Susan Mallery - Under Her Skin

“I can.”

“I didn’t mean it as a challenge. I meant it…” She bit her lower lip. “Cruz, I’m the boss. I can’t have them…”

He released her. “I know.”

They stared at each other, desire flaring between them, then she ducked out.

A couple of minutes later he stepped out of the dressing room. Lexi stood talking to a pretty, petite, dark-haired woman.

“This is Val,” she said. “She’ll take good care of you.”

But Lexi was the one he wanted.

Still, he followed Val into a small room with a massage table in the center. She told him to take off his robe and get under the covers, facedown. Then she left.

Cruz put the robe on the hook, then got on the table as instructed. Val returned. She peeled the covers back to his waist and went to work on his back.

Ten minutes later, he was a convert and thinking he needed regular massages in his life. A faint sound caught his attention, followed by a whispered conversation. Val’s hands were replaced by someone else’s. Oh, yeah. Now things were getting interesting.

“Maybe I should turn over,” he said. “You could join me.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Lexi told him. “I’ve studied massage and I have a license, but I don’t do it enough to have any real strength. This isn’t going to last long.”

“I thought only guys had that problem.”

“Very funny.”

She concentrated on his upper back and shoulders. Tension melted.

Having her touch him led to a predictable result and laying face down on a massage table in a day spa was not the place to get an erection. To distract himself he asked, “Was this place a day spa when you took it over?”

“A small one. Next door was a dance studio and a boutique. When I got the two-million-dollar loan, I bought the building and took it over, then completely renovated the place. The equipment isn’t cheap. We have a hydrotherapy tub, the tables, showers. On the other side is a full beauty salon with everything from hair to nails to spray-on tanning. I have a staff of nearly fifty people and a loyal client list.”

“Which you built from nothing.”

“Pretty much.” There was pride in her voice.

“Why a day spa?”

“I knew I had to open my own business. Who in Dallas would hire Jed Titan’s daughter? I wasn’t interested in moving to L.A. or New York. I could put together a business plan and I had a small inheritance from my maternal grandmother, but no idea what to do with it. So I started doing research. A day spa met all my criteria. I found the industry interesting, I like working with women. I’m surrounded by professionals and I get my facials for free. It’s win-win.”

“Your dad must be proud of you.”

“I guess. He doesn’t say.”

Typical Jed, Cruz thought. Don’t give anything away.

She’d come a long way from that leggy college girl who’d thought she could beat him.

He rolled over and sat up. With him on the table, they were nearly at eye level.

“We are so not having sex here,” she teased.

“I know.” He touched her cheek, then her mouth. “Lexi, why was I your first time?”

He hadn’t meant to ask the question, although he’d always wondered. Why him? Why then? Why not some college kid who’d grown up with a country club membership? Why give that to a guy from the barrio who wasn’t going to stick around?

She turned smoothly and crossed to the door. “I’ll get Val back to finish your massage. By the time you’re done, I’ll be ready to go.”

And then she was gone.

LEXI WOKE BEFORE DAWN, which was pretty easy as she hadn’t slept much the previous night. She’d been unable to forget Cruz’s question-mostly because she didn’t have an answer.

Why had he been her first time? Why hadn’t she saved herself for someone special or maybe even her wedding night? She still wasn’t sure. She had theories-that he’d been dangerous and sexy in a way she’d never encountered, so he’d swept her off her feet. Although she hated the lack of personal responsibility in that one. Maybe it was that the first time she’d kissed him, she’d realized she could easily fall in love with him. That there had been a connection she’d never felt before or since. A connection that still stretched between them…at least from her to him. She didn’t think it came back.

Cruz had confirmed that last night when he hadn’t joined her in the large bed in his room. She suspected he was concerned she might get emotional, and what guy liked that? So he’d stayed in safer territory.

She showered and dressed and was about to leave the bedroom when the door opened and Cruz strolled in. He was dressed as well, in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

“Good,” he said. “You’re up. We’ll be leaving in a few minutes.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “It’s Sunday.”

“I know.”

“I might have plans.”

“You don’t. I checked your calendar. Yesterday I saw your world. Today you’re going to see mine.”

“Meaning?”

“We’re going to a race track in Louisiana. There’s a kid there I want to see drive.”

“Louisiana? Do you know how far that is?”

“Closer than you think.”

After checking on C.C., they went down to the garage. But instead of heading east, Cruz drove them to a nearby airfield where a helicopter was waiting.

“You’re cheating,” she said as they climbed into the helicopter. “No wonder you said it wasn’t that far.”

“I’m getting the job done.”

The helicopter took off as soon as they were settled.

Cruz pointed to a headset with an attached microphone. She set hers in place and flipped it on. Immediately the noise from the engine seemed to disappear and she could hear him clearly in her ear.

“Noise canceling headphones,” he said. “You okay? Some people don’t like the movement.”

She looked out the window and watched as they rose straight up. “I don’t mind it. Izzy hates it, which is pretty funny. She’s such a daredevil, but helicopters make her crazy.” She smiled. “She’s always listening to rap and rock music on her iPod, but when she flies, she has relaxation meditations to get her through. You know-close your eyes and picture an empty beach with the surf rolling in. She’s working on an oil rig right now, doing underwater welding.”

“Your sister Izzy? The one I met at the party?”

Lexi understood the question. Izzy knew how to be as sexy and girly as the next woman, but given the choice, she would rather scale a mountain or wrestle a grizzly.

“That’s her. She’s always been wild.”

“Interesting sisters,” he said.

“Do you have family other than your parents?” she asked.

“No. I was an only child. My mom has a couple of sisters in California. I don’t know about my dad’s family. They have reason not to like me very much.”

“Because you ran him off?”

He nodded.

Family was a complication, she thought. Cruz had run off his father while her mother had simply walked away after the divorce. Lexi didn’t know how she’d come to be left in Texas. Had Jed insisted or had her mother simply not bothered to take her?

“Did Jed really arrange Skye’s marriage?” Cruz asked.

“You two had a lot to talk about in the few minutes you were together at that party,” Lexi said, wondering what else her father had told him. “Yes, he did, although we don’t talk about it much.”

“Why would he do that? Did he owe the guy?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Ray was actually pretty nice. Older, maybe twenty years older than Skye. He adored her and they seemed to have a relatively happy marriage.” Or so it had looked from the outside. Of course, someone could look at her faux engagement and think she spent her days writing “Mrs. Cruz Rodriguez” over and over again.

“Why did she agree to the marriage?”

“Another question I can’t answer. Skye and Jed are really close. When her mom died, Skye stepped in to be his hostess. At least as much as she could until she got old enough for it to be a full-time job. She takes care of the house, keeps his personal schedule and generally makes his life easier. I don’t think it would have occurred to her to tell him no.”

The price would have been too high, Lexi thought. Skye wouldn’t have been willing to risk losing her father’s love. Not that she, Lexi, was all that different.

“There was another guy-Mitch. He owns the ranch next door. He and Skye were involved. I thought it was serious, but in the end she walked away from him and married Ray. They had a daughter. Erin. She’s seven.”

“Ray died?”

“A couple of years ago. Skye moved Erin and herself back to Glory’s Gate. She’s been Jed’s unofficial hostess ever since.”

“Hell of a thing to be a Titan,” he said.

“Sometimes.”

They landed within walking distance of a racetrack. Lexi stepped into the humid morning and heard the sound of engines revving in the distance.

“Racing for pinks?” she asked as Cruz grabbed her hand and headed toward the track.

“Not today. Like I said, I’m looking at talent.”

That’s right, they were there to see a kid drive. “How did you hear about him?”

“I get word. My partner, Manny, tells me when someone special is working his way up the circuit. You can always hire away experienced drivers, but I like to find somebody new and train him my way.”

“Then he’s loyal forever,” Lexi said, thinking that some teenager might end the day thinking he’d died and gone to heaven when he found out Cruz Rodriguez thought he had what it took.

“Or at least until he grows up a few years.”

Cruz slipped on sunglasses. They stopped at a makeshift stall selling everything from water to baseball caps. He bought them each both, then pointed to the far side of the track.

“We’ll sit over there.”

Away from everything?