Make it Hot (8 page)

“Mmm…whatever. The meals come high around here. Next time I’ll stay my butt home.” Samantha started laughing when she saw the sulking look on Jenny’s face.

That woman knew she was nosy.

Deciding she might as well tell her friend about the grocery-store incident, Samantha spilled her guts, strategically leaving out the part about the kiss. She could just imagine how Jenny would react to that morsel of information.

“Girl! Why didn’t you invite that man to come over here with you to get some food? You know you ain’t right. Leaving that fine specimen to some frozen TV dinners. Plus, it would have given me an up front and personal seat to y’alls’ little soap opera.” Jenny actually pouted.

“It’s bad enough I have to wait until Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to get recaps from you. The one time I could have seen the interaction for myself, you denied me.”

“This is hardly about you, Jenny.”

“Clearly.” She pursed her lips in contemplation. “Well, I can tell you this. I don’t want to have to plead and beg for any information come Monday. As soon as his appointment is over, I’m coming into your office, and I want the complete blow by blow. I can’t believe you could have invited him to the cookout and didn’t. You know you like the man. I don’t know why you’re tripping.”

Samantha sighed. “What part of ‘it’s unprofessional to date your patients’ do you not understand?”

“Oh, poo-poo to you and your professionalism. Your professionalism won’t keep you warm come winter. It might be a scorching summer now, and you might think you’re too hot to trot to put your heart on the line, but I bet you this winter you’re gonna wish you had a man as fine as Joel Hightower to snuggle up to.”

“You’re so crazy, Jenny. I don’t see how Walt puts up with you.”

“Mark my words. If you don’t give that man a chance, you are going to regret it. You’re regretting it now. That’s why you’ve been staring out into space all day. You were thinking,
man, I should have invited Joel to come with me.
”

Samantha twisted up her lips in a frown.

“Mmm, hmm—” Jenny started.

“What are you two in here scheming and plotting about now?” Walt came into the den with Cynthia and Walter Jr. in tow.

The youngest, Walter Jr., went immediately to his mother’s lap, and the little diva Cynthia sat down next to Samantha on the loveseat.

The rugged rust leather sofa and loveseat worked perfectly in their den. Samantha could just imagine the children running and jumping on it. The worn, rough surface of the furniture would more than likely hide a multitude of sins.

Samantha absolutely adored Jenny and Walt’s children. They were two of the most well-behaved kids she’d ever seen and they looked like miniature versions of Jenny and Walt.

“We’re not scheming and plotting. I’m trying to get Miss Meany here to stop giving this really nice man a hard time.”

Samantha laughed. It was funny how Joel suddenly went from Mr. Super Fine to a really nice man when Jenny’s husband was around.

“That’s all you pretty women do is give a brother a hard time. Look at how hard I had to work to get you to give me a second look. I’m surprised you’re giving out advice on how not to play hard to get.” Walt sat down on the sofa next to Jenny and put his arm around her, pulling her and Walt Jr. close.

The love so clearly evident on his face for his wife and children nearly took Samantha’s breath away. Walt was looking at Jenny in a way that clearly said, if they didn’t have company and these kids were fast asleep, he’d have her climbing the walls.

Samantha wondered when she would get a man to look at her like that.

Joel Hightower’s handsome brown face and daring brown eyes popped into her head at that moment, and she realized a man had looked at her exactly the way Walt now looked at Jenny. Only, she had no idea what she was going to do about it.

“Stop fooling around, Walt. You know I didn’t give you a hard time.” Jenny leaned into her husband’s arms and smiled coyly.

“Hmm. Somebody is creating a little revisionist history. You had me chasing you around campus our entire freshman year before you even let a brother carry your books.” Walt turned to Samantha with a big grin on his face. “Don’t let this woman give you advice. She almost let a good catch like me get away.”

“Mmm. Mmm, hmm. Modest, isn’t he?” Jenny laughed. “With that ego, it’s a wonder I didn’t have him wait two years.”

“See, she admits it.” Walt placed a kiss on Jenny’s cheek.

“There’s nothing wrong with making a man work for your attentions, but she’s not doing that. She’s seriously thinking about not giving him a chance at all. Talking about being all professional.” Jenny frowned.

“I thought we came inside for dessert?” Cynthia let out an exasperated sigh.

“Yeah, I want a sundae.” Walt Jr. started bouncing up and down on Jenny’s lap, and Samantha could tell the little impatient boy must take after Jenny.

Walt stood up and shuttled the children toward the kitchen. He turned before leaving. “Remember what I said, Jenny is the
last
person that should be dishing out advice.”

He started laughing and ducked when Jenny sent a throw pillow sailing toward his head.

Samantha twisted her lips to the side.

Jenny placed her hand on her hip. “What? Girl, please. If anything, that makes me the perfect person to give advice on the subject. You don’t want to waste a year of good loving with a fine man like I did. You already wasted over two months.”

“Whatever. If it were meant to be, he wouldn’t be a patient. The fates would have had us meet in a work-free zone under completely different circumstances.”

“Just promise me this. If he makes a move, you won’t shoot him down. Take a minute to get to know the man at least, as a friend. We could all use good friends.”

Samantha let the idea circle around in her head. Jenny’s suggestion seemed pretty harmless and useful, but there was only one problem. Could she really be friends with Joel Hightower and not want more? Could she be friends after feeling what it was like to kiss him?

After sharing that intense kiss with Samantha, Joel felt too hyped to stay home and sulk, so he decided to visit his younger brother, Jason, and his wife, Penny. Their town house was located in West Paterson near Garret Mountain. The gray-and-white stone buildings that made up the complex appeared to have been recently built and had a very modern design. It wasn’t too far from his town house in Passaic Park, so he dropped off his frozen dinners and gave his brother a call.

Jason had been about to put some steaks on the grill and seemed more than happy to throw one more on for Joel.

Penny greeted Joel with such a warm and welcoming hug, he knew without a doubt he’d made the right decision to hang out with them.

“I’m so glad you decided to stop by. We don’t see you enough.” Penny led him out to the deck where Jason was grilling.

“What’s up, bro? It’s good to see you,” Jason greeted him with a playful grin as they hugged and gave each other pounds.

“Would you like a beer or a glass of wine? Soda? Water?” Penny stopped before sitting down on the lounge chair that had a copy of
Vibe Vixen
laying flat on it.

“I’ll take a beer, if you don’t mind.” Joel took a seat in the teakwood patio chair next to the chair he assumed Penny had been sitting in.

She went back inside to get the beer, and Jason seemed fixated on her walk.

“Look at you, all in love. And to think, you have me to thank for all this happiness you’re experiencing.” Joel had to pat himself on the back for giving his brother the good advice to forgive the woman he loved.

“If I remember correctly, you laughed at me for a good long time before you gave up the advice.” Jason turned the steaks and then took a seat across from him.

“I had to give you a hard time first, but I did give you good advice.”

“Yes, you did. But I’d like to think I would have come to the right decision anyway, after a while.” Jason chuckled. “I’ll tell you what, when you need some good advice, feel free to call on me.”

“Who’s dishing out advice?” Penny came back outside and handed Joel a beer. “You know, I give advice for a living as a consultant and stylist. I’d be happy to tell you two what to do, and I won’t even charge you my going rate.”

“Oh, that’s okay, sis. You’ll have your hands full with my baby bro.” Joel took a sip from his beer as he chuckled.

Jason leaned over and gave Penny a peck on the lips, and she caressed his face gently. The loving expressions on their faces filled Joel with longing.

For the first time since his accident, he wanted something besides a strong enough back to return to the job that thrilled him and made him feel like a man. He wanted someone to look at him the way Penny looked at his brother, and he wanted to gaze at someone in the special way his brother was gazing at Penny.

He thought of Samantha’s soft, inquisitive expression a few hours ago in the grocery-store parking lot. He thought of their kiss. He realized he liked her a lot and he wondered…She was already the woman working to give him one thing he wanted. He wondered if she could be the woman to give him all the things he now knew he needed.

That night he dreamed, and for the first time in a long time he woke up in the cold sweat of desire. A certain sassy-mouthed physical therapist had waltzed into his dreams and took him to heights he wasn’t sure he’d be able to reach again in real life, but he knew the invigorated feeling gave him a new purpose. He had to find out if the sexy siren from his dreams could be the woman to give him all the things he now knew he wanted.

S
amantha eyed Joel suspiciously. From the moment she’d walked into the room and started his treatments, he had been chipper and pleasant. Even when she showed him new stretching exercises to help deal with and manage his back pain, he kept his incredibly disarming smile on his face. He hadn’t made one grumpy grunt or wisecrack. By the time they made it to her office for the consultation, she was flustered beyond belief. She’d foolishly tried to convince herself that the kiss was just a fluke and they could go on as if it had never happened.

Yeah, right.

And Joel’s sparkling and very devilish stare didn’t help in the least. She took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair.

He smiled again, and all she could see was trouble. Why should she care if he smiled at her? He was a patient and that was it. A patient full of devilishness and trouble.

“Okay, Hightower, what gives?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, why are you being all nice and agreeable? What kind of plot do you have working in that head of yours? You’re not planning on trying to kiss me again, are you?”

He laughed, and the rich sound echoed through her soul. In the two-and-a-half months she had been treating him, she didn’t think she had ever heard him laugh like that. It was the same full-bodied, hearty laugh she remembered from the news report after his accident.

Trouble.

“I like you. What are you doing for lunch tomorrow?”

“Eating.”

“How about we eat together? I normally have lunch a couple of times a week at the best hot-dog spot in town. But I’m willing to forgo my favorite to take you out to a really nice restaurant and get to know you better, outside of this clinic.”

She nearly swallowed her tongue.

Pursing her lips, she studied him carefully. She noticed his eyes zero in on her lips just before his tongue licked his own lips LL Cool J-style. And it didn’t get sexier than that.

She shook her head. Even if he was attracted to her, they couldn’t pursue anything. He was a patient. She did not work her way through undergraduate school and two graduate degrees to throw it all away by having an affair with a patient, and there was also the fact that he was about to go back to a dangerous job. No. She couldn’t give in.

“Well, as much as I love Willy’s Taste of the Chi’s hot dogs, I’m afraid not even the possibility of having one of those could make me go out on a date with a patient.”

He frowned, and if she hadn’t become so attached to the sweet and sexy way his happy face appeared, she might have relished the return of his normal demeanor.

“Willy’s what? The best hot dogs in the area are located at Johnny’s Grill. They make the best Texas-style wieners this side of Jersey.”

“Texas-style, hmm…Yeah…I think
not.
You really haven’t lived until you’ve tasted a Chicago-style hot dog.”

“Chicago-style. Chicago can’t even get pizza right. What do they know about hot dogs?”

“Excuse you? Chicago-style pizza is the only way to really eat pizza. The deep dish makes it a meal. That thin stuff y’all eat around here leaves a lot to be desired.”

He started laughing and shaking his head. “Girl, it’s a good thing I’m here to help you see the error of your ways and put your taste buds on the right path. I’ll have to break my date rules and forgo the fancy restaurants for now so you can get a taste of a real hot dog and then some real pizza. But clearly the desperate state of this situation calls for a change in plans.”

“Change in plans? Date? Did you say
date?
Listen, Joel, you’re my patient, and I realize you may have formed an attachment to me because of the nature of our relationship, but that will pass—”

“I don’t want it to pass. I want to explore it. I feel more alive around you than I’ve felt in months. All I know is you owe me one for the help I gave you at the supermarket, and the least you can do is let me treat you to a hot dog so I can prove to you Johnny’s Grill is far superior to Willy’s whatever.”

She folded her arms across her chest, prepared to argue him down and tell him that, in addition to it being unprofessional, she wasn’t going to go out to lunch with him because there was no way a Texas wiener could best a Chi-town dog, but then she saw the way he was leaning there with his sexy smile. She would never get tired of seeing it, along with the confidence she suddenly decided he wore really well, even when he was so sure he would have her.

And she knew it then, just by looking at the gleam in his beautiful brown eyes that spelled trouble. He meant to have her, and at that moment, she knew she wanted exactly what he wanted.

So when her mouth opened, instead of the wisecrack or gentle letdown she knew she should give, something entirely inappropriate fell out of her mouth.

“How about I meet you at this Johnny’s Grill for dinner tonight and we have lunch at Willy’s tomorrow? That way, at least you get a good lunch out of the deal when I rub your face in the fact Chicago-style hot dogs reign supreme.”

“That sounds fabulous to me, except for the part about you meeting me there. I told you, my parents raised an honorable gentleman. I have to pick you up for the date, Samantha.”

“This is not a date, Joel.”

“Call it what you want, sweetheart, but I’ll be driving you to Johnny’s. So am I your last appointment for the day? Should I follow you home to drop off your car and then we can hit up the spot? Or would you like to give me your address and I’ll swing by your place in about an hour or so? Oh, and to answer your earlier question…I do plan on kissing you again, and again, and again….”

Samantha couldn’t stop her traitorous lips from smiling. There didn’t seem to be any turning back now, and she certainly didn’t want to turn back. So she gave the devilish Mr. Hightower her address and tried to still the rapid beating of her heart.

Sitting across from Samantha in his favorite diner, Joel almost couldn’t believe it. If he’d known this was even possible, he wouldn’t have wasted the first two-and-a-half months of his therapy being a grouch. He should have started pursuing her from the moment he laid eyes on her. Now he had to make up for lost time.

She took another tentative bite of her hot dog and rolled her eyes as she chewed.

He watched her lean back in her chair, cross her legs and then cross her arms over her chest. He wouldn’t have been surprised to find her little fingers crossed, as well, because he was sure she was about to tell a fib and say Johnny’s Texas-style wieners weren’t as good as the Chicago-style she loved.

The woman would do
anything
not to agree with him.

She pursed her lips a second and then frowned. “Well, if you deep-fry anything and slap some sauce on it, it’s bound to have some flavor.”

“Yes, but are they
good?
”

“Didn’t I just say that? Deep-fried food is good.”

“Yes, but are these hot dogs the best you’ve ever had? Are they better than your Willy’s Chi-town dogs?”

“You’re not gonna get me to say that. No self-respecting girl from the Chi is going to admit to something like that. I’ll just say they were good, and we can leave it at that.” She smiled that sexy half smile, half smirk of hers and started eating her hot dog and fries with gravy.

Figuring that was about the most he would get her to admit to, he polished off the rest of his meal and then leaned back. He liked a woman who wasn’t afraid to enjoy her food and wasn’t constantly on a diet. He could count on one hand the number of women he’d ever dated who would even consider eating one of the deep-fried hot dogs covered in chili sauce, mustard and onions, let alone have the fries and root beer with it. Samantha Dash was definitely a woman he could see himself falling for.

Who was he kidding? He had already started falling. The trick was getting her to fall right along with him.

“What’re you looking at?” She tilted her head to the side as she studied him.

“You.”

“Why?”

“I was just trying to figure out how I’m going to make you as crazy about me as I’m becoming about you.”

He wondered what would happen when he kissed her again, because he fully intended to kiss her again. Would she still have that stunned expression on her face? He planned to find out tonight, because those lips had been calling him ever since he tasted them in the parking lot, and it was high time he answered.

“Nothing can happen between us, Joel. You’re my patient. Have you ever thought maybe you’ve developed this attraction to me because you see me as some sort of savior? You know, given my role in your recovery—”

He had to laugh at that. “Sweetheart, while I do believe you are the best at what you do and I’m so grateful I have you on my recovery team, I know the difference. You don’t see me having erotic dreams starring Dr. Lardner, do you? He performed the operations that made it possible for me to even be in physical therapy with you.”

She sucked her teeth. “
Ha. Ha.
You know what I mean, Joel. And…erotic dreams? You’ve been having erotic dreams about me?”

Nodding, he leaned forward and reached across the table, taking her hand in his. “And not of the savior-complex variety….”

As soon as he touched her hand, a shock went through him and his pulse quickened. He hadn’t felt that kind of thrill in so long. The excitement of the moment was almost overwhelming.

“Joel, it’s unprofessional—”

“Tell me you’re not attracted to me. Say it, and I’ll leave you alone.” He gritted his teeth after speaking the words.

What if she said it? He knew he wouldn’t be able to leave her alone.
Hell no.
He wanted her.

Silent, she sucked her bottom lip into her mouth.

He felt a shock to his groin. He wanted that lip. He wanted her lips on his.

“I think we should leave now.”

At least she didn’t say she wasn’t attracted to him. Should he force the issue and make her answer?

No. Give it time.

Keeping her hand in his, he rose and they walked out of Johnny’s Grill, hand in hand.

His touch gave her goose bumps in the middle of summer. The tingling feeling covering her skin and coursing through her body was
not
a good sign.

It was a good feeling, however…Dear God, it felt good, but not a good sign at all.

Her body’s reaction to just the simple touch of his hand, to just walking with him holding her hand felt like what the gentle shock of the electric stimulation patches she worked with would feel like if you were riding a roller coaster at the same time.

She stepped into his large SUV as he held the door open for her and smiled softly when he closed it after her. The thudding of her heart would have worried her if she hadn’t had a checkup recently and received a clean bill of health. Heart palpitations like the ones Joel Hightower caused could make a sister think she was having a heart attack.

But then she was under attack, wasn’t she?

As he got into the SUV and started it up, he looked at her with those devilish brown eyes, those sexy drops of seduction, and she knew everything Jenny had said was true.

What was she going to do about the fact Joel Hightower was on the prowl and had her in his sights?

“So I’ll pick you up at around 12:30 p.m. tomorrow?”

“Pick me up? For what?”

“Lunch. Remember, we have to have your little Chicago-style hot dogs, unless you want to forfeit now? That won’t get you out of lunch, though. It’ll just get you a better meal at a fancy restaurant.”

She’d forgotten she had made the challenge back at the office. What in the world had she been thinking? She must have been out of her mind.

However, she wasn’t a punk, and she wasn’t about to back down. Those little Texas-style wieners were cute and all, but they certainly didn’t hold a candle to an authentic Chicago-style hot dog.

“I’ll meet you at Willy’s, Joel. I can’t have you picking me up from the clinic. It wouldn’t look—”

“Professional.” He rolled his eyes as he cut her off and finished her statement. “You’re going to have to get over that, Little Miss Spitfire. Because I mean to make you mine, and I couldn’t care less about how we met or any of that. And at some point, I will be picking you up from your job to take you to lunch, dinner, who knows? I might even feel the urge to send flowers, just because. And I don’t do the secret relationship thing.”

“Relationship? Slow your roll, brother. Don’t you think you’re moving a tad too fast here? I mean, really, we just had one meal together and—”

“We had two-and-a-half months of chemistry and undeniable sexual tension. One amazing kiss…And I’m tired of ignoring what I’m feeling. We’ve had a simmering seduction that has teetered just on the edge of heating through. And now, sweetheart…now we’re going to make it hot.”

Stunned, she gulped, and her chest thumped so loudly it echoed in her ears.

He leaned over.

How come she didn’t even notice they had stopped in front of her apartment complex? Because she was too busy trying to resist the sweet lull of his baritone voice.

And why was she just sitting there looking at him with her mouth open when he was leaning so close,
so close?

Aah
…

His lips were soft.

They were just as soft as she remembered them.

His tongue darted in and out of her mouth slowly, and the pressure of his lips caused a subtle moan to escape from deep in her gut.

She allowed her tongue to meet his, and they wrapped around one another in a tantalizing dance, each trying to wind around to the top over and over again. She let him land on top and then she pulled her tongue away to trace his lips.

A groan came from him that made her imagine what it would be like to hear that sound while she was wrapped in his arms. It would sound so good. She knew it would.

He pulled away. “Let me walk you to your door.”