An Offer He Cant Refuse - By Christie Ridgway Page 0,65

mind then lost himself inside her body.

And gave her nothing back.

Michael stepped closer, his gaze on Johnny's face, "Are you trying to tell me this relocation isn't about the Carusos?"

Johnny hesitated. Bluffing was second nature, but lies never came easy.

"He told me we moved here for you," Cal tossed into the conversation, his gaze still glued to the TV screen. 'To be nearer to you and your new wife."

This time it was Michael who laughed. "You're too good at this, Johnny. But it won't work with me. You need to save your fish stories for the part of the world that isn't related to you."

"I came to your wedding," Johnny protested. Damn it, that "you're too good at this" remark didn't sit well with him. First, it had come out of anchorwoman LaDonna's mouth and now Michael's. It was as if they thought he was only skin-deep.

For God's sake, he only wanted to live that way.

"But you've been little more than a ghost to Mom and the rest of the Magees for at least the past decade."

Actually, for the last sixteen years, Johnny thought. When he'd returned home following his father's murder he'd been numb. Not numb enough that he hadn't noticed his family's worried looks or their attempts to draw him back in. But getting close had meant getting personal, and he hadn't wanted such intimate attachments anymore. Not with people, not to his own emotions.

He sighed. "Listen, Michael. I'll call Mom... soon. I'll reassure her that - "

"Oh, that you're not looking into your father's death? For God's sake! The Carusos are dangerous. You're the one who told me that a few months back. You know what happened to Felicity's cousin."

"The woman doing the interior design of Johnny's new house is named Caruso," Cal piped up again. "Tea Caruso."

Michael groaned. "Johnny - "

"She's pretty hot," Cal added, "Not that I'm interested in her. But I think your brother might be."

Michael groaned again, louder. "Johnny, no. You can't be thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking. I know about those Caruso girls. Felicity went to school with them. If your idea of a righteous vendetta against that family is screwing one of th - "

"I'm not screwing Tea!" Well, shit, the truth was, he had. "I don't screw women." Not usually, anyway, which was what made the afternoon's episode with the contessa so unconscionable. Mr. Slick, Mr. Cool Johnny Magee didn't have relationships on the heart-to-heart level, that was certain, but he did a damn thorough job on the body-to-body level. He prided himself on that. That was who he was.

Michael stood over him, shaking his head. "These people are killers, Johnny."

"You don't think I know that?"

"You break the daughter's heart and you might get more than your leg broken in return."

"I'm not breaking anyone's heart." But hell, he'd done something to Tea. The contessa had stared up into that mirror, aghast, and declared herself a "mess." What kind of asshole let a woman leave his bed with a comment like that?

Especially when she'd looked as erotic and enticing as hell to him. Just the memory made him sweat.

"Damn," Cal said. He'd pulled out his phone and was looking down at it in consternation. "I want to buy that bracelet Felicity is selling for... for someone I know."

"There's no cell service in Half Palm," Michael told Cal. "Consider yourself lucky. I know I do. It's how I met my wife."

Johnny polished off his beer, then stood up. "Come on, Cal, I'll take you back to civilization and you can make your call from there." He had things to do in Palm Springs as well, he decided, suddenly certain of his next move. It was time to even the score with a Caruso, all right.

With Tea Caruso.

It would be a start on reclaiming his identity that had been on unwelcome hiatus since his thirty-third birthday, the date those nightmares and flashbacks had begun. Mr. Slick, Mr. Cool Johnny Magee knew how to make a woman happy in the sack. He had to prove to himself that while he might be losing his mind, he hadn't lost that.
Chapter Twenty
"Girl Talk" Bobby Troup Feeling of Jazz (1955)

Tea studied the rows of hair styling products for sale at the front of the Kona Kai Spa's beauty salon. Tight Control, Helmet Control, Iron Control, all of them sounded like something she could use... and not just on her hair. Frowning, she combed her fingers through the heavy mass and wondered why the pricey straightening process