One Night with Sole Regret 03 Take Me (4 page)

Jacob
shook his head. “We’re in San Antonio tomorrow
,
so we decided to stay the night at home. The drive between here and there isn’t bad.”

She nodded in understanding and
glanced down
the driveway looking for his sexy-as-sin, electric sports car. There was no Tesla Roadster in sight.

“Where’s your car?”

“Someone stole it.
”

She gaped at his nonchalance. “Someone
stole
it?”

“Yeah
.
”
He shrugged.
“It can be replaced.”

“So how did you get here?”

“
Owen dropped me off. I was just going to call a cab to take me home. I’ll be out of here in a few minutes.”

“I’ll drive you,” she offered much too eagerly. She needed to be careful
,
or he’d figure out how much she desired him. She didn’t want things to be awkward between them. It had to be impossible for him to forget that she was
sister
to the woman who made his life hell.

“That’s not necessary. You should go back to the party.”

“It’s over. All the kids are gone. I was just helping clean up.”

“Oh.”

“This will give me a great excuse to get out of washing pink icing off the walls.”

He grinned
,
and
she
melted.
It was as if the man had some magical ability to remove her bones.

“All right,” he said.
“As long as it helps you out.”

“I’ll go grab my purse and keys.” She darted into the house and found her mother in the rocking chair holding Julie. The little birthday princess was wearing her new tiara and fast asleep with her thumb in her mouth. Amanda melted.
Julie must’ve inherited that magic from her father.
God
,
she loved the
kid.

“I have to leave,” Amanda whispered to her mother.

She nodded. “I’ll let Tina know. She’s upset about Jacob again.”

“She’s always upset about Jacob.” Amanda leaned over to kiss her mother’s cheek and then her niece’s temple before
grabbing
her purse and dashing back outside.

She found
Jacob
where she’d left him. He was staring up at the house as if in a trance. She wondered what he was thinking about behind those dark sunglasses.

“Julie’s asleep already,” she told him.
“And wearing her tiara.”

Jacob
released a deep breath. “I don’t like it when Tina jumps on me like that, but I really hate it when she does it in front of Julie. Your sister probably talks bad about me all the time.”

Amanda didn’t want to confirm his suspicions. Though they’d never been exactly close, Tina was her little sister
.
B
ut
still,
Jacob
was right. Tina did talk
smack
about him all the time. That was the main reason why Julie got confused about the role her father played in her life.
Jacob
could make an effort to see his daughter more often, but the amount of crap he had to take from Tina every time he showed up would have turned most men away.

“Julie loves you,” Amanda said, unlocking her car doors with the button on her key fob. “That’s all that matters.”

“I just hope she doesn’t change her mind.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

Amanda opened the trunk
,
and he leaned toward her to put his bag inside. When she caught the spicy scent of his aftershave, her knees went weak. It took every shred of her willpower not to bury her face in his neck and inhale. She wished she wasn’t so attracted to him.
His utter masculinity
made it so hard for her to behave herself.

When
Jacob
didn’t move away immediately, Amanda
dragged her gaze up his body
. His six feet of
hard muscles
and
his
broad shoulders
completely overwhelmed her
senses. For a minute, she thought he was leaning closer with the intention of kissing her, but as she couldn’t see his eyes through his dark sunglasses, she couldn’t know for sure if he was even looking at her. She plucked his disconcerting eyewear from his nose.

“Not sure why you always wear these damned things,” she said, folding them and tucking them into the neck of his white T-shirt. She forced her hands not to explore the distractingly cut chest muscles defined beneath his shirt. The man was gorgeous. Perfect. And she liked him.
Always had.
Couldn’t help
herself
.

“Because.”

She tore her appreciative gaze from
Jacob
’s body and peered into his eyes. She did know why he always wore sunglasses. He had expressive eyes that quickly made a person realize that he wasn’t the heartless, narcissistic son
of
a
bitch he pretended to be. And that’s why she wanted him. Not because he was the most eyegasmic man ever to walk to earth, but because he felt.
Deeply.
And those pretty blue eyes of his revealed everything he tried to hide.

“Have you eaten?” she asked. “I’ll take you out.
My treat.”

“I was planning on just hanging out at home. Maybe order a pizza. Eat it in front of the TV. Have a beer. Get in a good workout followed by a swim. Then I’m going to sit in the hot tub and vegetate.”

It sounded as if he would be busy being sweaty, wet and potentially naked for most of the evening.
Holy hotness.
Amanda
suddenly
need
ed
a pant
y
change. “Oh.”

“I wouldn’t mind some company though.” Before he could turn away, she’d caught his forlorn expression. Ah God, he was lonely. She wasn’t sure how a man who was surrounded by a perpetual crowd could ever be lonely, but even though those kissable lips could lie, those expressive blue eyes didn’t.

Amanda closed the trunk. “Do I count as company?” she asked.

“Can’t take a hint?” he said with a grin. He climbed into the car and shut the door.

A hint?
What did he mean?
That he wanted to spend more time with her? If only. Amanda was the smart, quirky sister. Tina was the
hot
sister who all the guys wanted.
Jacob
included. Amanda had come to terms with Tina’s appeal—and her own lack thereof—after the fourth time Amanda got dumped so her boyfriend could pursue
Tina
. It didn’t matter to them that Tina wasn’t interested in anyone who didn’t have a fat wallet.

Amanda got behind the wheel of her sensible Toyota, shut the door and fastened her seat
belt.

“Did you need to stop anywhere before I drop you off at home?” she asked.

“You really can’t take a hint.”

He chuckled
;
the rich, deep sound made Amanda’s belly quiver.

“Say, Amanda, do you want to hang out with me and have some pizza and a beer? Watch a movie?”

“What kind of movie?”

“I don’t care.” His eyes widen
ed
as if
he was
struck by a horrendous revelation. “Just no chick flicks.”

Her heart was thudding like a jackhammer, but she somehow managed to play it cool and start the car. “I don’t know, Jacob. I’m pretty picky about the movies I watch. I have a chick-flick only policy.”

“I guess we’ll have to watch golf instead. I don’t do chick flicks.”

Golf?
Snore-fest.
Though if she was with
Jacob
, she couldn’t imagine even televised golf would be boring. “Well in that case
… I guess I can tolerate a bit of testosterone. I do
, however,
draw the line at movies with fist-fight sound effects.”

He grinned
,
and the ambient temperature inside the car increased at least ten degrees. “Slasher horror movie it is.”

She laughed uneasily. She was a certified coward when it came to scary movies. “Sure.
As long as you don’t mind me clinging to you in terror and hiding my face in your chest.”
She couldn’t stop her
gaze
from wandering to that big, muscular chest. Yep, it looked perfect for hiding one’s face. Also perfect for fondling.
And licking.
Kissing.
Caressing.
Sucking.
Massaging.
Nib—

“I wouldn’t mind that at all,” he said.

Her eyes lifted to meet his.
Wait just a second.
“Are you hitting on me, Jacob?”

“I thought that was obvious.”

Oh hell
,
yes.
“I’m not sure if I should be alone with you. You might try to get in my pants.”

He chuckled. “I might.”

She knew he was teasing her, but that didn’t stop parts in her pants from readying themselves for a welcome invasion.

“I guess I’ll have to risk it,” she said, as if her heart wasn’t about to thud itself out of her chest. “You’ve
given
me a powerful craving for pizza.
And a cold beer.”

She started the car and shifted it into drive.

“And burying my face in your chest,” she added.

He laughed. “I c
an hook you up with all three.”

His knuckles brushed the side of her leg
,
and she nearly leapt out of her skin. She praised her wise decision to wear shorts
that morning
.

“Hey, thanks for letting me know about Julie’s party.”

“No problem!” she squeaked.

Jacob
’s thumb rubbed a small spot of skin just above her knee. Amanda’s panties were going to need scuba gear if they got any wetter.

“I wish I could have made it earlier
,” he said
.
“
Adam seems to think he’s the only one in the band who has a life. I get really sick of trying to get him to see beyond himself.”

Amanda chanced a glance at him. He was staring at where his thumb was igniting the nerve endings in her skin, but he didn’t seem to be seeing what he was doing.

“You didn’t miss much. Ten obnoxious screaming kids, sticky hands covered in pink frosting, a few tantrums,
and
one stomachache that ended badly in the kiddie pool.”

“Did Julie make a wish and blow out her candles?”

Amanda smiled, fighting the urge to stroke his dark hair. She adored that the man’s biggest weakness was a thirty-pound girl who loved strawberry ice cream.
“Yeah.
She got them all in one breath. She’s windy like her father.”

He laughed and jerked his hand from her knee as if he’d just noticed he was still touching her. “That probably wasn’t a good trait to inherit.”

“Sure it is. It’s part of what makes you an amazing singer.” She took her eyes off the road and found him staring at the dashboard. The turmoil in his pretty blue eyes broke her heart. “You know, I recorded Julie blowing out her candles on my cellphone.”

He sat up straighter
,
and a smile softened his hard features. “You did?”

“Get my phone out of my purse and you can watch it.”

He scowled at her purse, which was squashed between the front seats. “There are few things I won’t touch. A woman’s purse is one of them.”

“Why?” she asked. “Afraid you might find a tampon in there or something?”

“Ever since I saw the movie
Mary Poppins
as a kid, I’ve been leery of women’s purses. I don’t know if you have a coatrack in there or an alligator or a chainsaw.”

“Nope,” she said, “no chainsaws. No tampons either.” Just to make it perfectly clear that it was
not
her time of the month. In case he wanted to check out all the hot,
throbbing
wetness going on in her shorts.

He chuckled and stuck a tentative hand in her purse. His startled yell caused Amanda to stomp on the brakes. The horn of the car behind them blared.

“Oh, it’s just your wallet,” he said.
“Thought it was an alligator.”

She slapped him in the arm repeatedly. “You scared the crap out of me.”

He poked her in the side
,
and she squirmed
, the friction against the seat drawing her attention to how inappropriately turned on she was
.
Another horn blared as she drifted toward the oncoming lane.
She was surprised she hadn’t hit a phone pole yet.
It was exceedingly difficult to concentrate on the road with
Jacob
Silverton
sitting next to her,
smelling as amazing as he looked. She could only imagine how good he felt. Damn, she was horny. She needed to find the time to date more
often
.