Red Hot Obsessions (131 page)

“Not a thing. I stopped by Mark’s office today and they’ve got the prints in the system. So far, it looks like the perp’s got a clean record. I guess all we can do is hope he gets busted doing something else illegal.”

Josh ran a hand down over Carissa’s hair and sighed. He hated playing the waiting game and he hated that whoever had messed with him might get away with it. He’d hoped against hope that the prints collected off the baseball bat and the storage door would match another unsolved crime, unrelated to his job sites, but that hadn’t been the case. The way it stood, the jerk-off seemed to have his sights set solely on Hudson Contracting.

Ever since Mark and Fletcher had mentioned the prospect of the hits coming from the inside, the more unsettled Josh felt about it all. None of his guys had a record for anything more than traffic violations and a handful of disorderly conducts. Nothing that would have warranted fingerprinting. Nothing that would tip off the police now. So there was, unfortunately, the chance that one of his guys was behind this. But why? Why would any of them want to mess with him? What was the benefit?

“For what it’s worth, I think you’ve done an incredible job building up your company. You’re honest and fair, and people appreciate that. If you keep running HC from that perspective, not one built on greed and selfishness, you’ll continue to see success. Probably more than you’re going to know what to do with.”

Josh blinked down at Carissa, staring up at him all sweet and sincere, and his heart clenched in his chest. He knew his business was solid, but the vandalism had him all off kilter. Not all that different than he felt about her.

“Yeah?” he croaked, suddenly hoarse.

“You’re a good man.”

Was he? Because he was pretty sure that a good man wouldn’t be screwing his best friend’s ex every chance he got. “I don’t know about that.”

“You are.” She placed a solitary kiss on the side of his chest. “I’d be living in my car if it weren’t for you.”

He gave a half-grin. “You’d have underwear on it if it weren’t for me, babe.”

To that, she snorted and fell back on the bed laughing. He followed and braced himself above her, his arms on either side of her head. That’s when she gasped.

“You’re doing it,” she whispered, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. Her cheeks flushed a beautiful pink and he was pretty sure her pupils were dilating again.

“I’m doing what?” he asked, playing dumb before he dipped down and nipped at the freckles on her collarbone.

“The caging thing.” Her raspy, eager tone and little peeks she was taking at his arms almost made him laugh. Of course, his dick had other plans, stiffening against her thigh.

“See what you do to me?” He ground against her body to show her. “You might have to stay a little while long—” He froze at the music coming from outside the bedroom. “Is that your phone?”

Carissa pinched her eyes closed and wrinkled up her nose in an adorably “busted” face. “It’s Maddie.”

“Promiscuous Girl, huh? You or her?”

“Oh, hush!” She shoved at his chest and laughed. “It was our college theme song, if you must know.”

Hmm, he could have done without that.

“She doesn’t call unless she’s texted ten times and I don’t reply. Something’s gotta be up. Wait…what’s
that
?”

He dropped his forehead to her shoulder and groaned. Yep, something was definitely up. “That would be my phone.”

“This can’t be good.”

“Maybe we have a Peeping Tom.” Distracted by her sweet scent, he turned his face into her neck and sucked her earlobe between his lips.

“In that case, I’m glad I’m still mostly dressed,” she giggled, trying to squirm away from him. “You on the other hand, not so much. If someone’s looking in the windows right now, they’re getting an eyeful of your sweet ass, hot shot.” She reached down and slapped him on said bare skin for emphasis.

He grunted. “Just as well.” He swiped a hand down her hip and dug his fingers into one of her cheeks. “Because this ass? It’s all mine, babe. I’m not sharing. Not even with voyeuristic pervs.”

She gave a low moan and picked up where he’d left off before the phones had interrupted them, her hips lifting off of the bed, seeking out contact with his body. But he scooted away making her pout.

“Much as I’d love an encore, we should probably see what’s up. In case it’s important.” He didn’t want to verbalize his thought and put it out into the universe, tempting fate, but he had a feeling the vandal wasn’t done screwing with him yet. And if he and Carissa were both getting simultaneous calls, something could be up with the flip.

“You’re right,” she sighed.

He gave her a quick kiss before climbing off the bed and pulling on his shorts. When he found her panties at the end of the bed, he tossed them up to her and watched with equal amounts of desire and disappointment as she slipped them on. He’d hoped for a couple rounds tonight, but the sex gods apparently had other plans.

“One of these times, we’ve gotta try it when we’re both completely undressed.” Carissa slid out of the bed and righted her dress.

“You have the best ideas.”

“See, I told you getting it on would be good for us.” She slapped his ass again as he led the way back to the kitchen and their phones, lying next to each other on the counter.

“Oh, my god, she texted twelve times.” Carissa shook her head and thumbed through the messages.

Josh arched an eyebrow when he saw three of his own texts from Dan. The first: What you doing tomorrow night? The second five minutes later: Dude where are you? Mads is driving me nuts about the wedding. Can you do dinner tomorrow. 7 pm at The Lodge? The third ten minutes after that: Carissa’s not answering either. You better not be doing what I think you’re fucking doing!

Shit. Guilty as charged.

“So dinner tomorrow night.” Carissa looked at him, uncertainty in her eyes.

He nodded, deleted his brother’s messages, and tossed the phone back onto the counter. He scrubbed a hand over his jaw, then the back of his neck. “This should be interesting.”

She took a deep breath in and then released it slowly through pursed lips. “We’ll be fine.” She tried to pull off confidence by straightening her back. “And it’ll be good practice for the weekend.”

Internally, Josh grimaced. He’d nearly forgotten about the upcoming holiday. Probably a subconscious effort. Too many people, too many eyes, too many chances for someone to see something that could end this all. “I suppose.”

“Hey,” she said, sidling close and sliding her arms around his waist, “I’ve had a lot of practice pretending I’m not hot for you. We got this in the bag, handsome.”

“I hope so. Because I’m really looking forward to getting totally naked with you.”

“Me too.” She smiled and pushed up for a kiss. “But not tonight. It’s getting late and I’ll feel guilty if you fall asleep on the job tomorrow.”

“No chance of that. Your hair was all over my pillow, smelling it up. I’ll sleep like a baby, thanks to you.”

“In that case, you’re welcome. My hair and I are more than willing to be of assistance again.”

He gave a small smile. “You sure about tomorrow night?”

“Absolutely.”

“Good.” At least one of them was.

Chapter Seventeen

“Let me get
this straight. You want us to dance down the aisle. Like some video you saw on YouTube.”

Carissa bit her lips together to keep from laughing out loud at the exasperated look on Josh’s face when Maddie announced her request.

Her friend nodded eagerly and began clicking away on her phone. “Here, let me bring up the clip. It’s amazing.”

Josh swung his gaze to his brother. “Don’t tell me you think this is a good idea.”

Lifting his hands, Dan gave a helpless, whipped smile. “It’s not the worst.”

“Friggin’ unbelievable.” Josh scrubbed both hands over his bristled face, then reached for his empty beer. “I’m gonna need another one of these if you expect me sit here and listen to this crap.”

“I’ll buy.” Dan pushed out of his chair and Carissa watched as both men headed toward the long, glossy bar that ran along the far side of the restaurant. Josh pulled up a stool while he waited for the bartender and Dan followed suit.

“He’s such a downer.” Maddie collapsed back against her chair with a partly defeated, partly annoyed sigh. “Maybe you can talk to him. Convince him.” She blinked hopefully across the table.

Carissa wet her lips and took a careful breath. So far, Maddie seemed completely oblivious to her after-hours shenanigans with Josh and she’d just as soon keep it that way. “You think he’ll listen to me?”

“I doubt it, but it’s worth a shot. I want this wedding to be kick ass. Not the same, boring, run of the mill River Bend nuptials. Is that really so much to ask?”

Pressing her mouth into an understanding smile, Carissa ran her fingertip around the rim of her margarita glass, then stuck it in her mouth, sucking off the salt. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Maybe I should have Ellie talk to him,” Maddie said, suddenly shifting gears, her eyes wide with prospect. “I’m pretty sure Josh can be talked into anything if there’s sex on the table. Considering he’s such a horn dog and all.”

Carissa choked on her own saliva and quickly tossed back a hearty gulp of water to ease the salty burn sliding down her throat. “Come on, he’s not that shallow,” she croaked.

Maddie pulled in her chin. “Are you kidding me? This is Josh we’re talking about.”

Suddenly, Carissa’s disposition went from guilty to bristled. “He’s not that guy anymore.”

“Whatever.” Her friend rolled her eyes. “If he wasn’t that guy, he wouldn’t still be trying to score booty calls.”

“When’s the last time you actually saw him out with someone?” Carissa arched a challenging eyebrow.

Maddie blinked. “I don’t remember, but just because he’s not flaunting it anymore, doesn’t mean it’s not happening. God, it almost sounds like you’re defending him.”

Carissa tried another sip of water and took a moment to gather her words, in an effort to be tactful. “Can I ask you something?”

Making a “on with it” gesture with her hand, Maddie gave an impatient frown.

“You can’t stand the thought of Josh being a player, but you were insistent I go out with Reed, who is ten times worse than Josh has ever been. What made you think Reed and I would be a good pair?”

Maddie gave a thoughtful glance across the table. “You needed a good time. Someone to help you loosen up. If it wasn’t Reed, it would have been Josh and how many kinds of awkward and disgusting would that have been?” Maddie shivered.

Carissa pulled in a slow breath.
Breathe, chica, breathe
. She counted to ten and ignored the sting of her friend’s latter remark, choosing instead to focus on the former.

Yes, she and Reed had fun together. But did he loosen her up? Not in the least. He’d been nothing more than a placeholder, pretending to be something he wasn’t. And if anything, being with him had multiplied her tension tenfold and made her realize that going after the trifecta of romance—passion, affection, and love—would require taking a risk she wasn’t willing to consider: allowing her heart to be vulnerable to the emotions of another human being all over again. Been there, done that with her family. Doing it again certainly didn’t appeal.

Except, in some ways, she’d unintentionally let Josh cross her boundaries. Passion between them came naturally, the intensity of their chemistry explosive and so hot. And, whether or not either of them liked it, affection had begun to grow between them as well. When Josh had spoken of his father the night before, her heart had broken a little for him. She suspected there was more to Jack Hudson’s logic than what appeared on the surface, but regardless, his words had repetitively hurt Josh and she hated that. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and take it all away.

It was a bit frightening to think about how much she cared about him, but friends did that, right? Cared for each other? Expressed concern and affection?

“You’re doing that zoning out thing again.”

Carissa met Maddie’s questioning gaze. What would Maddie think or say if she knew the truth about Josh? Would she really be as appalled at the thought as she seemed to allude? Or would she listen and try to understand the choices Carissa had made?

“Are you thinking about hooking up again with Reed?” Maddie’s voice was low and a little too pleased for Carissa’s comfort.

“God, no!” she spat. “I was just curious. In hindsight, it’s pretty obvious I wasn’t Reed’s type.”
Nor was he mine.

Maddie frowned. “You’re exactly his type. He just hasn’t realized it yet.”

Oh, no, no. This conversation was not going
there
. “It’s not happening, Mads.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not interested, and Reed and I weren’t as compatible as you think we were.”

Maddie made a small O with her bright red lips. “You can’t expect me to believe he was horrible in the sack.”

Carissa pinched the bridge of her nose. “Can we not do this right now? Please?”

This was so not the time or the place for this conversation. And to be honest, she wasn’t sure there would ever be.

Maddie’s eyes narrowed for a moment, but thankfully she nodded. “Fine, but only because tonight we need to focus on the wedding. We’ll continue this chat the next time it’s just the two of us.”

A moment later, Josh and Dan returned to the table with drinks for all of them and Carissa had never been happier to break her one drink limit in all of her life. Why had she brought up the subject with Maddie? Did she have some subconscious death wish or what?

“I figured you could be talked into a second drink, since you’re not driving,” Josh said a little more privately than Carissa felt comfortable with. Then again, maybe she was just being hypersensitive given Maddie’s comments.

“Thank you. You read my mind. Though I’ll still need to get home in these heels.” She winked as she put her mouth the straw and slurped down the last of her first drink, then went to work on the second. She could stumble three blocks without twisting an ankle, right?

“Take it easy, champ, or I’ll have to drive you the whole quarter mile home.”

Mmm, that’d be awfully convenient, wouldn’t it? She stole a sidelong glance at him, pleased to see he’d leaned back in his chair and had an amused smile on his face.

Holy hell. Had she really just gone from zero to sixty just because he’d cocked his smile just right?

She sighed and slowed up on the drink. Inevitably, her thoughts always wandered to sex when she was with Josh. But there was something different about tonight and last night, too. She genuinely enjoyed spending time with him. It was something she hadn’t experienced often with him. Most likely because, until they’d had sex again, every one of their encounters had been riddled with secret longing and guilt.

But now that edge had been taken off and, for the first time in a long time, she was seeing him simply as the man she’d met so long ago. And she really, really liked him, even if he was being a pain in the ass about the wedding. He was good company and he made her laugh and smile until her cheeks hurt. He also smelled delicious, so when he leaned forward again, wafting the air around him in her direction, she took an appreciative breath and thanked her lucky stars that, these days, she was the woman who got to snuggle up close to all that sexy goodness.

Across the table, Dan cleared his throat. “So, back to the wedding. Maddie and I are also hoping the two of you can take over hosting at the reception when we leave to catch our flight. You know, make sure people don’t trash the place and end up costing us a ton of money. Carissa, I’m pretty sure we can count on you to make sure that anyone who ends up sloppy drunk gets a room or at least a safe ride home, right?”

“Of course.” Anything she could do to help out at the wedding might help alleviate some of the guilt she felt for deciding to flip a house in the middle of the summer that was supposed to be all about Maddie and her big day. And for making a habit of doing the best man.

“What about you, party pooper? Do you think you can refrain from dropping trou long enough to help her out?” Maddie eyed Josh skeptically from across the table, her arms crossed over her chest.

Josh simply blinked at her.

Nope, no love lost between those two. Just further validation that Maddie would totally flip if she found out they were sleeping together.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Josh said drily, lifting his beer to his mouth.

“Glad to hear it. And, hey, look who just walked in.” Maddie angled her chin toward the restaurant’s entrance. Given her friend’s waggling eyebrows, Carissa didn’t have to turn to see who the arrival was.

Beneath the table, she reached out and brushed the backs of her fingers against Josh’s thigh. He surprised her by wrapping his fingers around hers, squeezing and then holding her hand loosely in his, despite the risk of being busted.

How was it that this man could make her feel so aroused, so safe and so terrified all at the same time?

***

He should have expected Fletcher to show up. These days, it was just his luck.

Josh lifted his chin in greeting as his friend approached the table. Reluctantly, he let go of Carissa’s hand, because as much as he wanted to stake his claim, he wasn’t ready to be found out either. Better safe than sorry.

“Fancy meeting you all here,” his friend said as he came to a stop nearest Carissa. He put his hand on the back of her chair and leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Hey, angel, you look amazing as always.”

Josh bristled, not liking the low, private intonation in the other man’s voice. Was he flirting with her?

“Thanks.” Carissa smiled, but to Josh’s relief, she looked decidedly uncomfortable with Fletcher’s attention.

Across the table, Maddie spoke cheerfully. “Are you here alone? We haven’t eaten yet. We could pull up another chair.”

“Thanks, but I’m meeting the ordinance staff for a working dinner.” He responded to Maddie, but his eyes hadn’t left Carissa. “I’m actually glad I ran into you, Car. Do you have a minute?”

She’d angled away from him so he couldn’t see her face, but Josh didn’t miss the tension that had set into Carissa’s shoulders as she nodded and stood.

“Sure. If you’ll excuse me.” She passed a quick glance to Dan and Maddie and, if Josh had it right, purposely avoided any eye contact with him.

He watched as Fletcher led her to the dimly lit alcove near the end of the bar.

When Dan’s foot connected with his under the table, jarring him out of his trance, he tore his eyes away from the scene that was too familiar and almost painful to watch.

He couldn’t just sit there and pretend he didn’t want to put his fist through his so-called best friend’s face, so he pushed to his feet, the legs of his chair screeching against the hardwood floor.

Hold up, Rocky. You kick his ass, you lose the girl.

Shit. Much as it killed him, his ego would have to wait.

He met his brother’s questioning eyes with his best attempt at a casual smile. “Nature calls.”

***

“I stopped in at the flip today, but you were out,” Reed said as he led her to the bar. “The place is looking phenomenal, by the way. Just about livable.”

“I don’t know about that, but it’s definitely coming along.” Carissa smiled, despite her nervous curiosity at his request for a private conversation. She leaned up against a stool, trying to keep a respectable distance between them. “You wanted to talk to me about something?”

Reed’s full intake of breath as he hesitated on his words had her holding her own. Did he have bad news about the flip? A paperwork issue? Something that would put off her move-in date?

“Come on, it can’t be that bad,” she teased, though her pulse had already kicked up.

He chuckled, met her eyes again and, oh crap, she recognized the glimmer shining in them, all soft and warm and not-so-platonic.

This was definitely bad.

His fingertips grazed her elbow and then slid slowly down her forearm until they touched her wrist and then her palm. The blood rushing in her ears distracted her from him taking her hand in his until she felt his thumb press against her pulse, felt his body inch closer.

“Listen, I know this probably isn’t what you expected, but I’ve been doing some thinking.”

Shit, shit, shit.

“What are the chances you’d do me a favor? Like old times.”

Carissa’s heart hammered so hard in her chest, she thought she might hyperventilate. She felt only a small amount of relief that he hadn’t declared an undying love, but asking for a favor, when they both knew how that request had ended last time, wasn’t much less threatening.

“The State Association ball is in two weeks,” he continued on, his typically cocky grin slightly off kilter. Enough that Carissa felt a little lightheaded, because Reed didn’t typically get nervous. “I was wondering if you’d consider joining me.”

“Why?” she blurted out. Why, in God’s name, would he ask her? What about Heather? Or Jenny even?

He squeezed her hand. “Because you fit in with that crowd. And you have an uncanny ability to keep me from making an ass of myself.”

Not because he missed her or wanted another chance or any of that other nonsense. Thank God.

“I don’t know,” she hedged. How to turn him down tactfully? How to let him know she wasn’t interested without alerting him that there was someone else? That there was Josh?