Authors: Michele Dunaway
“It’s because you have a big heart.”
“I just wish it was enough.”
He tipped her head back. Locked his gaze onto hers. “It’s more than enough.”
“I wish I could believe it.”
“Believe it.” Gazes locked, she reached up to touch his face, feeling the emerging stubble. She slid her hand around the side of his neck and up into the dark strands he’d worn loose. Then she took what she needed. She encountered no resistance as she brought his mouth down to hers.
He tasted delicious. Like a slice of chocolate cake, only better. Lips pressed, lightened. Pressed again. He drew her closer and she angled her lips so the kiss could deepen. Sparks flew as his tongue found hers. Her eyes closed, tears banished as passion took their place. She curled her fingers, threading them further into his seductive hair. No wonder women loved long hair. Legolas. Aragorn. Thor. Stuff of fantasies, but with Joe, very real. And better. Oh, so much better. A mewling cry of pleasure escaped her as he plundered her mouth. Maybe it was his age. His experience. Finally, it was like in those romance novels she devoured. She’d never been kissed like this before, as if a kiss was a mutual possession.
He broke the connection to nibble his way down her neck, tracing a sensual line down to the scoop of her tank top. An ache began between her thighs and instinctively she pressed forward and up, her aching breasts searching. He used a hand to yank the garment and her bra down, bringing his mouth to her needy peak.
His tongue circled, and she arced toward his mouth, the wave of pleasure coursing through her so resplendent. He freed her other breast, lavishing attention on both peaks until her knees buckled from sheer pleasure as a tiny orgasm shot through her whole body and she shook. He recaptured her mouth, kissing her senseless. He didn’t bother with the button, instead simply sliding fingers under the hem of her shorts and underwear until he found her soaked center. His kiss captured her moan as he rubbed a circle until she came hard and fast with ragged breath.
“Joe,” she breathed, wanting—no, needing—to reciprocate, to feel him.
As she reached for the button on his jeans, it was like a bucket of cold water washed over Joe. What the hell was he doing? His hands pinned hers, stopping her from going further. “No,” he told her between kisses. He pulled his mouth away. “No.”
“But,” she protested, her desirous eyes confused. Still, he kept her hands pinned. Part of him throbbed, for he wanted the release her touch promised.
But not here. Not like this
. Not when he hadn’t been completely honest with her about his own scars. His mom had raised a respectful man, and he had to be one, not matter how much his body thought otherwise.
“We need to stop,” he told her.
As reality intruded, Taylor crashed back to earth with a violent thump. “What? Why?” She winced. But how did you sound calm, cool, and collected after a man touched your most intimate spot, brought you to orgasm and then decided that continuing was a bad idea?
From hot to cold in two seconds flat meant her head warred with everything from rejection to regret to anger to unsatisfied desire. “I’m sorry,” he said.
Anger won. “Don’t you dare say that. Don’t you dare tell me you hated that you led me on.”
“I …”
She rounded on him. She hadn’t given herself to anyone since Owen beyond a perfunctory good-night kiss. “I didn’t need a hook-up.”
“It’s not a hook-up,” he countered, stepping back. “Never. That’s why I’m stopping.” His arms crossed. “It’s not you. It’s me.”
“I hate those words.”
“I would never lie to you. We have to work together. The book.” Clearly he was agitated. At a loss for words. A hand jerked through his hair, hair she’d fisted with abandon. “I don’t regret what happened, but it was a mistake.”
“That sounds like regret to me.”
“I …” He’d leaned against the cabinets, and he straightened and slid sideways, even further away. “Look at me. I’m hard as a rock. It’s not that I don’t want you.”
“Then explain. Because I feel cheap.”
He thrust his hands in his pockets. Took them out again. “That was never my intention. I have issues, okay? It seriously is me. Not you.”
“What kind of issues? I don’t understand.” She could see the bulge. His body desired hers. “You’re not dating someone, are you?”
He appeared horrified. “No.”
“Then what is it?” She’d calmed somewhat.
He brushed back his hair again. “It’s just wrong. … And I’m due at the gym. You are an awesome woman. If the circumstances were different …” his voice trailed off. “Trust me, you deserve better. I’ll call you.”
And then he was out of the kitchen, unfinished beer sitting on the counter. She glanced out the window, watched his car back out of the driveway. She pounded her hand on the counter. What was it with men screwing with her head? Her high school boyfriend of six months had taken her virginity and then dumped her a week later. Then Owen had turned into a possessive, obsessive crazy person. Now Joe had told her he had issues. She chugged the rest of the bottle and resisted the urge to shatter it on the counter. Breaking things never helped, and that type of conflict resolution had been Owen’s mojo.
Sensing something was wrong, Yin and Yang wove between her legs, their plaintive meows indicating they wanted to comfort her by providing objects for petting. She dumped Joe’s beer, carrying the rinsed bottles to the garage for recycling. She began to put the background away. So much for their sharing a moment.
She’d thrown herself at him and been tossed aside with a dumb excuse. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again, and she certainly wouldn’t ever embarrass herself this way again. No. Been there, done that.
Her phone buzzed and she answered. “Hey, Taylor,” her manager, John, said. “Can you work tonight? Lisa’s out sick.”
Taylor’s answer was instantaneous. Stay home and wallow or get out and earn some money. “Absolutely,” she told him. “I’ll be right in.”
* * *
“So how did the shoot go?” Susie asked the next day, her legs bending. She pulled abreast with him on the climbing wall.
“Fine,” Joe said. He craned his neck, assessing the next rock protrusions. The wall they were on was forty-five feet high, and they were two thirds of the way up.
“Just ‘fine’?” She grappled the next outcropping, pulled herself upward. The spotter below took the slack out of her line. “Amanda called me gushing.”
“Taylor did a great job.” He yanked himself upward. After leaving Taylor, he’d gone to the gym, gone two rounds with a worthy opponent to work out his frustrations.
“So what’s the problem?” Susie hung there, waiting for him to catch up. “Something’s wrong. I can tell.”
“I’m fine. I lost last night’s fight.”
“You never lose.”
“He got in a lucky shot. I’m a bit sore, that’s all. Didn’t block as well as I should have.”
“Now, I know something’s wrong,” Susie called as he passed her by. “Nothing ever gets by you.” She hauled herself upward. “I’m going to be too big for this soon. So tell me, what’s got you in a state?”
“Nothing. I am not in a state.” His foot slipped, but he caught himself before he swung off the wall and into empty space.
“You’re lying, and you never lie, so it’s obvious when you do. You forget I know you. Maybe it’s because of what happened when we were kids.”
“Don’t remind me.”
She ignored him. “Because of it, we have a bond. A close friendship beyond being related. Which means you owe me the truth.”
“Fine,” he grumbled. He loved all his brothers and sisters, but Susie was correct. He was closer to her than the others.
“Spill,” she demanded as she came level again. She drilled him with the look she’d perfected from their mother.
“I kissed her.”
“Who?” Her eyes widened a millisecond later as she figured it out. “No way!”
He studied the next rock outcropping.
“You didn’t! I could tell you liked her at the picnic, but …” Susie, forgetting where she was, covered her mouth with her hand, and lost her balance. She swung out into the air. “Damn! You are so going to tell me everything.” Joe climbed further away from where she dangled. “You have to come down sometime,” Susie warned as the spotter below began to lower her to the ground. “I’ll be waiting.”
“We’ll see,” Joe called after her, but oddly, unburdening himself felt decent. He’d made a mistake, and Susie would help him deal with it. They shared the same experiences, the same love and loss. Although, she’d found Parker.
Susie was drinking a strawberry banana smoothie from the juice bar when he caught up with her. “So, this kiss.”
“Yeah. About that. It was a mistake.”
Susie winced. “Did you say that to her? Please tell me you didn’t say that to her.”
He gritted his teeth.
Busted.
He gave a sad chuckle. “You know I’m not good with women. All looks, no follow-through.”
“Joe.”
He waved over the bartender, ordered a G2. Drained half of it. “Maybe you should take over this project.”
“Joe.” The way she sighed his name revealed marked resignation. He knew she was frustrated with him. “You have to get back out there. You can’t hide out the first time being with some woman scares you.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being a bachelor.”
“Except that you don’t want to be.”
“Do this for me,” he asked, avoiding addressing that particular issue. “Take over the book. I can learn how to take photos some other way.”
She took a sip of her smoothie. “I’m the next one anyway. I need to call Taylor to set it up. I’ll talk to her.”
“Thanks,” Joe said, finishing the last of his orange-flavored drink.
“You know she will be there for the family shoot.”
Joe stood up and gave his sister a peck on the forehead. “But then we won’t be alone, and it’s weeks away. I’ve got to run. Literally. I’m off to do ten miles.”
She waved him away, turned and stared at the remains of her smoothie. Drummed her fingers on the table. Her oldest brother was so pig-headed. So darn stubborn, almost to a fault. Well, she’d promised to talk to Taylor, but she hadn’t promised to say what Joe wanted her to say. Splitting hairs, but in the Marino family, something she’d learned to do well.
She tugged her cell phone out of her pocket, pressed a button she’d programmed into speed dial. “Hey,” she said the moment her mother answered. “We’ve got a problem.”
* * *
“Thank you for agreeing to do this,” Susie said. “And so quickly.”
Taylor smiled as Susie posed against the background. “Well, my mom’s not back yet. Seems she and her friend got lost on the way back from Topeka.”
“Lost?” Susie wore a silver-sequined designer mini that showcased her rounding figure. Marci had stopped by to do Susie’s hair and makeup. Susie was beautiful, despite the wrinkled skin that covered toned legs and parts of her arms.
“Well, what was to be a two-day trip has turned into a week-long adventure. They had to see the sights in Topeka, of course.”
“Of course.” Susie nodded, catching Taylor’s sarcasm.
“And then they made it as far as Kansas City and they’re still there, staying at some hotel on the Plaza. It’s all a con to get me to move back in here, I’m sure.”
“Well, it’s a nice place. I had to share a room growing up.”
“There is that. I did have my own space. Now angle your shoulder more. Yes, like that.” Taylor pressed the shutter and shot a few more frames. “Okay, that’s a wrap.”
Susie looked like a kid in the candy store. “So I can see them?”
Taylor laughed. “Absolutely. Even with the fan, it’s getting hot out here, so let’s go inside and we can look at them on my computer. Could I get you something to drink?”
“Water is fine.” Taylor smiled and shook her head. “What?” Susie asked.
“You and Joe. My mom fully stocks this fridge so it looks like the beverage aisle at Dierberg’s, and that’s all he wanted too.”
“We’re simple people,” Susie said. “My parents weren’t big on sugary sweets. Not with six kids in the house. My mom even kept the real Oreos hidden in a closet in her bedroom. We got the store-brand sandwich cremes. Trust me, you can taste the difference.”
“Ouch,” Taylor said, reaching into a cabinet and bringing out a blue package. “That’s cruel because I’ve bought those and you’re right, they are awful. Here, you can have the real thing. Let me get us some water.”
Water and Oreos in hand, they sat at the breakfast bar as Taylor took the SD card out of her camera and slid it into a slot on her Mac. She then opened up all the photos. “Now remember, they aren’t retouched. I’ll lighten, tweak, and work some digital magic. But they are fabulous. See?”
As Taylor began to scroll through, her phone rang. “Just press the arrow key,” she told Susie as she grabbed her cell and stood.
“Hello?”
“Taylor, it’s Virginia. I’ve decided to host a little dinner party at my house to introduce the calendar guys to the media, and as the photographer, I want you to be there. Thursday night at five. I’m on Upper Ladue Road. Number …”
Taylor grabbed a pen and pad of paper from the urn her mother kept on the counter. She scribbled down the information. “I’ll be there.”
“Perfect. And how is your new project coming?”
“The Burns Recovered Support Group book? It’s going great. I’m two shoots in.”
“Excellent. Well, I think our calendar will be an annual project, so pencil us in for next year. See you Thursday. Semi-formal. Not black tie. We’ll save that for the ball.”
Taylor hung up. “Looks like I’m going to a cocktail party slash dinner.”
Susie glanced up. “Sounds fancy.”
“It’s to promote the calendar.” She leaned against the bar stool back. “I assume Joe will be there.”
“Excellent. Then you can work things out.”
Taylor frowned. “I didn’t realize there were things to work out.”
Susie gestured to the computer. “These are really good, by the way. I’ve never seen myself look so good, and I loved Laura’s shots.”
“Thanks.” The compliment warmed.
“Now that we have all the shoots arranged, it’ll go pretty quickly.”
“It should.” Taylor devoured an Oreo, her number-one comfort food.