The Virgin's Revenge (8 page)

She stood and walked to where the agent finally held out her keys.
All
hers. She took them and led the way to her car.

They could all just watch her go or they could follow, but one thing was sure. This little girl wasn’t waiting for anyone else to tell her how to live her life.

Watch out, world, here I come.

If he’d thought Amanda wrapped in feathers was something, Amanda wrapped in confidence was absolutely hypnotizing. All the pretty he’d spent years trying not to acknowledge turned blinding. It was a damn good thing he hadn’t been able to see her very well while they were driving or he’d have wrapped his bike around an electrical pole on the old highway back into Rancho del Cielo.

Something had happened as she’d signed those papers. Something important. Whether it had anything to do with that strange gasp she’d made when he’d winked at her or if she had simply realized she’d been able to make a major decision for her life all on her own, he couldn’t say.

Or maybe he didn’t want to say. It would mean looking at things he didn’t want to look at. Still, guilt nagged at him.

For all that he’d always tamped down his interest in Amanda, he’d never once considered how she felt about their chemistry. He shifted in his seat, but the discomfort of that realization didn’t fade. He’d been thoughtless with that wink. Thoughtless about a lot, now that he considered it. Always assuming that since she didn’t know what he was thinking, there was nothing to worry about. And maybe there wasn’t. Maybe he was making too much out of a tiny gasp. He probably was.

But what if he wasn’t?

He stole another glance at her. Amanda had always been hard to read. Not just to him, to everyone. She had her tells—like that sigh of hers—but when she wanted something close to the vest, she could stonewall like no one else he knew, even Locke. Sheer stubbornness or pride could keep her going for weeks when she let it. He’d always assumed he had a good handle on her. So good that he’d taken her feelings for granted?

More than possible. Likely, even. It always happened so naturally, turning to her to see a smile on her face when something funny happened, wanting to share it with her. Even better when the joke was just between them. No matter how many people surrounded them, she’d smile at him and no one else in the world mattered. He’d always thought she liked that feeling as much as he did. Testament to their friendship. Today, though, he saw the shadows in her eyes. A hurt he didn’t understand, didn’t know how to manage.

The guilt of Locke’s secret weighed impossibly heavier.

When should I have told her, he demanded of his conscience. How was he supposed to let her know what was going on when they were surrounded by strangers all day and her brothers the night before? The small amount of time they’d been alone, she’d mostly been undressed. Maybe some other guy could keep his druthers when a tall blonde goddess was wearing less than a bikini in front of him. Cole was not one of those guys. If he was ever honest with himself, he didn’t want to be one of those guys. Not with Amanda.

Yet another aspect of this growing disaster he didn’t want to think about but he knew he wouldn’t be able to duck for much longer.

Just when he thought he’d finally get to tell her everything, she made a turn away from the direction of her house and pulled into the lot for Shaky Jake’s. His groan didn’t make it past his full-face helmet, but it wasn’t like she was asking his permission.

Shaky Jake’s was good for three things and three things only. One, finding a good drink. Two, finding a great burger. But mostly three, finding the best gossip in all of Rancho del Cielo. He couldn’t help but wonder which one she was after tonight.

Amanda Jackman walking in with him, her face flushed from success and those hot little looks she kept tossing his way, all those illegal-looking curves of hers on display in that tank top along with those painted-on jeans? That wasn’t just gossip. That was a grapevine-clogging atomic bomb. Locke wasn’t the only one who was going to lose his shit when he heard about it, either. All the brothers, even the youngest ones, would too.

He stared at her, wondering if he was paranoid, sure something was going on.
What are you up to, Amanda Jane?

“Hungry?” she asked, climbing out of that tiny car that shouldn’t have been big enough to hold her endless legs, looking at him over the roof. She didn’t lift her dark sunglasses to the top of her head like she normally would when talking to him. He pulled off his helmet, not blaming her as he squinted beneath the overwhelming orange beams of light coming from the setting sun. It didn’t settle his gut feeling that something was going on, but he was withholding judgment a little longer. It wasn’t like he wasn’t keeping secrets too.

So why did he have a feeling that this woman, who’d never had a secret in her life, wasn’t very keen to reveal it?

“You won’t be cold?” He wasn’t sure he could take another test of gallantry. She’d never know how hard it had been to hand over his coat and block the view of those pebbled nipples back at the dealership. He’d only done it so his mouth would stop watering.

“With all those people in there?” She slammed the car door, and he knew he was doomed.

“Yeah, okay.” He secured Mellon and the bike’s matching stone gray-and-silver-embellished helmet, reluctantly following her into the single-door entry to the town watering hole.

Time didn’t exactly stop when they walked in together. Music flowed from the speakers in the ceiling, conversation rising and falling. Wooden booths lined the walls of the building, tables on one side of the majestic bar in the middle and a small dance floor with aged, black-and-white tiles was half full on the other side. Typical Monday night. A few people looked over their shoulders but no one seemed particularly shocked to find Amanda strolling in with him.

This was good. He might live through dinner after all.

Then Amanda hooked her arm through his and pulled him down a little to say something in his ear. Firm breasts pressed into his chest while the arm she’d claimed for her own somehow wound around her, settling at the small of her back as if her rounded ass was just the shelf he’d been looking for.

Who knew eyebrows rising and a few jaws dropping actually made long creaking noises worthy of a screen door badly in need of oil?

“Do you want a booth or to try to get something at the bar?”

Her thigh was pressed against his, almost insinuated between his legs. She’d finally lifted her shades to the top of her head, meaning those eyes of hers were only a few inches from him, alight with mischief. Her mouth, those plump pink lips with that delicate little mole above the left corner, was close enough for him to taste the mint on her breath. Did he want a booth? Hell no, he wanted a flat surface and absolutely no one around to interrupt.

“A booth would be great.” It would at least guarantee him a table’s width of space to figure out what game
this
Jackman was playing. To say nothing of the space to give his instant erection some time alone to learn a few manners. Would she notice if, when he sat down, he buried his face in his hands and said a few prayers for strength?

As fast as she’d spun against his body, she was gone, looking for a free table. Leaving him looking like a pole-axed jackass with a serious hard-on next to the jukebox. Yeah, that would salt the gossip nicely.

Jackmans. Hard on the ego. Good for the soul.

He had to remind himself of that sometimes. As nerve-wracking as they could be, the entire family—Amanda included—had always treated him like he was one of their own. Not for any good reason, either. The elder twins simply adopted him, Locke simply accepted him and the others simply decided he belonged there. For a guy with no siblings and parents no one in their right mind wanted to spend time with, they filled a space he hadn’t realized had been hungering. Maybe they’d needed someone too, not that he had ever been able to figure out what role he served in a family that had every spot taken care of. Locke was the serious one, the elder twins were the clowns, Amanda was the maternal one. Andrew was the musical one, Peter the studious one and Steven was the thoughtful one. They hadn’t let him go, and he’d never seen a reason to point out the oversight to them.

Now would not be a good time to do so.

Even if Amanda was sliding into the padded booth like she was slinking into bed.
His
bed.

No. Not his bed. No beds at all.

Damn it! He headed over to the booth and all but dumped his body into the opposite seat.

Amanda frowned. “Something wrong?”

Just the fact that his dick hurt for her, the entire town knew it and her brothers would be along presently to rip it off his body and shove it down his throat. Or possibly somewhere even less pleasant. “Nope.”

May Belle Butner herself, the owner of Shaky Jake’s, came along to take their order. She smiled at them, but Cole didn’t miss that pointed glint of her eye in his direction. “What can I get you two?”

A guillotine?
“Beer,” he answered, biting back the urge to tell her where to stick her curiosity. May Belle wasn’t known for her patience with rude customers. “Half-pound mushroom burger, medium well.” If he was going to die, he was going to his maker full.

“Same,” Amanda piped up. “But can I get your jalapeño poppers on the side?”

“You sure, honey?” May Belle leaned down as if being conspiratorial worked in this building. “Most girls like to get a little less to eat on a date.”

“It’s okay,” Amanda reassured with a teasing flick of her eyes his way. “He already knows every secret I have. Isn’t that right, Cole?”

The horror must have showed on his face, because May Belle just snickered, “’Atta girl.”

“May Belle’s crazy,” Amanda said into the dumbfounded silence a minute later, looking out at the rest of the people there like a girl at her first theater experience. “But wouldn’t it be funny if they all thought we were out on a date too?”

Oh sure. Hilarious.

She made a face before rolling her eyes at him. “Oh, come on, Cole. Lighten up. It’s not like anyone would seriously think that. Look at us.”

Affront he shouldn’t be feeling rose out of nowhere. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, really. It’s just, you’re you and I’m…
me
.”

“Is that supposed to make sense?”

Her sigh should have knocked over the building, and unless his hearing was damaged, she muttered, “So oblivious.”

He leaned back against the tall wall dividing the booths and crossed his arms.

“Okay, I’ll spell it out to you. Do you ever bring dates to Shaky Jake’s?”

Hell, no. “Not lately.”

“Not
ever
,” she corrected, sounding like one of his grade-school teachers. “I’d have heard about it. Because you know everyone and their grandma would be talking about it next day. Bringing a girl to Shaky Jake’s is like taking one to a wedding as your date—might as well just put a ring on her finger because you just announced to everyone that you’re serious about her. Right?”

He wasn’t going to agree with her. She’d like that too much.

“Now, let’s look at me. I don’t date. Everyone here knows it. Look, there’s Susie over there at the bar.” She waved to her friend and boss.

The leggy brunette caught her gesture and apart from her blue eyes going wide for a second, all she did was raise her shot glass in response.

Amanda turned back to him, her mouth flat. “If Susie thought I was on a date, she’d be over here in a heartbeat, dragging me to the women’s restroom, fixing my hair and slapping makeup on my face with a paint roller.”

“What’s wrong with your hair?” He had to question the most glaring part of her diatribe. It looked silky as always. Gleaming with health and all those streaks of cream.

“Nothing that a determined chemist can’t fix.” She rolled her eyes. “The point is, unless I tackle you to the table and have sex with you right here in the booth, no one is going to think it remotely possible that you’re doing anything but having dinner with your sister.”

It was tempting to be relieved. Very, very tempting. If she didn’t sound that tiniest touch hurt, if she didn’t sound as if she were talking to herself instead of him…

It was that note, he decided, that did him in.

I’m so going to hell for this…

“Amanda?”

She snapped out of her reverie just as he was getting to his feet. He reached for her hand, waiting to see if she took it. One last chance to keep himself from this stupid impulse.

She looked at him like he was crazy, but she took his hand before he could change his damn fool mind. She even let him pull her to her feet so she could stand right in front of him, all kinds of questions in her blue-gray eyes. Eyes he finally let himself drown in for a few seconds. Just a few.

Then he kissed her.

Oh. My. God.

Amanda’s hand settled over Cole’s chest, every sound from the busy bar completely disappearing. Her senses only had room for him.

His lips slid over hers, warm and smooth. She breathed him in, lifting her mouth closer. Wanting more. For a second, he hovered, as if he were going to end it before she even fully realized what he was doing. Then, with a hiss of his breath, he was back, his lips firmer, more commanding. His arm wrapped around her, pulling her flush against his body, their hips fitting together perfectly. The flick of his tongue had her gasping, which was all the invitation he needed. Suddenly, he was tasting her, licking over her tongue, inviting her to stroke him back.

Please don’t let this be in my head this time. Because that would be soooooo embarrassing…

No, he felt too solid, too hot beneath her touch. He had a flavor, one that reminded her of chocolate. Sunshine. The seashore. All her favorite things, mixed together, making her hungry for more. Suddenly, it just wasn’t enough. She wanted to feel him with every part of her body. Her fingers, trapped between their bodies, grasped the leather of his jacket, pulling him millimeters closer. Every little bit helped. His left hand settled on her face, his thumb caressing her cheek while his fingertips rubbed her nape soothingly.