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“I’m not that interesting,” Jess said, as flippantly as she could manage. She was enjoying flirting with him. It felt fun and kind of dangerous. Things she hadn’t let herself feel in far too long.
“Now, I think that’s a lie.”
“Really?” She raised an eyebrow and twisted in her seat to echo his posture. Like exercising a long-atrophied muscle, something inside her began to warm up.
“Really. You’re certainly the most interesting woman in this room.”
Jess managed to stop herself rolling her eyes. But only just. “And what makes you so sure of that?”
“Because you’re the only person here I want to talk to.”
He managed to sound so sincere when he said it that it didn’t even sound like a line. Jess was rapidly realizing Sean deserved the reputation Hailey had reported. He clearly worked hard for it. The polar opposite to his responsible, down-to-earth younger brother, who’d joined the family accounting firm and married his high school sweetheart. Sean had a woman in every town—in every suburb, if Hailey was to be believed.
He’d be good in bed, then.
The thought sent a wave of heat through her body. It had been a while. Too long, really.
She shook it away. “And why’s that?” she countered.
“Everyone else is incredibly dull. I know. I’ve pretty much worked the entire room. Not an original thought to be found.”
“So I’m just the best of a bad lot? Hmm, that’s very flattering.” Jess stroked a lock of hair behind her ear before she realized what she was doing.
The side of his mouth quirked and she watched his eyes follow the movement of her hair before returning to meet her gaze. “You could see it that way, I suppose.” He leaned back languidly, one hand toying with a crumpled menu card on the table. “Or you could see it as an opportunity.”
Jess gave him an exaggerated quizzical look. “An opportunity? An opportunity for what?” She ran her fingers around the misty stem of the glass of champagne on the table. Oh, how easily the old moves came back!
“To get to know me better.”
That was too much; Jess couldn’t hold in her laughter.
Sean pouted, faking a hurt look. “My lady, you wound me.” He clapped one palm to his chest, over his heart.
His chest would be firm, she’d bet. Hairy or not? His high collar and bow tie allowed for no hints, and the shirt was fastened with those special tuxedo studs that matched his cuff links. Jess had never played with those before. A wicked impulse came from nowhere. It made her fingers itch to undo that tie and open the shirt, button by button, to reveal his skin and satisfy her curiosity.
She raised her eyes to his and realized some of her thoughts must have been painted on her face. The green of his eyes had turned forest-at-dusk dark, and his body was poised with a careful stillness.
The stillness of a predator about to strike.
A sudden jolt of nerves shot through her belly. Be careful, Jess. It was all very well to play games, but when you had no intentions of following through, the line in the sand had to be very clear. “I, uh,” Jess began, not entirely sure what she was going to say.
He leaned forward, a fraction, and his hand reached for hers, peeling her grip from the stem of the wineglass and taking her hand lightly. He didn’t clasp it tightly, just let her fingers loosely sit in his palm. His own fingers moved almost imperceptibly to stroke the inside of her wrist.
Jess felt the touch echo throughout her body, resonating loudest in the parts that had been empty for too long. Her breath caught and a slow burn of arousal lit deep inside her.
Oh, it had definitely been far too long. A thrill of anxiety went through her—nerves and excitement all wound up together. Was it time to remedy that? Could she possibly let something like that happen?
From everything Jess had heard from Hailey, Sean was the epitome of the love-’em-and-leave-’em type. No permanent address, he’d been dragged to town for the wedding and would be disappearing again as soon as he could—much to Hailey’s relief.
If a girl wanted some casual, no-strings-attached sex, Sean Paterson was probably the perfect choice. But he was Hailey’s brother-in-law, and Jess didn’t want her sex life—or lack thereof—to be workplace gossip.
Excuses, excuses, the wicked impulse from within tutted. You want to be alone the rest of your life? You really want to be defined by failure forever? You’ve got to start somewhere....
Jess took a quick glance at the dance floor where Hailey and Rob were drunkenly clutching each other as they swayed to the music. It wasn’t as if they would notice. And she doubted Sean was the kiss-and-tell kind.
But there was one more thing. Sean was Rob’s older brother, she knew that, but he still had to be significantly younger than her. It just wasn’t...proper.
The fact that all this thinking was required had to be a sign, too.
She managed a strangled-sounding laugh as she extracted her hand from his, feeling her cheeks heat and hoping her flush wasn’t too obvious.
“If I only wounded you, clearly my sword isn’t as sharp as it used to be,” she said.
“Perhaps you just need more practice.” He didn’t seem deterred in the slightest.
“At fighting?”
“If that’s what’s on offer, I’ll take it.” He gave her a lopsided smile, the kind of charming, disarming look that had undoubtedly broken hearts all across the country.
Jess was afraid it was about to be her undoing, as well.
She licked her lips, wondering if there was any lipstick left on them. “You should be more careful. You don’t know much about your opponent.”
“True. But I like what I’ve seen so far.”
This time Jess did roll her eyes. A girl had her limits. “Does this shtick really work for you?”
His expression turned suddenly serious and he shifted forward, elbows on his knees, fingers interlaced, his face mere inches from hers. She could feel the heat of his legs where they bracketed her own. He’d well and truly invaded her personal space, and Jess would have edged away, but her back was right against the chair and there was nowhere to go.
“What would you prefer?” he asked, eyes boring into hers.
“What? In terms of a seduction?” She held his gaze when she said it, just to see if he flinched. He didn’t.
“Is that what this is?”
“Isn’t it?”
He seemed to give the matter some thought. “I’d probably call it flirting, but, yeah, I guess if we break it down, seduction probably better expresses my eventual goal.”
There was something incredibly appealing about confidence like that. In any other circumstances, it would be annoying as hell, but right here, right now, it was definitely working for him. And for her—despite the butterflies tangoing in her belly.
She couldn’t help but smile. “You’re pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “I can be. When the moment calls for it.”
“How old are you?”
A quick frown creased his forehead. “Twenty-eight. Why?”
“I’m thirty-five.”
“And?”
“And?” He was incredible. “I’m seven years older than you.”
“So?”
“Do you even remember when this song came out?” Jess gestured to the dance floor where wedding guests were bopping away to a song Jess fondly remembered from her high school days.
“I prefer classic rock from the sixties and seventies. This pop stuff is giving me a headache.”
Jess sighed. He didn’t get it.
A woman called out Sean’s name from the other side of the room. Jess looked over and saw her wave and head their way—Rob and Sean’s mother in an imposing teal-green suit. Her hair was a solid helmet of hairspray and not a strand of it moved as she strode toward them. The chunks of diamonds in each ear and around her throat sparkled almost blindingly.
“Isn’t that your mother? Does she want to talk to you?”
Sean glanced up and a pained expression crossed his face. “Not now, Mom,” he called out to the woman who was still three table lengths away.
“But, Sean—”
“Later.” He dismissed her with a careless wave.
Mrs. Paterson stopped with an expression so wounded, Jess almost wanted to make Sean apologize. But then she shot her son a look that would curdle milk and threw up her hands in exasperation. She mouthed the word typical and rolled her eyes before turning back the way she’d come. Sean didn’t see any of that, Jess noted; his gaze was back on her, and it was as if the interruption had never happened.
“Let’s dance.”
“Huh?”
“Come on.”
Jess wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but a moment later she found herself being pulled to the dance floor, her hand clasped firmly in Sean’s. He found a small clearing and let her go, turning to face her. He shuffled his feet, clearly uncomfortable, and raised his hands in a halfhearted accompaniment. Jess began swaying her hips, just as the boppy pop song came to a close. They were left standing, facing each other, as the strains of one of her favorite Madonna ballads began. The floor began to clear around them, hot and sweaty dancers muttering how they were grateful for a break, leaving behind couples happy to enjoy a slow dance together.
“Well, this is awkward,” she muttered.
“Sorry, I’m a crappy dancer.” He didn’t sound especially broken up by that fact. Was his confidence really that unshakable?
“It was your idea.”
“I know. Here.”
There were still a few other couples dancing, and Sean seemed to look around for inspiration before pulling Jess close, his hands resting on her lower back. Jess had no choice but to put her hands on his shoulders—solid and warm, even through the padding of his jacket.
As dances went, it wasn’t going to score them any points in a competition. But they found an easy rhythm and no one seemed to be commenting on their ineptitude.
Jess found herself staring at the shiny tuxedo buttons on his shirt, her thoughts running a million miles a minute with ideas that she had no business entertaining.
Hailey’s brother-in-law.
She should definitely not be thinking about seeing him naked. Or about what kind of kisser he’d be. Certainly not about how good he smelled, or how, if she just stepped a little closer, she’d be pressed full-length against his body. Definitely not about how his fingers were stroking her back gently through her dress, and the touch was sending ripples of sensation to other, needy, parts of her.
Until this moment she hadn’t realized how much she missed being touched.
Sean said something, but she missed the words, feeling the rumble of them instead. She looked up. “Sorry?” Luckily she’d started to speak before her eyes met his, because once they did, her breath seemed to stop somewhere halfway in her throat. He was wearing that half grin again, eyes sparkling mischievously.
“I said, you look very serious.”
“This is a serious song.”
“I guess.” He dismissed her comment with all the gravity it deserved—none—before nudging Jess’s knee with one of his own. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“What? We can’t leave. They haven’t cut the cake yet.” As much as she’d spent the past two hours desperate to get out of here, Sean’s offer of escape made her stomach flip unpleasantly at the same time as that little voice in her head cheered her on.
“Oh, like anyone’s going to notice.”
“You’re the best man.”
“Yeah, but my job’s done for the day. Get the groom to the wedding, check. Hand over the rings, check. Make the speech at dinner, check. That’s it.”
“It was a very good speech,” Jess said. Sean had spoken easily and confidently—no surprises there. He’d given a couple of the requisite humorous tales from Rob’s past and done a lovely job of sincerely wishing the happy couple a bright future. As he’d taken the microphone and begun to speak, the apprehensive and then relieved looks on the entire wedding party’s faces had to have been obvious to the whole room.
He dismissed her praise with a wave. “Thanks. So, ready to go?”
Those green eyes were staring down at her, half daring, half asking. The dare part appealed to the reckless streak that Jess mostly kept hidden—and that had certainly not seen the light of day in recent times. It was an impulse that had given her, among other things, a tattoo of a tiny star on her butt, a scar under her chin from a fall down a flight of stairs in a nightclub in Amsterdam and an occasional back twinge that hadn’t been there before she’d bungee jumped over a river in New Zealand.
“Go where?” she asked.
He dropped his hands from around her and Jess stepped back, her body already mourning the loss of contact. Sean reached into his pocket. “For a drive,” he said. His hand emerged and he threw a set of keys in the air before catching them again in one hand.
He took a step toward the exit, arm outstretched, one eyebrow arched in question. His eyes glinted with challenge.
Jess hesitated. “Just a drive?”
“Just a drive,” he confirmed.
She thought for a moment. But only a moment. Then she reached for his hand.
“I have a feeling I’m going to regret this,” she said under her breath.
Sean laughed and pulled her toward the door.
CHAPTER TWO
“WE CAN’T TAKE the bridal car!”
“Of course we can—it’s my car.” Sean pulled on Jess’s hand until they stood on the apron of the curved hotel drive. His GT had clearly been parked by someone who appreciated that this was a car worth showing off.
But he’d forgotten about the freaking ribbons.
Someone had put ribbons on Dezzie. Ribbons! Sean crouched down in front of the car only to find the stupid stuff had been threaded through and tied tight around the front grille. He needed a knife, but bloody Rob had refused to let him wear one in his tux.
“Sorry, baby,” he murmured as he stood. He stroked the hood of the car to try to make her feel better about the ignominy.
“Sean, seriously, we can’t take this car.”
He nodded. “Yes, we can. Rob and Hailey are staying here at the hotel tonight.” He gestured to the tall building behind them. “Honeymoon suite.” He winked.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. I, uh, did a few things to make the room ready for their wedding night.” Sean opened the passenger door and reached for Jess’s hand.
She hesitated. “Oh. Oh.” She gave him a look of distaste. “What, lots of condoms and sex toys and stuff? Nothing too gross I hope.”
“Nothing too gross, I promise. Just...being helpful.”
Jess shook her head, but a smile played around her lips. He wanted to kiss her, to see if those lips were as soft and sweet-tasting as they looked. But she had something of the easily startled lamb about her and Sean figured he needed to work up to that. Reading people was one of his talents—a talent he was proud of—and that contributed to his success as an author. And he was sure he was reading Miss Jessica Alexander correctly. She wasn’t going to easily succumb to his charms.
Just as well, he’d always enjoyed a challenge.
“Where are we going?” she asked, but she put her hand in his and allowed him to help her into the car. Sean blessed the designer of her dress as the split in her skirt once again fell open, revealing a length of creamy thigh. He swallowed hard as his body tightened, and he gave himself a silent lecture about restraint as he closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side.
He settled into the familiar seat and smiled as the car started up with a welcoming rumble. Desdemona was more than a car. She was a friend, a shelter, a partner in crime, a symbol of his achievement. Occasionally, even, a home. Dezzie meant more to him than most human beings of his acquaintance.
Tonight, she was an escape vehicle. Sean felt a weight lift as he maneuvered the car out of the hotel and away from the Paterson family, as if he’d been wearing a lead cloak that he’d finally managed to shrug off.
“Would you like me to leave you two alone?”
Sean was startled from his reflection by Jess’s amused tone. “Huh?”
“The way you’re stroking the steering wheel. It’s almost...obscene.” She laughed, a warm, rich sound.
Sean didn’t rise to the bait. Jess wasn’t the first person to comment on the close relationship he had with his car. And frankly, he didn’t care what other people thought. Not about Dezzie, anyway.
“She’s been through a lot today,” Sean said. “Not the least of which was Rob driving her from the church. He’s my brother, and I love him, but the guy has no idea how to work a clutch.”
“Go on, give me the specs.”
“Seriously?”
“Tell me as if I don’t know anything about cars.”
“Because you don’t know anything about cars.”
“Exactly.”
Sean ran a hand over the dash as he spoke. “Dezzie is a Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III, affectionately called the Hoey. One of only three hundred made. This model won Bathurst in 1971 with Allan Moffat driving.”
“Dezzie?”
“Yeah, short for Desdemona—the woman who elopes with Othello. Most of the other cars that are still around today are in showrooms or collections.”
“But you like to drive it—I mean, her, Dezzie.”
Sean smiled, pleased with Jess’s correction. “Yeah. It’d be kind of like keeping a wild bird in a cage. She was born to be on the road.”
Jess nodded with a surprisingly understanding look on her face. “I get what you mean. So, gonna show me what she can do?”
He flicked Jess his best wicked look. “I thought you’d never ask.”
The speed limit on city streets was disappointingly low, so Sean headed for the closest freeway he could find—then he could at least let Dezzie off the leash a little. When he reached the on-ramp and accelerated hard, Jess let out a yelp, but he backed off as soon as he reached the limit. Well, just over the limit. Dezzie’s top speed neared two hundred and fifty kilometers an hour, but Sean hadn’t let her rip like that for a while. He needed to wait until he’d earned back a few more points on his license.
“That was fun,” Jess said.
“It’s better when you get out on a racetrack.”
“I can imagine.” She twisted and looked around into the backseat. Her dress gaped as she did, revealing to him that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Sean did his best to be gentlemanly about it, but the sight of her breast almost down to her nipple had his mind fogging over. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt such an instant attraction to a woman. And he didn’t for the life of him understand how she could have been left sitting alone at the wedding. She should have been slapping off come-ons like flies.
“She’s very clean. Did you have to get her detailed for the wedding?”
Sean struggled to focus on her question. “Dezzie’s always pretty clean, but yeah, she did get a spruce up.”
“And ribbons.” There was no mistaking the tease in her voice.
“Yeah. And ribbons,” he grumped.
He glanced over and Jess met his eyes. She was smiling, more than a trace of amusement in her expression over his fondness for his car. But it was kindly meant—and after a day with his family, Sean definitely knew the difference.
“You’re a writer, huh?”
“Yep.” She was the first person all day to ask him about his work. It was probably just as well, as the big news he wanted to share wasn’t nearly final enough to make public. When he finally did make his announcement, he wanted it to be a big occasion—he wanted to be there to lord his triumph over his parents, see the recognition of his achievement light up in their eyes.
“What kind of books do you write?”
“This and that.” He’d learned it was better to be vague with most people. Unless they understood his genre, they tended to be dismissive, if not insulting. Better not to get into it at all. “What’s your favorite animal?”
“Huh?”
“Being a vet and all, I figure you must have one.”
“Not really. I like all animals.”
“What’s your least favorite then?”
She paused a moment before answering. “I guess I’m less keen on reptiles. I’m more of a dog and cat person. But at my clinic I look after all kinds of house pets, and that occasionally includes snakes and lizards and the like.”
“What happens when you get a snake and a pet mouse in to see you at the same time? Do you have a dividing wall in the waiting room or something?”
“Generally people don’t just bring their snakes in and sit them on their lap,” she said drily.
“But surely the potential is there for chaos.”
“Not in my waiting room.”
No. He could see that. She’d accused him of being overly confident, but there was a strength to her that he could see just from the brief interaction they’d had so far. She seemed very “together,” compared to other women he knew.
He glanced across at her and their eyes met and held.
One of her eyebrows arched. “Shouldn’t you be watching the road?”
“Probably.” But it took him another few moments before he pulled his eyes from hers and turned back to face the windscreen. Jessica Alexander was seriously hot. And making him feel the same. He dearly wished he’d thought to remove his tux jacket before he’d gotten in the car.
Jess shifted in her seat and from the corner of his eye, Sean watched her skirt fall open again. She wasn’t wearing stockings or panty hose—the bare skin of her legs was a pale pinky-gold that he just knew would feel like silk. Her fingers grabbed the fabric and she tugged on it to pull it back into place.
“Don’t.” Sean covered her hand with his. The contact sent a warm thrill through him. He wanted to touch her all over. The arousal that had been echoing faintly through his body became an ache at the thought.
Jess halted and looked down at their hands and her bared thighs before sending a smile his way. “Hmm. You sure I won’t distract you from driving, sitting here like this?”
Sean tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, doing some quick mental navigation. “We’re only ten minutes from where I’m staying.”
“And that’s where we’re going, is it?”
“Well, it would solve the distraction problem.”
“Hmm, I see what you mean.”
It wasn’t much of an answer. “Unless you have another suggestion?” Sean took his eyes off the road for a moment to get a quick read on Jess. He wanted to end this evening with those gorgeous legs wrapped around him—he very much hoped she wanted the same thing. And, in addition to that seductive image, she was right. Her bare skin, her soft floral fragrance, the ideas that were circulating through his head—none of it contributed to totally focused driving.
“How long are you in Melbourne for?”
He frowned at the question. “Not long. Why?”
One shoulder lifted and then dropped in a nonanswer. “Hailey said you don’t stick around anywhere for very long. Where to next?”
“Sydney. I’m probably heading there tomorrow or Monday.” He had to be somewhere with a solid internet connection by Monday evening. For one of the most important meetings of his life. It’d make sense to set off on the ten-hour drive the next day; stop overnight somewhere halfway so he was fresh when he arrived.
“Is that a problem?” he asked when Jess remained silent. It was better she understood now that this wasn’t the beginning of something more than he could offer.
“No, no, it’s not a problem.” Her voice was a little faint.
Sean steered onto an off-ramp and turned into a side road. As soon as he could, he pulled the car over to stop on a low embankment. He turned to face her and, before she could protest, lowered his lips to hers.
It was a gentle kiss, just lips and breath and the warm rich scent of her skin. Their noses and chins rubbed together as Sean kissed either side of her mouth, before settling on her lips again to just barely caress them.
He pulled back just far enough to watch as her eyes drifted back open, her expression dazed.
“Wow,” she whispered.
“Yeah.” He grinned, knowing it would be goofy, but that one kiss had been enough to make him absolutely positive about what he wanted next. He cupped her chin with one hand. “Jess? I really like you. I’d like to spend the night with you—if you’d like to spend it with me.”