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His eyes widened as he stared at her profile. “You don’t know.”
“I thought—”
“No, Sasha. Thinking was the last thing you did.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” She turned.
John stared into her eyes. An apology from her was the last thing he thought he’d hear. Not today, tomorrow or ever. Her hair blew back and forth across her face, her brown-black eyes wide and beautiful.
He grimaced. “So, this isn’t going according to plan, huh?”
Her gaze ran over his face to linger at his mouth. The ridiculousness of their situation gave way to physical awareness. The desire to kiss her filtered through his mind. To show her who was boss and stop this damn power play she had going on. His mouth went dry. What was she doing to him? This was not the plan at all. School was out for the summer and by the time the new semester started he’d be home and back at work where he belonged. Getting wrapped up in a woman, in Sasha, was not an option.
He tore his gaze from hers as they whipped to the other side of the ride once more. “I’ll have to stop it.”
“What? You can’t. How will you get out of the seat, let alone anything else?”
Reluctantly, he slid his arm from her shoulders and attempted to lever an inch or two of space between them. “Try to pull away from me. Just a little so I can stand.”
“Stand?” Her eyes widened to manic proportions. “Are you insane? Stay there. I’m not being held responsible for getting you killed.”
He gritted his teeth and fought hard against the insistent pressure of the pulsating gravity holding them tightly together. His ass lifted about two inches before the ride shot off in another direction, landing him back on the seat with a violent shudder that reverberated up his spinal cord. “Bugger.”
Her totally unfeminine snort and ensuing screech of hysterical laughter trembled through his body. They were well and truly glued to each other. His gut tightened as laughter tickled at the back of his throat. He turned and she looked at him with such delight, resistance was futile.
He tipped his head back and laughed harder and louder than he had in years.
* * *
SASHA COULDN’T DRAG her gaze from the totally masculine sight of his throat, faintly grazed with stubble, as the sound of his deep, toe-curling laugh hit her in the center of the stomach. The taut skin at his neck vibrated and the sensuous, joyous sound was captured on the wind and whisked into her box of memories before she could think to resist. She couldn’t wipe the wide and undoubtedly stupid smile from her face.
He met her eyes. His shone with unshed tears. Bright blue like sapphires in the sun. Christ, what was she thinking? Sapphires in the bloody sun? She whipped her head around. She had to get off this damn ride. “Maybe we should try shouting for Freddy?”
“What?” He smiled.
Damn. He was more handsome than ever when he smiled. She closed her eyes. “Freddy!”
The screech of metal against metal ricocheted around them.
His laughter abruptly stopped and his body—so damn tight to hers, his biceps pushed her shoulder—stiffened. “What was that?”
She opened her eyes and stared ahead. Looking at him was far too dangerous to her game plan of throwing him totally for a loop—not that the plan was going all that well so far. “We’re slowing down.”
“But how? Wait. Did you know this thing would stop eventually?”
She shook her head and nodded toward the control booth. “Look.”
He turned. The skewed image of Freddy showed behind the reinforced glass. “Thank God.”
She screwed one eye shut and grimaced. “Maybe I shouldn’t have—”
He stared for a long moment as the ride slowed before he lifted his arm from her shoulders and looked away. “You’re right. You shouldn’t have.”
Realizing she was still pressed up against him without any need, Sasha hurriedly scooted away, leaving a foot-wide gap between them. Her heart raced. Had he just dismissed her? She looked at his hardened profile as he glared ahead at God only knew what.
“Do you know something?” She pulled back her shoulders. “I’m glad I did this. I wanted to see you knocked off-kilter for a while. You’ve no idea what it did to me, having you turn up here yesterday.”
He turned. His eyes were midnight-blue with irritation. “And your response to that when you saw me sitting on this godforsaken ride was to pay me back by giving me whiplash?”
She bit back a smile. “Yes. Now I’m done.”
“You’re...” He shook his head and rolled his eyes heavenward. “She’s done. My God.”
They sat in strained silence as the ride took its merry time grinding to a halt. When it finally stopped, she leaned over and expertly released the mechanism locking the lap bar into place. She shoved it upward, heedless of the fact he still gripped it. When his shoulders audibly clicked with the force of his arms almost leaving their sockets, she grimaced again.
“Sorry.” She jumped from the ride and stormed toward the steps.
“Hey,” Freddy shouted behind her.
God damn it. She turned. “What?”
He lumbered toward her. “What? Is that all you have to say?”
Heat pinched her cheeks. She’d acted recklessly. Anything could’ve happened. She and John could have been stuck on there. The circuit could’ve caught fire. She closed her eyes. “Just leave it, Freddy.”
“What in God’s name were you thinking?”
“She wasn’t thinking, but that’s my problem, not yours.”
Sasha snapped her eyes open. John stood toe-to-toe with Freddy, their eyes locked in silent battle. Her heartbeat pulsed in her temple as the two of them faced off. She abhorred violence and hated anything remotely nasty or tainted. Why did things suddenly feel so much worse than they had since Kyle was locked up? Why had she started a fight with his son instead of playing nice and seeing what happened?
She cleared her throat. “Look, Freddy’s right. I shouldn’t have started the ride with no one controlling it. I was mad, and it was stupid.”
After a few seconds, John nodded, his eyes still on Freddy. “There you go. She’s sorry. Let’s leave it at that. Sasha and I have somewhere to go this morning, so I want you to get the staff organized for opening this afternoon. Okay?”
Sasha stared. Going somewhere? Together? Alone? “Where?”
John glanced at her. “Just a minute.” He turned to Freddy. “Okay?”
Freddy looked from him to Sasha, his suppressed anger showing in the reddening of his cheeks and inflating veins on his bald head. “Okay. I’ll see you when I damn well see you then.”
He flung a final scowl at her and John before stalking back toward the office. Sasha turned. John stared at her, his face a mask of angry determination. She swallowed. Her impetuous nature had once more turned around and bitten her in the ass.
“Well?” She forced her gaze to stay on his. “Where are we going?”
“Out.”
“Out where?”
He released his crossed arms and closed the space between them. Standing at around six foot two, he towered above her five foot six.
His gaze traveled over her face. “I don’t know anyone in this town. I don’t know about any competition, tension or who the hell Kyle’s enemies are. I need to know who, apart from you, is willing to pay good money to see me gone from Templeton before I’ve even had the chance for a cup of coffee in the local coffee shop. I want to know what I’m dealing with. You’re the person to help me with that.”
Unease rippled through her. “Why do you think I know Kyle’s enemies?”
“You’ve worked here longer than anyone. You must know what he used this place for.”
Revulsion swept a bitter taste into her throat. “I turn a blind eye to all that as much as possible. I hate what Kyle does. Hate it. I work here as manager only.”
“You really expect me to believe that?” He shook his head. “I don’t trust anyone with a connection to my father. That, unfortunately, includes you.”
“How dare you.”
He stared deep into her eyes for a moment before glancing over her head, his jaw tight. Sasha’s stomach knotted with traitorous attraction. God, he looked like a model standing there, all dangerous and brooding....
He narrowed his eyes. “I dare, because it’s beyond me how someone can claim to love something so much, but manage to tolerate a man who stepped on and then abandoned people whenever he wanted.” His eyes were an icy blue. “Who are you, Sasha? That’s what I want to know.”
He turned away, and she gripped his arm. “Wait.”
Anger seemed to burn from his skin, hot enough to scald her fingers through his jacket. Her hand slipped from his arm. A surge of unexpected sympathy rose behind her rib cage, and she quickly shook her head. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
He nodded stiffly before storming toward the office. Sasha remained welded to the grass. When he was out of sight, she released her held breath and slumped. Now what? She didn’t want to be alone with him. That had never been part of the bargain. The frustration in his eyes from a moment before seeped into her conscience and lingered there, screaming with warning.
She sensed a pain as deep as hers in John...and that scared her. It took all her energy to fight the demons of her past and keep moving forward each day. She didn’t need the pull of caring about someone else. Especially not Kyle’s son, when it was Kyle who had unwittingly stopped her from bringing closure to her pain. Stopped her from winning a fifteen-year-old battle with Matt Davidson, the man who’d brought an end to her short-lived childhood.
She closed her eyes and her molester’s face taunted her from behind closed lids. In a single summer, his actions had tainted the fair and tarnished what Sasha held dear. Well, sooner or later she’d make it hers and she’d make it a good, clean place for all its future visitors. She’d make it a magical, fun-filled adventure, as it had been before him, before everything he made her do.
Opening her eyes, Sasha exhaled a shaky breath and strode toward the office.
CHAPTER FIVE
SASHA FOLLOWED JOHN into the graveled parking lot outside the Funland gates with her chin high and her decorum well and truly restored. She’d grabbed her bag from the office while John gave a glowering Freddy a few instructions. The lack of information about their intended destination had infuriated her equally as much as a spitting and angry Freddy.
Her gaze wandered and then stuck to John’s back as he marched ahead of her to his car. The temperature had risen and hovered at a pleasant eighty degrees. He’d removed his jacket and his broad, muscular back and strong shoulders shifted rhythmically beneath cotton as he strode forward. The guy’s butt didn’t look any worse in trousers than it did in denim—which initiated another tug on her already fraught nerves. Nerves that seemed constantly pooled in her damn panties.
He stopped beside a metallic blue Mercedes convertible and pointed his keys. Sasha stared in awed fascination as the roof slowly rolled backward into the open trunk with smooth, expensive precision. The cost of his car alone would probably keep her in rent payments for the remainder of the decade. She lifted her chin higher. His wealth wouldn’t intimidate her. No doubt Kyle had kept his son well-cared for over the years. There was no pride in handouts as far as she was concerned.
When he walked to the passenger side rather than the driver’s, her gait faltered. What was he doing? He opened the door and waved toward the seat. Sasha narrowed her eyes. If he thought a show of old-fashioned gallantry would penetrate her immovable anger, he’d better think again.
Yeah? So why are your cheeks hot and your stomach flying into a frenzy?
Forcing her eyes to his, she smiled. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She slid onto butter-soft leather, and the door closed with a gentle, moneyed clunk. He walked around the hood and slipped on a pair of dark sunglasses. “So...” He turned on the ignition and the car purred to life. “Where are we headed first?”
Deciding she needed to up her game, Sasha pulled on her femme-fatale persona and faced him. Whether or not she was letting down the entire female population, she had to at least attempt to get John off his damn sexy winning streak. She was seriously lagging behind and it rankled. Her defense was to always be in the lead as far as sex was concerned. It was vital. If she gave up a modicum of trust, things could get out of her control very quickly.
“Why don’t we hit the town center first?” She smiled softly and looked at him from beneath lowered lashes. “I’m sure we’ll bump into plenty of people I can introduce you to there.”
He hesitated, a slight frown creasing his forehead. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Only you’ve got a strange look in your eye.”
Hah! She lifted an eyebrow. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”
“No, just concerned. You look as though you’re sitting on something painful.”
Her smile dissolved, and she shot him a glare before slumping back into her seat. “Just drive, will you?”
He threw the car into gear, and they left the parking lot. Sasha glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He wore the biggest smile known to man, yet instead of it annoying her, it made her want to smile, too.
“We’re quite a pair, aren’t we?” He grinned.
Wishing she could see his eyes and have at least a moderate idea of what he was thinking, she blew out a breath. “Meaning?”
“Well, we haven’t stopped arguing or trying to outdo each other since we met.”
“I’m not trying to outdo you. I’m trying to figure you out.”
He glanced at her, one dark eyebrow rising above his sunglasses. “And what conclusions have you jumped to?”
She scowled. “Who says I’ve jumped? Maybe my conclusions are spot-on.”
He faced front. “Care to share them with me?”
Inexplicable nerves knotted her stomach as his smile vanished and his brow furrowed. It was pointless trying to deny how much more attractive she found the laughing, smiling John to the quiet, dangerous one.
She cleared her throat and focused on the road ahead. “I might be wrong, but I get the impression you’re in Templeton under duress.”
Silence.
She pressed on. “Am I right?”
He maneuvered the car through the traffic, his jaw tight.
When it was clear he wasn’t going to provide an answer, Sasha’s palms turned unusually clammy. “So, you’re not going to tell me how you’ve found yourself in this unfortunate situation?”
“I don’t know if it’s unfortunate yet.”
Curiosity sparked like a flint inside her. “I would’ve thought you’d have come to that decision upon our first meeting. I wasn’t exactly welcoming. And then the decidedly chilly phone call...followed by this morning’s fun and games—”
“Where you attempted a full-on assassination.” He glanced at her. “There’s nothing you or anyone else in this town could do that would be worse than what Kyle’s done. Don’t worry about your hostility toward me since I arrived...I’m not.”
A strange sensation skittered through her chest at his clear dismissal of her actions...and her. Cursing the heat that struck her chest and face, she looked to the side at the passing facades of the pretty, pastel-painted Victorian houses turned bed-and-breakfasts. She blinked against the frustration burning her eyes. “Great, well, that’s good. If there’s any chance of this working out, we need to get along.”
