question was how long we could hold out.”
“We?” Victoria raised her eyebrows and her voice. “I was holding out just fine. You were the one who couldn’t hold out.”
“Was that your idea of holding out?” Joshua retorted.
“Your male ego is obviously embellishing what happened between us.”
“My imagination’s pretty good, but it’s not good enough to imagine that sexy little hip push you did when you were belly to belly with me.”
For the second time since he’d known her, Joshua watched Victoria go quiet as the spark of anger vanished from her gray eyes; he watched her pull all the emotions off her face and tuck them back inside, where they belonged, although the faint stain of a blush remained. He was beginning to recognize her emotional control as a defense. Whenever the discussiongot too heated, whenever too much was at stake, she got quiet; she got control.
Victoria brushed past him, intending to leave. “If you’re still helping me, I need to go to the area around Logan’s Hollow on Thursday. I’ll have some more names to follow up.”
“What about the phone?” Joshua asked casually as she swept over the threshold in a dignified retreat. “I thought you wanted to call your office for messages.”
Instantly, she stopped, and cursed under her breath. When she didn’t say anything else, he guessed she was trying to decide how badly she wanted to check her messages. Must have been pretty badly, because she turned around.
“I’d rather not wait until tomorrow to check the machine. I don’t have patients yet technically, but the hospital might have called.”
“Then come in. Just don’t expect me to ignore temptation should opportunity present itself.”
“It won’t present itself,” Victoria promised with a confidence she didn’t feel.
“Give me a minute. I’ll arrange something.”
Exasperated, Victoria walked back into the house. “Don’t bother. I’m not in the market for a … relationship.”
“Who said anything about a relationship?” he asked, and walked back into the living room.
Fuming, Victoria followed him. “Wake up, Joshua. You might be hiding out from the world up here, but even you should know these are the nineties. Free lovehas been replaced by safe sex. Monogamy is in; casual sex is out.”
Chuckling, Joshua grabbed the phone from a shelf on a wall-to-wall bookcase which was filled with carved stone bowls and pottery cups that were artfully arranged. He held the phone out to her. When she reached for it, he didn’t let go. He said, “I knew the first time I saw you that there wouldn’t be anything casual about sex with you.”
God, she hated the way he could make her cheeks heat up and jumble her thoughts so she couldn’t think of anything to say, witty or otherwise. He stood there, holding on to the phone and looking perfectly innocent, as though he were responding to a comment she’d made about the weather instead of sex. To avoid engaging in a tug-of-war over the phone, she had no choice but to wait until he let go.
“You know what amazes me?” he asked. “As long as you’re talking about sex in the abstract, you don’t bat an eye. But you blush like hell when it gets up close and personal. How long since you’ve been out on a date, Victoria?”
“I’ve had more important things to do with my time,” she said, managing to find her voice again.
“Like sticking your nose in textbooks.” He let go of the phone. “Answer the question. Have you been out on an honest-to-God, dinner-and-a-movie date since the divorce?”
Victoria studied the keypad of the telephone for a moment and decided that if they were going to play twenty questions, she was going to ask her fair share,too, when it was her turn. She tapped the phone against her thigh and said, “No, I haven’t been out on a date in a while. I’ll even tell you why, since my story is short and utterly predictable. It was a bad marriage, and I’m not eager to jump back in
“We?” Victoria raised her eyebrows and her voice. “I was holding out just fine. You were the one who couldn’t hold out.”
“Was that your idea of holding out?” Joshua retorted.
“Your male ego is obviously embellishing what happened between us.”
“My imagination’s pretty good, but it’s not good enough to imagine that sexy little hip push you did when you were belly to belly with me.”
For the second time since he’d known her, Joshua watched Victoria go quiet as the spark of anger vanished from her gray eyes; he watched her pull all the emotions off her face and tuck them back inside, where they belonged, although the faint stain of a blush remained. He was beginning to recognize her emotional control as a defense. Whenever the discussiongot too heated, whenever too much was at stake, she got quiet; she got control.
Victoria brushed past him, intending to leave. “If you’re still helping me, I need to go to the area around Logan’s Hollow on Thursday. I’ll have some more names to follow up.”
“What about the phone?” Joshua asked casually as she swept over the threshold in a dignified retreat. “I thought you wanted to call your office for messages.”
Instantly, she stopped, and cursed under her breath. When she didn’t say anything else, he guessed she was trying to decide how badly she wanted to check her messages. Must have been pretty badly, because she turned around.
“I’d rather not wait until tomorrow to check the machine. I don’t have patients yet technically, but the hospital might have called.”
“Then come in. Just don’t expect me to ignore temptation should opportunity present itself.”
“It won’t present itself,” Victoria promised with a confidence she didn’t feel.
“Give me a minute. I’ll arrange something.”
Exasperated, Victoria walked back into the house. “Don’t bother. I’m not in the market for a … relationship.”
“Who said anything about a relationship?” he asked, and walked back into the living room.
Fuming, Victoria followed him. “Wake up, Joshua. You might be hiding out from the world up here, but even you should know these are the nineties. Free lovehas been replaced by safe sex. Monogamy is in; casual sex is out.”
Chuckling, Joshua grabbed the phone from a shelf on a wall-to-wall bookcase which was filled with carved stone bowls and pottery cups that were artfully arranged. He held the phone out to her. When she reached for it, he didn’t let go. He said, “I knew the first time I saw you that there wouldn’t be anything casual about sex with you.”
God, she hated the way he could make her cheeks heat up and jumble her thoughts so she couldn’t think of anything to say, witty or otherwise. He stood there, holding on to the phone and looking perfectly innocent, as though he were responding to a comment she’d made about the weather instead of sex. To avoid engaging in a tug-of-war over the phone, she had no choice but to wait until he let go.
“You know what amazes me?” he asked. “As long as you’re talking about sex in the abstract, you don’t bat an eye. But you blush like hell when it gets up close and personal. How long since you’ve been out on a date, Victoria?”
“I’ve had more important things to do with my time,” she said, managing to find her voice again.
“Like sticking your nose in textbooks.” He let go of the phone. “Answer the question. Have you been out on an honest-to-God, dinner-and-a-movie date since the divorce?”
Victoria studied the keypad of the telephone for a moment and decided that if they were going to play twenty questions, she was going to ask her fair share,too, when it was her turn. She tapped the phone against her thigh and said, “No, I haven’t been out on a date in a while. I’ll even tell you why, since my story is short and utterly predictable. It was a bad marriage, and I’m not eager to jump back in
Similar Books
