Paying The Playboy's Price

Her assessing gaze landed on him. “Wouldn’t it be wise to trade on what people know of you?”

And be known as a has-been for the rest of his life? No thanks. “My music career is over. If people want a honky-tonk they can go elsewhere. Can I get you a drink?”

“No, thank you. May I stay here for an hour or so? As soon as the auction ends, I can call a friend for a ride.”

“I’ll take you home after we schedule your lessons.” Her eyes widened. “I have a truck if you don’t want to get back on the bike.”

“Thank you, but I think I’ll stay with one of my girlfriends tonight. She can come and get me. My car is at her place anyway. We rode to the auction together.”

Why would a rich chick need to hide? She looked over the age of consent, but looks could be deceiving. “How old did you say you were?”

She hesitated. “I didn’t say, but I’m thirty, if you must know. Didn’t your mother ever teach you that it’s rude to ask?”

His mother had taught him a lot of things. And like an ungrateful SOB, he’d thrown her lessons back in her face. “Aren’t you a little old to be running away from home?”

“You don’t understand. My parents…” She trailed off and took an anxious peek over his shoulder as if she expected them to burst through the door. “They won’t understand about tonight.”

“I don’t have to know the whole story to know running’s not going to solve anything.” A lesson he’d learned the hard way.

“But—”

He held up a hand. “And I don’t want to know the whole story. I’m here to give you riding lessons. That’s it.”

How did she manage to look down her nose at him when she was a good six to eight inches shorter than he was? “Fine.”

He considered leaving her at the bar and going to his apartment to get his calendar, but she and her sexy dress had already caught the attention of the guys in the back corner. The men were regulars, friends of his deployed brother-in-law, and Rex didn’t want anything to happen that would keep them from coming back. “Upstairs.”

He waved to Danny, and pointed toward the private entrance leading to his apartment. From the wiseass smirk on his manager’s face, Danny probably thought the boss was about to get laid. The thought sent a Roman candle of heat through Rex’s veins. He doused it. He’d dodged every advance thrown his way since opening, and he wasn’t about to get sucked into that drainpipe now.

Rex pulled his keys from his pocket, unlocked the door and motioned for Juliana to precede him up the stairs. If she wanted more than Harley and horseback-riding lessons from him, then she’d be disappointed.

Two

Who’d have guessed that after all these years of not getting hot and bothered that she could get turned on by something mechanical? Although Juliana suspected the motorcycle ride wasn’t entirely to blame for her discombobulation.

“Have a seat.” Rex prowled around the den of his apartment flicking on lamps to reveal a very masculine decor of cappuccino-colored leather and dark wood. The furniture looked expensive but not new. Relics from his days at the top of the country-music charts?

Juliana perched on the edge of the sofa tallying sensations and classifying the wide range of emotions she’d experienced tonight. Safe wasn’t among them. She had an inkling this might be the beginnings of lust, but she couldn’t be sure.

Fingers of wind had ripped at her clothing and tried to pull her off the bike when Rex had raced the motorcycle down a long, straight section of road. The scream bubbling in her throat had been caused by terror mixed with a smidgen of excitement. Each time he’d leaned into a curve, her heart had pounded so hard she’d thought it would explode. He’d probably have bruises tomorrow from where she’d clutched him so tightly. By the time they’d arrived at Renegade she’d practically burrowed under his skin.

And she’d liked it there.

Rex’s abs had been steady and rock-hard beneath her knotted fingers, and the rough texture of jeans had abraded the sensitive skin of her inner thighs and the tender flesh between her legs. The heat of his broad back had seeped through his T-shirt and her thin dress to warm her breasts more effectively than any caress she’d ever experienced. When he’d climbed from the bike, her legs had been too weak to follow. In fact, they still hadn’t quit shaking.

Which caused her extreme reaction? Fear or physical attraction? She didn’t have much experience with either. In the past, she’d always been drawn by a man’s intelligence more than his physique, but her reaction to Rex had nothing to do with his brain. She hated to admit she was shallow enough to look forward to exploring this new terrain.

He sat beside her on the sofa, opened a calendar on the coffee table and then angled to face her. The outside seam of his jeans scraped her knee and thigh. A shiver worked its way to the pit of her stomach and settled there like a hot rock.

“I usually work nights, so your lessons will have to be late mornings or on my days off. Which works for you?” The flirtatiousness he’d displayed at the auction disappeared behind a no-nonsense businesslike demeanor. Since she was counting on him to lead her astray, that wasn’t a desirable development.

“I work weekdays.”

“Doing what?”

With him sitting this close and holding her gaze that way, Juliana had a hard time remembering what consumed most of her week. His scent and proximity had the oddest effect on her ability to think clearly. Funny, she lived for her job…What was it again? Oh, yes. “I’m an account auditor with Alden Bank and Trust.”

His narrowed gaze traveled slowly from her face to her bare shoulders, over her dress and then her legs. Her body reacted as if he’d touched her by tightening, liquefying.

So this was animal attraction? She’d heard others talk about it, but she’d never experienced the sensation. She wanted to pick it apart and study the components the way she would account entries during an audit. Flushed skin. A tingle in her veins. Accelerated heart rate. Dampened palms.

“You don’t look like any bean counter I’ve ever met.” His skeptical expression robbed the words of any compliment and hit a sore spot. After earning an MBA from the local university, Juliana had accepted a position in the family bank’s home office. She’d had to work doubly hard to prove her worth and quiet the rumors of nepotism, and she’d been proving herself ever since. But this wasn’t work. She wanted Rex to see her as a desirable woman, not as a highly credentialed bank auditor.

“I’ve always been good with numbers.” She downplayed. It was people skills she lacked. Growing up, her brother had been the socially adept one who’d held the titles of class president, homecoming king and every other desirable position. Juliana had been an ugly duckling who’d preferred books and horses to people. Andrea and Holly had been, and still were, her only close friends.

Rex thumped a beat on the table with his pen, drawing her attention back to his big, rough and scarred workman’s hands. She’d listened to his music and it amazed her that such strong, masculine hands could pluck a guitar so beautifully. “We’ll meet after you get off work on Mondays and Thursdays, my days off. That’ll give us a couple of hours of daylight.”

She caught herself watching his lips move, blinked and refocused on his eyes—dark, knowing eyes that seemed to look right inside her.

“I’ve leased a smaller bike for you,” he continued, “but you can’t drive it until you’ve earned your motorcycle learner’s permit and mastered a few basic skills.”

The unexpected turn of the conversation pulled her from her corporeal exploration. “A learner’s permit?”

“Required by North Carolina law. I’ll give you the booklet tonight. Start studying. You’ll have to take a written test at the Department of Motor Vehicles.”

Her prize package required her to take a test? That hadn’t been in the fine print, and she always read the fine print. “I work fifty to sixty hours a week. When am I supposed to find time to study and take a test?”

“Before the end of the month—unless you want the newspaper to report that you couldn’t pass.”

Her competitive instincts stirred. She hadn’t taken a driving test in fifteen years, but she’d always been an excellent student. “Fine. Twice a week at six o’clock for four weeks.”

“I’ll let the reporter know.” He closed the calendar and planted his hands on his knees. “Listen, Juliana, Renegade needs all the publicity it can get out of the newspaper series. You might not have noticed but the place isn’t packed.”

“I noticed. Business accounts are a large part of my job. Empty tables mean reduced revenue and reduced revenue means—”

He leaned toward her. Her mind went blank and her heart leaped in anticipation. She snatched a quick breath, wet her lips and lifted her mouth, but Rex didn’t kiss her. Instead he dragged a fluffy pink boa and a small pink purse from beneath his sofa cushion and sat back again.

She blinked in surprise. Had she bought a cross-dresser? “Yours?” she squeaked.

The rugged lines of his face softened and his eyes warmed, turning her insides to mush. “My nieces’.”

Shock receded. The rebel had nieces. And judging from his expression, he had a soft spot in his heart for them. The idea of using him to further her um…physical education had been a lot easier when she’d believed him to be one-hundred-percent bad boy, a heartless seducer of innocents, a man who’d get the job done and not think twice about it. Now the images of reckless rebel, concerned business owner and doting uncle tangled in a confusing mass in her head. But instead of turning her off, the combination intrigued her and made her want to know more. Not a good idea since this was a short-term project.

He stood and tossed the dress-up items into a wicker basket in the corner. “Let me make one thing clear. You bought horseback and Harley riding lessons and you’re going to get them. But riding lessons are all I’m offering.”

Half-dozen heartbeats later, his meaning sank in. Mortification burned over her skin like a desert wind. Was she so transparent? He couldn’t know that she wondered how he’d kiss, how he’d taste and, more specifically, how she’d react to his embrace. Could he?

She wobbled to her feet. “I—I appreciate your candor.”