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Mine.
Aw, shit.
Josh reeled from the very proprietary reaction to seeing another man with his hands on her. It was damn scary. One more thing attached to her that freaked the hell out of him. He didn’t like feeling anything unless it included a hot, naked woman or the burn from good scotch.
But it was because of what had happened with this particular woman that he felt this way. It was like she’d cast a spell over him.
Caroline turned and caught him looking. She smiled but then seemed confused, probably wondering about the two women. The animation, the joy, left her face, and Josh went from feeling possessive to feeling like he’d screwed up in a split second.
None of this made any sense. It was true she wasn’t his usual type. He was doing his best to make sure this relationship stayed platonic, but it was at times like this that she made Josh lose his mind.
Truly lose his mind.
The hardest thing was that he couldn’t read how this was going to go. Caroline was the enigma everyone always accused him of being. She was cautious, and while she had that unflappable, logical engineer’s reserve on the surface, an emotional gusher was lurking inside. As he watched her walk toward him, her hips swaying and the mass of hair catching the light from above, Josh had no idea how he was going to handle this gracefully. The two women had slid into Josh and Caroline’s banquette on either side of him. Essentially, he was trapped—in more ways than one.
* * *
Figures.She was distracted for two minutes and the vultures descended. Who the hell were the women? Good grief. They were in short, tight dresses and wore long, sparkly earrings. A dark brunette and a platinum blonde, done up like they were walking a red carpet. If Dr. Seuss had been here he might have dubbed them Bling One and Bling Two. Could they be more obvious? Thinking about it, Caroline guessed they could.
Josh looked as uncomfortable as she’d ever seen him. She figured this was the way he spent a lot of Saturday nights... sitting in a trendy nightspot and surrounded by beautiful women. But seeing him now, maybe she was wrong about that.
Nothing was easy about this man, and she shouldn’t have been surprised. Even after the time they had spent together, she didn’t know anything about how he led his life, who his friends were, nothing. All she did know was that when he touched her, she felt like she’d come home.
Watching him, all she could see was that he looked embarrassed. But why? Was it her?
Was this a pity date?
And if there was one thing Caroline did not need it was pity.
Situations like this would bring tears because as a rule she was overly sensitive, but when she felt the familiar burn around her eyes, she realized it wasn’t tears. It was anger. Caroline was seriously pissed off.
She took two deep breaths before taking the last steps to the table. Josh looked like the deer caught in the headlights as she approached. There was half a smile as the redhead, whose cleavage must have cost a fortune, scooted closer to him, making room for her but not really. Was she kidding? Caroline wanted to be good and pissed at him, but when she really took the time to pay attention, he didn’t look like he was enjoying it as much as she initially thought.
It turned out Caroline didn’t have to say anything. The brunette, who was movie star gorgeous, spoke first. “Josh, she really is so cute,” she said. Turning toward Caroline, she said something similar. “You are just adorable.”
What was she—a freaking puppy?
“Thank you,” Caroline responded. There was nothing for her to say. It wasn’t really an insult. So why did it sound like one?
“So how did you two meet?” This time it was the blonde one talking. What wasn’t lost on Caroline was that neither one of them moved so she could sit next to her date.
“Caroline’s sister is married to my brother, but our families have known each other for a long time.”
“Oooh,” the blonde cooed. “That’s a little incestuous.”
Josh shook his head. “No, nothing like that. We’re friends.”
She was starting to hate being his friend. If Caroline hadn’t been determined to get Josh back into bed before dinner, she was now. When she got the man alone, she was going to blow his mind. He cared about her. She knew he did, and Caroline wasn’t going to let him hide behind the noble mantle of friendship anymore. It was time for them to leave.
Caroline turned her head back and forth because the tension was building in her neck, and if she didn’t do something her head was going to explode.
“Are you alright?”
Josh nudged the woman to his right, who rose, and in a second he was at Caroline’s side.
“You know, I really don’t feel too well,” she said.
He stepped closer and touched her hand, sparking a reaction she seemed to feel in every nerve.
