Seduce Me Read online

  “What truth?”

  “You’re into her.”

  “I don’t know what I am.”

  “No?” Cole toasted him with his glass. “Well, you’d better figure it out before the other guys get here, or they’ll tear you apart.”

  They tore him apart anyway until he lost all dignity. And in a sign of how far he’d lost his edge, he also nearly lost his shirt, too.

  ON TUESDAY, Jack refereed three boys’ basketball games and then, needing a different kind of connection, tried calling Sam again—yet another sign of how far gone he was. While he sat in his car listening to the phone ringing, he tried to create a mental list of the things that had bothered him about her, his usual MO for not having date number two.

  But his list turned up short. In fact, it was non-existent.

  “Hello,” she answered breathlessly.

  “Sam, it’s Jack.”

  Silence.

  “Jack Knight,” he said, and felt very stupid.

  “I remember who you are, Jack. The first man I’ve ever bodysurfed with at midnight.”

  An idiotic grin split his face. The first? He liked that, he liked that far too much. “So how are you?” he asked, discovering that the usual easy conversation starter, the one that had always meant nothing, suddenly mattered. He really did want to know how she was.

  “I’m up to my elbows in brownie mix if you want the truth, and this time, I have a good feeling about it.”

  “Why? Do you usually have a problem with brownies?”

  She sighed. “I make the best sandwiches under the sun. Cookies, too. But I’m an utter failure at brownies. Today, I break the curse.”

  “Want a personal taster?”

  “You mean…”

  “For brownies, I’d drive to China. I’ll come over and sample them for you.”

  “No! I mean, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I’ve never managed a good batch yet.”

  “If they’re awful, I promise I won’t even mention it.”

  “Look, I—No. No, thank you. I’m sorry—”

  His grin faded. He’d misread everything. “No, it’s okay. I understand—”

  “It’s just that the other night was so…” She let out a breath.

  “Yeah.” From stupid to mortified.

  “So I guess I’m just hoping that by Saturday, I’ll see you and realize I’ve just exaggerated how much fun you were.”

  Suddenly, he didn’t feel anything but good, damn good. “Best of luck with the brownies, Sam.”

  “The brownies—” Something clanged in his ear, and he realized she’d dropped the phone. He waited, and when she came back, she was irritated. “Got to have that oven checked. The damn thermostat is out and it’s over-cooking everything.”

  “Blaming the oven?”

  “What? You want to hear that you distracted me and I overcooked them? You’ve been distracting me for days. Go away, Jack. And stay out of my head until Saturday. Please.”

  “I will if you will.”

  “You’re having the same problem?”

  She sounded far more wary than amused, and his own pleasure faded, replaced by other emotions he didn’t want to face. “See you Saturday,” he said softly, and hung up.

  He lasted two days, during which he kept himself busy organizing and registering basketball players for a kids’ league at the rec center before he called Wild Cherries again. He’d have called her at home, but didn’t have that number. He liked that she hadn’t given it to him—it meant she’d been utterly honest about being commitment phobic, which was always a damned attractive trait in a woman.

  And yet his heart had started a heavy, excited beat at the thought of hearing her voice again.

  “Wild Cherries,” she answered the phone, sounding breathless. “Can I help you?”

  “Sam.”

  “Hey.” There was a smile in her voice, and suddenly there was one on his face as well.

  “Just wanted to hear you.”

  “You’re hearing me. What’s up?”

  “You surf today?”

  “Yeah.” She covered the mouthpiece to speak to someone, but he could still hear her. “Knock it off, Nash, I am not going to tell him that.”

  “Tell me what?”

  “I made the mistake of serving a few friends some lunch and now they’re being obnoxious.”

  “What did they want you to tell me?”

  She hesitated, then laughed. “That they’ll, and I quote, kick your butt if you hurt me. They don’t realize they’re threatening Jack Scandal Knight.”

  “Holy crap,” said an awed voice.

  Sam laughed. “As for surfing, it was rough today, and I got my butt kicked out there. Lorissa had a great time laughing at me when I face-planted right in front of her.”

  “You okay?”

  “Not a scratch. How about you? What are you up to?”

  Thinking of you. “Lost at poker the other night. Badly.”

  “Ouch. You should play me sometime, it will make you feel better about yourself.” She laughed. “I’m horrible. Last time I played strip poker—”

  He choked out a laugh. “I was not playing strip poker with the guys.”

  “Oh.” She laughed, too. “Of course not. So how about that weather, huh?”

  “Oh, no, we’re not changing the subject, yet. About this strip poker thing…”

  “It was a long time ago,” she said primly now, though he could still hear the smile in her voice.

  “How about we rectify that?”

  “Are you suggesting—”

  “Definitely I’m suggesting. We play. I’ll give you pointers.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Hey, I have your best interests in mind.”

  Her soft chuckle was outrageously sexy. “Maybe some other time,” she said. “Did you see the magazines?”

  He sighed. “Yeah. Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. A customer actually asked me for an autograph today. Famous for a day, at least.”

  “You’re being an incredibly good sport.”

  “That’s life, right?”

  “It is, isn’t it. You know what? You’re just what I needed today.”

  “Yeah?” She sounded pleased.

  “Yeah.”

  “So…I’ll see you on Saturday?”

  “Unless I could talk you into that poker game. Tonight.”

  “Not tonight. Not…yet.”

  But she didn’t say not ever. She asked him about Heather then, and he asked her about her latest sandwich creation, and before he knew it an hour had gone by, and she had to go because apparently Lorissa was getting irritated about handling the café while Sam chatted on the phone with him.

  That night, he dreamed about holding her hot and wet in his arms, just as when they’d bodysurfed, talking and laughing, kissing. And despite not getting her into bed, that first date had rivaled any night he’d ever spent with a woman; in fact, it ranked up there as the hottest, most sensual night of his life.

  SATURDAY CAME before Sam knew it. The morning was chilly and foggy, but that didn’t stop her from surfing and swimming with Lorissa and the gang as usual. When they were done, Lorissa opened the café and Sam went upstairs to get ready for the carnival.

  “Stop it,” she told her overly excited reflection in the bathroom mirror. “He’s just a guy.”

  Yeah, just a guy. A very gorgeous guy who made her laugh and could kiss her every last brain cell away.

  Not today, she told herself. Today was just for the kids. Today, he would irritate her in some way, surely he would. And then she’d be free from thinking of him, of dreaming of him.

  She heard gravel crunch as a car pulled into the parking lot, and ran to the window, pressing her nose to the glass to catch sight of Jack’s Escalade. Her stomach tightened.

  So much for irritating her. But the day was young yet, and she’d never gone through an entire second date without wanting to ditch the guy. So really it was only a matter of time.