Full Throttle (20 page)

“I decided that
it
was okay, and I would appreciate it if we no longer went on about
it.
Josh, just treat me like any other
of your conquests.”

She had clearly gone into full-blown teacher mode,
and Josh grinned wider at just how fucking sexy she was, all haughty and proper,
even naked but for a towel. A towel he could remove at any given second.

“Conquests?”
He
said, grinning when Sammy glanced up and frowned at his smile.

“Yes.” Her bossy demeanor began to fail her as she
frowned even deeper.

“One-morning-stand?”
He
repeated,
his voice heavy with mirth as he watched Sammy
squirm. She was so uptight in such a sexy way.
All
disapproving frowns and haughty gasps.
Josh was going to have fun
breaking her out of that shell. If he hadn’t already decided to make her his
before, with her cute scowl of confusion and desperately polite mouth, Josh
definitely would now.

Sammy rolled her eyes and half smiled. “Yes. Please
don’t mock me.”

He laughed and stood up, held out his hands in offer
to Sammy, and waited until she pulled herself up. She wouldn’t meet his eye
again, so he placed his hand on her cheek and tipped her head back using his
thumb. When Sammy looked up, confusion worried her brow.

“Josh, please—”

Josh dipped his head and kissed the tip of her nose.
Sammy stopped talking and he pulled back a little.

“I have decided one time is not enough.” He ran his
free hand up her arm, over her shoulder, and into her hairline, stroking at her
neck and sifting his fingers through her long hair.

Sammy raised one eyebrow. “
You
have decided?” she said, her tone definitely haughty and
teacher-like.

Who knew Josh Grieve liked bossy teachers?

She smiled, though her expression accused him of
being cocky.

Josh nodded emphatically and dipped to kiss her
bruised cheek. He let his lips linger as he massaged her neck. “If, that is,
you would have me again.” He pulled his head back and stared down to where
Sammy gazed up. Josh tried to assess her thoughts by trying to read her
expression, but Sammy just studied him like he was a complicated math problem.

It was odd. Josh felt vulnerable, as if a rejection
from Sammy could actually hurt. When Penny had left, Josh felt the blow more to
his pride.
What about the wedding? What
about all of their friends. What would they think? What about all the money
spent?
But nothing so superficial registered as he waited for Sammy’s
reaction. All he could think was,
oh,
fuck, please
say
you would want me again,
as if he
needed her agreement more than his next breath.

“Josh I—”

The doorbell rang, breaking into their tense moment
and Josh swore making Sammy tut loudly—which made him grin.

He took a step back and sat Sammy down on the edge
of the bed. “Hold that thought.” He insisted and turned to dash downstairs,
irritated by the interruption.

Chapter
Eighteen

Josh stalked through the small house, past the
kitchen, through the living room and directly to the little porch leading to
the front door. A shadow darkened the glass, blocking the light from shining in.
It wasn’t until Josh pulled back the door and saw Rachel standing there with a
blonde kid on her hip that he sighed.

His discussion with Sammy was clearly on hold for
longer than five minutes. Josh stepped back and made room for Rachel to come in.
He muttered her name as a greeting and grinned when she glared at him and
glanced around the room.

“Where is she?” She snapped, producing a rattling
toy from the bag on her shoulder and handing it to the toddler on her hip.

“Upstairs.” Josh replied, irritated by Rachel’s rude
dismissal of him. What was up that woman’s arse?

Rachel turned on her very high, probably very
expensive heels and hurried to the stairs. Josh watched her go and debated what
to do. He glanced at the kitchen and decided tea was the best option. He
wandered into the kitchen just as he heard Rachel greet Sammy. The woman was so
loud and so bossy, Josh wondered how Sammy handled her.

“Women.”
He
muttered as he clicked the kettle on to boil. He got two mugs out and added the
tea
bags,
he reached into the fridge and pulled out
the milk, taking a handful of grapes to snack on. He pulled a glass out of the
cupboard and finished making the hot drinks.

He carried the tray upstairs and pushed the bedroom
door open with his elbow. When he walked in, Sammy smiled in greeting and
Rachel scowled. The toddler, on the other hand, ran over to him and nearly
tripped him up.

“Hang on, little one.” Josh said as he managed to
get to the other side of the room and place the tray down. He handed the
toddler a couple of grapes and glanced up. “He’s allowed grapes, right?” Josh
had no clue really, other than that fact he was sure that by the time his
brother’s kids were walking they were eating everything and anything.

Sammy smiled and nodded, but Rachel continued to
scowl. “Are they seedless?”

Sammy placed her hand on her friend’s arm and said,
“Of course. They’re mine.”

Rachel turned to Sammy and nodded. “Okay.”

Josh tucked his fingers into his pockets and glanced
at Sammy where she lay on the bed, propped up with cushions. She looked good,
other than the big bruise on her face. She had more color to her cheeks than
yesterday, and her eyes had a sparkle about them again.

“You okay?” he asked.

Sammy nodded and bit her bottom lip. She
blushed
a little and smiled.
“Yeah.”

“You can go out, and do whatever you want for a few
hours, I’m staying for the morning.” Rachel said, and Josh knew he’d been
dismissed like a kid at school. He glanced at Sammy and Sammy looked up and
frowned at her friend before she glanced at Josh.

“Rachel—”

“That okay with you, Sammy?” he asked.

Sammy nodded hesitantly. She looked as if she had something
to say. Her blush deepened and Josh smiled.

Ah,
Sammy was thinking about what he’d said about wanting more than just one time
.

“We can finish that talk later.” He said and Sammy
looked shocked for a moment, making Rachel’s eagle eyes sharpen like a cat
watching prey.

Sammy cleared her throat and glanced at her hands. She
lifted her gaze for a short moment to him and smiled tightly. “Okay, Josh. I’ll
see you later.”

Josh stepped around the bed, around the toddler and
stopped at the door. He pointed to the tray.
“Hot tea.
Don’t let it go cold, and I got a glass of milk for the little one.” Then he turned
and walked downstairs. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it on.
Instantly three messages arrived from Penny.
He ignored
them, irritated by her insistence, and called his old friend, Jason, who just
got back from a stint in Iraq.

“Hello.”

“Hi, it’s me. You free for an hour or so?”

“Yep, I’m doing gardening, fucking place ran wild
while I was away, but I could do with a beer stop.”

“I’ll be there in ten.” Josh tucked his phone into
his pocket, snagged his keys, and headed to Jason’s.

****

Sammy reached for her painkillers and picked up her
glass of water. Her head hadn’t hurt at all throughout the morning, but an hour
into Rachel’s visit, it throbbed mercilessly. Charlie wandered around her
bedroom, picking up everything and tossing things aside, making Sammy
more tense
with every possession that got strewn across the
floor.

Rachel didn’t seem to notice as she continued her
rant about her husband, Rob, and his strange behavior. Lately, he had been
spending a lot of time away, and Rachel was wound up about it. And while Sammy
felt sorry for her, she felt sorry for Rob as well.

A couple of years ago, Rachel’d had an affair with
an unnamed man, and while Rob seemed to deal with that, the poor bloke had later
found out that Rachel was pregnant from the secret lover. Charlie was not Rob’s,
and from what Rachel said, Rob had become distant and cold since Charlie had been
born. And while Sammy was trying to be the best friend she could be, today was
not the best time for Rachel to be ranting. But rant she did.

“Last night he paced all night. He hasn’t touched me
in months…”

Sammy sighed and rubbed her temples. She was glad
she hadn’t stayed around Rachel’s house. All this drama was making Sammy hurt.
Can too much gossip bring on a concussion? Sammy placed her glass down and
smiled a little when she saw the ridiculously large glass of milk that Josh had
got for Charlie.

Of course, Rachel scoffed and rolled her eyes rudely.
“‘How did he expect a two year old to hold that glass without dropping it, and
how much did he think my baby could drink.
A full pint for
god’s sake?”

Rachel had branded Josh an idiot.

Sammy thought the gesture was sweet. He hadn’t needed
to remember Charlie, in fact, he hadn’t even had to make tea for them, but he
had. Josh was turning out to be not only a sexy, sexy
man,
he was turning out to be sweet and kind, too.
A very
attractive, and dangerous, mix of perfect.

“Ugh! Sammy
are
you even
listening?” Rachel snapped, bringing Sammy from within her own thoughts. Sammy
turned her head and smiled at Rachel.

“I was listening.”

“No, you weren’t.” Rachel said, her eyes sliding to
the tray of drinks. “You were thinking about Mr. Tattoo-I’m-trouble-I’m-gonna-ruin-your-life.”

“Don’t be mean, Rachel. He is very nice.”

Rachel raised a questioning brow and straightened
her shoulders. “You really like him?”

Sammy sighed at Rachel’s clear astonishment and sat
up a little straighter, thanking Rachel as she helped her with pillows. “Yes, I
like him.” Sammy held her friends stare.
“So, please.
Try to be nice.”

Sammy was shocked when the memory of Josh kissing
her breasts flew into her mind. Heat lashed at her face as the memory made her
body shiver, and Sammy glanced down, trying to hide her blush.

“But he is so … rugged and tattooed.” Rachel said,
curling her lip as if that was a negative.

Sammy
huffed
a laugh and
nodded. “He is, isn’t he?” She recalled the gruff sounds he made when she’d scratched
his back, the feral snarl that ripped up his throat when he had come, and once
again, Sammy felt her body react as if he were here now.

“Sammy. That man is trouble. He won’t stick around
once he has got into your knickers.”

Sammy looked up guiltily and bit her bottom
lip,
Rachel gaped and then stood up shaking her head.

“No, you didn’t?
When?”
Her
eyes slid to the bed and she rested her hands on her hips like a bad tempered
mother.
“With a broken leg?”

Sammy grinned, feeling like a naughty kid. “Yes, I
did, with a broken leg, and this morning.” Sammy said in reply to all of
Rachel’s snapped questions. “Now, just calm down, I’m not after a forever. I
know he’s not the settle-down sort, but I am having fun.” Sammy ignored the
tight feeling in her chest when she said
fun,
and she definitely ignored her brain when it shouted
liar.
“I think I deserve a little fun, don’t you?”

Rachel scowled and sat back down on the bed. She
reached for Sammy’s hand and squeezed. “Just be careful, okay.”

Sammy cringed a little at the honest worry in her
friend’s gaze. Rachel had been Sammy’s friend since she could remember. She’d been
there so many times for her, and Sammy was guessing that Rachel could see that
she was more invested in Josh than just fun.

But, damn it, Josh said he wanted a round two, maybe
even three. He’d said one time wasn’t enough, and Sammy knew she wanted more.
All she had to do was stop her heart from getting involved. Sammy was a
sensible person, a teacher and a mathematician. If she couldn’t hold back her
heart and keep it safe, then no one could.

“I know what I’m doing, Rach.” Sammy squeezed her
friend’s hand back. “Don’t worry.”

Rachel sighed and shook her head. She handed Charlie
a rattling toy and looked back at Sammy.
“A biker though,
Sam?
Really?”

Sammy grinned.
“Really.”

****

Josh stepped out of his car and headed up the short
path to Jason’s little country cottage. The guy was in the army, a biker with
tattoos, but his home of choice was a cottage on the outskirts of the city.
Josh had no idea why Jason chose to separate himself from life this way, but
Josh never complained about the barbecues Jason always had when he was on
leave.