Chapter 18

Mike closed his eyes. He couldn't believe he'd said that out loud. He wanted to drop his head to the table and whack it on the hard surface a bunch of times, but that would make him look even stupider. He dared peek out from between his lashes at Joe, and instead of seeing confusion or disgust, Joe was beaming from ear to ear.

Say what?

"You, um, didn't find that offensive?" Mike asked.

"Seriously? A man I think is absolutely adorable, has his eyes on me like he wants to eat me for breakfast," she responded, leaning forward. "Heel, no."

Dammit.

She was still talking physical, while Mike was already angling for something deeper.

"Okay. It's just that…"

Should he go for it a second time? Say what was on his mind?

Joelle wasn't one to hold things back, especially now that she'd asked him and his team for help, so maybe he should lay his thoughts on the line. He drew in a fortifying breath. "…I think I might be entertaining more than a carnal attraction to you."

There.He'd said it. The ball was in her court.

Mike held his breath, but fuck, the server arrived at that very inopportune moment to clear their plates and asked about dessert.

"No thanks," both he and Joe declined at the same time.

"Just the check," Mike added.

Once there was no longer a third set of ears listening, Mike waited impatiently for Joe's response.

Instead of backing off—like he expected her to do after hitting her with a broadside—Joe's green eyes warmed to a deep, forest-y color as she regarded him.

"Let me get this straight. You're attracted to my abrasive personality?" she questioned cheekily, but Mike heard the hint of self-doubt in her voice, and it nearly broke his heart.

"Yup." Mike didn't hesitate. He was all-in, now.

Before she could come up with her next retort, Mike continued, raising his hand and ticking things off on his fingers. "I like your personality, your kick-ass demeanor, the way you fit in with my friends, and the fact that you're able to swallow your professional-pride and ask for help. I could go on," Mike teased, elated he was feeling on firmer ground. The fact that she hadn't shut him down had given him hope.

Joe sighed.

"You know I've been a loner for a long time," she told him, making her words sound like a warning. But Mike decided to take it another way. If the prickly agent wasselective about the people she let into her life, in order for her to be here, with him, she must really like him. He wasn't about to get a swelled head over it, because if he let out any indication that he was gloating, Joe would certainly shoot him down.

He went with affability instead.

"I've been solo for ages, too," he countered, not giving Joe any wiggle room. "I don't invite just anybody into my life."

If she wanted what he was offering, she was going to have to spell things out. There was no way Mike was going to make any more moves without her being one hundred percent on board with his vision for their future. His libido cried "foul", but his brain knew it was the right call not to make her a simple—albeit first—notch on his bedpost.

Joelle huffed. "Are you really going to let a sure-thing-booty-call get away because you think you might actually like me?"

"Uh, huh." Mike played the dead serious card.

"You're nuts, you know that?"

Mike nodded again. "Nothing I haven't been told before."

The silence dragged on as he watched her chew her bottom lip, fidget with her napkin, and tug on her ever-present ponytail; the one he'd loosen from its tie the first second he had the chance.

But why was it taking her so long to answer?

Just as Mike was about to take a step back—his mind already hard at work on a plan B that would get past her defenses—Joe gave an enormous groan.

"You're going to regret this. I just know you are," she stated.

Mike fist-pumped in his head, but…

Wasn't that sad? This incredible woman in front of him had so little confidence in the romance arena, that she was already stacking the deck in her mind.

Well, he wasn't letting her have it.

"There'll be nothing to regret," he put forth confidently. "You've already done your worst, fibbing about your name, stalking me, and pointing a gun in my direction?—"

"Hey. Not my fault." She rebutted, but a hint of a grin was making an appearance. "You grabbed my ankle and took me down. A girl has to protect herself."

Mike saw his opening, and took it, getting serious. "Especially where her heart is concerned," he dared. "But you can trust me, Joe. I promise. I'm…already in over my head where you're concerned, and I want you to test the same deep water. What do you say?" He laid it on the line, not wanting to wait any longer to hear if she'd take the plunge.

"Mike," she grabbed his hand across the table and held on tight. "That water might seem invitingly warm right now, but…what if it turns frigid?"

Was she still speaking metaphorically? He raised a brow. "Frigid, as in regards to sex, Joe? Because the little body-contact we've shared tells me we could melt an iceberg."

She snorted. "No. I'm not talking sex. Bedroom antics with you will be nothing less than epic. I already know that. I'm talking about my personality being a deal-breaker. I'm independent, I don't take shlick, I have a propensity to be unreasonable, and you already know I hardly ever play by the rules. How will you deal with all that in the long term?"

"Uh, hello? I'm the father of two teenagers, aren't I? You're describing my everyday life. And Joelle, for the record, my ex-wife had been disengaged for so long, I'm looking forward to a challenge."

She studied his face for the longest time, looking for cracks. But she wouldn't see any. Mike was absolutely certain. Joe was the most fascinating woman he'd met in his entire life.

Finally, Joe threw down her napkin, both literally and figuratively.

"Then what are we waiting for?" she asked, a smile blossoming on her lips. "Your place or mine?"

Now Mike's face fell. "Shit, Joe."

"What?"

Wrong move.

She was already, at his careless words, busy erecting the wall he'd worked so hard to tear down. He couldn't get his assurances out fast enough.

"You remember I mentioned teenagers? Well, I was telling them about you, and how I'd been ‘running into you' around town. Then I told them that tonight was our first date, and they kind of made me promise I'd bring you back to the house so they can meet you. Which would mean…no sex tonight."

Instead of throwing a hissy, Joe giggled. Another thing he liked about her. Curve balls didn't faze her in the least. "They really do have you wrapped around their little fingers, don't they?"

"You have no idea," Mike concurred with a fatalistic shake of his head.

"And seriously, Mike? You won't mind adding me to that highly manipulative consortium?"

Mike grinned again. Joe was giving in. "Not in the least," he told her sincerely.

"Okay then," she allowed for a second time. "I think you're a masochist, but let's go meet the kiddos."

Mike barely glanced at the bill on the table before throwing down cash and taking Joe's hand.

"You're more than meeting expectations, you know," he told her as they walked out the restaurant door.

"How so?" she questioned with an adorable wrinkle of her nose.

"You roll really well with the punches."

"And you, clearly, have pretty low standards," she scolded. "Mike. This whole thing could backfire once your kids meet me. They might think I'm some horrid jezebel. A lowlife out to trap you. And if the people closest to you can't embrace me as a new person of interest in your life, you'll have no choice but to drop me."

Mike knew there was no chance of that, but he threw the challenge back at her.

"Does that mean I'll have to pass muster with your uncles? And if I don't, you'll boot my ass to the door?" he questioned. The prospect of charming the old codgers didn't actually bother him at all. He could play nice with almost anybody.

"Absolutely," Joe responded. "And be warned. They're going to want to grill you up one side and down the other until you're thoroughly cooked."

He answered with confidence. "Then it's a good thing I don't mind heat."

They walked to the parking lot, and when Mike's reptile brain realized there was both a truck and a car waiting, he frowned. "We have two vehicles," he griped needlessly.

Joe shrugged. "I'll take mine and you take yours," she responded pragmatically.

"But—"

Joelle shut him down with a stern look. "Remember what I said about independence? I mean it. I'm not the type of woman you have to mollycoddle. I know how to drive, I know how to fix a flat, and I'd beat the begeezus out of anyone who attempted to car-jack me. So…no overprotective stuff from you unless I ask for it."

Mike huffed. "I wasn't saying you can't take care of yourself. I was going more on the possibility that if we were in one vehicle, we might pull off before we get to my house and make out a little."

Joe threw back her head and laughed.

Before he could brace, she was already crashing her body into his, backing him up against his driver's side door. "You mean like this?"

She grabbed hold of his shirt front, yanked him close, and attacked his mouth.

There was nothing hesitant about Joe. While their tongues tangled, she hooked a leg up around the back of his, and pretty much rode his thigh. The heat was delicious, and Mike's cock hardened in a blink.

Matching Joe's enthusiasm, Mike thrust his dick into the tautness of her abdomen. He was so fucking turned on. Nothing this sexually intense had happened to him since he'd first started dating Mellie in high school, and even then, that teenage fumbling couldn't compare to the full-body fever he was experiencing now. Adolescent lust and real-man, grown-up desire were two very different things. Mike was learning that, fast.

His head, however, wasn't fully letting go yet.

The part of Mike's brain that remained coherent, had him easing up.

He was very well known in town, and it would only be a matter of time until someone he knew walked by and saw them sucking face. Mike started to pull back further before he realized… Yeah. That was exactly what he and Joe had planned. To be seen together. To be talked about as an item, yet… The protective part of him he'd denied to Joe, didn't want her to be shoveled into "cheap date" category by the local gossips, which is what would happen if he and she continued making out randily in the parking lot.

Fuck.As much as he loved this, it was time to move their personal party someplace else.

"Joe." He dragged his lips from hers and lifted his head. "We need to stop."

She whimpered, her nipples like twin drill-points, boring into his chest. "Why?" she murmured, dragging her tongue over his throat where she'd somehow managed to loosen his tie and have his top button undone.

When did that happen?

Mike tried to be the voice of reason, but it was damned difficult as she continued to work her oral magic on his collarbone. "Because we want to be perceived as love-interests to each other, not sex hook-ups."

"What's the difference?" she asked, manipulating the third button down, her mouth clearly headed toward his nipple.

He grasped her healing chin as gently as he was able, and dragged her face up to talk sense.

"The difference is, I want people to talk about how good you are for me, not how fast we jumped into bed."

Joe stepped back.

"Spoilsport," she snuffled, but her smile threatened as she began refastening his buttons. "Fine. But in that regard, you might have to do something about the hickey I left on your neck."

Mike was momentarily appalled. "You left?—?"

Joe laughed, patting his chest playfully. "No. I didn't." She finished straightening his clothes. "This time," she added impishly before turning and sashaying her fine ass toward her car.

"I'll get you for that," Mike called out, adjusting his painfully-bereft cock so he could climb up into his truck.

"Promises, promises," Joelle sent back.

Mike chuckled wryly.

He'd known that would be her response.

Fifteen minutes later,Mike pulled down his driveway with Joelle right behind him, and Mike had some unexpected flutters in his belly. Would his kids like her? The woman he'd have to remember to introduce as Elle the cocktail waitress, instead of Joe the bad-ass agent? Would they give her a warm welcome or treat her with disdain?

Seriously?

Mike shook off his trepidation. These were his kids. His good kids. They knew how to conduct themselves, and even if they found Joelle lacking, they'd wait until she was gone to call him out on his choice of dates.

Mike alighted from his truck, feeling better after dispelling his qualms. Joe was only seconds behind him, getting out of her car.

"I'd offer to show you around the property," he smirked, "but you're already familiar with it."

"Grasspole," Joe snickered before becoming earnest. "And stow that thought. You need to remember who I'm pretending to be, and behave."

"No worries," he responded seriously. "Not a word about who you really are will pass my lips."

"Good. Although I'd probably gain a lot more cred with your kids if they knew I could kick your butt on the mats, and that I carry a gun instead of a drink-tray."

"We'll leave the gun intel for later. But," he pondered thoughtfully, "the gym cred is actually a good way to say we met. We can tell them we've sparred a number of times over the past few months."

Joe raised a brow. "And who do we say wins?"

His mouth quirked up. "Are you good with calling our sessions a draw?" He wondered just how competitive she was, even in the abstract.

"I can agree to fifty-fifty," she immediately gave in.

Well, lookie there.Joelle thought she was a ball-buster, but she absolutely knew how to play nice.

"My kids will be impressed with that."

"Let's go meet them, then." Joe squared her shoulders, but by the lack of color in her cheeks, Mike saw that she was anything but confident.

He took her arm, then…

Screw that.He draped his tricep over her shoulder instead and drew her close. "Girlfriend, right?" he asked, leaning down to brush her ear with his lips.

"Yup." She lost some of her stiffness. "That's me."

"Good."

Before they got to the door, it opened, and Dilly stood there with Tim just behind her, studying Joe before stepping back. "We didn't expect you so soon," Dill quipped.

Mike responded with a straight face. "I tried to get her to make out with me in the parking lot of the restaurant, but she declined."

How would Joe react to that?

She blinked once, then…

"Gossip being what it is," Joe picked up, unhesitatingly to his curious daughter, "I wanted to meet you two first and get your approval." She gave her short speech with sincere aplomb.

If Mike hadn't known better—if he hadn't been on the receiving end of her wanton attack earlier—he would have utterly and wholeheartedly believed her.

Mike cleared his throat, guiding Joe through the door before closing it behind them. "I guess it's time for introductions then. Elle…" his tongue tripped.

Goddammit.He didn't know Joe's last name. He tried again; a truncated version. "Elle, this is my daughter, Addilynn, more commonly known as Dilly, and my son Timothy, who goes by Tim."

Joe immediately stuck out her hand, giving them a huge, sincere smile. "I've heard a lot about you," she stated. "You guys are the light of your dad's life."

Dilly looked amused as she took Joe's hand and rolled her eyes. "Then it's a good thing he's finally expanding his horizons. Nothing says loser more than a middle-aged guy who has nothing going on except his kids."

"Middle-aged?" Mike responded with shock. "Is that how you see me?"

"If the shoe fits, Dad," Tim added, shaking Joe's hand, then turning to walk away toward the kitchen, followed by Dilly.

Joe clearly couldn't help laughing as she looked up at him. "Uh, Mike? How old are you, anyway?"

Mike growled. "Not so old I can't make you weak in the knees. After I ground that pair for a month."