Take Me if You Dare (Entangled Brazen) (6 page)

Chapter Eight

Jasmine stared at the flat tire on her rental car. “Oh, come on.” Why was this happening? Couldn’t fate, bad luck, or whatever this was have waited until she’d had a decent cup of coffee?

Glancing down at her wrap dress, she debated between calling the rental car company and trying to change it on her own. Opting for the latter, she put her things in the car, and after trading her pumps for gym shoes, she went to the trunk.

Lug wrench, jack, spare tire, they were all there. At least something was going right. A replay of running into Ethan went through her mind, but she wasn’t in the mood to commiserate with misery. She didn’t have time. The tire wasn’t going to change itself, and she had a full day.

Within seconds of trying to maneuver the spare out of the trunk, her skin warmed from the exertion and the sun radiating on her back. It was wedged in tight. Leaning farther in, she rose up on her toes and got a good grasp on it.

“Can I help?”

Startled, she rose up and smacked her head. Her vision blurred as she swayed, and Ethan grabbed her around the waist. He held her close, and the solid feel of his chest under her palms lulled her into staying there, but the faint brush of his lips near her temple jolted her back to her senses.

She pushed away from him. “I’m fine. Let me go.”

“You’re not fine.” He raised his hand and stroked over a spot near her hairline.

She flinched and gingerly touched her forehead. “Stop, that hurts. Why did you sneak up on me like that?”

“I didn’t. I was over there and I called out to you twice.” She followed to where he pointed directly across the parking lot to a sleek dark gray truck.

Irritated, Jasmine turned back and looked up at him. All the moisture dried from her mouth. Nighttime Ethan was handsome. Daytime Ethan was jaw-droppingly gorgeous. His dark hair was still a little damp and curled in waves her fingers itched to run through, and the scent of freshly showered man with a hint of aftershave marinated pleasantly in her lungs. Embarrassed for staring, she looked away, and her gaze skittered over the dark shirt stretching over his chest, and the tan cargo pants tucked cleanly into a pair of military-style boots.

“Come on.” He took hold of her arm and led her away from her car.

“No. I have to change the tire. I’m going to be late for work.” And she needed space, lots of it, so she could stay focused on what she’d drilled into her head during the wee hours of the morning when she was staring at the ceiling. She was there for the job, not Ethan.

Ignoring her objections, he guided her over to his truck. “I’ll take care of it.”

“I’ll call the rental company.”

“Like you were planning to do before I walked up?” He pulled her along, not giving her a chance to dig in her heels. Opening the passenger-side door, he lifted her by the waist and set her down on the seat.

As he braced his hands on the doorframe, his shirt expanded across his chest with a deep breath. “You just said you needed to get to work, and it doesn’t make sense for you to wait for the rental company or for you to keep struggling with the tire in that tight dress. I’m changing it.”

He’d noticed her dress?

After giving herself a mental kick, she squared her shoulders. “I know how to change a flat tire.”

“Look, this isn’t about whether you can handle it.” He took the keys from her hand and raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m just doing for you what I would do for anyone else.” Reaching over her legs, he took a small first aid kit out of the glove compartment and dropped it in her lap. “Take care of your head,” he said and walked away.

Jasmine unsnapped the first aid kit and found an alcohol pad. As she leaned in toward the mirror on the visor, she allowed herself the luxury of a prolonged stare as Ethan walked toward her rental car.

For a man who’d spent most of the night partying, he looked well rested. Things hadn’t settled down upstairs until well after midnight, and then she’d heard people leaving around four-thirty in the morning.
Was it the twins?
She swiped the pad over her forehead and winced from the sting.
Stop.
What he did and who he did it with was none of her business. If anything, this situation was an incentive to finish things at Bode-Wynn even faster.

After she took care of the cut, she rearranged her hair over it and returned the first aid kit to the glove compartment. She got out of Ethan’s truck and watched him easily heft the spare tire into place. Her gaze settled on the muscles flexing in his arms and back, and a memory, elusive and quick, passed through her mind about being on the stairs and all that strength pinning her back against the wall.

When he was done, Ethan tossed everything into the trunk of the rental car and walked over to her. “That spare is a little low on air, but it should get you to work. Make sure you call the company this morning so they can bring you another car.”

He handed over the keys, and the gentle glide of his fingers over hers made Jasmine grip the key ring until it bit into her palm. Something flashed across his face, something she couldn’t define in a, but it conjured up images of roaming hands, openmouthed kisses on damp skin, and her rising up and down on his cock.

Her skin flushed hot under her dress, and she shook her head, trying to clear it, but the memory of his naked body, the smell of sex, and each sensation he’d unleashed during their night together imprinted on her thoughts.

No…no…no!
He wasn’t supposed to be here. This wasn’t supposed to happen. One of her silent moans of distress escaped past from her mouth.

He frowned. “Are you all right?”

No. She couldn’t handle this. She had to go.

Backing up to the driver-side door, she gave him an awkward, one-handed wave. “Thanks. See you later.” Not waiting for his response, she got inside the car and started the engine.

She drove out of the parking lot, and his truck remained in her rearview mirror at every traffic light and stop sign along the way. Was he following her? She wasn’t helpless. If something happened, she had her cell phone.

A few blocks later, she pulled into the parking lot of Bode-Wynn International, but instead of driving past, he pulled in behind her and backed into the spot right next to hers.

Her stomach dropped. “No way,” she muttered, turning off the engine. While she exchanged her tennis shoes for her pumps, she glanced over at him, still sitting in his truck.

They got out of their cars at the same time, but not wanting to believe it, she tested the waters. “You didn’t have to follow me.”

“I know.” He removed a small black duffel bag from the backseat of his double-cab truck.

“So why aren’t you going to work?”

His lips tipped up with a sexy smile that should have been classified as an illegal weapon. “I am,” he said, and then he turned and strolled away.

…

Ethan stepped out of the simulator room and removed the goggles that created the virtual reality of combat. Accustomed to the drill, he handed one of the research engineers in the monitoring lab the goggles and the prototype of the semiautomatic weapon he was holding. As he held his arms out to his sides, two technicians carefully removed the electrodes attached to his arms and legs, and unfastened the mock-up of an armored vest also in the early stages of development. When they finished, he exhaled a long breath, welcoming the chill of the air-conditioned room.

“Well, if it’s not the infamous Ethan Worth in the flesh.” Andrew Bode walked through the door.

“Drew.” Ethan peeled back the Velcro on his black tactical gloves, and as he took them off, he rolled away the tension that had built up in his shoulders. “I didn’t know you were back in town. They told me Devin was going to be the one keeping watch this week.”

He and Drew shook hands.

“We’re trying to buy an old law enforcement training facility in Southern California.” Drew smoothed his hand down his tie. “We’re short on votes with the city council, so he flew out there yesterday to work the Wynn charm.”

Ethan huffed out a knowing chuckle. He’d first met Devin, a former Army Ranger, five years ago during a joint special operations mission in Afghanistan. Drew may have called
him
infamous, but Devin Wynn’s charm was legendary for everything from getting out of a sticky ambush to procuring premium beer in the middle of the desert. Devin was also the one who had convinced him to join Bode-Wynn.

“Thanks again for coming out of the field to test the new equipment.” Drew glanced over at the prototypes the technicians carried away. “So how did it go?”

“Not bad. The Kevlar vest still feels a little heavy, and the sight on the prototype leads a little to the left, but they’re getting there.”

“Good.” Drew nodded. “And make sure you don’t hold back on the criticism. We have to get this right if we’re going to gain any interest from the Department of Defense.” He slid back the sleeve of his navy suit jacket to look at his watch. “We’ll talk later. I’m trying to catch up with the representative from Regency Health. She’s here for the next two weeks working on a proposal for our new wellness program, but for some reason, she was late.”

“You mean Jasmine?”

“You’ve met her?” Drew waved off his answer. “That’s right. Both of you are staying in the corporate guest apartments.”

“Yeah, we met.” Just like in Miami, he couldn’t stop himself from coming to her rescue. “She had a flat tire on her rental car this morning. That’s probably why she was running behind.”

“Oh?” Drew’s brow lowered in concern. “Is she okay?”

Ethan nodded. “She’s fine. I helped her change it.”

“Good to know. What’s your impression of her?”

In his thoughts, Ethan compared the Jasmine he’d met in Miami with her, today, in the parking lot. She was all business in her tailored dress, but underneath she was still the beautiful, sexy woman who’d shared his bed. He needed to get her out of his mind, and his friends hadn’t helped with all of their crazy ideas about what was going on.

Jax had woken up ready to take a punch for supposedly treading into his territory, but the one he’d really wanted to hit was Mitch. His sorry ass had given him the phone number to one of his recent hookups in town like he was handing him a prescription to cure a deadly disease, and then there was Sierra. She’d given him The Look before she’d left with her sister to take Mitch and Jax to the airport, which meant if he didn’t quash her little theory about what was going on between him and Jasmine, he’d never hear the end of it, but they were all wrong. He was just surprised to see her last night.

But that wasn’t what Drew wanted to hear.

He shrugged. “Professional, dedicated—she was anxious to get started this morning.”

“Yeah, that was my first impression, too.” Drew clapped him on the shoulder. “I’m glad you were nearby to help.”

Drew went to consult with the engineers, and Ethan walked over to the water cooler in the corner of the room.

Help?
Jasmine had acted as if she was irritated with him for stepping up this morning. What she’d pulled on him in Miami justified him not helping her out, but he didn’t treat the women he slept with like crap. He also wasn’t in the habit of making them dinner, coffee, or breakfast. Trying to make it more than a night with her was a mistake, but why couldn’t he get her out of his mind?

Last night, the empty space next to him on the couch had made him imagine her there more than once, tucked in beside him, laughing and sharing pizza and beer with him and his friends. This morning, in the parking lot, he’d stood there for a full minute getting harder by the second watching her cute little butt wiggle around trying to get that spare out of the trunk. Then there was the way she’d looked at him before she’d left—like they had no business going to work and every reason to go back upstairs and get thoroughly reacquainted.

He finished his water in one long gulp and then tossed the empty cup into the trash. Okay, Sierra said to give Jasmine a chance to explain, so he’d start with that, and as far as things not being over between them, he’d handle that too. He had two weeks. That was more than enough time to get her out of his system and move on, just as he always had.

As he continued to work the plan, a confident smile crooked up the corner of his mouth. And if she tried to deny and run before they got things straightened out, this time, she wasn’t getting away.

Chapter Nine

Satisfied the information was correct, Jasmine saved the spreadsheet on her laptop and leaned back in the chair. It was after six and all of the staff on the second floor had already left, but her day wasn’t over. She was still two hours shy of the time she’d planned on putting in to make up for running late.

I’d better get used to long hours…

She still had stacks of files to read, surveys to get out, and employee roundtables to conduct over the next several days. Lots of coffee would be the norm until she was done, but it was all worthwhile if it helped her to get her old job back. She’d actually been on the short list for one of the division management positions before she’d resigned.

“Jasmine?”

She focused on Ethan standing in the doorway. He’d changed into a white shirt and pair of faded jeans, and as much as she resisted, she couldn’t help but take him all in.

She cleared her throat. “What are you doing here?”

He walked into her office and held up a large thermal bag. “I brought you dinner.”

The word triggered a domino effect of cascading memories—the scent on his skin, the taste of his mouth, every single sensation as he’d taken her to bliss.

Damn it!
This couldn’t keep happening. She was a professional. But the more she stared at him, the more her body remembered, and from the way he looked at her, he remembered, too.

No. Her being in the same room with him wouldn’t work. He had to go. She had a contract to land, and he was one big, wonderful distraction, but still, the delicious smells filling the room piqued her curiosity.

She looked between him and the bag. “You brought me dinner? Why?”

He offered up a careless shrug. “Why not?”

“Ethan, I don’t have time for this, and I’m not—”

Her growling stomach ratted her out.

“You need to take a break.” He tilted his head over toward the seating area in the middle of her office. “We’ll eat over there.”

More and more layers of flavor saturated the air with each box he set out on the coffee table. Her mouth watered. What was he up to? Last night he was all angry man-pride, this morning he was playing Good Samaritan. But
now?
Rolling her chair away from the desk, she stood and slowly strolled over to him. “So is this your thing?”

“That depends on what you mean.” His gaze swept leisurely over her from head to high heels.

“Is dinner how you try to impress a woman?”

“Is it working?”

Her mind conjured up the image of him on that nice, sturdy couch and her riding every glorious inch of him. “Maybe.” Ignoring the teasing glint in his eye, she walked past him and sat down.

He turned his attention back to the feast he’d set out on the table. “In Miami, you’d mentioned you didn’t get a chance to go out for Cuban food, so I brought you
ropa vieja
, roasted chicken, yellow rice, black beans, and
plátanos maduros
. Unless you have a preference, I thought we could share. Sound good to you?”

Cuban food and Ethan in the same room—that sounded more than good.

He fixed her a plate and set it in front of her on the table. Scooting forward to the edge of the couch, she picked up her fork and dug right in. She sampled the
ropa vieja
first and almost moaned as the flavors of green peppers, onion, and seasoned shredded beef in tomato sauce glided over her tongue.

How had he known this dish was one of her favorites?

His brows lowered with a contemplative expression, and then he snapped his fingers. “Drinks—I knew I forgot something. Do you want a soda? I can get one from the vending machine.”

“No, water is fine. There’s a six-pack in the fridge.” She stared after him as he walked over near her desk and opened the refrigerator. Curiosity and a hint of jealousy prompted her to ask, “Why aren’t you back at the apartment catching up on your sleep?”

He came back with the bottled waters and held one out to her, but when she reached for it, he didn’t let go. “Why don’t you just ask me what you really want to know?”

She shrugged in exaggerated innocence. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Shaking his head, he let go of the bottle and sat next to her on the couch. The clean scent of soap and his spicy cologne added another appealing layer to the delicious smells in the room.

“The twins are Mitch’s cousins, and they’re like sisters to me.” He opened his water and set it on the table. “Sierra, the one who came to the door while you were upstairs, is dating a pro football player. The guy’s cocky, but Mitch and I are giving him a pass for now because she’s so crazy about him.”

“Oh…” With one leg hiked up on her proverbial high horse, she lost her footing, and the rest of her words.

“Oh,” Ethan echoed, and then he gave her a knowing smile.

She shifted in her seat and turned her attention to her plate. Just because he wasn’t with the twins didn’t mean there wasn’t someone else. Anxiety bundled knots in her stomach, but she forced herself to take another bite. At some point, hunger started to rule over her thoughts.

Several minutes later, Ethan set his empty plate aside. “So, how are things going with your work?”

She picked up her water and sat back against the cushions. “It’s going to be a bit of a push to finish, but it’s not impossible.” Remembering how she’d so easily spilled the details of her life in Miami, she asked, “So how did you end up working for Bode-Wynn?”

“I’m good friends with Devin. Two years ago, I was about to sign my reenlistment papers for the army, but he and Drew made me a counteroffer.”

She shifted her body more in his direction. “In Miami, you said you protect VIPs and worked with the military. Are you and Mitch here for some sort of training?”

“No.” He sat back and rested his arm behind her along the back of the couch. “Mitch and Jax flew out this morning. They’re the instructors for the urban warfare course at Bode-Wynn’s training facility in Montana. I’ll be here for the next two weeks working in the sims to help test new equipment.”

“You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“Jargon.”

His brow crinkled with a puzzled look.

“Sims?”

He chuckled. “Simulators. You know, if you plan on hanging around here for a while, you might want to brush up on your jargon.”

She playfully rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “Like I don’t have enough things to read.”

“You don’t have to read it. I’ll teach you.”

Leaning over, she set her water back on the coffee table. “Ethan, what’s this about? Why did you bring me dinner? “

He studied her for a moment. “To convince you we should take advantage of a second opportunity to spend time together.”

“No.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Why?”

“Why?” He’d fired the question back at her so rapidly it took a few seconds to come up with a plausible answer. “Because I’m only going to be here for two weeks.”

He shrugged. “So am I.”

“We’re working for the same company.”

“And we’re staying in the same apartment building.”

Leaning over, he placed the pad of his index finger on her lips, and that one barely there touch sent sparks of awareness traveling over her skin. She reached up to take it away, but he caught her hands and gently pushed them aside.

“Hold on for a minute. Nod yes or no. Did you enjoy the time we spent together in Miami?”

Common sense said to make it easier and shake her head, but the way he looked at her screwed up any rational thoughts, and she nodded.

“Then why did you leave before I got back?”

She gestured to his finger on her lips, and he dropped his hand.

“I didn’t want things to get complicated. I wanted to leave it at us having a good time together.”

He reached over and interlaced their fingers, and before she even realized it, her hand had tightened around his.

“And now that we’re here, we can have more of the same.”

Temptation perked up her thoughts, but memories of Greg quickly ground it into dust.

“It’s not that simple. You guessed right in Miami. Someone did hurt me.” She looked down at their joined hands. “I found out a month before I was supposed to get married that my fiancé had gotten another woman pregnant.”

It felt strange, but in a good way, to actually tell her story to someone who didn’t already know all of the sordid details.

“It’s been almost a year since it happened, and I don’t regret breaking the engagement, but I’m not ready for another relationship.”

He squeezed her hand. “You do realize your ex-fiancé is a jackass.”

She laughed ruefully and disentangled her hand from his. “That’s what most people say about him.”

Desperate for something to do with her hands, she reached for her water, but Ethan caught her arm and gently tugged her around to face him. “I’m not saying that just to be polite. He should have respected you enough to be honest, just like I’m being with you now. It doesn’t have to be complicated with us. I enjoyed spending time with you in Miami, and I mean all of it—not just the sex. Neither one of us is interested in a relationship, but we’re here now, so why pass up the opportunity?”

But just spending time together during a business trip to Virginia was how things had started with her and Greg. She’d been skittish about getting into a long-distance relationship back then, but after she’d returned to Dallas, he’d pulled out all the stops, from surprise visits to Texas to private jets whisking her off for unexpected romantic weekends. Eventually, her reservations about the physical distance between them had disappeared, and two years later, she’d accepted his marriage proposal. All along, she’d believed in the fairy tale while Greg was keeping another woman on the side in Virginia.

She stared at Ethan, and the sincerity in his eyes started to pull down the wall of doubt, allowing memories from that one night to grow clearer in her mind. She’d wanted pleasure and he’d given that to her. If she agreed, she could have more of it, over and over again, for a little while longer with nothing to lose or any risks to take.

“Don’t overthink it, Jasmine. It’s not complicated. I want us to spend the next two weeks together.” He stroked the pad of his thumb softly along her cheek. “And I think you want that, too.”