Page 33 of Her Cadillac Cowboy
“No, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”
She couldn’t breathe. She began to struggle.
Josh released her to the same spot as before. He jerked his hands away, as if touching her would corrode his skin. He put his hands in his hair and pulled. “This is too soon, too much,” he said to the floor. When he raised his gaze to her, he asked, “How do you do this to me? I can’t get within five feet of you and not want you.”
The passion firing his gaze both drew and repelled. Sara stepped back. She crossed her arms over her chest and rubbed her upper arms briskly.
“Believe me, I don’t do it on purpose.” She took another step back, finding that each step away from Josh was a step nearer to sanity. “I don’tdoanything. You’re the one who can’t keep his hands and his lips to himself.”
He grinned and stepped closer. “You don’t believe that, Sara, and you know it.”
Resisting the physical magnetism that pulled her toward him, she took a position behind the desk. “No matter what you think I believe, rutting like animals isn’t going to solve the problem of Will Talmidge.”
Josh planted both his fists on the desk and leaned forward. “Is that what you call it, ‘rutting like animals?’”
Sara thumped into her chair.
Josh loomed over her.
She dared him with her eyes. “What I callitisn’t important because we aren’t going to doitagain. Got that?”
He grinned. “No, but I will.”
She had seen grins less predatory on grizzly bears.
In a blink, the expression disappeared. Josh stood upright and held his hand out to her. “Let’s go to dinner, Pipsqueak.”
“Don’t call me that,” she said automatically and studied him for a moment. Where did this apparently normal man hide the predator who’d threatened her just moments ago? Refusal could bring the dangerous animal back, so she got up, retrieved her purse and walked with him to the door. “Where are we going?”
Josh put one hand at her back and reached past her to open the door. “Delgado’s, where else?”
Uh oh, I’m in real trouble now.
???
Josh opened the door on Sara’s side of the ancient truck and helped her down to the sidewalk.
“Why didn’t you drive the Caddy?”
“The same reason I decided on Delgado’s.”
“Delgado’s is the closest thing Luville had to a fine restaurant. Every proposal, every anniversary, every important date marked by Luville’s citizens is celebrated at Delgado’s. You can’t expect me to believe you intend to propose, and I know neither of us is having a birthday, so what gives?”
How to answer? He thought about it as they followed the hostess through the crowded restaurant to their table,
This whole evening was supposed to be about calm, reasonable discussions. “Because they have the best wine cellar in five counties. Besides, I remember how much you like their blackened salmon and coconut shrimp. And I want you in a very relaxed mood when we finally discuss Will Talmidge.”
“So you think a fancy meal will soften me up.”
“I think it increases my chances, yes. I also think that, if you do get bent out of shape, you’ll be less likely to murder me in a public place where lots of your friends and neighbors can watch.”
“I wouldn’t want to murder you if you’d just see reason and break your lease on the warehouse.”
His mouth thinned. “I’m not going to do that, so don’t go there.”
Her lips formed a thin line, and she perused the menu. “So, what would you like to talk about?”
“With the exception of the warehouse, anything you like.” He studied his menu.
