The Expert's Guide to Driving a Man Wild (8 page)

Brenna continued, pulling out a Post-it note and a pencil and scribbling something down. “We work odd hours and there’s a lot of overnight campouts. Sometimes the guys go into the woods for almost a week at a time. That going to be a problem for you?”

“No, ma’am. I don’t have family here. It’s just me, and I don’t mind long hours. I just need work. It’s hard to find a job in a small town when you look like I do.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re qualified, right?”

He said nothing.

“I’m afraid we don’t pay much starting out. We’re a newer business and still getting our feet off the ground. In addition to training exercises, we’re opening up a paintball course on a section of the land and you’ll be responsible for helping Pop run that.”

“Pop?”

“Pop is Colt’s dad. Colt’s one of the other guys who works here. Pop’s kind of our handyman and fix-it guy. Which reminds me.” She tapped her pencil on the corner of her mouth and leaned over to look at Elise. “Could you do me a favor?”

Elise sat straighter, clutching the blanket to her pajamas. But she managed a brief nod.

“Super. Could you go flush a tampon down the toilet?”

“Um,” Elise said quietly, a bit confused.

“Pardon me,” Rome said politely. “But I think that will clog the toilet.”

“I know. That’s my point. I figure we’ll give it an hour and then we’ll call Pop in to take a look at it.”

Rome stared at Brenna.

She reached out and patted one of his tattooed hands. “We like for Pop to feel needed. Now, let me tell you about the job salary. Like I said, we’re a startup so don’t think we’ll be showering you with crazy money. We do, however, have cabins on site that all employees live in, so room and board is considered to be part of the salary. It’s a nice perk.”

As Brenna continued to chatter on, Elise slowly got up and crossed the room, moving down the hall to the bathroom. It was an odd request, but she’d been asked, so she’d do it. She felt a prickle on the back of her neck, as if she were being watched, and wondered if Rome was looking at her. God, she was in her frumpy flannel pajamas and she was sure her hair was a mess.

Sure enough, when she got to the bathroom, she stifled a gasp of horror at the sight of drool tracks at the corner of her mouth and the rings under her eyes. She hurriedly washed her face and then began to brush her hair quickly, trying to look as presentable as possible. Dear Lord. It was so unfair that such a good-looking man had seen her looking her worst. After she looked decent enough, Elise dug through the boxes under the counter until she found a package of tampons, took one out of its plastic applicator, and flushed it, wincing the entire time at the thought of the damage it’d create.

Calming herself, she smoothed a hand down the front of her modest flannel pajamas and headed back out to the main room of the lodge.

Brenna and Rome stood by the door, and she was shaking his hand. He was smiling down at Brenna, and Elise felt another pang of jealousy. She wished he’d looked at her like he did Brenna, that pleased expression on his face, gaze slightly flirty.

“I guess we’ll see you tomorrow,” Brenna said cheerfully. “You can meet the guys then, and we’ll figure out rooming arrangements.”

“Thank you,” he said. “I sincerely appreciate the opportunity. You won’t be disappointed.”

“I know,” Brenna said. “Plus, you’re a total stud with all that inkwork. You’ll look amazing in Elise’s photo shoot.”

His brow wrinkled a little, the piercing there bobbing. “Photo shoot?”

“Oh! Yes.” Brenna caught sight of Elise and crossed the room quickly, moving toward her and looping an arm over Elise’s shoulders as if to show her off. “Elise here is in town for the next few weeks and is going to be doing a pictorial spread of our instructors for a women’s magazine. We’re going to doll up the instructors and make them look hot and it should bring in some serious business. Isn’t that right, Elise?”

That blue-eyed, dark-lashed gaze focused back on Elise again, and she panicked, her heart thumping.

Behind him, Brenna made a lathering motion, as if dirtying up Rome’s abs.

Elise froze. She wanted to fall through the floor. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to think of something clever to say. Something casual and funny. Heck, just something boring.

Nothing came out. She settled for a quick, jerky nod.

His mouth curved into a sexy half smile. “I’ll be on my best behavior for the photos, then.” He nodded at the two of them. “It was nice to see you, ladies. Brenna, if you need any further information from me, please give me a call.”

“Will do. See you soon, Rome.” She wiggled her fingers at him as he closed the front door behind him and Elise stood there like a mute statue. As soon as the door was shut, she turned and gave Elise a speculative look. “That man was sex on a stick, wasn’t he?”

The breath she’d been holding exploded out of her lungs. “I . . . yes.” Her cheeks went red. “He was very unusual-looking.”

And already, she was picturing how she’d photograph him, her face hot at the thought.

B
renna surfed the Web on her computer and yawned, waiting for Grant’s inevitable return to their small office. She was alone, since Pop had arrived a short time ago and volunteered to give Elise a few lessons on driving the four-wheeler ATVs so she could tour the land. Elise hadn’t looked thrilled, but she hadn’t wanted to disappoint Pop, either, and so she’d gone.

That left Brenna waiting on Grant. For some reason, she was slightly tense. Maybe it was because they’d had sex and their relationship was bound to change in some way. Maybe it was because he’d oh-so-awkwardly tried to get her to move in with him after a single night of sex. She was starting to guess that Grant didn’t do casual anything. The man had a pike up his ass the size of a flagpole.

And then again, maybe she was nervous because she’d just hired him a new instructor without bothering to check with anyone. But hey, he’d told her to handle the employee thing and she did. And Rome was fit and seemed like a decent guy. She suspected he wasn’t qualified in the slightest but she didn’t care about that. A big tattooed distraction was what this place needed to get the focus off her and Grant, and Rome fit that to a tee.

Plus, Elise had been staring at him, mouth slightly agape, and Brenna couldn’t resist seeing what would happen if they threw the two of them together.

All in all, there were plenty of good reasons to hire Rome in her eyes. Grant would hate all of them. She chewed on a pencil eraser, thinking hard. They had five cabins now and six employees. Colt and Beth Ann lived in theirs and probably wouldn’t budge, and she wouldn’t ask anyhow. No one would want Dane and Miranda’s cabin, because Dane insisted on no electricity. He was a “true survivalist” he told them. Brenna mostly thought he was nuts.

Grant would never give up his cabin, either. It wasn’t really a cabin, but more like a tricked-out lodge that just happened to look like a cabin. It had all the amenities and since he was the owner of the business, she really supposed that he wouldn’t want to plant a new employee there.

That left her and Pop. She couldn’t ask Pop to move. The elderly man’s trailer had collapsed just a few weeks ago, trapping him inside it for days and scaring the hell out of Colt. He’d moved Pop to the Daughtry Ranch so they could all keep an eye on him, and so moving him wasn’t the answer.

That left just her. She continued to chew on the eraser, thinking. Grant was going to suggest that she move in with him again. She just knew it. And that conversation was going to suck. She didn’t mind giving up her cabin for Rome, though. What she did mind was Grant’s assumption that she’d just move in with him and turn into his girlfriend.

Maybe she just wouldn’t tell him about Rome until she had to, then. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

 • • • 

When Grant came into the office a short time later, he was dressed impeccably in a gray Polo that showed off the muscles of his chest rather admirably and a belted pair of dark blue chinos. She paused in her web-surfing to appreciate the look of him and when he glared at her, she shrugged.

So much for worrying about how things would be awkward at work. Him glaring at her? That was normal.

“Where’s Elise?”

Good morning to you, too.
“Pop’s showing her the ATVs so he can give her a tour of the ranch.”

He frowned. “That’s not safe. ATVs are dangerous vehicles.”

Brenna gave him an odd look. “The guys use them all the time.”

He considered that for a moment, and then his gaze moved over her. “Do you suppose Pop drives safely?”

“I guess?” This was a weird conversation. Why was it okay for the guys to ride the ATVs through the woods but not Elise? It didn’t make sense.

He grunted and sat down at his desk to work. They ignored each other until he put down his phone and said, “My parents left me a voicemail. They want to go out to the boat today and want us to come. And they insist on you going.”

Brenna perked up. “Boat? You guys have a boat? Do people even go out on the lake in November?”

He gave her a curt nod. “It’s housed at the marina. Bring a jacket. We’ll be doing some fishing.”

“Sounds like fun.” When he said nothing else, she added, “Are you going to pout the whole time?”

“Pout? You think I’m pouting?” He gave a harsh snort. “Get over yourself.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Sounds like pouting to me. It’s not like the sex wasn’t any good.”

Grant looked over at her. He got up from his chair and slowly, casually, walked over to hers and leaned over her desk. His gaze moved from her messy hair down to her borrowed shirt, and she wondered if he could tell that she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath. Or that her nipples had gone hard the moment he’d leaned over her desk. “The sex,” he said in a low voice, “was spectacular. And if I misinterpreted your signals, that’s on me. Rest assured that I’m not going to harass you to stay with me again, Brenna. You made it loud and clear that all you want from me is sex and pretending. So we’ll pretend for the sake of my family and leave it at that. Understand?”

“Good,” she said brightly, but for some reason it didn’t feel so good. Had she hurt his feelings? Normally Grant was a pain in the ass, but he was never icy like this.

Dane wandered in, yawning, and paused at the sight of Grant leaning over Brenna’s desk. “Something going on?”

Grant pushed off her desk, giving her one last searing look before moving back to his desk. “Nothing. I was just instructing Brenna on a new task.”

“Oh,” Dane said, and then searched Brenna’s face. She smiled at him, hiding her emotions, and gave him a quick thumbs up to let him know everything was fine.

She didn’t know what to think of Grant’s response. It was what she’d wanted to hear, of course, but the tone had been so very . . . detached.

Whistling to himself, Dane wandered into the kitchen of the main lodge and returned a minute later with a water bottle. He leaned on the door jamb and glanced over at Brenna’s computer, where she was playing solitaire and distinctly avoiding talking to either of them. “Huh,” he said after a minute.

“What?” Grant snapped.

Dane shrugged, not taking offense at Grant’s tone. “I was just surprised that Brenna went to Tulane, too. You two didn’t know each other back then, I thought?”

She had no clue what he was talking about. It took a moment for it to register, and then she glanced down at her chest. Sure enough, she’d picked up a Tulane University T-shirt from Grant’s drawer. His alma mater
. Oops.

“Different years,” Grant said shortly, and picked up his phone to end the conversation.

“Huh,” Dane said again.

 • • • 

When they got to the marina, Justine took one look at Brenna’s short-sleeved T-shirt and tsked. “You’re going to freeze to death out on the water.”

Which made Grant feel slightly justified, since he’d told Brenna that at least three times in the car ride over and she’d ignored him each time. But all he said was, “Brenna didn’t want to change into a jacket.”

Brenna shrugged, ignoring his foul mood and moving forward to hug his mother affectionately, a move that surprised Grant and pleased his mother. “I don’t have a jacket. And I’m sure I’ll be fine! It’s not that cold today.”

“No jacket!” She turned back to Grant. “Take this girl shopping, won’t you?”

“No shopping,” Brenna said just as quickly. “I don’t need one, really. I’m fine. So is this your boat?” She stepped past Justine and onto the boat where Reggie was fiddling with the controls. “What’s it called?”

Grant hugged his mother in greeting and headed in after Brenna, just to make sure she didn’t do something stupid like lean over the rails.

“It’s called the Bass Belle.”

“Oh. You like fishing?” Brenna asked, moving to his father’s side and staring at the controls as if she could figure it out. “What’s this button do?”

Resisting the urge to slap her hand away from the controls, Grant left that for his father to handle. He moved to the stern of the fifty-foot yacht and laid a hand on his sister’s shoulder and leaned in. “Think there’s a chance in hell that Dad’ll skip the fishing today?”

Elise laughed and glanced back to the cabin, where their father was dutifully pointing out controls to a wide-eyed Brenna. “Not a chance. He’ll want to show Brenna that he can catch dinner. I think he likes her.” She nudged her brother and then added, “We
all
like her.”

With a sigh, Grant glanced back at the two heads bent over the controls of the yacht, one in a sailing cap and the other with a thick fringe of purple bangs. “You do? Half the time I’m not even sure
I
like her.”

“Very funny,” Elise said sarcastically. “I saw how you couldn’t take your eyes off her at dinner last night.”

That was because I was afraid of what was going to come out of her mouth
, he wanted to tell his sister. But he said nothing. Because Elise had seen Brenna with the condoms and today she was wearing his shirt. It would be obvious to anyone that they were together.

Anyone but Brenna, that is.

He supposed he could have told Elise the truth.
Actually, she’s just pretending to be my girlfriend so Mom and Dad won’t harass me about dating. Oh, and she likes to annoy me and this gives her the perfect opportunity to get under my skin for a time. The condoms? We slept together. No big deal. According to her it was nothing.

Which didn’t sit right in his gut, of course. It was the first time he’d even looked twice at a woman since Heather had died, and the first time he’d touched someone in longer than that. The sex had been good. Hell, the sex had been amazing. He’d thought his mind was going to fry the moment he saw that piercing, and yet it had been so typically Brenna that it seemed natural on her. They’d gotten along so well over dinner and even afterward. She’d slept in his bed, curled in his blankets next to his side, and something about it had felt so incredibly right that he’d felt an intense bolt of longing rush through him. He’d wanted this.

Wanted Brenna.

And she’d totally blown him off. Wasn’t interested. Was she willing to go so far to harass him that she’d have hot, uninhibited sex just to fuck with him? It didn’t make sense.

Then again, not much that Brenna did made sense to him. He glanced over at Elise and saw her watching him with a curious look. “She drives me crazy,” he told her, only half lying.

“More like you’re crazy for her,” Elise said, elbowing him teasingly.

“No, seriously. She drives me crazy,” he told her, edging as close to the truth as he could. “Did you know that she does stuff deliberately to get under my skin? Like deleting reports that she knows I’m looking for. Or sprinkling flour all over the interior of my car. Jamming the other side of the door when I’m in the storage room. Unplugging my computer when I leave the room. She
literally
drives me crazy.”

Hell, just thinking about all the stupid stunts that she pulled time and time again was making him a little hot under the collar. And aroused. Who’d have thought he’d be the type to get an angry hard-on?

“I think it’s cute,” Elise said cheerfully, her eyes sparkling. She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging her windbreaker close to her body. “She’s just trying to shake you up a little. Maybe it’s a passive-aggressive way of getting your attention?”

“I think she’s just doing it to crawl under my skin sometimes.”

Elise shook her head, still smiling. “It’s a wonder you two got together, then. Though I’m sure you give as good as you get and crawl under her skin, too.”

And that gave him a brilliant idea. Maybe he could end up giving as good as he got. And wouldn’t that drive Brenna mad?

But first, he had to get a life jacket on her.

 • • • 

Brenna hated to say it, but Grant had been right. Not that she’d admit such things aloud, of course.

It was cold on the water. Maybe it was the balmy November air that wasn’t more than fifty-five degrees and pleasant in the sun. But combine that with the breeze from the boat and the wind over the water? She was chilled. Darn chilled. She rubbed her arms and moved back into the cabin, even though she hated to do so. The water looked so nice in the sunshine that she wanted to be out on deck, soaking in the atmosphere. At least on deck, she’d feel like there was a point to wearing the stupid life jacket that Grant had shoved her way as soon as they left the dock. She’d tried to protest wearing it, only to have him refuse to listen and jam the thing over her head.

The man had a safety fetish.

“Come on, Brenna,” Reggie was saying to her with a smile. “Let’s do some fishing.”

Out on deck, Elise and Grant mock-groaned in unison, which made her laugh anew. The two siblings were close. She liked that. Elise was great, too. She had a mind to take her out on the town one night, get her to hang out with Miranda and Beth Ann. The four of them would have such fun. “I’m coming,” she told Reggie, giving her arms one last rub and then bravely facing the wind again.

“Sweetie, your lips are blue,” Justine told her as she came back out on deck. “Grant, don’t we have another jacket somewhere?”

“I’ll take care of her,” Grant said, and moved to Brenna’s side. Before she could even question what he was doing, he stuck his hands in his pockets and opened his jacket, then wrapped his arms around her. It cocooned her against his chest and under his clothes.

And it was heaven. She almost moaned in bliss at the warmth of cuddling up against him.

He leaned in from behind and pressed his cheek against hers. “Better?” he murmured.

“Much,” she told him, oddly pleased at his impulsive move. It felt so good to be pressed up against his body, and she was reminded of last night. Last night had rocked. She’d had such a good time in bed with him. It was a shame he’d had to ruin it this morning by trying to get all possessive.

Of course, his grasp right now was possessive . . . yet she didn’t feel the need to run away. Mostly because he felt like a furnace and she was appreciating that at the moment.

Reggie grinned at them. “Y’all wait here and I’ll get the fishing poles from below.”