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“How busy?”
He felt something near the top of his boot. Her foot, he realized. She ran it up his calf over his jeans to his knee, paused and then went to midthigh.
The waitress appeared with two more beers.
Jake straightened when he realized he’d unconsciously been leaning over the table toward Tori. He’d even shifted his hips forward.
“Thanks,” he muttered when the woman set the Corona down in front of him, glad he didn’t have to look at Tori. She had to be laughing, knowing how she’d gotten to him.
The waitress stuffed her order pad into the back pocket of her jeans and then shifted her tray to her other hand. “Y’all want anything else? We’ve got chicken wings, hot or mild, or jalapeño poppers. They’re pretty good. Not too spicy.”
Tori shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m in the mood for something else. How about you?” she asked Jake, the twitch at the corners of her mouth unmistakable.
“I’m good,” he told the waitress. “I’ll take the check, though.”
Tori frowned at him. He wasn’t sure what that was about. Maybe she wasn’t ready to leave. Maybe she’d been bluffing. Maybe she got off on getting him horny and then kicking him to the curb.
The waitress set the tray on the table and got the order pad out of her pocket. After she ripped off the top sheet and set it in front of Jake, she picked up her tray. “Y’all be good, and come back soon.”
Tori tried to grab the check but Jake snatched it first. “I’ll take that,” she said. “I asked you out, remember?”
He smiled. “How politically correct of you,” he said as he dug into his pocket. “You get it the next time.” He flipped through the folded bills, withdrew enough to cover a generous tip, and then looked up. “Assuming there is a next time.”
She blinked. “I hope so.”
“Good enough.” He picked up his beer and tipped the bottle to his lips.
Tori played with the wet napkin under her bottle, lightly sucking in her lower lip, looking as if she had a big decision to make. Or was trying to figure out how to get herself out of this scene gracefully.
Finally she picked up the beer and took a long pull. When she set the bottle down again, her pale pink lips glistened with moisture. Her tongue slipped out to swipe her lower lip, the action sexy as hell. He didn’t think it was deliberate, though. In fact, she seemed nervous.
She shook back her hair and smiled. “Okay, where were we?”
“I believe you were playing with my leg.”
She sputtered, and then started laughing. “Me?”
“I hope it was you.”
“I was minding my own business.”
“You mean you didn’t do this?”
She jumped when the toe of his boot made contact. “No, I believe my aim was quite a bit lower.”
He hadn’t meant to land between her thighs, but he wasn’t quick to withdraw, either. “Ah, my mistake.”
The surprise wore off and she gave him a playful glare as she removed his foot. “Right.”
“Damn, I was just getting comfortable.”
She laughed. “I’m glad I like you.”
“Huh?”
“Having seen you all those years is like following your favorite actor in a TV series and thinking you know him. Then you see him on an interview show and think, oh, my God, he’s a geek. Or he’s arrogant, or dumber than dirt. Know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“I know you saw me over the years, either running to the stables, or even simply leaving in the car. What did you think of me?”
He avoided her probing gaze and flashed back to the time when he’d first seen Tori at a window, hiding behind a curtain where she thought he couldn’t see her. She’d watched him for hours, would disappear for a while and then return, sometimes changing windows to track him. She’d been young, too young to interest him, and mostly he’d ignored her.
Except one day, while in a shitty mood after being chewed out by his father for something, Jake had almost gestured to her. He’d wanted to make her aware that he knew she hid at the window. He’d wanted to embarrass her. But at the last moment he’d caught a glimpse of her face and the unhappiness he saw had stopped him cold.
He thought about it for a moment and then said, “I thought you were lonely.”
She reared her head back. “What?”
“Sometimes when you stared out your window, you looked—I dunno.”
“You saw me at the window—” She briefly covered her mouth. “You never let on.”
He shrugged. “You would have been embarrassed.”
She laughed softly. “Yeah. So you knew I had a crush on you all along.”
“I really didn’t think about it,” he said and she frowned. He hadn’t meant the comment as a dismissal, but if she took it that way so be it. “Look, you want to get out of here. It’s getting noisy.”
She nodded, and then took a final sip of beer. He let her lead the way, enjoying the snug fit of her low-riding jeans and the seductive sway of her hips. About an inch of skin showed between the hem of her shirt and her waistband. In the center of her back just above the swell of her butt, it looked as if she had a small tattoo, but more likely it was a birth-mark. He couldn’t imagine that Ms. MBA would have done anything so whimsical or foolish.
They got outside and the blast of hot, humid air made him think again about why he’d chosen to return to Houston. Granted, he generally didn’t work outside much anymore, but the heat could be brutal when he did. Damn, he wished Pop would consider retiring. What kind of hold did the Whitfords have over him?
Tori hesitated and turned to him while pushing the hair away from her face and off her neck. “You’d think I’d be used to this heat by now.”
“You’ve been away,” he murmured, more interested in the graceful curve of her neck. Normally he liked long hair, but he wanted to see hers swept up. Off her neck and the slope of her shoulders. “Where to now?”
Her startled eyes met his. “Tonight?”
Shit, he should have known. “Yeah.”
“I can’t tonight. I only meant for us to have a drink. I have a—” She glanced at her watch. “I have to be home within the hour. My mother has plans for me.”
“Ah.”
She narrowed her gaze. “You think I’m making that up.”
“Actually, I think you’re chickening out.”
Her brows rose. “Tomorrow night. The Westin Hotel at the Galleria. I’ll be there by seven.”
He dug in his pocket for his keys and led them in the direction of her car. “I’ll make the reservation.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
He smiled. “Under Whitford?”
That wiped the smug look off her face. She nibbled her lower lip. “How about…?”
“Use Conners. I have nothing to hide.”
They arrived at her car and she turned to face him, her chin lifted in defiance. “I’m not going to debate my desire for privacy with you.”
“Good. That’d be a waste of time.” He slid an arm around her waist and hauled her against him.
Her mouth opened in surprise and he took full advantage by slipping in his tongue. Her body tensed and then she touched her tongue to his, her ample breasts pressing against his chest as she slid her arms around his neck.
He deepened the kiss and she moaned softly, working her talented fingers into his hair, over his scalp. Cupping her bottom, he pulled her against his erection. She wiggled seductively.
The parking lot was dark and jammed with cars and he thought about opening her car door and laying her down right there. He got as far as the door handle when the nearing sound of laughter stopped him.
Slowly he released her, moving his hands to her hips, gentling the kiss and finally stepping back. She seemed reluctant, but then lowered her hands to her sides and sagged back against the car. One of those two-seater foreign jobs, he realized. No good for what he’d had planned.
They said nothing as the laughing couple stumbled past them. Tori softly cleared her throat. He shifted, trying to adjust the snugness of his jeans. The jangle of keys drew his attention. She’d pulled them out of her purse.
“Thanks for the sneak preview,” she said, her mouth curving slowly, her gaze lingering on him as she opened her car door. “I look forward to tomorrow night.”
She slid inside, her long, shapely legs molded by the tight denim, holding his attention captive. Reluctantly he closed the door. She started the car and the automatic window smoothly slid down.
“Tomorrow night,” he said, and thought about kissing her again but stepped back instead.
“Around seven, right?”
He nodded. “Under what name?”
Her mouth lifted in a mischievous grin. “Lady Chatterly.”
The tinted window slid up, obscuring her face, and then she drove away, leaving him in the parking lot with a smile and a hard-on.
TORI MUTTERED A CURSE when she pulled into the driveway and saw the parlor lights on. Of course her mother could have gone to bed and just left them on for her. It was after eleven.
Another light flickered on and Tori sighed as she navigated the circular driveway around to the east garage where she kept her car. She had a good mind to wander out into the garden and make her mother come out and look for her. No way would she put up with a grilling over where she’d been all night. Tomorrow, after she went to the office, no matter how many appointments were on her calendar, she was looking for an apartment.
She could have come home immediately after meeting with Jake. She’d had a half hour to kill before she had to show up at the center. But if she’d gone home for the thirty minutes, she would have had to face her mother’s annoying questions.
It was weird to be living at home after being away for seven years. Had she really been that subservient in her youth, or had her mother’s domineering gotten worse? Maybe she figured if she could tame Mallory, whipping Tori into shape would be a cinch.
Even Jake had thought Tori had run home to placate her mother. Of course Tori had also led him to that thinking. She didn’t know why she hadn’t been honest with him, except working at the center, and answering their hot line was something very personal for her. And the truth was, she didn’t know Jake.
She laughed to herself as she pulled the car into the garage. She didn’t know him…she just wanted to sleep with him. Oh, God…
The door had barely closed behind her when she heard her mother calling from the parlor. Tori thought briefly about running up the servants’ stairs but decided not to aggravate her mother any further.
“I’ll be right in, Mother,” she called and stopped to get a diet Coke out of the fridge. She grabbed an apple, too, since she hadn’t eaten dinner.
She took a deep breath, reminding herself to be patient as she entered the parlor.
Her mother purposefully looked at her watch, still on her wrist, even though she had already changed into a satiny peach robe. “Where have you been?”
“Why?”
Her mother’s brows arched. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you since you’ve been away, Victoria, but your attitude is most unattractive.”
Tori sighed. “It’s only eleven-fifteen.”
Her mother stared in silence for a moment, gave Tori’s jeans a disdainful look and then said, “You’ve been at the center again, haven’t you?”
“And that would be a problem?”
“For heaven’s sake, Victoria, we give them enough money. You don’t need to actually—” She made a sweeping gesture with her hand.
“Get my hands dirty?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yeah.” Sighing, Tori popped open the can of cola. “I think I’ll take this upstairs with me.”
“Victoria.”
She stopped, turned around.
“Do not forget about dinner tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow night? Where?”
“Oh, Victoria.” Her mother stood, and then turned to plump the pillow she’d been leaning on. “At the Club.”
“You didn’t tell me about that.”
“I most certainly did. We’re meeting the Kimballs at seven. They’re very important clients of your father’s.”
Tori’s heart sank. “I would have remembered…”
“Not with the way you’ve been preoccupied lately. Anyway, dress will be casual.” She cast a critical gaze over Tori. “Wear your cream linen dress.”
“Guess what? They taught me how to dress myself in college.”
“I’m not amused, Victoria,” her mother called as Tori took the stairs two at a time. “I expect you to be prompt tomorrow. This dinner is very important.”
