Heart Like Mine (19 page)

“Careful with that.” Josie pointed at her glass. “They catch up with you.”

“Is this the drink Joshua warned me about?”

Josie tipped her head. “Joshua?” Then she smiled. “Yes, this is exactly the one he warned you about.”

Delaney subtly flexed her fingers, blinking her eyes as she looked down at her lap. “Does the fact that I see fifteen fingers and three hands mean I've maybe had enough?”

“Sounds like it.” Josie laughed as she pulled Delaney's glass toward her, then looked into her eyes. “You don't drink often, do you?”

“Hardly ever.” Delaney shook her head, which suddenly seemed awfully dizzy. This reminded her of that time she'd had two drinks at a Chinese restaurant, having no indication they were even alcoholic until she'd stumbled on her way to the bathroom. When she'd checked the ingredient list later, she'd realized that though the drink tasted just like a sweet summer lemonade, there was absolutely
nothing
nonalcoholic
in
the damn glass.

“Oh, God. What will Joshua think?” She blinked again, trying to bring Josie's two heads back onto her neck.
Holy cow
. She'd flown right past pleasantly buzzed in 0.5 seconds. “What does Papi put
in
this stuff?”

Josie smiled. “Nobody knows. It's a secret recipe from the old country, he says. He loves that everybody always downs at least a glass before it really hits. That way, he can get them to do his bidding before they know they're drunk.”

“That's—terrible.”

She shrugged. “It's Papi. He just likes everybody to have a good time.” Josie glanced over Delaney's shoulder as she slid farther into the booth. “I think the men smell trouble. Here they come to rescue us.”

Ethan sat down next to her, then tipped his head as he looked at Delaney. “Uh-oh.” He winked. “Has Papi been feeding Delaney his lemonade?”

Delaney closed her eyes, nodding carefully. “I feel a little bit like I'm being hazed. Give the new gal the mystery punch, you know?”

“Josh didn't warn you to steer clear of it?”

“I did too.”

Delaney snapped her head up as she heard Joshua's voice right beside her. He was looking down on her with an expression that was half-amused, half-concerned. She slid over in the booth to make room for him, but did it gingerly. Then she propped her chin on her hand, hoping it would help her head stop swimming.

She smelled the light cinnamon of his aftershave and leaned slightly to the left to catch a better whiff, but her balance was obviously off, because before she knew it, her head was leaning on his shoulder.

She tried to right herself—she swore she did, but her head seemed quite happy exactly where it was, dammit.

Ethan raised his eyebrows. “Did you tell her to avoid the lemonade, in particular?”

“I did.” Joshua cringed, looking down at her carefully, sliding his arm around her. “Didn't I?”

“You told me he made killer drinks. I didn't realize you meant—lemonade. Who spikes lemonade?”

“Papi.” All three of them laughed.

Joshua squeezed her lightly. “You okay?”

“Yup.” Delaney tried to focus as she looked up at him. “But you have an awful lot of noses for a doctor.”

Ethan shook his head. “Can't believe you let her drink the lemonade.” Then he took Josie's hand. “How about a dance?”

“Um…” Josie's worried eyes flitted between Delaney and Joshua, like she wasn't sure whether she should leave them alone.

“Come on.” Ethan gave her arm a tug as he slid out of the booth, and Delaney almost laughed at his obvious attempt to leave Joshua alone with her. “We'll see you two later.”

As the jukebox cranked out an old country song, Joshua squeezed her hand. “I should have—”

“Been more specific?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Been more attentive.”

Her stomach warmed, and it wasn't just because of the lemonade. His thumb was stroking her hand, and maybe it was the alcohol, but it was all she could do to not kiss him.

He adjusted her sweater, and was it her imagination? Or did his fingers linger on her shoulder?

He leaned close to her ear, and this time she definitely wasn't imagining the linger. “Do you want to get out of here?”

Oh, heck yes.
She wanted to get out of here, find a secluded spot by the lake, and let him kiss her senseless.

She cleared her throat. “I'm fine. It's Molly's party. Wouldn't be polite to sneak out early on one of your best friends.”

He laughed and gave her hand a little tug. “Come on. Let's go get some fresh air. It's a good antidote for Papi's Poison.”

Her eyes widened. “Is that what he calls it?”

“No. That's what everyone
else
calls it.”

They said their good-byes to Josie and Ethan, and as they wound their way through the tables toward the door, Delaney felt Joshua's hand on her lower back, helping to keep her admittedly tipsy feet from tripping over themselves.

Could she blame Papi's Poison tomorrow morning if she made a monumental mistake tonight?

She shook her head. If she was already clear-minded enough to be making a
plan
to blame the lemonade, it might be hard to make that defense.

When they reached Joshua's truck, he opened the passenger door. He had one hand on the door and one on the side of the truck, and as she turned slowly around, she found herself deliciously trapped. His eyes locked on her lips, but then he shook his head and closed his eyes.

“What's the matter?” Delaney's voice was quiet, tight. Did he
not
want to kiss her?

Instead of answering, he dropped his hand from the door and slid it slowly along her neck and through her hair, pulling her head into his chest.

“You're killing me,” he said, and she could hear the pain in his voice.

“Not intentionally,” she whispered against his shirt.

He groaned softly. “That's the worst part.” He slid his other arm around her and hugged her tightly.

After a moment, she pulled back, looking into his eyes. “We could always go back in. If you down some of Papi's Poison, too, then we can't be responsible for our actions, right?”

Joshua chuckled. “I'm sure we wouldn't be the first to use that excuse.” He gently brushed hair back from her face, tracing her earlobe slowly as he tucked the strand behind her ear. “But I have a feeling that once the fog cleared, you would regret it. A lot.”

“Pretty sure I wouldn't.” Delaney shook her head.

She totally would.

Even through the alcohol fumes, she definitely knew she would. And as much as she hated to admit it, she would probably be thankful tomorrow morning that he'd put the brakes on tonight when she was good and ready to go full throttle.

Maybe.

He kissed her forehead, then pulled away. “Liar.” He motioned toward the seat, and helped her inside, then shut the door softly. As he walked around the truck, she pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to recover.

He slid in and put the key in the ignition. “How about I take you home? We can get your car back to you in the morning, if you want. I'm definitely not putting you behind a wheel right now.”

The last place she wanted to go right now was back to her condo, where she'd collapse into bed alone and spend the night wishing she wasn't falling so damn hard for exactly the wrong kind of man. But what was the alternative? She was a hospital administrator making budgetary decisions that directly impacted the doctor currently sitting two feet from her. The
only
place she should allow him to take her right now was home.

“I … don't want to go home.”

Joshua smiled. “Okay? Where do you want to go?”

“Honestly? Somewhere where I can make a monumentally terrible decision I'll regret, but blame on Papi's alcohol.”

Oh, God. Still speaking with alcohol-brain.

He laughed. “
How
monumentally terrible?”

“Depends whether you're willing to make a blood oath that when the evening ends, we shall never speak of it again.”

“Wow.” He nodded like he was considering the offer, then shook his head. “As tempting as that is, I don't make oaths with intoxicated women.”

“I'm not
that
intoxicated.”

“Delaney, you have enough of Papi's Poison cruising through your system that you're offering blood oaths. Pretty sure you wouldn't think very highly of me if I took advantage of that.”

She sighed. “I hate when people make good points that I don't want to hear.”

“Tell you what.” He turned the key in the ignition. “Let's go catch the sunset on the lake. I know a perfect spot.”

She raised her eyebrows. Of course he did. He'd probably taken half of the pediatric nurses out there at one point or another. And why wouldn't he? He was young, single, and ungodly hot. The thought of it shouldn't make her jealous.

But it did.

As they drove out of the parking lot, he took her hand in his, lifting her fingers up so he could place a soft kiss on her knuckles.

“Thanks for coming with me tonight. I know it's not really your—scene.”

She pondered his comment through an admittedly slight haze. “What exactly do you think is my
scene
?”

He shrugged. “I don't know yet, really. You're kind of an enigma.”

“Ooh. Woman of mystery and all that?”

“Yes. That.” He rolled his eyes. “The first time we met, you were all buttoned up in a very proper suit-ish sort of thing. I figured you for the accountant type, all black and white and bottom line. But then you showed up in baby-sheep scrubs, and I heard you laughing with Charlotte, then saw you leap right in to help Ian. Totally different woman.”

“No.” Delaney felt her eyebrows furrow. Were the facets of her personality really that different? “Same woman.”

“Thus the enigma.”

She pondered his words for a long moment. She'd always considered herself pretty much a what-you-see-is-what-you-get type, and she got a definite tingle realizing Joshua found her a little mysterious. Mysterious was good, right?

He looked over, letting his eyes wander from her face down to her feet and back up again. “You've got this sort of—I don't know—country-club vibe on the outside, but I have a feeling there's a little bit of wild child underneath.”

“Oh, really.” She glanced down, wondering if her hot pink bra was somehow showing through her dress.

“Pretty sure, yes. I have to admit, I was a little scared of you that first couple of days, all in your proper little suit things … and those heels. But—I probably shouldn't tell you this—on the second day, your top button kept popping open, and it was distracting as hell.”

Delaney put her hand to her chest. “It did not.”

“Did.” He smiled, keeping his eyes glued to the road. “I kept trying to figure out if you were doing it on purpose to keep me off guard.”

“No!”

He laughed, then cocked one eyebrow. “Purple is a really good color for you, by the way.”

“
What?
” She crossed her arms. She'd totally had on purple undergarments that day—she remembered because she'd changed her blouse so her bra wouldn't show through.

“I'm sorry. I couldn't help—it wasn't my fault. You were just sitting there and—God, never mind.” He shook his head.

Delaney bit her lip, trying not to smile as she saw a blush creep up his cheeks.

“I can't believe you looked.”

He braked at an intersection, and he looked over, heat in his eyes. “No offense, Delaney, but no man in his right mind would have—not looked.”

They rode in silence for a few long minutes until Joshua turned down a dirt road and Delaney realized she had no idea where they were.

“Where are we going?” Trees were closing in on both sides, darkening the dirt road, which was narrowing rapidly. It occurred to her that this would make a great backdrop for a Stephen King novel.

“To the best sunset spot on Echo Lake.”

“Are we going to get there soon? Because I have to be honest—these woods are kind of creeping me out.”

As she spoke, Joshua took a sharp left onto what looked like an old cow path, and Delaney's stomach jumped.
This is how innocent women end up dead
, she thought.
They put their trust in someone they barely know, let him drive them out into the boonies, and bam. The end.

But Joshua was a pediatrician. Serial killers didn't do time as pediatricians, right? She was fine. She was definitely fine.

She felt around in her purse, looking for her pepper spray, just in case.

Two minutes later, at just about the same time Delaney thought she might lose her stomach to the combination of potholes and nerves, Joshua pulled out of the trees into a clearing at the top of a steep bluff overlooking the lake, and Delaney inhaled sharply at the view.

Below them, Echo Lake stretched out in shimmery sunset glory. The sun was low in the western sky, sinking toward the horizon as it sent out ribbons of pink and purple into the clouds and water. Here and there, small sailboats fought to catch the last wisps of wind, and Delaney could hear the calls of gulls as they circled low.

“Wow.”

“You said you fell in love with the lake when you used to come up to visit your parents. Thought you might like to see it from this angle.” Joshua smiled, squeezing her hand before he let go. “Come on. I know a great spot to watch the sun go down.”

He got out of the truck and came around to her side, opening the door for her as she slid out. He pointed toward what looked like a cliff at the edge of the bluff, taking her hand. “Follow me.”

“Follow you? Over the cliff? Said the lemming to the lemming?” Delaney pulled back. “I don't think so.”