So do other things.”
She stared up at him. “What other things?” Had she really asked him such a leading question?
His smile faded into a seriously sensual expression. “Walking barefoot in grass. Swimming naked in a lake. Making love in the moonlight.”
Joanna’s heart lurched hard in her chest. She’d only done one of those things, but she hadn’t walked barefoot in clover since she was a teenager. “Very poetic, Doctor.”
“Not poetry, just perfection.”
He was perfect, Joanna thought, from head to toe, at least superficially. But she knew soul deep that perfection was only an illusion. Everyone had flaws; Rio Madrid was no exception. But he also had an undeniable aura, a sensual magnetic field, drawing her in as if she were made of iron. She feared she might not be that strong if he made one move toward her.
Bolting from the bed, she stood before him, hands clasped tightly to keep from pulling the band out of his hair to let it completely fall just so she could experience its silky texture. “Okay, so what do you have in mind for lunch?”
The look he gave her said anything but food. His sexy smile had her thinking the same thing. “I’m kind of partial to peanut butter and jelly.”
She returned his smile. “My son’s favorite fare.”
His features went solemn. “You know, Joanna, your son’s welcome here. If you want to send for him, we could fix up one of the bedrooms.”
Joanna experienced a twinge of emotion over his generosity. Few men would offer their homes to a single mom and her child. “I really appreciate that, but he’s settled into school right now and I wouldn’t want to uproot him again until I have a decent place of my own. Maybe that will happen by this summer.”
Rio stood and sighed. “You’ve been here less than an hour and you’re already thinking about leaving me.”
Leaving him? “I can’t stay here forever. But I appreciate this arrangement more than you know. It will give me a chance to get back on my feet financially.” If he didn’t pull the rug out from under her emotionally. Again, she didn’t plan to let that happen. She’d done that once, let a man have her heart only to be left holding the remnants.
“We’ll take it one day at a time,” he said with confidence as he strolled toward the door. “But in the meantime, let’s go downstairs and grab some lunch. I’m starving.”
So was Joanna, for things she didn’t dare want.
Four
“You have a fountain in your pool.”
Rio couldn’t stop the urge to tease Joanna a little. He had trouble stopping any urges where she was concerned. “A pool? No kidding? I didn’t realize that. Guess I should go into the backyard more often.”
Joanna glanced at him over one shoulder and smiled. “You are just full of it today, aren’t you?”
Rio couldn’t seem to get his fill of looking at her. He took the last bite of his sandwich and sat back in his chair, enjoying the view of Joanna staring out the breakfast nook’s window. Her dark hair spiraled into curls between her shoulder blades. Natural curls, Rio suspected. She did things to jeans that shouldn’t be allowed. She did things to him that would definitely be considered downright sinful.
Her slender hand rested against the pane, her nails short and neatly trimmed. Good, Rio thought. Long nails meant hard-to-hide scratches from lovemaking. And why the hell he believed that would happen between him and Joanna Blake would be anyone’s guess. But something told him it could happen. Would happen. The carnal tension between them was gathering force, brewing like a spring storm, not that she would acknowledge it. At least not yet.
Pushing back from the table, Rio joined her at the window, standing close, but not too close. Patience would probably be the best way to handle what was happening between them, had been happening since New Year’s Eve. Patience was something unfamiliar to him. He was the kind of guy who jumped in feetfirst and asked questions later when it came to his private life. Not a good idea in this instance.
Focusing on the backyard where Gabby lay gnawing a rawhide bone beneath an ancient cypress, he said, “There’s a small hot tub in the corner of the pool with room for three.”
“You, Gabby and your current girlfriend?” He heard a smile in her voice, and curiosity.
“Are you trying to get me to come clean about my personal life, Joanna?”
She turned, putting them in closer proximity yet maintaining an intangible distance. “It’s really none of my business, but I imagine you’ve had a woman in your hot tub before.”
He had, but not in a while. “I’ve been too busy to utilize my hot tub. Not today, though. Are you game?”
She frowned. “Are you nuts? It’s forty degrees outside.”
“That’s why they call it a hot tub.”
“It’s also still daylight.”
He propped one hand on the window beside her head, leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Are you shy, Joanna Blake?”
“I’m a mother, for Pete’s sake.”
“And mothers are forbidden to use hot tubs?”
“Mothers don’t have the kind of figures most twenty-year-olds have. At least this mother doesn’t.”
He allowed his gaze to slide down her body and linger in certain places. He wanted to do the same with his hands. “I seriously doubt that.”
“You’re seriously wrong.” A blush stained her fair cheeks. “Besides, I don’t own a decent swimsuit.”
“Who said anything about a swimsuit?”
She turned back to the window. “What’s in that building over there?”
Obviously she was more interested in continuing the tour than his suggestion. “It’s a pool house with an attached garage. I keep my bike in there.”
“Ten speed?”
“Harley.”
Once more she faced him, this time hugging herself as if she needed protection from him. “You own a motorcycle and live in a mansion. I’d say you are a walking contradiction, Doctor.”
He wished she’d call him by his first name. Right now he wasn’t the doctor. Right now he was a man in the company of a woman that he wanted too much. “Is that a problem?”
“Not really. It’s just that you’re not at all what I thought you’d be. At least at first.”
“And what was that?”
“An average male on the make. Your generous nature surprises me. So does your attraction to material things.”
He took a step back, guilt dogging his steps as he made his way back to the table
