She stood. “Thank you for dinner.”
“You’re welcome.”
He held her by the elbow with a light and surprisingly warm touch, guiding her out of the restaurant. It was the kind of gentlemanly move Josh always did. She wondered how Josh’s date was going tonight with Claire. She kinda wished she were enjoying a quiet little picnic in the woods right about now.
They stepped out onto the sidewalk where the limo they’d arrived in was waiting. Jake must’ve called the driver while she was daydreaming. The city was busy with people and cars and light, and it made her tired. She just wanted to get home to her cozy basement apartment in Clover Park. It was her woman cave filled with romance novels, romantic movies, scented candles, and stacks of bridal magazines. The furniture was secondhand, the cushions of the floral sofa nice and mushy, and the scarred wood of the coffee table and bookcases felt well loved by the generations. Like she was carrying on history just by having them.
She suddenly realized he was standing very close to her, and he smelled so good. Like the warm spice aftershave Josh wore when he bothered to shave. Twins probably favored similar products. She stepped back, a little startled to find she wanted to stay close after that incredibly boring business dinner.
He gazed at her for a long moment, the intense heat in those brown eyes making her breath catch. He’d seemed so standoffish before.
He turned abruptly to open the limo door for her. She got in, careful to keep her dress discreetly tucked around her, and he shut the door behind her.
She powered down the window. “Aren’t you coming?”
A muscle ticked in his clenched jaw. Maybe something came up with work while she was in la-la land. “I’ll be staying in the city. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” she said. “Thanks again for dinner.”
He tapped the roof of the car, and the driver pulled away from the curb. Huh. That was kinda strange. She turned in her seat, watching him, hands in his pockets, walking in the opposite direction.
She faced front. What a night. She watched the bright lights of the city zoom past on the limo ride home and had to admit her paid escort dates with Josh were far superior to having dinner with his twin. One thing she could say about Josh, no matter how much he teased, she was never bored. Not that she thought dinner with Jake was a date. It had been business for her, one entrepreneur to another, talking shop. At least that was what she’d hoped it would be.
She sighed and slid off her heels, flexing her feet. She’d created her dream job herself and here she was two years later, still going strong. And the best was yet to come. Especially once she got Josh to introduce her to all those Campbells! She just hoped they weren’t as obnoxious as Josh or as boring as Jake or as hostile as Mad.
Hmm…maybe she needed a new plan.
Chapter Six
Jake forgot about his itchy mosquito bites the moment Jenny boldly stated she wanted to have sex. The consent words had some weird-ass Josh tones to it, and he suspected Josh had been messing with Hailey, who’d innocently passed along the info, but whatever. It worked. He couldn’t wait to peel her out of her modest clothes to reveal what he knew would be an amazing body. But first he had to deal with the front desk clerk of the bed and breakfast, an elderly woman who made a big show of lowering her bifocals to observe their only luggage—the nearly transparent plastic bag holding a box of condoms. Jenny wandered to the other end of the hall, admiring a painting of a sailboat. Sure, leave him holding the sex bag in front of the morality police.
He dug out his wallet and snagged a hundred-dollar bill, folding it neatly in half. “Just passing through for the night.” He handed the elderly woman the cash in a handshake. “We travel light.”
“Of course,” she said, tucking the bill in her cleavage. “We’ll need payment up front. Breakfast starts at eight a.m.”
He paid with his credit card, glad that Jenny was so enthralled with the painting that she wouldn’t notice the name on his card.
Finally, he got the key. He crossed back to Jenny. “Let’s go.”
They hurried upstairs in silence. He opened the door to the room, letting her go first like a gentleman. So far the gentleman thing had worked heavily in his favor, though he knew he couldn’t keep it up much longer. Not with the way he wanted her. He stepped into a fussy flowery room—flower wallpaper, flower bedspread, flower throw pillows. So much pink.
“It looks like a flower shop threw up in here,” Jenny quipped.
He laughed, headed for the nightstand, and set the condoms there. He crossed back to where she was standing in front of the dresser. She’d removed her cap and was looking in the mirror, smoothing her hair. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, trailing kisses down the side of her neck, breathing her in, vanilla sweetness and sexy woman. She raised her arms, reaching back to hold his shoulders. He gave her a nip on the side of her neck, and she gasped.