He told his brain to ignore her language and focus on her meaning.
“So…Jane’s not going with you this weekend.”
“No, and good riddance. We’ll have a much better time without her.” She lowered her eyes and licked her lips. “Can’t wait to get you stripped down on that bed…I am going to ride you, cowboy, like…”
Lars didn’t hear anything else she said, although he was careful not to show Samara how pleased he was by the news that Jane would be in town all weekend while she was away. He occasionally nodded in response to the colorful picture she was painting of them in bed together, while mostly ignoring the tawdry details.
All that mattered was that Jane was staying and she’d be here all weekend! He was ridiculously happy to hear—
“Whoa!” He was so distracted by his thoughts, he didn’t hear whatever led up to Samara’s hand in his lap, firmly grasping at his crotch, boldly trying to massage him through his jeans. “Hey! Cut it out!”
He jerked her hand out of his lap, trying to keep the truck on the road with one hand on the wheel. The truck shimmied into oncoming traffic, and Lars looked up just in time to slide back onto his side of the road and avoid a collision.
He pulled over to the side of the road, cutting the engine and turning to Samara.
“Not okay, Samara,” he said.
“Umm, have I missed something here? I’m throwing myself at you, and honey, I don’t usually have to work this hard.”
“Then stop trying.”
“What? Why?”
Her hand reached for his lap again, but he grabbed her wrist.
“Samara. Stop.”
She snatched her hand back, eyes narrowed, a sneer on her pretty mouth.
“Do you…not want this?”
Lars swallowed. The simple answer was: No, I don’t. I want your cousin. But he couldn’t say that to her. She’d have him fired, his father’s company would lose the revenue from the job, and his chances at Lindstrom Elite or a third share in Lindstrom & Sons would be up in smoke.
“Samara. Don’t be crazy. Any man would want to be with you.”
She stared at him for a moment before exhaling loudly.
“Then what is the problem?” She spoke deliberately, separating and enunciating her words.
He was at a total loss. He couldn’t reject her, but there was no way he was fooling around with her again. He needed a reason…a good reason…
“I have a condition…um, a rash,” he blurted out. What? What are you saying? What are you doing? “Down there.”
“Wh-what?”
“Yeah. A rash.” He cringed. “It’s uh…red and bumpy…from the, um…the heat, and…I think I should let it…um, clear up first.”
“You have a rash. On your…”
She gestured to his lap with a finger.
“Uh-huh. Yeah. It’s not pretty.”
She looked at him, her nose curled up in disgust, as if she’d seen something distasteful. She looked at the hand that had been groping his lap, and wiped it on her jeans. “Is it…contagious?”
“No. No, no, no. I have…um, medicine for it.”
“When’s it going to be better?”
“Like, um—” I definitely don’t want to go to Jackson Hole with you, so… “—a week? Or so?”
“Oh.”
“I was, um…hoping it would clear up in time, you know, to join you. That’s why I didn’t, um, give you an answer about this weekend. But I think it’s probably best if you go without me.”
Samara shrugged, but Lars saw a little color in her cheeks. He didn’t know if she was buying his lies or not, and he knew she wasn’t used to being rebuffed. At all. Ever. She sat up straighter, pushing her breasts forward. “So…you’re turning this down?”
“Only ’cause I have to, you know, for your sake. For your, um…health. And safety.”
She tapped one fingertip against her lips, staring at him. It was a slim, tapered finger, with a red fingernail so slick and shiny and beautiful, it looked wet.
Her efforts to be seductive, however, were utterly in vain.
He didn’t want to sleep with her, now or ever, and to avoid doing so, he was willing to make up a pretty outlandish—and, let’s face it, completely disgusting—personal reason to get out of it. He’d certainly been flattered by the attention she paid him that first day, and there’s no doubt she was beautiful. But she was also an immature, foul-mouthed, demanding, pouting brat. He pitied the guy who ended up with her.
Not that he needed a reminder of how Jane made him feel, but he got one last night when he held Jane’s hand, and again today as she walked over to talk to him by his truck; he could barely think straight when Jane was around, he wanted her so much. And, as it turned out, he was about to have a whole weekend of open road with that someone else. Damn skippy, he was going to make the most of it.
Samara took a deep breath and sighed, taking her phone out. “Maybe I should tell Trend to find a more…willing tour operator. I like shoots to be fun. I don’t think this is working for me. I don’t think you’re working out, Lars.”
Wow. Was she threatening him? Terrific.
She was fumbling with her phone, her thumbs moving fast, ignoring him. He heard it ding like she was sending messages. For all he knew, she was texting the Trend folks to axe the Lindstroms from this job. Screwing up his own personal career was one thing; affecting his family’s livelihood was another matter entirely. He had to buy time. He had to figure out a way to keep her happy until Monday. If he could, he’d still have the weekend with Jane, he’d still get his promotion, and by Monday Samara-the-Terrible would be gone.
“Samara,” he said, as low and sexy as he could muster for her, reaching out to put his hand on her thigh, “I could always come track you down in New York. Come stay with you for a weekend.”
She turned to him slowly, a catlike smile making her pretty face mysterious and dangerous at once. “You’d do that for me? Come all the way to New York? Give me a night to remember?”
He didn’t love lying, but a small lie now could give him the overall outcome he desired.
“Absolutely. I promise a night you’ll never forget.”
“I like the way you’re touching me right now, Lars.”
“Tip of the iceberg, baby.”
“What will you do to me, Lars?” she asked.
“Whatever you want,” he answered, grinning at her, though he wished like hell he could move his hand away.
He felt sick to his stomach even hearing the words coming out of his mouth. But he thought of Jane, of how terribly he needed this weekend alone with her. He knew he could turn things around if he just had this time with her. And while he also knew that promising Samara anything was fundamentally a bad idea, bad ideas were all he was coming up with in a pinch.
For now, he needed Samara to go, Jane to stay and Lindstrom & Sons to keep this job. Apparently, making sexy promises to Samara was the only way to get all three.
“Deal, Lars,” she agreed, her voice silky and firm.
“Deal, Samara,” he winked at her, gratefully moving his hand back to the steering wheel, keeping his face impassive while he wondered if he’d just made a deal with the devil.