Too Hot to Handle (Romancing the Clarksons #1)(8)

Party Girl giggled, but Jasper couldn’t take his eyes off She Devil, wanting to watch her as she took his measure. What are you seein’, beautiful? Mind telling me when you see it?

A nudge of discomfort had Jasper turning back for his bike. “Listen up, I’m late for an appointment. If I’m late, I’ll catch hell.” He slid his helmet on top of his head. “I’m going to need an answer pretty quick.”

She Devil stepped into the sunlight with a wince, telling Jasper she wasn’t the outdoorsy type, an opinion only heightened by her attire. The fitted black shirt had small openings in the sleeves where her thumbs poked out. Her jeans and boots were worn-in and comfortable, holes decorating both. If Jasper were forced to peg her, he would say She Devil was probably the type to sleep in on weekends. The kind who enjoyed rainstorms. Once upon a time, he would have speculated how she’d be in between the sheets before anything else about her registered, but he’d learned to keep that part of himself penned.

Then she came a step closer and he stopped speculating on her extracurricular activities or weather preferences. She was a looker beneath all that makeup. Big-eyed, pouty, and challenging. And then, his mind did slip between the sheets before he determinedly yanked it back out. But not before a rough-edged thought slipped through: She’d like a man who knows how to be a little extra bad.

“Who is your appointment with?”

Jasper tilted his head. “Why?” he asked with a smirk, throwing back her one-word response to his earlier question.

She rolled her lips inward, as though disinclined to commend him for paying attention. “If your appointment is with a barber, as opposed to a cult, I might be interested in that ride.”

Behind her, Hulk shook his head. “Nope.”

She Devil sent the big guy what Jasper assumed was a reassuring look before locking those golden-brown eyes on him once more. “Well?”

“If you have to know, I’m meeting with a woman.”

Was it Jasper’s imagination or did she look disappointed? “Well. We wouldn’t want to keep you. If you could just give us the garage’s name—”

“Now, hold on one second.” Jasper slipped his cell out of his jacket pocket and started to dial, pressing the button to put the call on speakerphone. Sunday Sermon narrowed his eyes at him. The foursome watched him curiously as the call connected and a woman’s voice drifted out through the speaker.

“Jasper Ellis. Lunch is on the table and your hide is nowhere to be seen.”

He quirked an eyebrow at She Devil. “I’m going to be a little late today, Rosemary.” Covering the phone with one hand, he leaned forward a touch and whispered “That’s my grandmother,” before straightening again and returning to his conversation. “I’m playing Good Samaritan to some lost city dwellers.”

A burst of static. “You might as well bring them on over. I made enough sandwiches to feed an army.”

“Now, that’s a nice thought, isn’t it? But I don’t think they’ll all fit on my bike.”

“I hate that thing.”

“I know you do. I’ll be over when I can.”

Jasper hung up before his grandmother could ask if one of the city dwellers was a nice single girl. He was still trying to figure that out for himself, although he still had no idea why it mattered. This morning when he’d woken up, finding a single girl had been about the farthest thing from his mind. Now, though, he found himself measuring She Devil’s proximity to Hulk and attempting to discern their relationship.

“So. Have I been found suitable?” Jasper asked the group as a whole. “I can recite the presidents’ names, first through forty-fourth, if it helps, but I’m not in the habit of pissing off the family matriarch. She’s meaner than she sounds.”

Hulk and She Devil exchanged a look. “We know his name now,” said Hulk.

She Devil fussed with her hair again, messing it up more. “Maybe this is just how people act down here in—er, where are we?”

“Hurley, New Mexico. Just outside Silver City,” Jasper supplied, his answer fading away as Sunday Sermon strode over to his bike and took a cell-phone shot of his license plate.

“I have some very powerful men listed in my contacts. Feel free to annoy my sister, but bring her back alive.”

She Devil gave him a nice long once-over as her brother headed back to the Suburban. Jasper was well used to once-overs from the opposite sex, except hers wasn’t overtly sexual, as most tended to be. It was shrewd and gave away none of the inner workings taking place behind her eyes. He liked that. A little too much to drive away. So he was relieved when she relented.

“It’s just a quick ride.”

She sauntered toward him, thighs flexing in her jeans, and Jasper swallowed a growl. Something told him this ride would be anything but quick, but he shoved the thought aside and distracted himself by removing his helmet and transferring it to her head. And hell if he didn’t have a hard time mobilizing himself under her scrutiny. Like she wanted to see past whatever was visible. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been dissected by a woman—and it was welcome.

Damn, she smelled like the forest, cut with cooking spices. He tried not to be obvious about sucking in a good lungful. His reaction to this girl was goddamn strange, to say the least, but he had no choice but to go with it since she was about to mount his bike.