But as soon as the thought breezed across his mind, it dissipated into the wind. He’d known Samantha all his life, and he knew he didn’t desire her. The only woman in that category was a sassy blond-haired, blue-eyed waitress who didn’t want to give him even the wrong time of day.
“I’m waiting to talk to Alyssa,” he said, letting Samantha know he wasn’t on the market.
Samantha made a moue of disappointment before she gained control over her features. “She should be out soon,” she replied, then ran a finger down his arm. “If you get lonely, call me,” she said, and with one last heated look over her shoulder, walked away.
He didn’t bother turning to watch the sway of her hips, although he was sure she was putting on quite a show. That, to be sure, Jackson was used to. It all boiled down to the same thing—he had something they wanted, whether it was his body or his wallet. He kept both in damn fine shape. But Jackson just wasn’t for sale right now. Alyssa, and only Alyssa, was his current target. She’d certainly brought him plenty of pleasure, and not only in bed. He found it oddly exhilarating to be waiting for her, chasing after her.
He’d never had to do anything like that in his lifetime. When he wanted a woman, she said yes; that’s just how it had always been. Then he’d gotten involved with Katy while he was a sophomore in college. They’d wed right after graduation, and hell began as soon as the honeymoon ended.
What a fool he’d been. He wouldn’t be manipulated by a woman again, at least not as far as to put a wedding ring on her finger. As for heating the sheets, however . . . that was a completely different matter. He’d have to be made of stone to give that up, which he certainly wasn’t. Okay, a few parts of him—one in particular—were pretty darn hard.
The lights over the entrance went dark and the large wooden doors opened a final time. Alyssa walked outside with Cody, the cook, at her side.
“Night, Alyssa. Drive safe,” Cody said before jogging over to his truck and jumping inside. Not waiting for Alyssa to get into her car, the man drove off without glancing around the semidark parking lot. Irritation boiled up inside Jackson’s stomach.
What kind of man took off like that and left a woman alone in an empty lot? Jackson would be having a chat with Cody first thing tomorrow.
Dammit! He hadn’t wanted to get involved with this place, but now that he knew Alyssa worked there, he had no choice. Well, okay, he did have a choice, but he needed to follow this through, figure out what it was about her that had thrown him so off balance.
Her smile haunted him, the touch of vulnerability she’d tried so valiantly to hide. Those were the images that popped into his mind when he thought of her and their night. And then, of course, the vision of her lying beneath him as he sank inside her—how she’d writhed beneath him and moaned.
Jackson preferred the greedy, self-absorbed women who buzzed around him like flies around a jam jar. They were easy, and they were easy to forget. But the woman walking toward him was the exact opposite.
She was the girl next door. The one he would have built a tree house with as a child, the one who would have been right there playing cops and robbers with him. This girl, standing before him in all her womanhood, so feminine, so real, had a hold on him that he couldn’t shake.
“Hard night?” he asked, and she screamed and dropped her purse.
“What are you doing? Trying to give me a heart attack?” She squatted down and began picking up the scattered contents of her purse.
“You shouldn’t have been left here alone, Alyssa. Your coworker should have waited to make sure your car would start,” Jackson replied as he bent down and began helping her. When he picked up a prescription bottle, she snatched it from his hand and tucked it safely back inside her large tote with a look of panic in her eyes.
What the hell was in that bottle?
“Are you hungry?” he asked. When she looked at him as if he’d lost his mind, he figured she was probably right. Wasn’t he essentially stalking her?
“No,” she said, but her stomach rumbled loud and clear in the early morning quiet.
“Sounds to me like you are,” he countered with an obvious grin.
Alyssa glared at him. “I’ll have something when I get home.”
“Why don’t we drive out to the truck stop? It’s not too far away.”
“Look, I don’t like being a mean person, Jackson, I really don’t, but I’m just not interested in starting something up with you. Believe it or not, having one-night stands isn’t something I typically do, and I would rather forget all about our night together. I don’t have a whole heck of a lot of pleasant memories from that time,” she told him with a tired sigh.
“What happened to make it so bad?”
“You’re not listening,” she said, her eyes narrowing as she stood up.
“Fine. You don’t want to see me. Is it because there’s nothing between us?”
“Yes. I feel nothing.” Now he had her.
“Liar.”
His softly spoken word infuriated her. “Look, Jackson, contrary to popular belief, you aren’t all that. Take a hint and save some pride.” She turned away, done with the conversation.
“One kiss. If there’s nothing, I leave you alone.”
He waited to see if she’d take the bait.
She turned around and stared at him contemptuously. “I’m not going to play such a childish game.”
He could barely see her, let alone the way she looked at him, in the shadows cast over the parking lot by its lone light. He would have to fix that.
“Fine. Then I’ll come back tomorrow . . . and the next day . . . and the next . . .” He leaned against his truck with his arms crossed, looking as if time were nothing of consequence to him.
“You’re being ridiculous,” she said, but he could see that he was breaking her down.
He knew he should just leave, let this go. But he couldn’t seem to force himself to do that. Sad. “It’s up to you, Alyssa. One kiss and I go away . . . If there’s no spark, that is.”
That was the catch. They both knew there were going to be sparks. He could almost see her doing calculations in her head. He waited. He’d issued the challenge, and it was now up to her whether she’d accept it or not. His hardening body prayed that she would. He’d sleep much better if he could have just one taste.
Who in the hell was he kidding? One taste was never going to do it. Maybe he should take back the challenge, because it would clearly leave him even harder than he already was. Even though the kiss was sure to start a five-alarm fire, she wasn’t about to climb into his bed. Not tonight, at least. No, he couldn’t back down, because he knew he’d get her there soon.