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CHAPTER SIX
No matter what happened, Joe was absolutely determined to keep his hands off Meg on that night. They were going out again, and this date, dammit, would be about fun, laughter and companionship. Definitely not about sex. Not about slow, wet kisses. Not about the way her nipples had tasted on his lips, or the hotness of her clit against his tongue.
There would be no more of that until he admitted the truth about where he had first seen her.
“You got this,” he told himself as he parked his truck outside his parents’ restaurant.
Santori’s was the perfect place for their date. It’d be loud, bright, filled with nosy family members and friendly diners. There was simply no way he’d be able to give in to attraction—okay, lust—in the middle of the mayhem. They’d simply spend another evening together, building the sense of liking they’d established from the first, and, he hoped, also building on the trust she’d begun to feel for him. Trust he was going to have to rely on when the time came to come clean.
Thankfully, Meg’s own plans had coincided perfectly with his. She’d called him from her cell phone, saying she had to do some shopping and would meet him at the restaurant. So, they wouldn’t have those long, private moments inside his cozy truck to deal with, either before or after dinner.
“You can handle this,” he told himself. But when he walked into the restaurant and saw her standing there, chatting with two of his brothers, Joe’s good intentions flew right out the window.
“Holy crap,” he whispered.
His Meg, the second-grade teacher, was nowhere to be found. In her place stood a fantasy—the seductive, sultry Meg previously hidden within the computers at The Red Doors.
She wore a silky red blouse, the kind made with fabric so thin it probably whispered with her every move. The top draped each curve, not clinging, but sliding over those lush breasts Joe had kissed just twenty-four hours before. The deep vee of her neckline gave an enticing glimpse of her pale throat. Joe had to suck in a calming breath when he saw one of the waiters cast an appreciative look at her cleavage.
With the blouse, she wore a black skirt. But it was nothing like the one she’d worn Monday. This was skintight, clinging to her waist and to hips designed precisely to fit a man’s hands. It ended a few inches above the knee, revealing perfect, long legs clad in shimmery black stockings.
If they had a seam, he was going to croak.
She turned slightly. “Sonofabitch,” he muttered. Seamed.
“Joseph!” his mother cried, catching sight of him. She walked over, arms extended.
Bending for her kiss, he winced when she instead rapped him on the head with a knuckle. “You’re late. I taught you better. You kept your lady friend waiting.”
Over his mother’s head, he saw Meg grin. Even her face looked different. She wore more dramatic makeup that emphasized the delicacy of her skin and the depth of blue in her eyes. She’d done something new to her hair, pulling it into a loose braid, while leaving little curls around her temples. She looked like pure class and pure sin wrapped up in one mouthwatering package.
“Wow,” he mouthed. Joe knew the heat in his stare told her he liked the way she looked. Her cheeks went a little red, but she managed to give him a sultry smile in return.
“It’s all right, Mrs. Santori. I was early.” Meg walked over to Joe, moving slowly, with an exaggerated swing to her hips.
He was drooling by the time she got within three feet. Then she stumbled slightly on her slim, high heels and fell into his arms—right where she belonged.
“Hi, Meg,” he said, a laugh on his lips as he caught her.
She groaned. “Just call me Grace.”
“I’ll call you anything, sweetie, if you give me your number,” Joe’s younger brother said as he joined them. Lucas dropped his arm across Meg’s shoulders with friendly familiarity.
“Lucas,” Joe snarled, “unless you want to answer questions about your black eye tomorrow in court, you’ll remove your arm.”
Lucas, younger than Joe by only eleven months, merely grinned. “Nice to see you, too. And don’t bother introducing me. Meg and I had a nice chat before you arrived.”
He saw the merriment in Lucas’s face and mentally sent up an apology for all the times he’d ragged on Tony for going out of his mind over Gloria. He now understood how his brother had felt.
“Now,” his mother said, “go take the big table in the corner. Lots of room for everybody. Your sister has to work, but Gloria is on the way with baby Anthony.”
Oh, ya-ay. A date with Meg and several members of his family. His mother had obviously been busy ever since Joe had called earlier and asked her to hold him a table. The phone lines were probably still smoking.
But hell, he’d asked for it, hadn’t he? His plan to make sure he didn’t get the chance to lose his head the way he had the night before was obviously going to be completely effective.
Dammit all to hell.
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