Christie held the balled-up invite in her hands, staring down at it for a second, gathering her courage. Then she looked Joseph in the eye. “Here’s the deal. Mum thinks I’m a loser when it comes to men. She’s always trying to fix me up with someone. Or even better, get back with my ex. I hate it. So I told her I already had a boyfriend.”
The expression on his face was unreadable. “Me?”
“Uh, no. I told her that before I met you. The night I asked you for a date.”
“And do you actually have a boyfriend?” Something dangerous gleamed in his eyes.
Christie swallowed. “No, of course I don’t. I wouldn’t be here with you if I did. I just…pretended I had one so she’d get off my back about Greg.”
The dangerous glint remained. “Who’s Greg?”
“My ex.” She squeezed the paper in her hands. “My family loves him. In fact, I think they liked him more than they like me.”
The expression on Joseph’s face became forbidding. “He sounds like a prick. Did you ditch him?”
Christie bent her head, unable to bear the look in his eyes. Not wanting to admit what had happened with Greg. God, why couldn’t she lie? It would be so much easier. “Kind of,” she said thickly. “He ch-cheated on me.”
Joseph bit off a curse. “I knew it. He was a prick then.”
He sounded so savage, Christie couldn’t help glancing at him. The look on his face promised murder. And for some weird reason the stone sitting in the middle of her chest felt lighter.
“Anyway,” she went on, “your name is on the invite because my mother rang this morning and demanded a name from me. So I just said the first one that came into my head.”
Joseph stared at her for an intense minute. “And that was mine.”
Christie swallowed. “Yeah. It was yours.”
“So why don’t you take me, then?”
“W-what do you mean?”
“I’m invited to the party. Bring me along.”
“But….”
“Why not? I’m rich. I’m successful. I’ve been told I’m moderately handsome.” His expression softened and he grinned. “Why not make use of that? Why not show your mum just how much of a loser you are with men?”
Her throat tightened. “But you’re not my boyfriend.”
“I could be, though.” Joseph reached out, took her hands, letting the invite, by now a damp ball of paper, roll away. “If you wanted me to.”
Hope, small and fragile as a new spring flower, unfurled inside her. She tried to ignore it. “For my mother’s party, you mean?”
“For your mother’s party. For the next week. For the next couple of weeks even.”
And damn that hope. It began to bloom in her soul, not just a flower but a whole bloody garden. “N-not just a weekend?”
He raised her hands to his mouth. Kissed them. “For as long as you want me.”
Christie couldn’t look at him.
So much for not wanting a man in her life. So much for being happy, carefree, and single. Funny how one afternoon could change things. One afternoon with a man who paid attention. Who made her feel good about herself in a way no one else ever had.
She didn’t want to give that up. Not yet.
“Well, Naughtygirl? What do you say? Would you like to be my girlfriend? Make your mother drop dead in a faint as she sees the awesome specimen of manhood you’ve managed to bag yourself?”
She laughed, finally meeting his blue eyes. He was smiling, that sexy, impossible smile that made her breath catch. That turned her heart over and over inside her chest.
The smile that suddenly made her very glad to be Christie St. John.
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I’d love to.”
…
Christie pulled a comb through her hair, cursing as it caught in some of the extra frizzy bits. Nausea sat in her stomach though she tried not to take any notice of it. Pathetic to feel so sick about a stupid family party.
For most of the week she’d managed to forget all about it. There had been Ben calling her into his office to tell her he was going to offer her a series of in-depth pieces on the future of gaming and where the industry was headed. That had been awesome. And there had been the nights with Joseph himself. Nights spent building her computer a bit more or introducing him to Zombie Force. Once he’d taken her for a twilight ride up on the trails and that had been magical. She hadn’t even fallen off, not once. Nights spent in his bed where they didn’t sleep…
Yeah, maybe it wasn’t dread at the party that was making her feel sick. Maybe it was just sleep deprivation.
She frowned at the pale woman in the mirror with the huge green eyes and the dark circles underneath them. Man, her mother was going to have a field day.