушении
Текущая страница: 3 (всего у книги 15 страниц)
On reflex, Patti placed her hand in his, momentarily distracted by its warmth and strength as it enveloped hers. “Patti Jacobs,” she said in what may or may not have been a breathy voice.
“Is Patti short for Patricia?” Jon inquired. Patti nodded. “Well, then, Patricia, it was nice meeting you, again. I only wish it could have been under better circumstances. Sorry about your car.”
She shrugged, some of her earlier anger dissipating. “Yeah, well, I should probably be apologizing to you. I’m pretty sure my car won the battle.”
Jon glanced back at his mangled vehicle, his expression darkening. “Well, that’s what insurance is for. I’m just glad we’re both okay.”
“Mm, silver lining,” Patti said, bobbing her head in agreement. She hadn’t missed the haunted look that passed over his face. She was curious what it meant, but she wasn’t about to ask him about it.
“Silver lining.” Jon smiled down at her. Tension was still evident in the crinkles around his eyes, but it was already fading. “Listen, this is probably a little unorthodox, considering I just rear-ended you.” Patti smirked as her mind practically jumped head first into the gutter.
“That came out wrong.” He straightened, rubbing the back of his neck as he composed himself before leaning into her window again. “Would you like to go to dinner with me?”
Patti nibbled her lip, considering his offer. “I don’t know if that would be wise,” she said slowly. “I just got out of a relationship.”
“Well, lucky for me, I usually prefer my dates to be unattached. Nothing dampens an evening more than having to put down a jealous boyfriend.”
“Confident are we?”
“Obnoxiously so.”
Patti couldn’t stop the stupid grin from spreading across her face. Despite her reservations with…well, men in general, how did a girl say no to that? “When and where?” she asked before she could come to her senses and change her mind.
“I have a few things to take care of first, and then I’ll call you.”
“You don’t have my number,” Patti pointed out.
Jon backed toward his car, a playful smile curving his lips. He flashed the piece of paper he’d taken her information down on, and said, “Actually, I do. Be seeing you.”
Slumping back in her seat, Patti shook her head. What the hell was she doing? The last thing she needed to be doing was rebounding, but she was also in desperate need of a distraction. If she was lucky, this guy just might give her one.
“Oh, and Patricia?”
Patti twisted in her seat, hanging her head out the window. She raised her eyebrows in question.
“I don’t know what all that was about on the phone, but for what it’s worth, I think you have fantastic legs.” He winked at her and turned away to head back to his car.
A true smile burst across Patti’s face and she bit her lip to keep from giggling. Yep, Jon was definitely going to be a distraction.
Checking the traffic, Patti glanced in her rearview mirror before pulling away. Jon stood beside his mangled BMW with his phone pressed to his ear. His lips moved as he spoke to who she assumed to be a tow truck driver, but his eyes stayed pinned on her. He lifted his hand at her and Patti felt the heat creep back into her cheeks as she maneuvered her way back on the road feeling buoyancy she hadn’t felt in ages.
5
“Are you telling me that you busted up her sweet ass car, and then she agreed to go out on a date with you?” Travis’ hazel eyes reflected his bewilderment, and maybe a touch of envy, as he looked up at Jon from his hunched position. “Only you, my friend. Only you.” His arm swung back over his right shoulder and swept back down fast, connecting with the little ball of plastic and sending it sailing through the air at warp speed. “Four!” he shouted, and laughed wickedly when a little old couple ducked their heads in fear.
Jon swapped positions and reset the tee. There was no better way to start a Monday than with a round of golf. “What are the odds that we’d ever run into each other again? I couldn’t let her slip through my fingers,” he explained. Licking his finger, he raised it above his head to test the wind’s direction, just like his father taught him. “I’d never forgive myself.” Jerking his arm back, he smashed the golf ball with his club and they paused, shielding their eyes against the noonday sun, to watch where it would go. It went a good one-hundred and fifty yards, beating out Travis’ easily. Jon smirked at him.
“Dick,” Travis muttered as they replaced their clubs in the bags and climbed into the golf cart. “So you said this woman actually had it out with her boyfriend while you exchanged information? Doesn’t that sound a little dicey?”
“Ex-boyfriend,” Jon clarified as he guided the cart toward the eighteenth hole. “And it isn’t dicey at all. You know I like my women feisty, and this one is a spitfire.”
Travis nodded, staring off into space as he ruminated over the past. “Hot in the sack, I’ll give you that, but otherwise crazy. The first girlfriend I ever had was out of her damn mind, but holy hell did she teach me some things.”
“Always the best kind,” Jon agreed, already entertaining ideas of all the things he’d like to do to Patricia’s insanely gorgeous body once he got her naked and underneath him. She was petite, her head barely reaching the center of his chest, but that was fine with him. It would just make things that much more interesting when they took it to the bedroom.
“And what happens if she turns out like the last one?” Travis inquired.
Jon hit the brakes and they got out, rounding the back of the cart to select their clubs. He turned to his friend and slanted him a devil-may-care smile. “Then I know who to come to for a restraining order.”
Travis followed him out on to the field. “Is that all I’m good for, filing protection orders when you fall into bed with your current fatal attraction? You make me feel so cheap, Jon,” he pouted playfully.
Jon clapped him on the shoulder. “Baby, you know you’re the only one for me.”
Travis socked him in the shoulder. “Damn. You sure know how to make a guy feel special.”
Jon pointed to the last hole. “Hurry up and lose. I’ve things to do.”
By the time Jon wrapped up his game with Travis and they parted ways, he was running late for a meeting. Bookish Temptations was his brainchild and its success astounded him every single day, but he wasn’t a numbers kind of guy. In fact, he hated just about everything having to do with running a business. Growing up, his father called him a wild child, while his mother lovingly deemed him a free spirit. All he knew was that he loathed being cooped up in a place that wasn’t his home, and he absolutely hated being idle for too long.
An hour later, while he sat in a boardroom listening to a group of old men blather on about growth and percentages, he gazed out the long line of tinted windows at the tiny specks of color moving on the street below. He longed to be out there, living instead of wasting away precious moments of his life on something he wasn’t even remotely interested in.
It was then he made his decision. “Sorry to interrupt, gentlemen,” he began, placing his palms on the table and pushing to his feet. Mr. Dierdrick paused in his explanation of whatever pie chart he was presenting to the group, the tip of his expensive black pen hovering over the paper, as he looked over at him. “While I do so enjoy learning the ins and outs of corporate strategies, I have other places I need to be.”
“But, Mr. Bradshaw,” Mr. Dierdrick spluttered. “There’s still so much to go over.”
“Henry,” Jon interrupted. He started for the door, fastening the button on his suit jacket and smoothing his tie down his chest. “Send the report to Ms. Montgomery. She’ll be sure it makes it onto my desk.” With his hand on the doorknob, he motioned a quick farewell to the other men in attendance and breezed out the door, relieved to have escaped the confines of the stuffy boardroom.
Once outside again, he breathed a lungful of fresh air as he cut across the parking lot and climbed into his brand new F-150. Some might call him spoiled or a snob because he could just go out and select a new car at a moment’s notice, but he had the money. It really didn’t make any sense to drive a rental while he waited for the insurance estimate to come in when he could just buy another. Being wealthy had its perks.
It was mid-afternoon, which left the day open for possibilities. Going straight home, Jon changed out of his work clothes and got in a quick shower. As he shaved his face clean of scruff, he thought over what his next move would be with the sensational vixen he’d had the good fortune of plowing into the previous morning. Would she be thinking of him still? Was she anticipating his call?
After shaving, Jon pulled on a pair of boxer shorts and went in search of food. He didn’t keep much in the fridge besides the basics: beer, milk, juice, lunchmeat and the occasional piece of fruit. Most of the time, Jon ate out, pun intended. He smirked at his own little joke and laid out the container of sliced turkey and a loaf of bread. While he assembled his sandwich, the phone rang.
“How’s my little dumpling?”
“How many times do I have to say this, Mother? I am in no way little.” Jon’s grin spread ear to ear, secretly pleased with his mother’s constant doting.
“You’ll always be my little boy, Jonathon,” she said.
“I know, Mom.” Jon slathered what would be considered a little too much mustard for most people’s taste on the bread, and slapped everything together. “So how are you and Dad?”
“Getting a little older every day, but there’s breath left in us yet,” she said cheerfully. “How are you doing? Is work going alright?”
Jon bit into his sandwich. “It’s fine,” he said around a mouthful of food. “Jenna’s quitting on me.”
“Is that the quiet one with the glasses?”
“That’s her.”
“What a shame. Did she say why she was leaving?”
Jon sighed heavily. “She’s getting married and her fiancé seems to think it’s the wife’s duty to stay home and mind the children.”
“And this upsets you I take it?” his mother questioned.
“Hell yeah it does,” Jon said. “She’s worked hard to get where she’s at and she’s just throwing it all away for some simple-minded jack-off! Now she’s leaving and I’m out an accountant.” Jon’s hands shook with his indignation. He set his sandwich down on the counter.
“You’ll find another one,” his mom reassured him.
“She was the best,” he argued.
His mother laughed. “Stubborn, just like your father.” She paused and Jon braced himself for a shift in conversation. “Speaking of your father. The annual block sale is coming up at the end of the month and he wants to unload a few pieces of old furniture and, well, you know how he is. He doesn’t want to ask for help.”
“Dad’s not supposed to be moving anything heavy,” Jon agreed, thinking back to the time when his father threw his back out while trying to unload a dishwasher he’d bought for Mother’s Day from his truck bed, alone. Doc Bradley, their family physician, had laid down the law and proclaimed his father officially over-the-hill. He let him know that under no uncertain terms was he allowed to move heavy objects without assistance from there on out.
“From your mouth to God’s ears,” his mother prayed. “But you know how he is when he gets an idea into his head.”
Jon nodded. He could see where this was heading from a mile away. “Just let me know when and I’ll make sure I’m there to help out.”
“You’re such a good son,” his mother praised. “One day you’ll make some woman very happy.”
Jon’s eyes narrowed and he felt the darkness creeping in around his thoughts. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that would never happen. Happiness wasn’t in the cards for him, and even if it was, he sure as hell didn’t deserve it. “Sure, Mom. When do you need me?” he asked, desperate for redirection.
“Not next Saturday but the one after that, say seven-ish?”
“Seven-ish it is.” As much as he loved talking to his mom, Jon needed to get off the phone. He couldn’t risk the conversation heading down the path he knew it would if he kept her on the line any longer. “Talk to you tomorrow?”
Disappointment laced her tone, but she didn’t voice any complaints. “Okay, my little dumpling,” she said.
“I can hear you smiling,” Jon said with a smile of his own.
“Smiling? Me? Never.”
Still smiling. “Love you.”
“Love you too, Son. See you in a couple weeks.”
Jon hung up the phone and polished off the rest of his sandwich. It tasted like saw dust, but just the simple act of eating took some of the edge off. The trick was to focus on other things, and he was a master of avoidance.
Staring at the phone still clutched in his hand, Jon debated on whether he should call Patricia. As much as he would have liked to call her that instant and set to work sealing the deal, he quite enjoyed the thrill of the chase. Far too much, in fact, to just steamroll into it. He was a man who liked to tease a woman’s senses, make her crave him as much as he craved her, until the sex between them was guaranteed to be nothing short of explosive.
Okay, sure, he had asked her to dinner, which could have been misconstrued to sound like he meant sooner rather than later, but in all actuality, he hadn’t specified when he wanted to take her out, just that he did. Would she be mad when he didn’t call? Most definitely. Did he care? Not a lick. Just like a frightened kitten with its sharp teeth and claws, with a little bowl of milk and the right words spoken in a soft, soothing voice, she’d eventually let her guard down, and then he’d be free to stroke her all he wanted.
Tonight, Jon planned to take it easy and let his dinner plans simmer on the back burner for a bit. Slipping into a nice, form-fitting black cotton T-shirt and dark wash jeans, Jon dialed up Travis and grabbed his keys as he headed out the door.
“You got the booze?” Travis said by way of answering.
“That depends, you got the ladies?”
“In the bag, baby.”
“Then I’ll see you in ten.”
6
Annoyed. Aggravated. Attitudinal. Patti was all of those things as she strutted into the sandwich shop Tuesday afternoon and made her way to the back where she and Lynn agreed to meet for their weekly lunch date. She wore her emotions on her sleeve as she dropped into the last available chair. “Talk about a week from hell,” she groused, slamming her purse down on the table.
Lynn looked up from her phone and arched an eyebrow. “I smell gossip,” she said, setting her phone aside. “Spill.”
Patti took a moment to collect her thoughts and to order a small sub before venturing down that treacherous path of depression and disillusionment. “So, I start with catching Kyle in bed with a hooker—”
“Oh, my God! A hooker?” Lynn screeched. If Patti could have seen her own face in a mirror that day, she imagined it would have looked something like Lynn’s now. Her jaw dropped in shock, her eyes wide in stunned disbelief. Lynn reached out to cover Patti’s hand. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. Did you kick him in the balls? Tell me you kicked him in the balls.”
“I wish,” Patty said with regret. “I did throw the bitch’s spike heels at the back of his head, though.”
“Did you make contact?”
Patti grinned. “Did I ever.”
“That’s my girl.” Lynn patted her hand and drew back to her side of the table to resume eating. “So a hooker, huh?”
Patti’s shoulders lifted and fell. “I don’t think she was actually a hooker. I mean, I don’t think Kyle would ever have to stoop that low in order to find someone willing to spread their legs, you know?” In fact, Kyle was pretty damn handsome. He was tall with an athletic build. His dirty blond hair was wavy and he kept it at the perfect length to entice a woman to run her fingers through it. And his smile was killer. It’s what drew her to him in the first place. He used all the clichéd, cheesy pick-up lines that men and women both laugh over, but he delivered them with a knowing smile, and that made him just plain cute in her eyes.
A man who could make a woman laugh was something to be treasured. But it was all blown to shit when he proved to be like all the rest of the men she’d ever dated. Now, all she could see was the troll living inside of him, using women without regard to their feelings.
“You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig,” Lynn said.
“I know.” Patti sighed. She picked at the wrapper surrounding her sub. She’d lost her appetite.
“Sweetie, I think we both knew going into this thing that Kyle was never going to be the man you would marry. It was fun while it lasted, but, hey, it’s over now and good riddance. The man was not good enough for you.”
“Thanks.” Patti’s lips curled up in a soft, shy smile.
“You’re welcome. Now eat. I will not have that jerk making my friend anorexic.”
Patti did as she was told. They ate in companionable silence, and when they finished, Patti decided to steal a few more minutes with her friend, so she walked with Lynn back to her office. She used the time to tell her about losing her job and about Jon.
“You mean to tell me that guy from the club the other night hit you?”
“He did,” Patti said as they came to a stop outside Lynn’s workplace.
“That’s gotta be fate if ever I heard it.”
“Not everything is fate, Lynn,” Patti chuckled.
“Well, no, not everything,” Lynn agreed with a roll of her eyes. “But how often do you meet some random person twice in forty-eight hours? I think someone is trying to tell you something.”
“Oh, so now the angels are matchmaking? Come on, Lynn, that’s just crazy talk, even from you. Besides,” she said with a twinge of hurt, “he said he’d call and he never did. I think that speaks for itself.”
“It’s only been a day!” Lynn shouted in exasperation. “Give the guy some time for crying out loud.” She backed toward the revolving glass doors and pointed a finger at her. “Promise me that when this guy calls, you’ll go out with him. One date, and if he turns out to be a total bastard, you never have to see him again.”
“I don’t know, Lynn,” Patti whined. Sure, she was attracted to the guy, and yeah, he seemed to be interested in her. But how interested could he be if he wasn’t more eager to see her again, and was it even a good idea for her to get even remotely involved with another guy so soon after Kyle?
“I can see you grinding your gears and I don’t like it. Stop thinking for once and just have some fun!” Lynn stopped just outside the doors, forcing people to go around her if they wanted inside. “Do it for me. Promise you’ll give it a try when he calls.”
“If he calls,” Patti reminded her.
“When he calls. Have some faith in your hotness!”
Patti threw her hands into the air. “Fine, if he calls, I promise I will go out with him on one date.”
“That’s all I ask,” Lynn sang. She blew her a kiss and disappeared inside.
Great, Patti thought as she started the short walk back to her house. She’d just verbally contracted herself to a date with a man who had probably already forgotten her existence. At least that got her out of their agreement, but the more she thought about it, the more she wasn’t sure she was happy about it. It kind of stung to think that she could be forgotten so easily, but she refused to dwell on it. If he weren’t interested, then neither was she.
As she stepped through the front door, she heard the faint buzz of her phone in her purse, and dug it out. She frowned, not recognizing the number on the caller ID. “Hello?”
“Hi.”
At the sound of his deep, smooth voice, Patti nearly melted into a puddle in the middle of the entryway floor. “Hi,” she said, her voice shaking. In the background, she could hear male voices and wondered where he was just then.
“I’m at work, so I can’t talk long,” he said, getting straight to the point. “I was thinking dinner tonight, eight o’clock. Are you free?”
Patti nibbled her bottom lip. A pit opened in her stomach as she thought about being alone with him, but Lynn’s words echoed in her ears, reminding her of their agreement. She’d never hear the end of it if she passed up his offer, not that she really wanted to anyway. The guy was ridiculously hot. Of course, she was going to go out with him! Still, she took a moment to pretend she had to think over her newly wide-open schedule.
“Yeah, I think that should work out alright.”
“Great,” he said with a smile in his voice. “I’ll pick you up at eight, then.”
“I’ll be waiting.” Hanging up, Patti grimaced. Why did she say she would be waiting? The more she repeated the words in her head, the more pathetic they sounded. Collapsing into the recliner, she closed her eyes and considered the evening ahead. She’d be alone with Jon, in his car, expected to make conversation. Well, that was nerve-racking. Then she’d have to eat, which meant she had to order food. Where would he take her? What would she order? Definitely something without garlic, or onions. Nothing too sloppy either, like spaghetti.
She was plotting out each move with lethal efficiency, when something occurred to her. She was getting all worked up for nothing. So what if she was going on a date with a hot guy? It wasn’t as if she hadn’t done it a million times before. They’d go out, eat, talk, and get to know one another a little, maybe a little touchy feely action, and that would be it. She’d have a nice evening out, and full stomach and she would move on with her life. As her father would tell her, she was making a mountain out of a molehill.
She glanced at the clock. She had almost seven hours to kill before he showed up. Determined not to make a big deal out of it, Patti pulled herself from the chair and made her way calmly to her bedroom to change into her grease-stained shorts and tank top.
* * *
“Dag nabbit!” Patti shouted. She slid out from under the car, using her feet to guide her, and treaded back into the garage. The wrench fell back into the toolbox with a loud, metallic clang. Pinching her injured finger, she held up her hand to inspect the damage.
It wasn’t as horrible as she thought it’d be. There was no bone showing or blood gushing, but there was a faint, feathered line marring the pink of her nail bed where it had bent back. “Damn, that’s gonna suck,” she muttered to herself. But not as bad as when Kyle showed up at her door earlier that afternoon.
Shortly after hanging up with Jon, there was a knock at the door. She’d opened it to find a very annoyed Kyle. He’d shoved past her, heading directly for the bedroom where he’d stored the majority of his belongings, but she’d already beaten him to it.
Retrieving a black canvass duffle bag from the hall closet, she dropped it on the floor in front of the open door and called out to him. The memory still tickled her pink. “Hey, looking for this?”
“You already packed my stuff?” Kyle asked, gearing up for one of his hissy fits. “Great, what’d you do, cut holes in all my shirts? Dump a gallon of bleach on everything?”
“I wish,” Patti had told him candidly, “but I didn’t feel like expending that much energy on worthless bullshit. I think I’ve done enough of that over the past eight months.” She looked him up and down meaningfully. Then, as he walked back toward her to retrieve the bag, Patti pulled her leg back and sent it sailing clear off the porch. “I suggest you follow suit before the same thing happens to your ass,” she told him, then smiled and waved as he stomped out the door, cursing up a storm.
Asshole.
Besides a pretty face and a hot body, what had she ever seen in him?
It was all water under the bridge now, though, and Patti had far more important and interesting things to occupy herself.
With her hands on her hips, Patti turned to assess her once pristine car. She’d ordered the parts and a few tools to help her repair the damage from the accident. They wouldn’t be delivered until sometime tomorrow, so she’d decided to keep herself busy by cleaning the spark plugs, changing out the filters, and giving her baby an oil change. A happy car meant a happy driver. Still, neither of them would be truly happy until she’d restored it to perfect condition, and that was going to take some time.
She could have just handed it over to an auto body repair tech and let them take care of it, but she liked working with her hands. Plus, she couldn’t shake the memory of her father telling her to never let another person fiddle around under the hood. That went double for the body. Come to think of it, he’d probably meant that in more ways than one.
Still, Patti held fast to the idea that she and her father, having built most of the car with their bare hands, were the only two people in the world who really knew how it worked. Now that he was gone, the responsibility was hers alone, and she refused to tarnish his memory by letting someone else tinker around with it. If anyone were going to screw it up, it would be her.
After her date tonight, she decided that the week ahead would be designated to restoring the car. She’d already decided to opt out of any gathering her friends might invite her to, and to close herself off from the outside world for the rest of the week so she could focus all of her attention on the task at hand. Plus, being without a job was like taking an extended vacation. She had all the time in the world to dedicate to it.
Granted, no one in their right mind would consider being wedged under a chassis and covered in grease a vacation, but then they hadn’t grown up in her household. Patti was practically born under a car, so it made sense that she felt at home under one.
Returning to the box of tools, she selected a new wrench and the oil pan. Lying back on the creeper, she slid back under.
As she let the pan fill with oil, Patti let her thoughts drift back to the accident. To a set of beautiful, intense blue eyes that melted her to her very core. She should be furious that Jonathon Bradshaw had caused her so much grief, but the only anger she could dredge up had absolutely nothing to do with her car and everything to do with the two women she’d seen hanging on his arm at the club.
What was it with men who found the idea of having two women at once so appealing? Was it greed, or just a lack of security? She’d never seen the draw, and now more than ever, she found the idea of it completely repulsive. And yet, it wasn’t as if they were together. He was free to do whatever he wanted with his time, and who was she to judge anyway? It wasn’t like she was living up what was left of her youth. If she were wise, she would take a page out of his book and do something daring, like streaking naked down the beach on a Saturday. Not that it’d ever be an option for her, but still, it was an idea. She wasn’t adverse to having fun or being daring.
With the pan full, Patti slid back out and rolled to her feet, careful not to slop oil everywhere. Setting aside the pan, she ducked back under the car, replaced the cap, and double-checked to make sure everything was tight.
The bad thing about summer was how long the sun took to set. Patti didn’t realize how much time had passed until she heard the heavy thud of a car door nearby. She wasn’t given much time to gather her thoughts before she heard the voice that made her tingle all the way down to her toes.
“So you drive a muscle car and you like to get dirty.” His voice was thick with appreciation and held a touch of laughter.
Patti used her feet to propel herself from under the car. Once she was clear, she found herself looking up into Jon’s incredible blue eyes.
“Damn and I thought you were stunning before.” His eyes skimmed down her body, and Patti became acutely aware of how much skin she was showing. She snapped her legs closed.
“What time is it?” she asked from her prone position.
Jon held out his hand and she took it. Grasping it tightly, he pulled her to her feet. “It’s nearly eight. I’m usually late for everything, but I found myself unable to wait any longer.” He slid his gaze over her again, and Patti felt her cheeks warm. Here he was confessing that he couldn’t wait to see her, and she had lost track of time over a car.
He hadn’t let go of her hand, she realized. Gently slipping her fingers free of his, Patti stepped back. Standing there in her filthy tank top and shorts, grease and oil smudging her exposed skin, while he stood before her looking completely edible in a pair of fitted black slacks and a white button down dress shirt, she couldn’t help feeling self-conscious.
“I’m sorry I’m not ready. I got distracted.” Patti jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the car.
Jon followed with his eyes and nodded. “That’s understandable. Having something that beautiful at your disposal is bound to cause some distraction.”
When Patti looked up at him, she found his intense eyes focused on her and she got the distinct impression that he wasn’t referring to the car.
“I can be ready in fifteen minutes, if you still want to go out,” she stammered.
A slow, wolfish smile spread across Jon’s face as he took her in again. “If you look this good dirty...” He cleared his throat and shook his head. “Yeah, I still want to go out, but you’d better make it ten because anything beyond that and I can’t promise I’ll still be a gentleman.”
