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‘Don’t be silly—I’m not worried.’ She was petrified and she wasn’t even sure why, but he definitely didn’t need to know that.
‘I guarantee they’ll all be real polite,’ he said lazily, but his eyes narrowed, his gaze sharpening. ‘Southern manners mean they’ll have to be.’ He brushed a thumb across her cheek and sent her an easy smile. The panicked flutter intensified, as if she had a hummingbird trapped in her oesophagus. ‘And anyhow, you don’t have a choice.’ His voice lowered in warning. ‘Either you come peaceably or I’m going to cart you there over my shoulder.’
The teasing smile was still in place, but she could see the determined tilt of his chin and the muscle in his jaw flexing—and she couldn’t be sure he was joking. Ordinarily she would have relished the fight, but right now her knees were too watery and the pulse of awareness in her belly too insistent to guarantee a win. So she went for the only option she had left—until she could think of another—grudging surrender. ‘Fine, great, I’ll go! But don’t expect me to enjoy it.’
The teasing smile widened into a triumphant grin. ‘This is the Riverside Christian Congregational Church, sugar. Attendance is about saving your immortal soul and making good business connections. And if you’re a pillar of the community like me, you’re not allowed to skip it or people will talk. But enjoyment is entirely optional.’
‘Fabulous.’ She marched to the bathroom, planning to indulge in her usual lengthy morning shower just to spite him—and hopefully postpone the inevitable. But before she had a chance to slam the door, she heard the wry comment from behind her. ‘Make it quick. You’ve got ten minutes before I come in to get you.’
Blast the man, how did he read her so easily?
Ten minutes later she found out he wasn’t joking about that either.
THIRTEEN
‘Are you going to sulk the whole day or can I expect a smile some time soon?’
Carter grinned at the surly expression Gina flicked his way from the passenger seat. He knew it was a cliché, but she looked cute when she was mad, especially with the wind blowing that sunshine-yellow dress against her figure as they drove down the river road.
‘You know, you still haven’t told me why you’re so keen to drag me to church today.’ She scowled at him. ‘Apart from the obvious reason, of course.’
&n
bsp; He shifted gear to take the bend and chuckled. ‘Which is?’
‘That you seem to get off on making me mad.’
She’d got that right, so he decided not to deny it. ‘Hey? Is it my fault you look so damn sexy when you pout?’
She rolled her eyes. ‘I’m going to be doing a lot more than pouting if this ordeal turns out as badly as I expect.’
He reached over the console to place a reassuring hand on her thigh—touched by the quiver of uncertainty in her voice.
He had to admit at first it had been a game getting her to hold his hand in public, getting her to cuddle up in bed each morning, hearing that sigh of surrender every time he increased the intimacy between them that bit more. But in the last week, he’d become addicted to pushing her boundaries, to seeing how far he could take it—and it didn’t feel like a game any more. Because of that band that tightened around his heart now, every time the wary look flickered into her eyes when he got too close. For a woman who oozed sexual confidence, those moments of vulnerability intrigued and fascinated him and made him want to break down her barriers—to understand where her insecurities came from, and wipe them away.
He knew part of it had to do with her old man, whom she’d told him in a rare moment of candour had kicked her out as a teenager, but he couldn’t quite shake the unpleasant thought that it also had something to do with him and what had happened between them a decade ago. Because every time he tried to talk about that, she shut up like a clam.
‘Come on, sugar.’ He patted her leg through the silk, the amusement gone. ‘It won’t be that bad, I swear.’
He caught her sceptical frown before returning his attention to the road.
‘Why do you want me there?’ she asked, again, putting him on the spot.
He didn’t really have an answer, or certainly not one he wanted to admit to. How could he tell her that he wanted people to know they were together? That he’d gotten tired of the fiction that this was all just about sex? Without it seeming as if he was trying to back out of their deal?
He knew she’d be leaving soon and he was good with that. Ever since the failure of his marriage he’d made a point of not getting too attached to the women he dated.
But even if this wasn’t permanent, he’d never liked subterfuge and he liked even less Gina’s desire to keep their affair a secret. Why couldn’t they enjoy each other’s company in public as well as private? And while he knew that taking her to his family’s church would make people think they were serious, she didn’t know that, and he sure wasn’t going to tell her. So what was she so damned scared of?
‘No particular reason,’ he lied smoothly. ‘I just figured it would be cool to have you there, introduce you to some folks.’ It was a non-answer and he could tell she knew it when he heard her scoff above the hot rush of wind.
‘You know what drives me completely insane? The way you either answer a question with another question or give me an answer that means precisely nothing.’
He huffed out a chuckle. ‘That’s bull. I’m an open book.’ He’d sure as hell been a lot more forthcoming about his past than she had. ‘Go ahead and ask me anything you want.’
She swung round in the passenger seat and only then did it occur to him he might have given her too much rope. ‘All right, then, answer me this: why did you despise your father?’
He mentally banged his head against the steering wheel. He hadn’t seen that one coming. ‘Why would you want to know that?’
