Josie Day Is Coming Home (15 page)

“Hey. Where’d you run off to last night?”

“It’s not important.”
Whoosh
went his
fingertip along her skirt hem. “It’s over now.”

“I want to know.”

Luke gazed down, looking absorbed. “There can’t be more
than twelve inches of fabric in this skirt.”

“I’m five-nine. There’s plenty of fabric in it.”
She grabbed his hand. “Look, if you have a girlfriend—”

That broke the spell. “No. It was TJ. Last night.”

“TJ, with the horn-blowing?” Relief swamped her.
It was stupid, but there it was. She was glad Luke didn’t have a
girlfriend—especially given the kinds of thoughts she’d been entertaining about
him. “TJ, with the truck and the trailer attached to it? That was TJ last
night?”

Luke’s gaze swept up. His eyes sparkled.

“You peeked.”

Duh. Of course she’d peeked. “I did not!”

“You peeked out the window after I left. Admit
it.”

“I’ll do no such thing.” Damn those tissue-thin
Blue Moon curtains. He must have seen her.

“If you didn’t peek, how did you know it was a truck
last night? With a trailer? You couldn’t have seen all that from where you were
sitting.”

With dignity, Josie straightened. “I might have gotten
a
glimpse
of it when I passed by the window. But I was only looking for
the TV remote.”

“The TV remote I put in your hand before I left?”

He was such a know-it-all. “It slipped.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

Was it just her, or did he look pleased that she’d made a
goofball of herself by spying on him? Josie decided she didn’t care.

“I have to go take care of TJ,” she announced,
lifting her chin. She turned on her crutches. “I’m the one who whacked
him. I mean,
tripped
him. Accidentally. He’s my responsibility.”

“Careful with those frozen peas,” Luke called
after her. “I hear those bags are
slippery
.”

The next few hours with Luke were the nicest—and
longest—second date Josie had ever had. They sat in the kitchen mainlining a
breakfast of coffee and Ding Dongs (which Luke
had
to have bought in bulk),
laughing and talking, and she couldn’t remember ever feeling so relaxed on a
date.

Okay, so a hard-liner probably would have said it wasn’t
technically a date. First, because TJ was there—and everyone knew that if the
guy brought a wingman, the date didn’t count. Second, because it hadn’t been
preceded by an agonizing will-he-or-won’t-he wait by the phone. Third, because
the good night kiss had come first.

But Josie didn’t care. After the string of dates from hell
she’d endured lately, being with Luke felt fantastic. She just wanted to enjoy
it.

Of course it all fell apart right away. Exactly the way it
usually did between men and women…the moment she got serious.

“So, I decided you were right, Luke,” she said,
putting down her coffee as a sense of excitement filled her. “I can’t let
the busybodies in this town push me around. I’m going to stay at Blue
Moon.”

“What?”

“You heard me. I’m staying. I woke up this morning and
I thought about going back home to Las Vegas, and I just couldn’t do it. I
couldn’t let those bastards get me down.”

“Good for you!” TJ raised his Ding Dong in salute.

Luke shot him an aggravated glance. “Shut up, TJ. You
don’t even know what she’s talking about.” He looked at Josie. “Are
you serious? I thought you were giving up.”

She gave a dismissive sound. “That was just the
exhaustion talking. I didn’t sleep at all before I came here, you know. I just
finished my last show for the night and zip”—she made a zooming noise,
gesturing sideways—“headed straight here.”

“Straight here from Las Vegas?” TJ asked.

She nodded. “I’m a showgirl at Enchanté.”

“Sweet.” TJ nodded approvingly.

“Or at least I used to be.”

Josie gave TJ the capsule version of how she’d inherited
Blue Moon from the casino’s owner. As she explained, TJ aimed curious glances
at Luke. Then he leaned back in his chair.

“So technically, Luke is working for you now,” he
said when she’d finished. “As a handyman.”

“Right,” she agreed. Why did TJ look so gleeful
about that?

“And you’re going to open a dance school here. To train
up all the hot new showgirls.”

Ah, that explained it. “Not exactly.” She smiled
at his crestfallen expression. “But once I find some students, I’ll be
teaching all kinds of dance.”

“Cool.” Satisfied, TJ went back to his coffee.

“Hey, aren’t you happy for me?” Josie asked Luke.
She nudged him, confused by his silence. She wanted a reaction. “I realize
this means a lot of work for both of us. But you were already going to be
painting and shingling and repairing stuff, right? And I can do the cleaning
myself. That’ll be my specialty, since I don’t know squat about fixing up old
houses.”

She laughed, feeling her usual assurance return. “Then
there’s the dance studio, of course. We’ll need to get mirrors and a ballet
barre, and we’ll have to polish the floor and put in a sound system. The usual.
But after that, it’ll be great!”

“Hey, I’ll help you!” TJ volunteered, looking just
as swept up in the excitement of it all as Josie was. “What the hell, I’m
here anyway. I might as well keep busy.”

She was touched by his generosity. “Aww, that’s so nice
of you. But you barely know me, TJ. And I practically maimed you as an
introduction.”

He waved off her concern.

She
did
need all the help she could get. If TJ was
serious…. “Are you sure?”

“You bet. I’ll just—”

“He can’t,” Luke interrupted, his expression
stony. “He’s just visiting.”

“I’ll stay longer.” TJ shrugged. “No prob.
There’s plenty of room.”

“You’re right about that,” Josie agreed. “And
don’t worry, TJ, I’ll pay you. Tallulah’s lawyer gave me a small allowance. I
guess Tallulah thought I’d want to redecorate or something.”

“Tallulah? Luke’s aunt, Tallulah?”

“Aunt?” Surprised, she glanced at Luke. He sat
with his arms crossed, tattoos practically pulsing with resistance to her plan.
“You never said Tallulah was your aunt, Luke.”

“It never came up.”

“Yes, it did. I’m pretty sure—”

At that moment, Josie realized the truth. Poor Luke. He was
stuck doing menial labor at his wealthy aunt’s overlooked estate, probably for
a pathetic salary. No wonder he hadn’t talked about it. He was probably
embarrassed.

She vowed right then and there not to mention Tallulah
again. She didn’t want to make Luke feel any more like the family black
sheep—something Josie had lots of experience with—than he already did.

“Anyway,” she said brightly, changing the subject,
“that doesn’t really matter. I’m going to stay and TJ’s going to
help.” She gave him a smile. “You can be Luke’s handyman
assistant.”

“Luke’s handyman assistant.” TJ chuckled.
“Believe me, I can hardly wait.”

“See?” Beaming, Josie patted him on the shoulder.
“That’s exactly the kind of attitude I’m looking for.”

Luke grunted. The spoilsport.

“I don’t get it,” she said, squaring off with him.
“Last night you gave me such a hard time for quitting. Now I’m staying and
suddenly you’re Grouchy McGrouch. I thought you’d be happy. So what
gives?”

“Grouchy McGrouch?” His lips quirked in a small
smile.

“That’s better. You look slightly less
constipated.”

His smile vanishing, Luke got up to refresh his coffee. He
glanced at the clock. “You’d better get started. In another hour or two,
it’ll be time to change your mind again.”

Josie gaped at him. That was a low blow.

She didn’t understand it. She’d expected Luke to be
supportive…at least now that he’d gotten to know her—and her miniskirt—so
much better.

But nobody pushed her around.

“Oh, yeah?” She scraped her chair back and grabbed
her crutches, finished with trying to convince him. Actions spoke louder than
words anyway. “Well, in another half hour or so, you’ll be too busy
nailing down roof shingles to care about the state of my mind. So there.”

She turned, ready for a good huff out of the kitchen.

Her crutches tripped her up. Rats. They’d make storming out
a little tricky. But Josie wasn’t one to be held down by circumstances. She
raised her chin and levered herself out anyway, with as much attitude as she
could muster. It would have been a grand exit—except for feeling Luke’s gaze
pinned to her backside the whole way.

Stupid miniskirt. Nobody was going to take her seriously as
long as she looked like a showgirl, Josie realized. That was another thing that
had to change around here. And she knew exactly the way to do it.

The minute the
whap, whap
of Josie’s crutches faded
from earshot, TJ turned to Luke with a mile-wide grin on his face.

“Great girl. I can see why you’re so crazy about
her.”

“I’m not crazy about her,” Luke muttered.
“She’s a pain in the ass.”

“Yeah. But what an ass.”

“She can’t make up her mind for more than two minutes
at a time,” Luke complained, staring into his coffee cup. “She’s
bossy and pushy and ass-high in delusions about what it’ll take to fix up this
place.”

“Yeah. But what an ass.”

“When she got here, I let it slide,” Luke said,
feeling his shoulders tense. He didn’t know what was the matter with him, but
he didn’t like it. “I thought, what could it hurt? So she thinks she owns
the place. Big deal. She doesn’t. She won’t hang around long. No harm, no
foul.”

“Yeah. But what an—”

“Watch it,” Luke warned. “Not another word
about her ass.”

“I
knew
it! You’re smitten.” TJ grinned
like a goon. “You’re in loooove. Wait till old man Donovan gets an earful
of this.”

Luke gave him an evil look. “Don’t you have somewhere
else to be?”

“Not a chance, dude. Nobody’s getting me out of here
now. I’m a free agent, remember? I’ve got permission from Señor Donovan to hang
around Arizona for as long as I need to. Now that I know you’ll be taking
orders from Josie, I
need
to hang around for a long, long, loooong
time.”

“Bite me.”

“Luke the Handyman. Handyman Luke. Hmmm.” TJ gazed
at a crack in the ceiling plaster, looking thoughtful. “Sounds like a
kids’ TV show. You’re the new
Teletubbies
.”

“The hell I am.” Whatever that was. It didn’t
sound good.

“You’re in love with the boss lady. You’re in love with
the boss lady.” TJ got up and grooved around the kitchen, punctuating his
chant with several grotesque hip thrusts and a shit-eating grin. “You’re
in love with the boss lady.”

“Knock it off,” Luke said. “I am not.”

“Crap.” TJ froze in mid-gyration. “I think I
just dislocated something.”

“Probably a few brain cells.”

“Come on, Grouchy.” TJ limped back to his chair.
“Play it straight with me. You can put on that game face all you want, but
I know the truth. You fell for this girl the minute you saw her.”

“Bullshit.” At the skepticism in TJ’s face, Luke
reconsidered. “Maybe I felt sorry for her. But that’s it.”

“Right. Sorry enough to drag her into the hallway for a
make out session.”

At the memory of that, Luke reconsidered some more. He
remembered the feel of Josie in his arms, the sound of her husky moan as he’d
kissed her, the softness of her long, barely dressed body pushed against his.
They’d fit together.

“Yeah, that happens to me
all
the time,” TJ
continued, his smart-alecky tone firmly in place. “I meet a girl, realize
how pathetically sorry I am for her, and then make out like crazy.”

“It was just a kiss.” But it had felt like
more….

“What I don’t get,” TJ mused, “is why you
don’t just tell her who you are. I mean, women go for the rich tycoon
type.”

“I’m not the rich tycoon type. Not anymore.”

“You could be, if you apologized to your dad.”

Luke frowned. “No woman’s worth that.”

“Whatever. All I know is, you keep a secret, women find
out. They’ve got lie detectors built into their tits or something. Sooner or
later, Josie’s going to know the truth.”

“If you don’t shut up, she’ll know right now.”

“When she finds out you lied to her about who really
owns Blue Moon, she’s going to be pissed.”

“There’s no point telling her something that’ll only
cause trouble for us both. Besides, it doesn’t matter. She’ll never last that
long.” Luke thought of the reception Josie had received in Donovan’s
Corner and felt sorry for her all over again. “She’ll give up and go back
to Vegas.”

“And leave you heartbroken?” TJ leaned forward,
both hands on his Spidey shirt in a gesture of puppy-dog misery. He mimed
blinking back big tears. “No way. You’ll never let her go.”

Luke ignored him. He’d been caught off guard by Josie’s
announcement, that was all. But now he realized—he could afford to be nice to
her. He could even afford to help fix up Blue Moon for her.

After all, it wasn’t as though Josie was going to wind up
with Blue Moon in the end. The estate would always be his. Tallulah would make
it up to Josie with a different, better property. Josie could start her dance
school somewhere else. In the meantime, she needed someplace to stay, right?

Right. Besides, he’d been planning on making those repairs
anyway. He needed to, in order to sell the place for top dollar. What
difference did it make if Josie thought he was fixing up Blue Moon for her and
her doomed dance school?

Luke stood. “Come on. We’ve got shingling to do.”

“Huh?” TJ looked up, comfortably sprawled with his
feet on a neighboring chair. “Shingling?”

“That’s right,
assistant.
Shingling. And I hear
the boss lady is tough. So get your ass out of that chair and start
assisting.”