Jessa sighed.
Well, that hadn’t gone quite the way she had hoped. The way Max had been devouring her with his eyes, she would’ve thought he was planning to take her home and straight to bed. Not to the damn dance floor.
Given their circumstances, entertaining the idea of a one-night stand with Max was probably not the smartest move on her part. She knew that. Unfortunately, she was having a hard time convincing her body otherwise. Especially when Max swept her onto her feet and led her out to the small inlaid oak–polished floor and wrapped his arms around her.
The dance floor was set up in front of huge twin windows with long sheer drapes cascading down each side, framing a beautiful view of the full moon. And with soft classical music humming low in the background, it was actually a pretty romantic gesture on Max’s part.
He looked amazing in his black jacket and the white tailored shirt, which accentuated the tanned, smooth skin where the top two buttons were left undone. But even when he wore his regular street clothes, which seemed to usually consist of jeans and a nice button-down shirt, the man always looked great.
Max pulled her into his chest and looked down at her, gazing directly into her eyes. It took her breath away. God, could he be any more handsome?
His low voice came out rough, almost strained. “Jess?”
“Yes?”
“Are you having a good time tonight?”
“Of course,” she said, smiling.
The hand on her hip moved slowly up her back, stopping between her shoulder blades while the other one held her hand gently and directed her dance motion. “Good. I’m glad to hear it.”
His rough palm rasped against the soft skin of her hand, and she nearly shivered. She loved the way his strong, manly hands felt on her body. Even if it was a little strange for a man who worked in an office environment to have calloused hands. But then again, he had said that he visited his buddy’s construction site sometimes. Maybe it wasn’t so strange, after all.
“What are you thinking right now?”
She smiled. “I was thinking about how much I love your hands.”
One of his eyebrows rose, as if he hadn’t expected her to admit something like that to him. “Oh yeah? What do you like about them?” He skated his fingers across her back so lightly that she barely could discern the movement.
“How they touch me.”
Tension rolled off of him, and there was a controlled intensity behind his eyes. “You like it when I touch you, Jess?”
They swayed to a slow rhythm, but her pulse began to race. “Yes, I do.”
His eyes smoldered with heat. “Good to know.”
Good to know? What did that mean? She thought for a second maybe he would try and kiss her the way the conversation was going. Apparently not.
God, she really wanted him to kiss her.
Instead, Max released her and spun her around in a slow circle. Then he pulled her back against him, his hand suddenly much lower than it had been before. It wasn’t on her butt though. Not really. It was more on the slope leading down to it.
Her hand left his for a moment so that she could push a piece of loose hair out of her face. But the second she reached for it, he beat her to the runaway red strand and tenderly brushed it back away from her cheek. Almost like they were now in sync and had connected on some different kind of level than before.
She pressed her cheek to his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart and taking in his masculine scent. Maybe it was a weird thought to have since she wasn’t in any actual danger, but she felt safe and protected in his arms. Like he’d never let anyone do anything to hurt her. It was a feeling she hadn’t had since her mother had died, and it only made her feel closer to both of them.
After a couple of slow songs passed, Max swallowed audibly. “Jess, it’s getting late.”
Her throat tightened. Guess their date was over. “And?”
“And I…well, I think it’s time I take you home.”
Though he hadn’t said the actual words and she didn’t have a clue why he was suddenly in a rush to leave, she hoped he meant he was going to take her home…to bed. Probably a stupid thing, but well…Her breathing increased slightly, and she bit her lip. “Okay,” she agreed.
The moment he took a step back from her, she suddenly felt way too cold and already missed his warmth. She hadn’t realized how much of his body heat had been detectable through his clothes. But apparently the man burned hot.
He extended his arm to her. “We just need to wait for the waiter to bring us the check and then we’ll go.”
“All right,” she said, allowing him to guide her back to their table.
Max flagged down the waiter and asked him to finalize the check. Then they sat there in uncomfortable silence, taking turns staring at one another while waiting for their server to return.
Her palms dampened. She really wanted to know what he was thinking right now.
Thus far their only relationship had been a friendly yet professional one. Had that somehow changed tonight? The thought had anxiety twisting in her stomach. God, she hoped so. Because, although it probably was idiotic to get involved with someone who could ruin your livelihood with a snap of their fingers, Jessa couldn’t seem to stop herself from wanting to.
Then a revelation impaired the flow of blood to her brain. Jessa wanted Max. She wanted his heated body once again pressing into hers…this time without the barrier of clothing keeping them apart.
But the question was, did he want her in the same way?
* * *
The moment the waiter set the check down on the edge of the table, Max reached for it at the same time as Jessa did.
“I’ve got it,” he told her, stealing it out from under her hand before she could grasp a good hold on it.
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I don’t mind taking care of it.”
“Neither do I.”
“Well, then how about we split the difference?”
He slid his credit card into the holder and passed it back to the waiter before gazing back at Jessa with a sly grin. “How about we don’t?”
“Okay, fine,” she said with a smile of her own. “But can I at least take care of the…tip?” Her tongue darted out to wet her lips.
Jesus. For a brief second, he considered saying yes just because of how dirty it sounded coming out of her pretty little mouth. “Thank you, but no. Like I said, I’ve got it covered.”
Her eyes blazed a trail down to his lap. “Hmm, okay. Let me know if you change your mind.”
His cock jerked in his pants, and he sucked in a slow breath. They were obviously not talking about the same thing…though he liked her version of the conversation much better than his.
While they danced, she’d pressed her gorgeous body so tightly against his that he was sure she’d left an imprint. Her fingers had played with the short hair on the back of his neck, while her breathy little pants had forced him to shift his groin away from her to keep from embarrassing himself. But the highlight of the entire evening had been watching Jessa eat her dessert. He’d gotten more pleasure out of that one piece of cheesecake than he’d ever had before…and he hadn’t even been the one eating it.
Her sudden thirst for him had definitely not gone unnoticed. Actually, he’d been aware of it most of the night. But unfortunately, Max wouldn’t be able to quench her desire because there was still a huge conflict of interest between them.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t thought about it throughout the evening. He definitely had, and his level of interest had been rising by the second, seemingly along with her skirt. But no matter how much he would love to have her in his bed for the night, he couldn’t incorporate sex into their working relationship…even if it was a fake one.
That would be a dick move on his part. On any guy’s part.
In her eyes, he was the health inspector. That meant he held the position of power. So if he touched her, if he dared to lay a hand on her, he’d be taking advantage of her in a way that no woman should ever be taken advantage of. Although Max had never been much of an angel, he damn sure wasn’t a bastard.
Yeah, they were two consenting adults. And yes, they both apparently had a mutual interest in taking off each other’s clothes. But that would be nothing more than a giant stumbling block in the wrong direction on a very slippery slope that he had no right being on to begin with. And he wasn’t about to participate in something like that. Even if he was in too deep with the whole health inspector impersonation bit.
Once the waiter returned with the receipt, Max scribbled his name across it and rose from his chair. “Ready to go now?” he asked, offering Jessa his hand.
She nodded and accepted it.
They walked hand in hand out into the moonlit parking lot, her feminine scent swirling in the air around him as the light breeze ran its fingers through her hair. Max helped her into the passenger seat of his truck but casually held his breath to keep from taking her right then and there.
Unfortunately, that move also created a raging war between his dick and his brain, and though he struggled to turn his overanalyzing brain completely off, his futile dick lost the unsung battle.
As he walked around to the driver’s side, Max ran a hand through his hair. This was all his fault. When he’d flirted with her for the past week, he’d done so to hopefully make her feel uncomfortable enough to send her packing. It was unintentional, but clearly, all he’d done was issue her a green light.
Max climbed into the cab and glanced over at her. She had put on her seat belt and was smiling at him as she traced a finger down her upper thigh. As if it were a damn invitation.
Sonofabitch. He wasn’t going to be able to keep ignoring those kinds of signals for much longer. If he was going to keep his sanity, he needed to come up with a plan B. One that would leave her hot and bothered…but not in a good way.
An idea sparked in his head, but it was so devious that it made him wince. It involved Max giving Jessa more than she bargained for by making her a licentious offer she’d never accept: one night in bed with him and he’d leave her food truck business alone for good. But was it scandalous enough to send her on her way? That was the question.
To him, Jessa had come across as a woman who wouldn’t appreciate that kind of raunchy behavior from a man. Hell, he didn’t even like it. If he could’ve put a boot in his own hind end for thinking it up, he would have. So it really wasn’t a huge leap to think that she—or any other woman—would balk at it too.
But could he really do that to her? Could he let her believe that he was that big of an asshole?
Max had always been a mischievous guy who pushed things too far. Whether he was pulling a prank on someone or just harassing one of his buddies. Apparently, this wasn’t going to be any different. He hated the idea, and the whole thing sounded insane, but yeah…he could do it if he had to.
And right now, it didn’t look like he had any other options. Not if he was going to get her out of town before the Empty Plate Café closed down for good. And he was running out of time. He had less than two weeks left.
No doubt he’d feel rotten about it afterward. He’d enjoyed spending time with her and would miss seeing her around. But he’d promised himself that he would help Pops, and he planned to make sure he did no matter what. Even if that meant making him look like the biggest prick there ever was to a woman he’d come to like.
“Everything okay?” Jessa asked quietly.
Max’s jaw tightened. “Yeah. Peachy.” He started the truck and pointed it in the direction of her house.
They drove in silence all the way there. He didn’t know if she hadn’t said anything because she could feel the thick tension in the air emanating from him, but she’d stayed quiet until they’d pulled up in front of her little cottage. She apparently left the porch light on when they’d left earlier, and one inside as well so that she didn’t come home to a dark house alone. Smart thinking.
But she wasn’t really alone. She had Max with her. Which, with the way he was feeling about himself at this moment, was about the same as having some creepy, weird guy in the bushes who was about to whisper dirty things to her. At least it felt like the same thing.
They walked up the sidewalk together, but Max’s mind was far away. And when they reached the porch and stopped in front of her door, the two of them just stared at one another again in silence.
Do it now. Get it over with already.
But the words teetered on the edge of his lips, unable to take the leap and descend to her ears. He didn’t like that he was having to resort to such dirty tactics. God, she was going to hate him afterward. But if he was going to be able to do this, then he would just have to think of it as a controlled experiment…even if not a damn thing was actually under his control.
There was always a slight chance that Jessa wouldn’t be as disgusted as he was with what was about to come out of his mouth. Hell, she might even take him up on his offer. That would instantly destroy the lines of right and wrong that sat between them—you know, the ones he’d been blurring from the first day they’d met.
All he knew was that he had to keep her from inviting him inside. Because if he got anywhere near a bedroom with her, it would be all over. He wouldn’t have the strength he needed to stop himself from taking her against the nearest flat surface. Actually, he didn’t really give a damn if the surface was flat. He’d fuck her on the highest peak of a triangle if it meant getting to feel her inner muscles convulsing around his dick.
Damn it. Thinking of shit like that wasn’t helping his situation any. He shifted his position a little to keep from having to reach down and rearrange himself in front of her. Then he sighed. It was now or never. He needed to say something before she—
“Would you like to come inside?” she asked, her eyes glittering up at him.
Great. Much to his chagrin, the woman beat him to it.