Instant Temptation (4 page)

“You’re right.” TJ let his shirt fall back into place. “You should definitely come with me and save me from myself.” He walked into her kitchen and made sure her back door was locked. He flipped off the kitchen light, then turned and faced her, stopping when he found her staring at him.

“We don’t even like each other,” she said, confused.

“I like you just fine. Sure, you’re as difficult and grumpy as Chuck, but no one’s perfect.”

She choked out a laugh. Chuck was the Wilder mascot, a disheveled stray that they’d hardly recognized as a cat at first sight. He’d shown up last winter, scrawny and half a heartbeat from starvation. He’d been neglected and terrified.

Annie and Katie had taken him under their wings, fattening him up, loving him so thoroughly that he’d had no choice but to learn to accept them as his family.

And then Emma had determined that not only was Chuck missing a penis, but that he was pregnant. Now they had three kittens running amok in the lodge, three wild, lovable little miscreants with none of their mama’s innate mistrust and all of her penchant for trouble.

But what was it he’d just said? That he liked her just fine? What was that? Just when she thought she’d gotten used to the odd push/pull of their prickly relationship, he was changing the rules and hadn’t given her a copy. “What’s going on here, TJ? Usually, you never talk to me without a frown on your face.”

“Don’t you have that backwards?”

She stared up at him, having to concede that he might have a point. She usually was on edge with him, but it was because they had a past, one that was significant to her.

One that he didn’t even remember.

There were other reasons, too. Like the fact that no matter how dirty and grubby he got on his job, he still looked hot, while she wore her grease like a poorly chosen accessory. “I have to get out of these coveralls.”

“You know you can go like you are.”

“I know.” She’d known Cam and Stone and Annie forever. Annie’s husband Nick, too. They were warm and accepting and cared about her as much as she cared about them. She could show up in a sack and it wouldn’t matter. Changing was for her. “It’ll only take a second.” Now that she’d agreed to lasagna, she was nearly shaking with hunger. She unzipped her filthy coveralls and began to shove them down, but at the low, rough sound from TJ, she glanced over. “I’m dressed under here, you know.” She kicked free of the grimy coveralls. Beneath she wore a stretchy black tank and micro bike shorts.

“See? Full coverage.”

Her jeans were on the back of a chair. She grabbed them and slid them on, hopping up and down a little until they reached her hips.

TJ made another sound deep in his throat as she buttoned them up, and she sent him a questioning look and found his gaze so scorching hot she nearly caught fire.

Holy smokes.

“Is it really, really hot in here?” he asked ironically, voice silky, green eyes holding hers prisoner.

She was completely and utterly startled. “I’m dirty.”

“So?”

“Sweaty, too.”

“I repeat. So?”

Oh boy. “I have a boyfriend,” she whispered.

He just smiled one of the big, bad wolf smiles, took her hand and led her outside, locking her front door, walking her to his Jeep.

“I’ll drive myself,” she said.

“You’d rather drive yourself all the way out to the lodge than be in the same car as me?”

“Well, those awkward silences are so much fun.”

“We’re never silent. We’re usually arguing.”

“Hence the separate rides.”

He let out a breath. “I’m trying to save you the gas and the trouble, Harley.”

“I don’t want you to have to drive me all the way back.”

“I don’t mind.”

“But—”

“Jesus.” He swiped a hand down his face. “Just get in the damn Jeep.”

She looked into his eyes. He was looking a little irritated and also a little amused—at the both of them.

And still smoking hot.

It was a problem. He was a problem. “I’m not sure I trust you.”

Or me.

He let out a small smile. “Well, then, it’s a good thing I’m not your boyfriend.”

CHAPTER 3

They drove in silence, which suited TJ just fine. It seemed to suit Harley, too. She wasn’t giving much away as they drove through town. Wishful had been around since the 1800s, once upon a time making a name for itself as the wildest corner of the wild, wild west. It’d survived the gold rush, the lumber boom, and now, thanks to sitting at 6,000 feet altitude, was an outdoor enthusiasts’ tourist stop on the way to Lake Tahoe—something TJ and his brothers had made full use of with Wilder Adventures.

At the end of town, he turned onto the highway, and then onto the narrow, private three-mile road that led to the Wilder lodge. Harley continued to stare out the window away from him, doing her best imitation of someone who didn’t give a damn—which TJ knew was yet another big, fat lie. He affected her, and he had no idea what to do with that. “You’re really good with moving to Colorado?” he asked.

She turned her head and met his gaze. “You think I’ll get the job?”

“Yes.”

She looked surprised.

That made the second time today he’d surprised her by offering support.

He knew her parents, both sixties throwbacks, who were equal parts proud of their daughter and confused by her. The support system went from Harley to them, not the other way around. Same with Skye. It was doubtful Harley ever was on the receiving end of the same level of support she gave.

She kept busy looking at the thick, lush woods on either side of the narrow, windy road that led to Wilder Adventures. The trees were pine, most well over a hundred years old and a hundred feet tall. “I figure Colorado won’t be all that different from Wishful,” she said.

“What about the boyfriend?”

“Nolan?”

He slid her a look. “You have more than one boyfriend?”

“Why do you keep saying it like that, like you’re putting quotes around his name?”

“I’m not. Nolan’s a good guy.”

“But?”

“I didn’t say but.”

“Yes, but there was definitely a but at the end of that sentence. It was a silent but implied but.”

“Jesus,” he muttered. “Can’t you just answer my question?”

“Fine. What exactly is the question again?”

“Why isn’t Nolan going out to Desolation with you?”

“I didn’t ask him. Listen, I realize that in your eyes I’m only a mechanic, but—”

“You’re more,” he said quietly, then met her gaze for a beat to let her see he meant it. “Far more.”

She was silent a moment, absorbing that. “I grew up out here, TJ, same as you. As the only tow truck driver in town, I’ve been called out at all hours. Alone. I’ve faced all sorts of things.”

He’d known that. He’d always hated that. Letting out a breath, he pulled into Wilder Adventures. He parked in front of the three-story lodge that he and his brothers had built, the late afternoon sun illuminating the stone and wood accents harvested from the property itself.

Home, for better or worse. He spent a lot of time away from there, and yet he always came back.

“I forget how beautiful it is,” Harley said quietly, and looked at him. “You ever think about it? Where you started out, and where you ended up?”

“Since we started out in the gutter and somehow ended up here, no. I try not to go there.”

“You didn’t somehow end up here. You guys worked your asses off. You deserve this.” With that shocking statement, she hopped out of the Jeep.

The sound of whining engines rent the air around them. Cam, Stone, and Nick—their pilot and mechanic—were racing on quads.

They’d had a lot of rain in the past few afternoons. The ATVs were churning across the yard, mud from the tires flinging up through the air in high arcs.

Annie stood off to the side, Chuck at her feet, the kittens nowhere in sight, but most likely in the lodge, creating utter destruction. Annie wore her usual dark jeans, vintage rock T-shirt, and chef’s apron. This one said: COMPLAINTS TO THE CHEF MIGHT BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH. She had her hands on her hips, and given her expression, she’d clearly rather be riding than watching, but Nick had set the law—no riding while pregnant. TJ was just glad Nick had told her that, since no one else could tell Annie what to do and live.

TJ set his hand on the small of Harley’s back and nudged her closer, just as Cam whipped past Nick and skidded to a stop right in front of them, the apparent finish line. Cam pulled off his helmet, hopped off the quad, and grinned. “I’ve still got it.”

Nick pulled in right behind him and shook his head. “You cheated. The finish line’s around the back of the lodge.”

“I’d have beat you there, too,” Cam said, eyes on Harley, a smile curving his lips as he pulled her in for a tight hug, affectionately rumpling her hair.

Right in front of TJ’s eyes, Harley softened, hugging Cam back, looking quite cozy while doing it.

“You’re not running clean,” Harley murmured to Cam about the ATV. “May be a carburetor problem.”

She gently hugged Annie as well, rubbing her belly. “You feeling good?”

“I’d feel better if we could come up with a baby name.” Annie accompanied this with a long look in Nick’s direction.

“Hey, I’ve offered a bazillion names,” Nick said in his defense. “Ashley, Emily, Madison, Olivia. You vetoed them all. Even Abigail.”

“Not Abigail.”

Nick threw up his hands and looked at TJ. “She’s right, man, your quad is sluggish. It needs work.”

“Can’t be,” TJ said. “I just went over it.”

“Really?” Harley lifted a brow and moved toward the quad, inspecting it with a sharp eye. Not that TJ

was noticing anything besides how her Levi’s were nice and tight across her ass as she bent down for a better look. “When?”

“Last week,” he told her.

“Huh.” She crouched at the quad and looked it over with a critical eye. “You did a pretty shitty job.”

She said this so sweetly it took TJ a moment to process her words.

Cam grinned. “If I’d told him that, he’d have kicked my ass.” He pulled her up for a smacking kiss. “God, I love you. If I wasn’t already getting married, I’d ask you to marry me.”

TJ rolled his eyes. Cam looked just like Stone and TJ, but slightly leaner. TJ could kill him with one snap of the neck and make the world a better place, but he’d probably feel bad about it later.

Maybe.

Nick handed Harley his helmet. “Take it out for me? Tell me what else is wrong with it.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” TJ said.

“Ride it hard in the turn,” Cam told her. “You’ll see what I mean.”

“I can already tell you what’s wrong with it. You have a carburetor problem, and maybe a failed spark plug.” Harley slipped into the helmet, then looked at Nick, who was preparing to follow her on his quad. “Around the back of the lodge?”

“Yeah.”

“What do I get if I win?”

Nick’s gaze slid to TJ’s. “I’ll hold TJ down so you can beat on him.”

She actually turned and looked TJ over as if that might be satisfactory to her.

TJ arched a brow, and she let out one of her rare smiles. “Deal,” she said.

Before TJ could react to that, she threw a leg over the quad and kicked started the thing with an ease that was incredibly sexy.

TJ shoved Nick off his quad and replaced him. “If I’m the prize, then I’m sure as hell doing the racing.”

He revved the engine, shot both Nick and Cam a long look, then nodded to Harley.

They took off. The wind hit his face and cut right through his clothes. It felt great. Harley was about twenty yards ahead so he floored it, his quad agreeably leaping forward, coming up neck and neck with her. She was leaning low over the handlebars in her black tank top and jeans, her legs hugging the machine like he wished they were hugging his hips. Oh, yeah, now there was an image…

Taking advantage of his momentary loss of concentration, Harley took the sharp right at the lodge and vanished.

TJ turned, right on her tail, content to stay behind her for the view alone, especially when she stood up, leaning hard into the turn, her ass looking damn fine.

The wind kicked up, but he still heard her laugh, and it caused one of his own. It felt good to play, even better to play with her, something they rarely got to do because though she was warm and fun and open with just about everyone else, with him she put up that damn brick wall that he hadn’t figured out how to break down.

Not that it’d mattered. None of it did. He was gone more than he was there anyway. And if he didn’t get his head out of his ass, the muddy, laughing, screaming Harley was going to win the race. She was good, damn good, but luckily he was better. He caught her on the back side of the lodge and neatly cut her off.

In tune to her swearing, he hit the finish line a nose ahead of her. He stood up and turned to face her, grinning.

She turned off her engine and pulled off her helmet. She flipped her hair free and looked at him. She was mud splattered, and her tank and jeans were plastered to her. “Fine,” she said, flashing him a rare but gorgeous smile. “You win. I don’t get to beat you up.”

“Maybe another time,” he murmured.

“Count on it.”

He knew she was only half kidding.

She shivered, and drew his attention downward. Her nipples were two hard points, pressing against the thin stretchy material of her tank.

“They’re just a regular old pair of breasts,” she said. “Half the population has them.”

Not that perfect, they didn’t.

She crossed her arms over herself. “I’m feeling cold.”

That wasn’t what he was feeling. But he shrugged out of his outer shirt and wrapped it around her, using it to tug her up against his broad chest.

“I’m muddy,” she said in protest.

“Makes two of us.”

She tilted her head up to meet his gaze warily.

“I won,” he reminded her.

“Yeah. So?”

“So now there’s something you can do for me.”

“Let me guess. Something sexual.” Her tone suggested complete disinterest. The pulse fluttering wildly at the base of her throat suggested something else entirely. “God, you are such a guy.”

He held his silence, and finally she sighed. “Okay, what? What could you possibly think would be okay to ask of me?”