Surviving Broken(54)
Reed gave JC a heart-stopping grin and draped his arm over her shoulder. “’Scuse me. What was your name?” he asked with a heavy Texas drawl, reaching out his other hand to Tanya.
Tanya’s face froze in an appalling stupor.
Priceless. JC snickered under her breath at the woman’s speechlessness, knowing Tanya had never heard those words before. Everyone knew her name.
Not waiting for her reply, Reed withdrew his hand. “I’ll have to pass. I’m spending most of my time with JC.” He reached down, curling his finger around hers and began strolling toward The Square.
Out of earshot, he asked, “Was she seriously doggin’ on my Levi’s?”
“Yep. She’s a real treat, isn’t she? With friends like her, you don’t need enemies.” JC beamed up at him. “Believe me, Reed, your ass looks as good in fifty dollar Levi’s as it would in a pair of three hundred dollar jeans.”
“Darlin’, I can’t picture you being friends with her,” he stated in a half-asking manner. “Besides, after what I just witnessed, you’d chew her up and spit her out. You’re tough. Are you sure you’re not from Texas?”
“It was a brief friendship.” She used the term loosely. “But it was a good life lesson. One I needed to learn, apparently the hard way.” Pausing to look up at him, she reiterated, “Just so we’re clear, I’m not going back to Italy. I’m actually considering buying a house here. I thought about it the entire flight home a few weeks ago. I hope that answers your question. So, are you ready to enlighten your boring bedroom?”
He nodded.
“One more thing, Reed Rider: you owe me a kiss.”
“Yes, ma’am. I believe I do.” Reed bent over her, nipping her earlobe, teasing her with a sensual promise of what was to come. His breath caught as he whispered in her ear. “But I’m actually enjoying the chase.”
A current of sensual awakening spread everywhere. She shook her head with a grin. Reed had just used one of her favorite terms, the chase.
JC and Reed spent the day shopping for his room. When she asked what he was looking for, he responded with, “Hell, I don’t know. I want it to be comfortable and functional. And I want you to like it.”
“It doesn’t matter what I like. I’ll like it as long as you’re in it. Do you want it to feel like Texas or the beach?”
“If I knew what I wanted it to feel like, it wouldn’t be boring. I love Texas, but California is definitely growin’ on me.”
After twenty questions and a dozen stores, they picked furnishing to turn Reed’s bedroom into a muted beach-casual atmosphere with a hint of Texas. He chose a rustic headboard made of bulky reclaimed redwood, dressing the bed with white linens.
Every time he reached for her hand, she felt herself losing control of hidden feelings, lustful cravings for this man and fondness of true friendship he was capable of offering. She lowered her guard, being more responsive to a man than she’d ever been in her life. Every nerve ending in her body fired-off like sparks of electricity at the simplest touch of his hand.
They talked all day. She found Reed to be smart, funny and sexy as hell. At one point during a conversation about his architectural firm, he casually mentioned, “I graduated top of my class at University of Texas at Austin.”
Taken by surprise, she wrinkled her nose. “Really?”
Reed shot her a sardonic frown. “Just cause I talk slow, darlin, doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”
She apologized at least five times, swearing she never thought he was stupid. “Up until now, my sister, Tracy, is the only smarty-pants I’ve known.” She followed it up with, “You’re gonna love my sister.”
JC took him to a gallery she loved, helping him pick several black and white prints taken of the Malibu coastline. Walking past a shop window, JC spotted a chaise hiding in the corner of a window. She dragged Reed inside the boutique to look at a chaise covered in a chocolate brown brindle cowhide with nailhead trim.
“You like this?” His brows furrowed. “I’ve grown up with cowhides. Everybody in Texas has cowhide rugs, furniture, hell I’ve even seen it on the interior of a truck. Besides, I don’t understand the purpose of a chaise? It’s not a sofa or a chair.”
Pulling out all of the stops, she rested one knee on the stunning chaise and leaned over it, slightly letting her fingers glide over the subtle texture of fine hair. She nestled back into the chaise and stretched her arms above her head, crossing them at the wrist and letting them drape behind her head. “Reed, if I was lying naked on this cowhide chaise, would you like it?”