Saturday or Sunday and by barking at her on Monday afternoon. She should have known better than to think that sex would be simple, anyway.
"Business only?" he mused, his finger rubbing against her skin.
Making her look at his skin, miles and miles of golden male skin on this golden male who had told her surrendering to their mutual chemistry would be simplest for both of them.
"Business only?" he repeated.
Hearing it again woke her out of her partial hypnosis. She blinked, then looked away from his chest and the six-pack of muscle disappearing into the blue-and-white striped towel. Averting her face, she avoided another of his seductive strokes.
His hand dropped away.
She cleared her throat and waved the sketchpad in his direction."So what do you think? To be honest, my concern is that I'm making the look too retro. It's mid-century modern, what you asked for, but does that really suit? You told me you're a man who lives in the present and looks forward to the future. It sounds as if the past might not really be your thing."
He was silent, looking down at her sketches. He stayed silent, and it was then she realized he was staring at her digital watch and not at her drawings at all.
"Johnny?"
He didn't answer. Tea put out a hand to touch him, then hesitated. Though she'd wanted their relationship to return to the impersonal, his attitude seemed much more than that. She didn't think he was hearing her, seeing her, or that he was even aware she was still in the room.
In the tense silence there was only his harsh breathing.
And then new sounds.
Pop.
Pop. Pop.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
Chapter Eighteen
"With My Eyes Wide Open" Dean Martin Dean Martin Sings (1952)
At the gunshot-like sounds, Johnny started, his body twitching so hard his bare foot jerked, kicking over Tea's briefcase.
"What's that?" he said, his voice low and harsh. "What's that?"
It sounded like backfire to Tea, most likely from one of those clunky old trucks belonging to Guerroro Gardening. She leaned forward, reaching for the makeup bag, which had once more slipped out and onto the ground.
Pop.
Pop. Pop.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
"No." Johnny groaned the word.
Tea straightened, clutching the slick black nylon in her hands as she stared at Johnny. "Are you all right?" she asked.
His eyes looked dazed, and there was a new sheen of dampness on his face, chest, and arms. "No," he whispered, still not blinking.
"No, you're not all right," she agreed. "What can I get you? Water? Coffee?"
He blindly reached out for her hand, found the Loanshark book instead and closed his fingers over it. "I'll be okay," he said. "I'll be okay in a minute."
Then he stood, with the movement scooping the book from her lap. He started walking, his hands still clutching her property.
Tea couldn't let the Loanshark book get far. She didn't think she should let Johnny get far either. He was moving like a sleepwalker, his head oddly still as his strides ate up the empty floor.
She caught him at the front door, curling her hand around his elbow. "Not there, Johnny." The way he was acting she thought he might walk himself straight into the pool. As a precaution, she tried prying the makeup bag from him, but he was white-knuckling the thing, so for the moment she let him keep it.
"Don't go," he suddenly said, his head whipping toward her. "Please, please don't go."
"I won't," she promised. But she wasn't sure he was seeing her. His eyes still had that dazed look in them and the sweat was now running down his face. She linked her arm with his and turned him away from the front entrance. "Let's get you cooled off."
Too much sun? A sudden flu? Maybe a sudden attack of schizophrenia, although Tea didn't believe for a second that Johnny was crazy. She thought about running to get Cal from his bungalow, but leaving Johnny alone for even that short a time didn't seem like a good idea.
His breath came in short, harsh breaths as she led him toward the master bedroom. With each of his long strides, the towel around his hips slipped. The tail came loose and she in-advertently stepped on it, pulling the material completely away from him. She stumbled over the fallen towel and bumped right into Johnny's backside.
His cool-to-the-touch, bare-assed naked backside.
Her stomach dipped, but he didn't appear to notice his nudity, so she swallowed down a breath, steadied herself, and continued guiding him into the bedroom.
"Why don't you lie down?" she suggested, drawing