he said smoothly, taking her arm and moving them in the direction of the back of the house. “Tonight let me be simply the man in the black mask, who you enjoy kissing.”
“I do not, ah, did not—”
One look from those brilliant blue eyes stopped the protest. She couldn’t deny the explosive chemistry between them, any more than she could control the shivers his touch elicited.
“Are you suggesting we pretend to be someone we’re not for the evening?” Though she found the thought intriguing, Josie knew she must have misunderstood. There was no way this straitlaced, serious doctor would suggest something so daring.
An emotion she couldn’t quite decipher flickered in the depths of those amazing blue eyes. “Interested?”
Josie sipped her champagne and tried to figure out what was really going on here...
“Are you here with someone?” His tone turned brusque. “Is that the reason you’re hesitating?”
“Actually.” Josie placed a finger against lips that still tingled from his kiss. “I’m trying to decide who—or what—I want to pretend to be.”
The fingers wrapped around her arm relaxed. He lifted the champagne flute with his other hand and took a sip. “You have any thoughts?”
“Let’s play pirates,” she suggested with a cheeky smile.
He choked on his champagne.
She merely smiled and waited for him to quit sputtering.
“Are you serious?”
“Totally.”
He rubbed his chin. While he pondered the suggestion—likely creating a pro-con spreadsheet in his head—she glanced around the room.
Josie assumed most of those in attendance knew the person behind each mask. It wasn’t that easy for her. She’d been away too long.
Until she’d run across Noah, she might as well have been playing blind man’s bluff. She still didn’t understand why her employer insisted they go solo. Unless...
Could her running into Noah have been part of a plan? Pauline had certainly made it clear she’d like it if Josie helped him. “Did your grandmother know you were coming tonight?”
His brows pulled together in puzzlement. “I don’t think so. Maybe. Why?”
“No reason.” She relaxed and waved a hand. “Back to the original question. Do you want to play pirates?”
“There are so many ways to answer your question. Are we talking pillaging and plundering or do you expect me to talk like a pirate? Say things like ahoy and matey?”
The look of horror on his face made her grin. “Yer correct.”
Okay, so maybe her own pirate accent was even worse than his, but Josie was already having fun.
Noah’s obvious reticence made the playacting even more enticing. The remainder of the evening suddenly took on a glossy sheen, like the pages of a magazine she couldn’t wait to devour.
Still, Noah resisted giving his agreement.
Shoving aside the thought that this man was just like her father and therefore someone to be given a wide berth, Josie extended her hand. “Don’t be an ol’ chumbucket, Cap’n. Put yer hand here and shake on the deal.”
* * *
Noah stared at the dainty hand with the pink nails. Just when he thought the evening couldn’t get any stranger, it did.
He took her hand. The feel of her skin against his put all sorts of thoughts in his head. Actually, the thoughts had been there since he’d first seen her tonight.
The vivid blue cocktail dress had drawn his gaze to her breasts and the legs that appeared to go on forever. Certain parts of his anatomy had immediately sprung to life.
When his lips joined hers under the mistletoe and she’d let out a breathy moan, he’d nearly lost it. Stepping back before he did something crazy like slinging her over his shoulder and going belowdecks to find a free bunk, had been the sanest thing he’d done all evening.
Why was he even considering going along with such a ridiculous suggestion? Pretending to be a pirate at a formal New Year’s Eve masquerade ball fell into the realm of a Saturday Night Live skit. “I’ve been thinking about your pirate suggestion.”
Her smile disappeared and wariness returned to her eyes.
The solid ground beneath his feet began to shift and crumble. Noah knew, just as surely as he knew that the body contained 100-160 ml of cerebral spinal fluid, that if he backed out now, she would walk away.
He shoved aside his reservation and his good sense. “Yer suggestion, it be a fine one.”
Noah wasn’t sure which one of them was more surprised by the sentiment. He liked games well enough as long as they had well-defined parameters and clear, concise rules. Rules and standard procedures gave life order. Noah concluded his agreement to Josie’s odd request illustrated that, contrary to what his family thought, he was very capable of being spontaneous. He could live on the edge. At least for one evening.
“I became a pirate because I love adventure,” Josie confided in a hushed whisper, as if imparting a great secret.
They reached the edge of the dance floor and he took her into his arms. They began to move in time to the music.
“There’s so much to see, to experience,” she continued in an earnest voice.
Maybe it was having her in his arms or the fact that they were wearing masks. Perhaps it was being surrounded by music and the enticing scent of flowers that made it remarkably easy to play along.
They spent several dances discussing various places, er, ports, they’d visited. She seemed surprised he knew so much about Portland.
“Edward Jamison, a friend from my fellowship days, grew up there.” Noah gave a nod of acknowledgment to a hospital trustee and his wife as he and Josie danced past them. “He’s now practicing in Chicago.”
“Great. Another doctor.”
Though her tone was light, he noticed how the mere mention of the practice of medicine had her stiffening. There was only one thing he could think to do to dispel the sudden tension.
He whirled about in an intricate spin until she was breathless.
“There’s a touch of pirate under that starched shirt.” She grinned in approval.
While Noah knew that wasn’t at all an accurate statement, he smiled and changed the subject.
“Your travels as a pirate have taken you far and near.” He spoke softly, making sure no one dancing nearby overheard him saying the word pirate. “I’m curious how you found your way back to Jackson Hole.”
Instead of tossing off some quick or clever response, she caught her lower
