Fangs for Nothing(49)

“So what do you think?” he asked her, spreading his hand across her waist to the small of her back, enjoying how petite she was, how big and powerful he felt standing in front of her. He kept his tone casual, but he had a deep desire to give her the most intense pleasure she’d ever known. “Want to see what I’ve got? Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?”

It was about the only French he knew besides counting to ten, and he sure as hell couldn’t spell it, but it seemed if there was ever going to be a time he could bust the phrase out, it was now.

“I suppose there is no harm in it,” she responded in her usual formal speech. Yet her tone was different. It had dropped lower and carried a slight tremor in it.

She was in. It was there in her voice.

He stepped away from her. “Then let’s start walking again before I compromise you right here and now. And while having your back up against the wall never feels good, considering this is brick it really won’t.”

Their cuffs rattled as she smoothed her hair back and moistened her lips, purse firmly on her shoulder. Johnny had almost forgotten they were attached at the wrist. He was getting used to it, which made him pause for a second. Could he get used to a woman in his life, like Wyatt had with Stella? He hadn’t thought so.

He still didn’t. Did he?

Maybe he did.

That thought scared the living shit out of him.





         Chapter Ten

DUDE LOOKS LIKE A LADY

“EVERYTHING is gone.” Josie Lynn said as soon as she saw the barren courtyard. Nothing remained of the gothic wedding but the tables and chairs that belonged to Gautreaux’s.

“Probably the venue employees cleaned up everything,” Drake said, his voice low and calm.

He probably saw she was about to have a panic attack. What if all her catering supplies were gone? Her career was over before it even started.

“Let’s check the kitchen,” Drake said, placing his hand on the small of her back. She didn’t pull away from the touch, actually appreciating his support. He’d been nothing but polite and conversational since their talk about whether they’d had sex last night. Which she found nice, but also a little unnerving. It made her have those feelings again that Drake could honestly be a good guy. Even though with those smoldering dark eyes, naughty smile, and killer body, he looked the epitome of bad boy.

Just as they reached the swinging kitchen door, it whipped open. Drake looped his arm around Josie Lynn’s waist, pulling her back against him to avoid them both being hit.

“Oh. I didn’t know anyone was here.”

“Eric?” He was the last person Josie Lynn would have expected to be here, and he carried a bucket of sudsy water and a rag. He appeared to be working. The king of the slackers—working? When there was actually no reason he should be?

“What are you doing here?”

“I came back to see what happened last night,” he said, shifting awkwardly from one sneakered foot to the other. “I—I kind of blacked out or something.”

“Yeah, that seemed to be going around last night,” Drake said.

“Yeah,” Eric nodded.

“So what did you find when you got here?” Josie Lynn asked.

“The place was pretty much a mess. Nothing had been cleaned up, so I decided I should probably do some picking up,” Eric explained.

Josie Lynn looked back at the nearly spotless courtyard. “That was a lot of work. Did you call Ashley? Did you try to call me?”

“Umm—” He shook his head, brushing his disheveled hair back in an almost agitated way. “Nah. I didn’t think to call anyone. I just decided to get to work myself.”

Josie Lynn nodded, but she found his story strange. Since he’d started working for her, Eric had needed his hand held. Unlike Ashley, who would take initiative and do tasks on her own, usually wrong, but at least she tried, Eric waited to be told what to do. And then he moved at the pace of a snail with mono.

So why was he cleaning now?

“Where are all the dishes that were on the buffet?” she asked.

“I washed them and loaded them into your van.”

Oh yeah, this was suspicious. Definitely.

She wasn’t going to let her employee know that was what she was thinking, but she did want to talk to Drake about her suspicions.

“Well, thank you, Eric. I’m going to go—see how the kitchen is looking,” she said. She didn’t give Drake a look to indicate she wanted him to follow, afraid Eric might notice it.

But she didn’t need to give Drake a sign. He followed her anyway.

Once in the kitchen, which was almost as tidy as the courtyard, she turned to him.