Catch 'n' Kiss (Are You Game?) (3 page)

She nodded. “Fourteenth. Why?”

“Well, how about that. We share a birthday. I’ll be twenty-eight. We’ll have to celebrate together.”

“Ah…” What the hell was she supposed to say to that? “The girls and I usually do something fun—go bowling, see a movie.”

“Great. Count me in.” Dan leaned over and flicked the pages on her calendar. “Okay, the fourteenth is a Saturday so we can do both. Oh, unless they’ll be with their father on the weekend?”

He was fishing for information, and Jody couldn’t decide if it was a good or bad thing that he didn’t balk at their seven-year-age gap or spending time with her daughters. “No, they’re with me most weekends, but the last thing you want to do is hang out with a couple of teenagers on your birthday—”

“Stop.” He held up his hand. “Here’s the thing, Jody. They’re part of you. I want to spend time with you so that means I want to spend time with them.”

Her stomach clenched. Their father didn’t want to see them half the time, so she couldn’t imagine Dan really wanted to spend the day in their company. “Look. I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but pretending to like my kids won’t get you in my bed.” Jody’s face flushed. Where the hell had that come from? She hadn’t even been thinking of sex with him.
Liar.

Dan laughed. A rich deep rumble that shook his shoulders. He leaned over her desk and got right in her face. “Make no mistake here, Jody. Wanting in your bed has nothing to do with wanting to spend the day with you and your kids. I want both. I’ll get both.”

Dan watched Jody closely. No doubt about it, he’d put it out there. He hadn’t even thought before the words were flying across his tongue. Her assumption about his motives pissed him off. She was the only woman he’d ever met who made him want to shake her and kiss her at the same time. It wasn’t the first time she’d questioned his intentions, and he wasn’t going to let her get away with it from now on. She’d know where he stood every step of the way.

He wasn’t sure when he’d made the decision to pursue her. Probably in that first nano-second his lips had touched hers. Her silent, wide-eyed stare almost made him laugh, but he didn’t think she’d find his humour acceptable at the moment. Then again, she hadn’t exactly found his statement to her liking either. With a sigh, he pulled out of her personal space and grabbed a pen out of the ceramic mug that reminded him of something he’d made back in high school. One of her daughters must have given it to her.

Marking the fourteenth of June with a big star, he scribbled
birthday celebration with girls and Dan
in red. He underscored the whole thing with two lines. “There. It’s on your calendar.” Dan pulled his phone from his pocket and he added it to his own planner where he discovered the reminder for dinner with his family. “Oh, and keep the night free too. We’ll have dinner as well.”

She hadn’t said a word, and he glanced at her to check she was still there. Her eyes were comically wide and her mouth hung open, so he reached over and nudged her jaw up.

Jerking back, she pulled away from his touch. “What are you doing?”

He smiled at her. “I think I’ve made it pretty clear.”

“Well, yes, but…”

Finding her inability to voice her thoughts shouldn’t be gratifying, but Dan loved that he could knock her off her feet this way. “Here, let’s make it simple. I like you. You like me. Uh, uh, don’t argue, you can’t deny we have chemistry. Not after that kiss.” He waited to see if she’d remain quiet and let him finish. “Good. So I like you and you like me.”

Her mouth moved, and for a second he thought she’d offer an argument, but in the end she rolled her lips inwards and stayed silent.

“As I was saying, we like each other and I think it’s worth seeing where that goes. Actually, I know it’s worth it.”

“How can you know that after just a kiss?”

“Just a kiss? Jody, that wasn’t
just
a kiss. That was a life-altering moment that neither of us saw coming or should walk away from.” He had to get her to agree with him. The more he thought about it the more he wanted to know every little thing about her. Wanted to spend hours and hours getting to know her.

“But we work together. When this goes pear-shaped we’ll be stuck here, in this tiny room, when we won’t want to lay eyes on each other.”

Dan could see her point, but he didn’t think they’d have that problem. “We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.”

“No!” She pushed her chair back and stood. “I won’t risk my job. Not for you. Not for anyone.”

“It won’t come to that.”

“You can’t guarantee that.” She opened the drawer in her desk and pulled out a handbag.

“What? You’re running?” He stood up and faced her across her desk.

“No. I’m going home,” she said as she slipped the strap of her bag over her shoulder. “I’ll finish the paperwork there.”

“You are running.” He wanted to grab her. Shake her. Stop her.

“There’s nothing to run from.” Jody rounded the desk and headed for the door. “Lock up on your way out.”

She was gone before he could get his legs to move, but once his brain got the signals right, he chased after her. “Jody!”

“No!” She spun around and threw her arm up, palm out, to stop him. “We’re not talking about this anymore. There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Bullshit!”

Her eyes narrowed. “Bullshit?
Bullshit?
Bullshit is the fact you think you can kiss me and then proceed to tell me what we’re going to do about it. We might have chemistry. It might be off the charts, but I’m not a slave to my hormones, and I’m certainly not some meek little woman you can order around to your liking.”

With that, she turned and continued down the stairs. Her ponytail swung from side to side and he had the urge to grab it and pull her back.
Fuck.
He was turning into a caveman. He’d never felt this razor-sharp need for a woman. Never wanted on a bone-deep-can’t-breathe-without-her level. And why the hell was he suddenly so desperate for her? She was the same woman she’d been this morning. The same snapping didn’t-want-to-look-at-him Jody he’d been butting heads with for months. Only she wasn’t the same.
He
wasn’t the same. Not after that kiss.

“We’re not done,” he yelled at her retreating back.

“Yes, we are,” she screamed back, followed by the slamming of the warehouse’s outer door.

“
Fuck.
” He speared his fingers through his hair, dug his nails into his scalp and growled. She’d as good as told him to fuck off. If she’d been anyone else he would have taken her at her word. But he wasn’t backing down. Wasn’t walking away from something he knew could be special—unique—life altering. “Fuck!”

Dan dropped his chin to his chest and drew in a deep breath. The light scent of vanilla teased his nose. Dammit, he could smell her. He pulled the front of his shirt up and sniffed. It smelled exactly like Jody. Some of her perfume must have rubbed off when they’d been locked together. Like an addict, he sucked in another big breath and let her fill him. His body tightened, his cock going from semi-hard to rock hard in a heartbeat.

It didn’t matter what had happened before their kiss or after. He wasn’t about to let either of them pass up the possibilities their chemistry offered. Jody might be right. Hormones may be the driving force behind their sparks, but Dan knew lust. He’d spent his whole adult life letting it lead him from one woman to the next, and what he felt when he held Jody—kissed her—was a billion times more potent. She could run as far and fast as her sexy long legs would take her. It wouldn’t matter, because he’d catch her in the end. And when he did, he’d kiss her and prove their first lip lock wasn’t a fluke.

Chapter Three

Jody jumped as the door of her office burst open.

“Oh, good, you’re still here.” Cassie marched over to Jody’s desk and slapped down a folder. “I need you to handle this for me.”

“Sure.” She leaned forward to pull the file closer.

“Wait. Before you agree you should know what it entails.”

Jody eyed her boss, the woman who’d become her friend, the woman who was dating her brother. And if she was reading the signs correctly, Cassie would eventually be her sister-in-law. “What could possibly stop me from saying yes to a job?”

“It’s a full weekend.” Cassie chewed her lip. “Away.”

“What?” Jody grabbed the folder and flipped it around.

“Not yet.” Cassie slammed her palm on the cover. “I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t desperate. I know I promised you the weekend off, but I need to replace Jeremy. He just rang and said his mother has been rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack, and you’re the only one without an event this weekend so you can fill the two-day gap. I’d have to cover a shift for anyone else.”

“I already said I’d do it.” She tugged the file from Cassie’s hold and opened it. Air zapped from her lungs and her stomach cramped so tight she swore her belly button hit her backbone.

“What? What’s wrong?” Cassie leaned over to see the page Jody was looking at.

“Nothing.”
Oh God.
There was no way she could say no now. “Just a cramp from too much lunch.” They’d visited a new sushi place down the road together and she’d definitely eaten too much, but that wasn’t what had her insides contracting. Jody took a deep breath and smiled up at Cassie. “Leave it with me. Don’t worry. I’ll get everything sorted out.”

“Luc said we can have the girls. He’ll watch them while I work Friday night and Saturday afternoon.”

“You sure?” Jody’s brother had been having the girls more since he’d begun dating Cassie, but having them for the whole weekend might be a stretch, especially when her big brother had always been uncomfortable around their little girly ways. Although now they were both older, he was finding it easier to deal with them.

“Yes. We love having them. Plus, I want to go see that new Pixar movie and it’ll look a lot better if I actually take some kids with me.” Cassie grinned. “Not to mention we can hit the arcade afterwards.”

“Okay, I’ll get them to head home after school tomorrow, and Luc can pick them up from there whenever he finishes work.” A whole two days without the girls would normally bring a thrill, but not this time. This time she’d be spending those two days with the one person she’d been avoiding like the plague.

“Great. I owe you. I’ll let Luc know the plan.” Cassie headed out with a wave.

Jody slumped in her chair. It’d been two weeks and six days since the moment. She refused to think of it as a kiss. That just bought back memories and sensations she didn’t want to deal with, so it was
the moment
. Either he’d given up, was avoiding her or was biding his time. None of those scenarios made her happy. He’d been so adamant the other night, and then when she’d brushed him off—okay, it had been more than a brush-off—he’d all but disappeared. Well, there’d be no escaping each other this weekend.

Dan was the lead coordinator and she was the assistant. But that wasn’t the kicker. No, the huge problem was they were sharing a hotel room. She leaned her head back, closed her eyes and tried to put a lid on the panic bubbling in her chest.

“Sleeping on the job?”

She catapulted forward, her eyes opening wide and her breath rushing from her lungs. “Shit. You scared the crap out of me.” Her heart beat against her ribs like a drummer on speed.

It had been like this for days. She’d lived on tenterhooks waiting for the other shoe to drop. Of course, he’d been all smiles and friendly workplace-acceptable talk. All the while, she’d been worrying about touching him—stressing about him touching her. The hairs on her arms and neck stood at attention just being in the same room as Dan. She could only imagine her body’s reaction if they actually touched.

“What’s got those creases in your forehead?” He sat behind his desk and Jody breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t coming closer.

“Oh, I was running through my mental to-do list.” She held up the folder Cassie had given her. “Lots to get organised before the weekend.”

“You agreed to fill in for Jeremy?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Yes.” She clamped her mouth shut. As soon as she was alone again, she’d ring the hotel and see about getting another room. She’d pay for it out of her own pocket so Cassie would never find out there’d been a problem.

“It’s fully booked.” Dan leaned back in his chair and crossed his muscular arms over his chest, the sleeves of his polo shirt stretching tight.

“What is?” She forced her gaze away from his bulging biceps and up to meet his.

“The hotel.” A smile curled his mouth. The same mouth that had turned her into a puddle of need two weeks ago.

Oh my God. Was he a mind reader? She wanted to wipe the silly grin off his face.

“But don’t worry, the room has two beds. As long as you don’t snore, we’ll survive.”

“Snore? That’s all you’re worried about?”

“Well, there’s also the small issue of me sleeping naked…”

Naked?
Heat pooled in her belly, dripped lower and moistened flesh that had been barren only a few weeks ago. With one kiss, he’d brought her body back to life. And now she’d have to share a room with him. A naked him. This couldn’t get any worse.

“It’s about a three-hour drive from here, so we’ll leave at lunch time tomorrow. Make sure we get there with plenty of time to check in and set up for the evening.” He scanned a sheet of paper in front of him. “Oh, and don’t forget to pack your swimmers. There’s a hot tub on our patio.”