LITMIR.BIZ

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repress a sigh of relief. It was irrational to get nervous when he was in someone else’s car, but for the first eighteen years of his life, he’d had no control whatsoever. He hated not being in charge of a situation. Usually, he managed to project an easygoing image, but his heart pounded every time he had to fly on a plane or ride with another driver.

      For a while, his irrational feelings had even affected his job history, driving him to quit voluntarily before something beyond his power might force him to go. A few months ago, he’d started freelancing his services and it had started to pick up. He was regularly approached with jobs that were big enough to keep him busy, but too small for firms like C, K and M to expend energy on. Lately, he’d had to turn down as many assignments as he accepted, but he never backed too far away from his freelancing—and not because he needed the money. Life had taught him that little was permanent. Not jobs, not families, not lovers. Why get attached to people? Why give someone else the opportunity to leave him? He’d lost enough already.

      First his parents, although he’d been so young that he remembered them mostly as faces in the photographs he owned. There’d been a string of foster families he’d stayed with only long enough to start caring before being yanked away and sent elsewhere. Living with the Wakefields had been the last time he’d really dared to hope for a family. After they’d moved, he’d decided becoming close to people was just an invitation to get hurt. He’d once dated a woman, Dana, who had tempted him to try to let someone in. He’d wanted to, he really had, but he’d never been able to adjust to the level of intimacy she’d needed. So she’d become just one more person to walk out of his life without looking back.

      Piper zoomed beyond Houston’s city limits, and for a moment he silently applauded her speed. Too bad he couldn’t outrun the bitterness of his past with the same ease.

      Maybe conversation would help alleviate his tension. “Is there anything in particular I should know about you?”

      “What?” She sounded perplexed. “You know me pretty well already.”

      “Well, yeah, but is there something more personal, like you have a birthmark the shape of the state of Louisiana?”

      “I do not have any weird birthmarks.”

      No doubt her skin was as creamy and flawless as her curves were intoxicating. “Okay, then some other obscure detail. Your favorite brand of bubble bath?”

      “I’m more the hot shower type.”

      Her words erased the image he’d been conjuring up of thin, foamy bubbles barely covering her. But the shower comment only made him think of two people intertwined in a steamy tile stall—two very specific people who had no business being naked and wet together.

      “Is there any reason you’re trying to make me sound like a Playboy centerfold?” she challenged teasingly.

      “Centerfold?” Cursing his exemplary visualization skills, he battled back an image of Piper scantily clad and provocatively posed.

      “You know, those ridiculous interview bios.” She adopted a higher-than-normal airheaded tone. “My name’s Piper, and I enjoy champagne and bubble baths.”

      “Maybe my examples stunk. All I meant was, are there little things people might expect me to know about you? Things a lover would know?”

      Her gaze shot from the road to Josh, and the word lover hung between them like an unfulfilled promise. Or a warning.

      After a second, she shook her head. “Convincing my family we’re involved is one thing, but trying to convince them we’re having a scorching affair would be more complicated, not to mention a little creepy. These are my parents, after all. Besides, people may think I’m dating, but I never hinted that the relationship was serious. We just need to take small steps to make it look real. You might have to, um, hold my hand or put your arm around me or something.”

      “I can do that.” Despite all the times he’d deliberately avoided those exact, seemingly simple, things.

      “And…” She swallowed. “It might not hurt if they see you kiss me once.”

      “Kiss you.” Her summery citrus scent teased him, and for the second time in as many days he wondered what she’d taste like. Oranges? Sweet? Tangy?

      “Just a quick peck or something,” she said. “No need for a major kiss.”

      Showed what she knew about him. If he was going to do it, he would do it right.

      “We got off track here,” she said a bit breathlessly.

      He’d have to take her word for it. His thoughts had strayed so far afield that he didn’t even remember the original conversation.

      “You were worried about personal trivia,” she reminded him. “But no one’s gonna quiz you about me. They’ll want to know all about you.”

      His least favorite topic. “Hope I don’t disappoint them. I’m not a very interesting guy.”

      She shot him such a knowing look, he added, “But if there’s anything you think you should know to make this more believable, feel free to ask. I don’t mind.” He ignored her snort of disbelief.

      Relief pooled inside him when she didn’t call his bluff.

      Instead, they lapsed into silence, the kind he would feel obligated to fill with any other woman. But Piper didn’t expect him to be witty or charming. She didn’t mind when he was obnoxious and cranky, and she could be obnoxious in return. Gradually relaxing, he leaned his seat back and closed his eyes, letting Piper’s humming and the motion of the car lull his nerves.

      He didn’t wake up until he heard the sirens behind them.

      PIPER’S GAZE FLEW to her rearview mirror, and her heart sank. Ignoring Josh’s muffled laughter at her colorful language, she pulled the car over.

      She’d been stopped twice in one week! “My insurance company is going to send a guy to break my kneecaps.” She rolled down her window, looking up to meet the steel-gray eyes of a very tall patrolwoman.

      With her platinum-blond hair and high supermodel cheekbones, the officer was probably a Nordic goddess when she smiled. At the moment, though, she was scowling. “License and proof of insurance, please. Do you know how fast you were going?”

      Piper didn’t think it would look very good if she admitted she had no idea. Before she could say anything at all, Josh leaned across her, addressing the officer.

      “Afternoon, ma’am,” he said, exaggerating his normal Texas drawl. “I just wanted to apologize. I’m the one who’s got to be somewhere, and my sister was hurrying for me. I shouldn’t have encouraged her to drive so fast.” He flashed a full-voltage smile. “You should give me the ticket.”

      Piper mentally rolled her eyes. He was only going to irritate her. And what was he going to say when she asked where they had to be in such a hurry?

      But the woman didn’t ask. Instead, her cold gaze turned smoky, and she smiled. “I don’t think there’s a need for anyone to get a ticket today. Your sister just needs to slow down.”

      Josh’s voice was pure honey. “Thanks so much, Officer—?”

      “Blake. Julie Blake.”

      “I suppose it would be too forward to ask if you’re in the Houston phone book, Julie Blake?”

      Unbelievable! The previously stone-faced officer actually blushed.

      If they’d been in Josh’s car instead of hers, Piper would have tossed her cookies right there on the dashboard.

      After Officer Julie assured them she had a listed number, wished them a good day and sashayed back to her own vehicle, Piper let Josh have it. “What is wrong with you? Are you just one giant gland?”

      “Hey, I appreciate the gratitude, but don’t get all mushy or anything.”

      “Gratitude?”

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