and I don’t want to be.”
Jason’s attitude was harder, meaner and not at all like the shy science guy. An act?
He barked a laugh. “Oh, I know what you are, believe me. I was just hoping to get some action before you moved on to the next one in line.” He glanced sideways at Dan. “Looks like you jumped in ahead of me.”
Jodie watched as Dan moved quickly from the other side of the counter. She’d never seen him so angry.
“Watch yourself, Kravitz,” he warned, standing at her side where the cologne washed over her again. Her hormones wouldn’t settle down. She’d only had two cookies; they’d never had this strong an effect on her. They were supposed to affect the man—the man you were trying to attract or seduce.
Oh fudge. Maybe that’s what had Dan so worked up and in Jason’s face, acting so unlike himself.
“Jason, you need to leave. Needless to say, I won’t be seeing you tonight or any night,” she managed to say sternly.
She heard him mutter whore under his breath. Dan stepped forward, but she moved faster, swinging and slapping his skinny face so hard that it knocked his head back.
“Don’t come in here. Ever,” she said in a voice coated with ice.
“Don’t worry about that,” he said, holding a hand to his jaw and glaring at her and Dan.
“This isn’t over, I promise,” he said to Dan as Jodie held the door open.
“Oh, I really think it is,” Dan said smugly, looking at her proudly.
His gaze was enough to make her nipples poke out again, begging for his attention, and she closed her eyes, turning away from him as she shut the door. Whatever was happening, Jodie knew she had a problem.
4
I’M NOT WITH ANYONE , and I don’t want to be.
Jodie’s words to Jason had haunted Dan all Monday and came back to him again as he got ready for dinner. She’d meant it; he knew her well enough for that. The problem was that in the second their lips had met, he’d wanted her to be with him. For good.
He’d gone to the shop with the clear purpose of kissing her, though he had simply hoped to change her mind about Jason. Having her discover for herself what an ass the guy was had been a bonus.
Examining himself in the mirror, he was assaulted by doubt that didn’t feel the least bit masculine or comfortable. He’d been the way he was for so long, it was strange to look in the mirror and see someone else. Finding that he really wanted to impress Jodie, he’d skipped out of the lab early to meet his sister. The result was several new designer suits and casuals, a new haircut, new contact lenses.
“You look great—stop second-guessing yourself. You should have done this years ago,” his sister Donna said, peeking around the corner. She was the older of the two of them, and had gently suggested many times he exchange his glasses for contacts and dress more stylishly.
Dan was used to being locked in a lab or valued for what was in his head, not on his body. Who cared what he wore?
Jodie never seemed to mind, he thought stubbornly, shifting in the stylish Ralph Lauren blazer and pants, even though they fit well. She certainly hadn’t minded yesterday, but that wasn’t a fair test, either.
“I suppose it’s all right,” he said reluctantly, pushing his hand through the short, spiky cut that he couldn’t quite get used to. The stylist was right; he couldn’t feel the gel she’d instructed him to use.
“You can afford to dress well, and you should. I always suspected my little brother was a chick magnet, and I was right,” Donna declared, checking him out in the mirror in triumph.
He frowned. “I don’t think you’re objective enough to make that assessment.”
“Believe me, dear brother, Jodie doesn’t stand a chance.”
Though with the cologne he was wearing—a recent experiment for a cosmetic company that had a similar pheromone extract for men as the Passionate Hearts cookies had for women—he knew it didn’t matter.
He’d seen the dramatic effect when Jodie hadn’t only been attracted, she’d been all over him. In fact, maybe the formulation had worked a little too well—Jodie had been driven to orgasm by a kiss.
He recalled how she’d broken their kiss on a sharp gasp, her eyes opening wide then slowly fluttering shut, her mouth forming the most beautiful bow as she’d let the pleasure take her over. Dan had never seen