If You Dare (8 page)

As good as the sex had been, Cordelia pretty much figured she’d been sexed out.
 

At least that’s what she thought until Joe walked into the room with nothing but a white bath towel wrapped around his waist and a plate of bacon in his hand.

Just like that she melted. And then he smiled.

Oh Lord.

“Good mornin’.” His sexy twang had her heart doing little staccato flips. Well, the twang and the towel. And, Cordelia figured if she were honest, the bacon didn’t hurt.

She smiled back. “Good morning to you.”

He walked across the room looking for all the world like he owned the place. Cordelia watched as he set the plate on the table beside the bed and sat down next to her.

“I’ve got coffee going and there’s some toast too.”

Cordelia sat up and let the sheet drop as looked up to the ceiling in jest as she spoke. “The man cooks too. Does it get any better?”

He laughed. “You keep looking like that, darlin’, and we’ll see just how much better it can get.”

Oh Lord. And she thought she was sexed out. She licked her lips and tried to fake an innocent look. “Like what?”

He laughed and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Why don’t we make a date for later this evening and I can tell you all about that look. And then I can show you just what it is I’m talking about.”

Cordelia leaned back on the bed and reached for a piece of the bacon. “A date, hm? Why later?” Her stomach grumbled as she took a bite of the salty pork.

For a few seconds Joe watched her chew and Cordelia wondered if she’d ever be able to eat bacon the same way again.

Finally he answered. “I have to get home for at least a little while.”

She nodded. “Your sister?”

“I don’t know what she’s doing. But I do know she can’t stay.”

Cordelia shrugged. “You might let her at least try it.”

He shook his head. “No way. She’s not like you. This town would tear her up in no time. She’d probably meet someone like me.”

Cordelia closed her eyes and envisioned her top ten list of crazy mistakes. A move to Vegas might make the list. But meeting a man like him…huh-uh. No way. Notta.

“And that would be bad because…”

When he laughed Cordelia popped her eyes open to find his mouth very near hers. As he spoke, his breath whooshed across her cheek. “Because guys like me aren’t for girls like Taylor, darlin’.”

He brushed her lips with his tongue and Cordelia opened her mouth for a deeper kiss. She tasted minty toothpaste. Her minty toothpaste. His teeth were smooth and clean and she wished his sister had decided to declare her independence by joining the Army or moving to Brazil. Anything other than taking his mind off sex. Here. Now.

And she decided there was nothing as sexy as knowing the man you’d made love to all night long had used your toothpaste the next morning.

Oh man.

He pulled away and dropped a soft kiss on her forehead again. “Guys like me are for girls like you.”

Cordelia crossed her arms over her chest and enjoyed the way his eyes focused on her instant cleavage. Take that, you Neanderthal!
 

“Girls like me?”

“Don’t go getting all caught up in semantics. You know what I mean.”

She shook her head. “Why don’t you do a little more explaining,” She paused before adding one last word. “darlin’.”

“I mean Taylor’s interested in love and commitment. That’s just the way it’s done back home. And she’ll expect marriage. But most guys I know aren’t interested in that. At least not yet.”

As Cordelia listened to him talk, she knew she should be happy. She’d completely fooled him. Irene’s daring red dress had set the stage and the rest had simply worked.
 

 
He was right. She’d carefully packaged herself in a sexy sort of semantics.
 

But she wasn’t happy. Not a bit.

Not because he saw her as some fling, she told herself. That was a good thing. But because he was doing to his sister what people back home had been doing to her for years. No wonder the poor girl had run away.

And shoot, she’d seen the girl last night. She wasn’t that young.

Maybe her big brother needed a wakeup call.

But someone else would have to do the calling. Cordelia had one week to live out her fantasy. She wasn’t going to mess everything up by getting involved in messy family politics.

Forcing herself to focus on the way his kiss had singed her straight to her toes, she smiled.

“Well, I guess you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.” She trailed her fingers down his chest and over the knotted edge of the towel.
 

With one tiny tug, she watched the towel fall open. When it did she let her fingers trail over the hard plains of his stomach before slowly moving over the trail of crisp dark pubic hairs that led to his already stiffening penis.

Oh man, she truly did love being the bad girl. Sexy semantics and all.

Joe watched his sister unpack the last of her clothes and felt a kind of resignation.

The only girl in a house full of boys, she’d pretty much figured out how to get her way. And usually he enjoyed spoiling her. But not this time.

“Taylor, you really need to call Mom and Daddy.”

He waited and sure enough she turned that million-watt smile his way. “Don’t be silly, Joe. Momma and Daddy know exactly where I am. I called them last night.” She paused before walking over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Not that you’d know about that. By the way, Momma said to tell you a visit every once in a while wouldn’t be out of the question.”

To most people, her last bit of information would be seen as a gentle reprimand. But Joe knew better. She was trying to shift the focus of the conversation on to him.
 

He moved to stop her from putting her suitcase in the closet of his guest room. “Not going to work, Taylor.”

When she sent him a questioning look he shook his head. “Don’t pull that innocent crap with me. You know what I’m talking about.”

She simply shrugged and sat down on the bed as if he hadn’t just told her she had to leave. “Get used to it, Joe. You told me I could visit anytime. Well, here I am.”

He opened his mouth to list another reason she should go back home but she interrupted him. “Don’t go telling me about Bobby Don. He and I have an agreement. He’s glad I’m here.”

Yeah, right. He tried to debate the statement, but she held out her hand. “Uh-huh. Nope. Not listening. You said anytime. And if it weren’t for your new neighbor, you’d be taking me around town to see the sites. Speaking of which, I need the classifieds, and I didn’t see a paper. And I couldn’t figure out your password to get on your computer.”

Joe watched as Taylor jumped off the bed and started walking out of the room. And as he watched he had to admit she was partially right. Cordelia was one of the reasons he didn’t want his sister to stay.

He followed her out of the room and signed on to his computer so she could log on to the local classifieds. Let her see the low starting wages and then see how long she’d want to stick around. She was used to running her own dance studio. She wouldn’t take well to a boss.

Taylor didn’t make it past typing in her sign on name before spinning the chair back to face him. “So who is the new neighbor?”

Joe fought the urge to cover his face with a hand in frustration. “She’s not a new neighbor. She’s just visiting. And I’m not going to talk to you about her.”

His refusal to give more information didn’t seem to faze his sister a bit. “Visiting, hmm. You two looked pretty cozy last night.”

That was it. “Look, Taylor. I’m not going to sit around and discuss my private life with you.”

She hit the enter key on the computer and shrugged. “It’s just sex, Joe. It’s not like I’m a kid. I might even be able to give you a few pointers.” She stopped and let her eyes move to where she’d caught him with Cordelia last night. “Of course, you seemed to have things pretty much under control.”

Damn. His twenty-four year old sister wanted to give him pointers with the opposite sex. How had his life dissolved to this?

He shook his head determined to do the one thing guaranteed to preserve his sanity. Walk away.

But her words stopped him short. “I saw her when I was looking for the paper. She’s cute. Looks like someone you could bring home to meet Momma. Especially with those PJs. Do you think she likes cats? I know you always threatened to kill Mr. Twinkletoes, God rest his soul.”

Cats. PJs. Someone he could bring home. His sister was a raving lunatic sometimes. And Mr. Twinkletoes had been one hell of a demented feline.
 

“You’ll have to ask her about the cat thing. I don’t know about the pajamas; I didn’t see them. She’s not meeting Mother. And Mr. Twinkletoes lived to be fifteen. I don’t even know how old that is in cat years. But he was evil all fifteen of them. Besides, I don’t dislike cats. I’m allergic.”

Taylor’s wicked grin let him know what part of the answer she’d focused on. “Well, since you didn’t see them, they’re gray flannel. And they have sleeping cats all over them. I swear, they almost looked like the PJs you boys bought Momma last year.”

Joe couldn’t hide the goofy grin at the thought of Cordelia in gray flannel pajamas. He wondered if Taylor was exaggerating a little. It seemed odd that she’d wear more clothes to sleep in than anything else. The pajamas were probably a gag gift from her sister.

Nope. He pretty much figured she was a naked sleeper. Completely in tune with her body. Egyptian cotton sheets like those they’d tangled last night or maybe silk. Red. Or navy blue.

Taylor interrupted his thoughts. “So, you’ll let me talk to her today. What do you have planned? Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. But if you really want to impress her, I guarantee I can help.”

The day he had to ask his baby sister to help plan a seduction was the day he’d move back home. “I think I’ve got this under control. But yeah, you can talk to her. Maybe before she leaves you’ll see why you don’t want to stick around a town like Vegas. You need to go home, Taylor.”

His sister wasn’t having any part of it. She’d opened up a local job search home page and was surfing for future employment. “You hate home, Joe. You hate the stifling nature of it. You hate how everyone knows everyone’s business. You hate the fact that the only money in town is old money and it’s not up for grabs. I want to live the American dream. I can do that here. I can’t at home.”

Joe had to agree with her words. He did hate home. And if the American dream was money, she was right. You couldn’t get rich in Daryl, Oklahoma.

You could be born rich. The end.

He hadn’t been born to a wealthy family. But he was certainly wealthy now. And his entire family reaped the benefits of that wealth.

“A-ha!”
 

Taylor’s exclamation caught his attention. “A-ha what?”

She pointed to the computer screen. “Receptionist. Filing and computer skills necessary. I can do that.”

Joe didn’t know whether to be relieved his sister wasn’t looking for a dancing job or disheartened that she seemed determined to at least try the move.

“I’ll find something I’m sure. In the mean time, you can sit here and tell me about tonight.”

Back to this again. “Like I said…”

Taylor interrupted. “I mean, you know, formal? Fun? Do you want me to check into a room on the strip? I’ve always wanted to stay in a castle.”

Joe couldn’t help but shake his head. But she had given him a great idea. He could call in a few favors and who knew where the night could end.

He might end up owing his sister after all if everything worked out.
 

As he watched Taylor pull up another job on her search he wondered just what it was about Cordelia that reminded him so much of her.

It just didn’t make sense. Cordelia and Taylor were polar opposites.

And he couldn’t help but be eternally thankful for that fact. With her high energy and positive outlook on life, his spoiled baby sister was absolutely priceless. He didn’t know Cordelia well enough to know if she was a spoiled baby sister. Hell, all he knew about her outlook on life could be summed up in one-word fragments. Hot. Sexy. Uninhibited.

And that’s the way he wanted it. Simple, slow and sexy. And after tonight who knew what new words he might add to the list.

Cordelia searched in the closet for the third time. Irene had left a note on the breakfast bar with complete instructions and suggestions for her sister’s fantasy wardrobe.

 
She’d forgone the sexy lingerie in favor of her own Pajamas. Especially since Joe wasn’t around to appreciate the negligees her sister had purchased for her.

Besides, lace was itchy next to her skin, and she was freezing in the next to nothing silk.

But tonight started round two of fantasy week. She needed to feel sexy, not comfortable. Besides, she liked dressing up in Irene clothes.
 

Sure they weren’t good for all the time. But for one week devoted to fantasy fulfillment, they were perfect.

Right now she couldn’t decide between the black silk backless sheath with its mid-thigh cut or the lace pants and halter top. Both were sensual designs, certainly made to showcase the female form. But one was overtly sexual with its see through lace. More like the red silk dress she’d worn yesterday.

The other clung to her every curve. The material seemed to move with her. To become an extension of her body.

Good grief. Fantasy vacations were a lot of work.
 

As she held the dress out in front of her she imagined the way it would feel falling to the floor. She was definitely leaning toward the silk. But as she looked at it in the mirror, she couldn’t decide.

The soft dress was something she’d wear to one of her mother’s never ending charity banquets.
 

Sure it was sexy. But, it was almost familiar, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to go there.

This week wasn’t real. Everything about it was fantasy. The clothes, the bath salts, the candles. Even the books. Most definitely the man.