Old Enough To Know Better

He thought of her license plate. Yep, her vibrant approach to life really turned him on. “Then let’s go.”

HALFWAY THROUGH THE MEAL, Kasey congratulated herself on how well she was doing. Probably because the restaurant was upscale, the waiter hadn’t carded her when Sam had ordered a bottle of red to go with the pasta. She was relieved about that. Although she had the fake ID, she didn’t want to use it more than necessary, in case somebody spotted it as bogus.

As per her plan, she’d steered the conversation so they talked about Sam. During the antipasto, she’d confirmed what she already knew, that his family had moved to Oregon right after his senior year in high school. He’d gone to college up there but never could get used to the weather, so he’d decided to come back to Phoenix to build his landscaping business.

With a little prompting, she got him to talk about his business during the main course. She didn’t blame him for being proud of what he’d accomplished, creating a thriving enterprise during tough economic times. Besides, she liked listening to him. There was a sexy, husky sound to his voice that hadn’t been there when he was eighteen.

“The tree you worked on today looks amazing,” she said. “Like a sculpture. How did you learn to do that?”

He put down his wineglass and gazed across the table at her, a little smile on his face. “Oh, I’ve had a lot of practice. Besides, it’s fun. I like climbing trees. It’s probably not much different from you designing a PR campaign. How do you go about that, by the way?”

Although it was an innocent enough question, she pegged it as an attempt to switch the topic to her. “Trust me, it’s not half as interesting as what you do. So, what’s the biggest landscaping challenge you’ve ever had?”

He grinned at her. “I’m beginning to think you’ve dated a bunch of egomaniacs.”

“Why?”

“Oh, just the way you’ve made sure we talked about me all the time. Maybe the other guys wanted to bask in that constant limelight, but I’d love to hear something about you.”

“I’m… I’m not all that fascinating.” It was a truthful statement. She was hoping to become fascinating, but that would require more seasoning. He was to be part of the process, although he didn’t know that.

“Come on. A woman who drives a red convertible with such an interesting license plate?”

So here was the fatal flaw in her plan. With the car, the dress, even the shoes, she’d presented herself as a daring Sex and the City kind of girl. She’d hoped that concentrating on him would prevent the spotlight from being turned on her. Spotlights picked up discrepancies. She wondered what she could offer up that would fit the image she’d projected without telling him too much.

Then she remembered her current project at work. “Well, right now I’m designing an image make over for Slightly Scandalous.”

His eyebrows rose. “Really.”

“So you know the place?”

“Um, yeah, I’ve heard of it.”

From his initial reaction she thought he’d had more intimate contact than that. At any rate, sexy underwear seemed to be a savvy topic that went with the red car and the license plate. She’d get some mileage out of it.

“They’ve seen how well Victoria’s Secret is doing,” she said, “and they want some of that market. They’ve rented mall space and they want a classier image when they move.”

“So how do you do that? I mean, when I think of Slightly Scandalous, I think of G-strings and those bras with the cutouts…everywhere.”

Having him mention such things changed the atmosphere of the table, and maybe that’s what she needed. She wouldn’t get him to drool over a discussion about trimming trees. “Exactly. It’s all about branding. If I do my job right, when you think of Slightly Scandalous, you’ll picture a runway model in silk underwear that’s decent enough to be shown on national TV and yet still very sexy.”

“So they’re giving up on the other stuff?” He sounded disappointed.

“Pretty much. There’s a niche market for the over-the-top lingerie, but apparently they were struggling to capture that.” She decided a happening chick would be bold. “Face it, did you ever go in there?”

A flush stole up from the open collar of his silk shirt. “Maybe I should plead the Fifth on that one.”

Which meant he had bought naughty lingerie at some time, for some woman in his life. Kasey wondered what that would be like, having a man like Sam bring her a present of underwear that he expected her to model for him. The idea gave her goose bumps.

“I have the feeling I’ve just incriminated myself,” he said.

“Not at all.” But he’d made himself seem even sexier, if that was possible. She reminded herself to keep playing the role of sophisticated city girl. “I know men have fantasies.”

His gaze intensified. “I’ve been told women have them, too.”

“Well, of course.” She sounded nervous, damn it. She decided to retreat a little. “That’s what my project’s about, tapping into women’s fantasies instead of catering to a man’s. Women usually want their fantasies packaged more subtly.”

“How about you? How do you like your fantasies packaged?”

I’m looking at it. “Oh, I’m probably like most women.”

“I seriously doubt that. Play fair, now. I’ve pretty much admitted to buying something at Slightly Scandalous. The least you can do is confess that you’ve worn something from there.”

As if. “Uh, well, I—”

“Your pink cheeks are giving you away, Kasey.” He smiled. “I know a bad girl when I see one. But for the record, wearing an outfit from Slightly Scandalous is okay with me.”

She knew she was in over her head. But the thing was, she’d nearly accomplished her mission. Sam looked like a man who could hardly wait to get her alone.

Picking up her goblet, she borrowed his line. “I’ll have to take the Fifth on that.” Then she drained the glass before setting it back on the table.

He let out a breath. “You know how to turn a man inside out, don’t you?” He picked up the wine bottle and refilled her glass.

She made a command decision not to drink another drop. Finishing off her glass had seemed like a big-girl sort of gesture, but now she was feeling light-headed and giggly. Any more of that delicious red stuff and she was liable to tell Sam her entire life story. Nope, she’d stick with water from here on out.

In fact, a drink of water might settle her jumpy nerves. The way Sam was looking at her, she had the feeling she’d started something she might not be ready to finish. She picked up her water glass and took a cooling swallow.

“I’ve been dying to ask you—how did you get that little scar on your lip?”

She choked on the water. As an unplanned distraction, it worked well. Sam was out of his seat in no time, patting her back and murmuring words of concern.

Gradually she could breathe again, and she begged him to go back to his seat. Other diners had begun to stare and even the waiter had come by to make sure she was all right.

Sam eased back into his chair. “Sure you’re okay?”

“Fine. Just embarrassed. You’d think by now I’d have learned how to swallow water.”

“I hope it wasn’t something I said.”

“No, no, nothing like that.”

“If mentioning that little scar upset you, I’m really sorry.”

“Goodness, no. It’s an old childhood injury. Most of the time I forget it’s even there.” She’d always cherished that scar, though, because it reminded her of Sam. He really had been her fantasy guy for years. That was one negative thing about running into him again. Chances were he wouldn’t be able to live up to the image she’d created for him.

“I’ll bet you were goofing around on the playground equipment,” he said.

“Something like that.” And they needed to get off this subject before she let some detail slip.