“I don’t even know what ‘this’ you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t you?”

  Then she was falling, as he’d dumped her on the couch. Standing over her, hands on his hips, his chest rising and falling harshly. “I tried to talk to you before you went on either of those ridiculous dates,” he said. “You didn’t want to.”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “No. You wanted surface stuff, like how’s the weather and can you redo my town house kind of talk. I’m trying to stick to that, because I understand you don’t want more, but in that dress, it’s nearly impossible.”

  “I didn’t mean to flash you,” she whispered.

  “What did you mean to do?”

  “Make you notice me.”

  “Done.”

  “Make you hot.”

  “Done.”

  Nervous, she licked her lips, and he groaned again. “Maybe you don’t realize the truth here, so let me spell it out. I want more from you than you can give. You’re too busy giving to everyone else. You give them your all and leave nothing for yourself, and I can’t stand it. I want a woman who knows her mind and isn’t afraid to speak it. I want—”

  “I know my mind and I was trying to give it to you,” she said in her defense. “It’s just that I couldn’t hold my breath and talk at the same time, so I chose breathing and you saw what happened.”

  “Yeah, you nearly gave me heart failure!”

  He wasn’t talking to her, as she’d wanted. He wasn’t even lusting at her at the moment, which would have been nice, too. But he was yelling at her, which was better than being ignored, but not quite as good as, say, getting a filling. “What did you mean, you want more from me?”

  “I’m tired of sending you off on dates you don’t even want, then having to rescue you. I’m tired of you saying yes to everyone but yourself. I’m tired of you dressing up for men too stupid to appreciate you. I’m tired of—”

  He broke off and clamped his jaw shut. Then he shoved his fingers through his already unruly hair and turned in a slow circle before facing her again, where she was still sprawled on the couch.

  “Tired of what, Tanner?”

  “Tired of fighting your wall.” He sank to the coffee table next to her. “You have one, you know. Made of stone. It’s probably from watching your father flit from relationship to relationship, or maybe it’s from fighting your mother’s strong will, I don’t know. But whenever I try to get close to you, you add another layer, fill up your moat, and hide behind it.”

  Not only was that true, but he was the first person besides Dimi to know her so well.

  He gentled both his voice and his gaze. “I’m good enough to fix your town house, good enough to give you a hand beating up your dates when they go bad. Probably even good enough to develop a passing friendship with, but that’s all you’ll allow.”

  She let out a disparaging sound, but didn’t know what to say because it was the cold, hard truth.

  “Am I close, Cami?”

  He was so close she could see the specks of light dancing in his amazing eyes. She could see the fair stubble lining his jaw. She could see his genuine frustration, and the fact that he cared enough to feel frustrated in the first place put an unexpected lump in her throat.

  And yes, he was close enough to the truth to have her closing her eyes to it.

  “No, you don’t,” she heard him say, and felt his hands on her face, cupping her jaw, lifting it to him. He waited until she opened her eyes again.

  “Don’t hide.”

  “It’s a habit of mine,” she admitted.

  “Not with me. Don’t do it with me.”

  “I don’t have a choice. You won’t go away like all the others.”

  A shadow of a smile flitted across his mouth.

  His very sexy mouth.

  “I really don’t want to like you,” she said around that lump blocking her air passage.

  Unexpectedly, his smile widened. “See?

  You’re being honest with me.” He nudged her.

  “Did it hurt?”

  “Less than a tetanus shot.” She had to return his smile. “And you should know I don’t want to want you, either.”

  “But you do.”

  “But I do. It’s making me do dumb things.

  Like wear this dress.”

  His eyes were on fire as they slowly, slowly, slid over her body. “That wasn’t so dumb.”

  For a long moment she looked at him, and he looked right back. It was doing funny things to her body. Her skin felt too tight. Her insides had turned to liquid, which seemed to pool in a bunch of places she hadn’t paid much attention to lately. “Tanner…what are we doing?”

  “We’re finding ourselves attracted.”

  “I don’t want to be attracted. I just gave up on men.”

  “When?”

  “Last night.”

  “Don’t give up on all of us.”

  Slowly she shook her head.

  “Go out with me,” he said, having no idea where that command came from. “Let me show you we’re not all jerks. You have needs, stop shelving them and pay attention to what they are.” He thought about her never having had multiple orgasms, but that thought just made him quiver with the desire to show her what she was missing.

  “Tanner—”

  “Just one date, your fantasy date.” He didn’t add the multiple orgasm thing. He didn’t want to scare her off. But he’d really lost it here. He wanted her, in a totally foreign, not purely physical way, though he was still hard as nails from seeing her perfect, rose-tipped, pebbled nipple. Just thinking about it made his mouth water again.

  “How do you know about my fantasy date?”

  “You told me. Well, you told you, when you were talking to yourself on your answering machine.”

  “Oh, God. How could I forget? You listened.”

  “Unabashedly.”

  She frowned. “And I’m not messing up all my dates to punish my father.”

  “No? Then go out with me.”

  “We wouldn’t work together.”

  She was scared, her eyes huge. And suddenly his impatience with her faded. “Just one date,” he said softly. “You’ve been out with some real losers, Cami. Just let me show you how it could be. How it should be.”

  “And then you’ll stop this.”

  “Absolutely.” Probably.

  Maybe.

  Okay, no, he wouldn’t. But for Cami, this was on a need-to-know basis, and she didn’t need to know that. So he smiled. “Want me to prove to you how much you want to try this?”

  She let out a nervous laugh. “I don’t think—”

  He leaned over her and set his mouth to hers. He had no idea what he was doing. Just the thought of Cami was a threat to his string-free heart, but he’d never wanted a woman so much.

  From the very first touch of their mouths, he knew he was in trouble. Heat spiraled through his chest, shooting a straight line of fire to his groin.

  Pure lust, he reminded himself, that’s what this was, and he whispered her name to remember that.

  She parted those soft lips. She tasted like strawberry lip gloss and the promise of something even sweeter. Without thinking—which had become impossible with the draining of all his blood for parts south—he deepened the kiss, using his tongue to touch, swirl, caress and tease hers.

  Without hesitation, she returned the favor, and within ten seconds he’d run out of air. Pulling back far enough to look at her, he slowly shook his head. “You’re right.” He ran a finger over her jaw, along her neck, his gaze dipping to the front of her dress, where her nipples were straining at the thin material, begging for attention that he was dying to give. “You obviously feel nothing for me.”

  “You don’t get it,” she whispered, her lips wet from his.

  “Tell me.”

  “You were right about…the others. I went out with them, with all of them, because I knew I was safe. My heart was safe. I would never have given it to them. But with you…”

  “With me what? You think I would hurt you?”

  “Yes. No. I mean, with you I couldn’t keep my heart safe.”

  “One date, Cami. That’s all I’m asking.”

  “Then what?”

  “Then you learn how to have a great date.”

  “That’s all?”

  “Sure.”

  She pushed up to a sitting position and tipped her head at him.

  “Honest,” he said.

  “What do you get out of it?”

  “You out of my system.”

  Her lips curved. “Ah, a man with a motive.”

  “We all have motives.” And his was to make sure he kissed her again.

  8

  HE WAS an incredible lover.

  Sensual. Giving. Demanding. And she gave him whatever he asked for in that rough, serrated, sexy voice. Everything. Anything.

  Shocking herself.

  “More,” he commanded, sliding down her body, kissing every inch of her skin, bringing her up again, up to that jagged edge, holding her there, quivering, whimpering, begging…then flying as she came, again and again.

  “Multiple orgasms,” she whispered in disbelief, and woke herself up. It was completely black when she blinked her eyes furiously, and she couldn’t breathe.

  Surging up, waving her arms wildly in sudden panic, she heard the hard thump and hiss, and just before she hit the floor, as well, she knew.

  She’d been on the couch, buried beneath the covers, with Annabel on her head. She’d been dreaming, dreaming hot, sweaty sex fantasies about her contractor.

  “Not my fault,” she told the insulted cat as they lay on the floor, nose to nose. “It was his kiss. And you’re a bed hog.”

  “Mew.”

  “Okay, a couch hog.” Hauling off the tangled covers, she stared at her yellow polka-dot panties, which happened to be all she was wearing. Her hair was in her face, her skin hot and clammy, a reminder of what she’d been dreaming about. “I’ve got to do laundry,” she told no one in particular.

  “No kidding,” Dimi said as she came down the hall and looked at her sister. She wore Cami’s favorite sweater, and as she zipped it up with one hand, she pocketed Cami’s mascara with the other. “I can’t find a thing to wear in this mess.”

  “Try your own place,” Cami grumbled. “Or go to Mom’s, you moocher.”

  “Mom doesn’t have near the same quality in makeup. And you might think about pulling those covers back over yourself. You have a man down that hallway, a tall, dark, sexy man who would probably fall at your feet right there on the floor if he came in here and saw you lying there like that, all rosy and glowing.”

  Cami looked at herself. Her skin was indeed glowing, and her nipples hard. “I’m not rosy and glowing, I’m cold,” she muttered, but she burrowed beneath the covers. “And don’t even think about stealing my last bag of chips. That’s my lunch.”

  Dimi shrugged and headed toward the door. “While you were moaning in your sleep, a client called.”

  Cami straightened. “Somebody wants something sewed?”

  “No, a real client. A design client. Seems Mrs. Brown’s son got himself in trouble on another so-called blind date she’d set up for him, and that woman wasn’t quite as forgiving as you. He’s in jail, and she’s furious with him. She wants to make it up to you by sending her very rich, very best friend over this afternoon. This friend needs her ten thousand square foot home redecorated.”

  Cami leaped to her feet. “Oh, my God. Really? You’re not just saying that because you look really awful in my sweater?”

  Dimi looked at herself. “I look great in this sweater.”

  “No, you look awful. Pale.” She wanted that sweater. “Fat,” she added with inspiration.

  “Well, shit.” Dimi took it off and threw it at Cami, who slipped into it, wisely keeping her smile to herself.

  “I really have a client?”

  Dimi moved toward the door. “Looks like. Don’t date her son, and you should be fine.”

  “Yeah.” But nerves worked their way to Cami’s tummy, and she sank back to the couch. Annabel immediately jumped on top of her.

  “Mew.”

  “Oh, Annabel.” She hugged the squirming cat. “I’m really on my way.” Burrowing beneath the bushel of covers, she allowed herself to dream. It was almost too much to imagine. She’d wanted this for so long, had worked at it harder than anything she’d ever worked at before.

  And now it might happen.

  It would happen.

  She was fixing up her place. And she had her first real client. Then sounds coming from down the hallway registered.

  Tanner.

  He was an enigma to her. Tall, dark and intense. Very attuned to his work. Passionate. Passionate about his work, his father, about everything in his life.

  She thought of all that passion aimed at her and quivered.

  Silly. Though she’d read about it in novels, it had never really happened to her before. Why it was happening now, with a man like Tanner, her virtual polar opposite, she didn’t know.

  He sang off-key, talked in bastardized Spanish to his laborers and swore like a sailor when he didn’t know she was listening. He also spoke gently to her cat, even when Annabel continued to steal anything of value and chew it up.

  Her dream came back to her, vividly. There’d been no doubt who had been making love to her. He’d been highly sensual, earthy and uninhibited, and in return, he’d made her that way, too. He’d done things to her, shown her things she’d never imagined before.

  It was his voice. It sent shivers down her spine and made her want to please him. This need for him was awesome, she thought, sinking deeper in her covers. And terrifying.

  Thank God it had all been just a dream.

  TANNER FOUND HER like that an hour later, fast asleep beneath a pile of blankets. He’d come to work exceptionally early because he’d wanted to get a few things done before he did it.

  Before he kidnapped Cami and took her on a fantasy date.

  It made little sense, this need to show her a good time. But he’d rationalized it to her as needing to get her out of his system, and he’d go with that.

  “It’s time,” he said, lifting her in his arms.

  She slept like the dead. Murmuring his name, she set her head on his chest.

  “I’m having the best dreams this morning,” she told him groggily.

  It was almost no longer morning, and she wasn’t dreaming, but he grinned and kept his mouth shut.

  “Hey. Wait.” Suddenly wide awake, she lifted her head to pierce him with those dark, dark eyes.

  From beneath the covers engulfing her, Annabel poked her head out, as well.

  “What are we doing?” Cami asked him.

  “Going on that date. Without your cat though. Scram, Annabel,” he said.

  “Mew,” said the cat.

  “No,” said the woman.

  Tanner sighed. “I thought we agreed to get each other out of our systems.”

  “No, you agreed.” Cami shoved against his chest, and he put her on the ground. “I’m date cursed, remember?”

  “I’m willing to take the risk.”

  “I’m not.” Grappling with her blanket, which she had wrapped around her like a sarong, she flashed him a good amount of leg. He saw bare thigh and caught a glimpse of yellow polka-dot satin. He had to swallow hard. “You’re not wearing very much.”

  “I need to do laundry. And you’re changing the subject.”

  “Just come with me. This one time.”

  “Where?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  “I don’t like surprises.”

  “You’ll like this one.”

  She stared at him for a long moment, then relented ungraciously. “Fine. If it gets you out of my dreams, let’s just do it.” She grimaced. “I meant do it as in go on this date, not do it as in…as in… Oh, you know.”

  He laughed. “So you have ulterior motives for this date, as well?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “See, now that’s the way to approach going out. On your own terms.” He was proud of her for that. “Take what you want, Cami. Always take what you want.”

  Her eyes darkened all the more, and she looked at his mouth. “I think I’m going to like this new me.”

  God help him. So was he. “Let’s go.”

  CAMI STOOD on the banks of the Truckee River, dividing a look between the raft Tanner had dropped at her feet and the turquoise blue waters. “You’re taking me rafting?”

  “Not exactly a cruise, I know.” Tanner handed her an oar. “But just as fun.”

  While he held it in place, she stepped gingerly into the gently rocking raft. “And we’re doing this so we can stop thinking about each other, right?”

  Tanner sat across from her and looked into her questioning eyes. He saw a good amount of apprehension and a fear he was only just beginning to fully understand. “I think you should tell me about these dreams,” he teased, pushing off the shore with his oar and setting them in motion downstream. “Since you seem so adamant about getting rid of them.”

  She blushed. “They’re no big deal.”

  Smiling, he steered them around a fallen log. “Uh-huh.”

  “They’re not.” She gripped the side of the raft. “This is a bad idea. I knew it would be. I only agreed because I was afraid you’d get upset with me and give me green walls or something equally tacky, and then where would I be?”

  “Your place couldn’t get any worse, believe me. And is that really the only reason you’re here? It has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that we’ve discovered this mutual attraction—”

  “I’ve discovered nothing.”

  “Which explains why I had you hot and bothered this morning.”

  “I was not—” She let out a loud breath. “I’m absolutely not going to do this with you.” Closing her eyes, she leaned back in the raft, tilted her face to the sun and went still.

  Lying there beneath the gorgeous sky, surrounded by the incomparable Sierras on the Truckee River, she looked like a goddess.

  It occurred to him that he might be in serious trouble here. She wasn’t leaving his system.