Dare to Surrender (24 page)

“I like beautiful things.”

The look in his eyes, the tone of his voice—her stomach flipped deep inside.

Her breath caught. “You even have your nipples pierced.”

“You have a problem with that?” he asked.

“No, it’s just…”

“Maybe you should stop judging people on their looks.”

She looked up. “I do do that, don’t I?”

“You sure do. But I have a feeling I know why. I remember what it was like when I was in school. What it was like for the
kids from the other side of town.”

“Does this mean you’re not a rich kid?” she asked, smiling.

“I’m filthy rich, actually.”

Speechless, she just stared at him.

He brushed a strand of hair off her forehead. “You don’t need to think. You just need to let me feel you.”

And she couldn’t resist him, so she did. She let him pull down her panties and spread her legs. She could see the desire in
his eyes, and as he kneeled to kiss the inside of her thigh, she opened for him.

“So pretty, Erica.” She could feel the words on her damp sex, and her belly quivered.

“Everywhere.”

Then she felt his mouth on her, softly tasting her, using his tongue to lick the moist folds between her legs. A sigh escaped
her.

With his teeth he tugged on her clit, biting gently, and the muscles of her thighs tensed. She bit her lip, trying not to
cry out.

But then she felt his finger pushing at her entrance, and when he pushed inside her, she moaned. “Blaine…”

He continued working her, using his hand and mouth to pleasure her until she couldn’t control her own voice.

“Please, Blaine. Yes…”

A swirl of lust churned in her core as her climax built. But then he pulled back to stand between her legs.

Panting, she met his gaze.

She couldn’t speak. Her stare was riveted on his body, the exquisite tattoo work that covered his taut torso. A fresh wave
of lust raged over her.

“Make love to me, Blaine.”

He smiled, and it touched her heart. But even now, lost in his touch, she ignored that feeling. Instead, she opened her legs
wider in invitation.

She saw his breath hitch as he stared at her sex. Then he was pulling a condom out of his pocket and kicking aside his khakis.
He rolled the condom onto his erection and stepped between her legs. With his fingertips, he lightly grazed the inside of
her thighs.

“Please,” she repeated.

He took his cock in his hand and entered her. Pure bliss exploded inside her, spreading everywhere. She closed her eyes as
he pulled out and entered again. Over and over until she was crying out, saying his name.

“Yes, Erica. Come for me.”

She did. Her back arched off the table as everything in her constricted in pleasure. She felt him come next, pulsing hotly
inside her. “Erica, goddamn.” The words shouldn’t have made her smile, but they did.

After a minute he pulled away, and then he was beside her on the table, pulling her into his arms. His body was so warm, and
she cradled against him.

“Erica, you feel so good here with me.”

Silent, she nodded. It did feel good. Too good. She touched the amethyst at her neck, wondering how long the good feeling
would last.

“This is nice,” Ash said, pulling Joy closer to him. They were sitting on the tailgate, huddled under the wool blanket, gazing
at the San Francisco skyline. The rain seemed to have left all the lights brighter and cleaner in the still air.

“Mmm,” Joy murmured, then looked up at him. “Wet wipe?”

“Pardon me?”

She scooted away and jumped down. “I need to… you know. Freshen up.”

He held up his hand, palm out. “Say no more. You… do what you need to do.”

Smiling, Joy went to the truck’s cab and, presumably, dug out her bag and took care of business.

Ash realized he was grinning. She did that to him, made him feel…

Happy. Yeah, the sex was great, but he just enjoyed being around her. She was quirky and different and had a zest for life
Ash knew he was missing. If he’d ever had it at all.

And yet… a part of him was still holding back. Because the last thing he needed was yet one more person to take care of, and
Joy definitely needed caring for.

Case in point, he’d had to rescue her tonight.

Of course, if she hadn’t called him, he wouldn’t be here right now. Wouldn’t have made love to Joy outside in the back of
his truck.

He shook his head; she had him all messed up.

Frowning, she came back to the truck. Her phone had been charging in the truck, and now she held it to her ear and was silent,
as if listening to a message. Finally she flipped her phone shut and bit her lip.

He was beginning to know that look. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Um…”

“Joy,” he said warningly.

She laughed nervously. “That was a message from the auto club. It turns out my membership, um, expired.”

“Expired?”

She shifted and looked at the ground. “I guess I forgot to pay the bill.”

Picturing the stacks of unopened mail lying around her apartment, he wasn’t surprised. He shook his head. “How often do you
go through your mail?”

“Often.”

“How often?”

“As often as you get your hair cut.”

“I cut my hair.”

“Really? Because that Kurt Cobain look is so 1990s.”

“Good Lord. We’re talking about you and your money management, or nonmanagement.”

“Shut up. Besides, I’ve only had the electricity turned off once.”

“You’ve had your electricity turned off?”

She met his stare with a raised chin. “So?”

He just stared at her and then, “Joy, I… I don’t know what to say.”

She narrowed her gaze. “Don’t go there, Ash.”

Jumping off the truck, he closed in on her until she had to raise her chin to meet his gaze. “Damn, woman.” Suddenly all his
worry from earlier came back in a hot rush, and he stooped until they were face-to-face, equal. “Honey, you’re lucky you only
suffered a flat tire earlier. You could have gotten into a serious accident with those tires and the road conditions tonight.
And then you get into a car with a strange man?” He realized by the end he was shouting, but he couldn’t contain himself.

“Oh, relax, Ash.”

“Joy…”

“It’s just tires! Not the end of the fucking world!”

“It’s not just tires, Joy. It’s your safety at stake! On the side of the freeway, in the middle of the night…” He ran a hand
over his head, wondering why he was losing it like this. What should he care if Joy was reckless, put herself at risk, and
forgot to pay her bills?

Straightening, he took a deep breath and counted to ten. He was losing it; he never lost it.

They stood there in a glare-off until she finally gave her head a small shake and grinned. “Wow,” she said. “If I didn’t know
any better, I’d think you cared about me or something.”

“Well, of course I care. I—” He shifted his weight a couple of times. “I… like you.”

Her expression faded into one of unease, and a little furrow appeared on her brow, which he annoyingly found adorable.

“I think I like you, too,” she finally said.

His heart was not beating fast at that. It really wasn’t.

“Okay,” he said, as much to her as to himself. “So you don’t have emergency roadside service. We’ll just pay for a tow truck,
then.”

“Yeah,” she said, biting her lip. “About that…”

T
his wasn’t going to be good.

Joy shuffled and avoided Ash’s gaze. “Do you know how much it’s going to be?”

“About two hundred dollars. And then you’ll need all new tires, so we’ll have the tow truck take the car straight to my garage.”

“I see,” she said, nodding and trying to look thoughtful, but really what she was thinking was:

Shit, shit, shit!

It seemed like an easy solution, right? Just pay for a tow truck. Problem was, Joy had exactly fifty dollars in her bank account,
because she’d used every last penny to buy back a sculpture she’d stolen, that had been sold without her knowledge and was
now sitting in her purse, which was in the car of the man she’d stolen it from, who was currently staring at her like he was
ready to bend her over his knee.

And not in a good way.

“You know,” she said, walking around Ash toward the passenger side of the truck, “I think I’ll just have you take me home,
and I’ll deal with it tomorrow.”

“What? No. The car could be vandalized or ticketed. Just call the tow truck and let’s go.”

Fuck.
Stretching her hands over her head, she exaggerated a huge yawn. “I’m really tired, Ash. It’s late, and I just want to go
home.”

“Typical,” he muttered.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” he said, stalking toward her, “that you’re irresponsible and take the easy way out.”

She started shaking with anger. “That is not true!”

“Really? If it’s not true, then why are we even here having this discussion?”

“Listen,” she said, getting up in his face. “I’m sorry I’m not an anal, obsessive-compulsive neat-freak who’s overly critical
of everyone else!”

“What? That’s not true!”

“Oh,” she said in a low voice meant to be an imitation of him. “Why don’t you charge your phone, Joy? Why don’t you pay your
bills, Joy? Why don’t you change your tires, Joy? Why don’t you have any money, Joy?”

Pausing, he met her gaze. “I never asked why you don’t have any money.”

Straightening, she said lightly, “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“I must have been imagining it, then.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and took several deep breaths. Then, “Joy.”

“Yes…”

“Do you have the money to pay for a tow truck?”

“Um…”

“I take that as a no.”

Shame burned her. She hated him having such a bad opinion of her. “You don’t understand,” she whispered.

“That you don’t pay your bills but have no problem going on shopping sprees?”

“It’s not like that! And how did you know about my shopping spree?”

“Because you’ve suddenly been dressing in clothes that get me hard whenever I see you!”

“W-what? Really?”

“And you probably used a credit card. Just charge it, right?”

“I did not!” she protested. “I don’t believe in credit cards, so I don’t have one.”

“You don’t have a credit card?”

“My grandmother taught me that if I can’t pay cash for something, I don’t need it.”

“What about emergencies?”

“I’ve never had one.”

“What do you consider this?” he asked.

“An inconvenience?”

“Good. God. Okay, I’ll pay for the tow truck. You can reimburse me later.”

“No!” She refused to take his money. It would only validate everything he seemed to think about her.

“Joy, you don’t have a choice.”

“Yes, I do.” She stared at him, refusing to back down. “Despite what you think, I can take care of myself. This is my problem,
and I’ll deal with it. I really appreciate you picking me up, Ash. And, um, dinner. But I refuse to take your money for this.
Would you please just take me home?”

He stared silently at her. But, mixed in with all the frustration she saw there, she could have sworn she saw a flash of something
else. Admiration.

“Fine,” he said finally. “Get in the truck.”

By eight the next morning, Joy was cursing her stubbornness. Which was worse? Asking Ash for money or her grandmother? For
a second, she considered just leaving the car there and getting it out of hock when she got paid on Friday, but she just couldn’t
do that to Bessie.

Sitting at her kitchen counter, she stared at her cell phone. Then, with a big sigh, she dialed.

“Hi, Grandma.”

“Joy! This is a nice surprise, hearing from you so early in the morning. I know you usually like to sleep in.”

She was about to inform her grandmother yet again that she was always up at eight on workdays but refrained. Now was not the
time to bicker with her grandmother.

“Um… I need a favor, Grandma.”

“Oh?”

“Yes.” She closed her eyes. “I need to borrow some money.”

She could practically see her grandmother’s mouth tighten. “What’s wrong, Joy?”

She told her the story of the Mercedes, including the fact that she needed new tires. Ash had stubbornly made her swear on
her life not to drive the car until she’d replaced all four tires. A quick search on the Internet had told her that little
purchase was going to be an extra $400.

“So the car is still on the side of the freeway?” Grandmother asked in an exaggeratedly patient tone that made Joy’s teeth
hurt.

“Yes,” Joy said, idly picking up an unopened letter. “
Shit.
”

“What?” her grandmother said.

“Nothing.” It was the bill for the auto club, postmarked nearly two months ago. She began doodling on the back of the envelope.
Think think think.

“I’ll be able to pay you back when I get paid on Friday, Grandmother.”

“Don’t you have any money in savings?” her grandmother asked incredulously. Joy knew that, to her grandmother, the meaning
of life was to have a huge savings account.

“No,” Joy said. “I have no money in savings.”
And fifty dollars to my name.

“Fine, Joy. I’ll have my mechanic arrange to pick up the car and tow it to the shop. Then I’ll have him bring it here, and
you can get it when you come this weekend.”

“Thank you, Grandma,” Joy bit out.

“I’m planning a special dinner on Saturday, Joy. For your birthday.”

“Oh…” She’d completely forgotten her birthday was coming up. “Okay.” Thirty. When had that happened?

Kill me,
she scrawled on the envelope.

“Do you want to bring anyone?” Grandmother asked, which was code for:
Do you have a boyfriend?

“Um, no. I don’t think so.” But she couldn’t help thinking of Ash. He wasn’t her boyfriend, but what was he?

Distracted. Frustrated. Sexy as hell.

She scribbled hearts all over the words on the envelope. “Nope, I think it will just be me.” She wondered what buses she would
need to take to Atherton. There probably were none.