felt like laughing. For once, he didn’t care about how much this cost. Anything was worth the look of stunned relief in her eyes—a burden lifted from her shoulders. The funny thing was, he felt lighter, like making things easier for her made it easier for him, too. Maybe part of that was the way distrust had changed to shock and then welcome the moment Don had realized Ben had come bearing gifts.
All he knew was that, right now, he wasn’t the stick-in-the-mud trying to keep the wheels from falling off. All of a sudden, he was Santa Claus. It was an oddly satisfying feeling—something almost but not quite connected to the way his blood hammered into his groin when Josey looked at him with that mix of vulnerability and lust.
Like she was looking at him right now.
“Yes, with me.” Maybe he’d kiss her anyway. No one would say anything. They wouldn’t dare.
“I don’t know how we can thank you.” She swallowed, her eyes cutting down to his lips. “How I can thank you.”
He could think of a couple of ideas—and that was just for starters. The stupid part of his brain tried to argue that he just needed a woman. That was all. But he was starting to think he didn’t need just any woman. He was starting to think he needed this woman.
She looked up at him through those lashes again, her cheeks coloring a pretty rose. The sunlight caught the red in her hair, making her glow without a sequin in sight. He was pretty sure she’d glow anywhere.
Damn, he was screwed. He’d thought that move had been seductive in the dimly lit bar, but that was nothing compared to the impact of her beautiful light brown eyes in the full light of day. His body vibrated with the need to pull her into his arms, to feel her chest rise and fall against his—to know she only wanted to hear the band play.
“Let me take you to dinner—tonight.”
Oh, yeah, he wanted her. But he wanted her to want him back. Just him. Not his money, not his band, not his financial skills and most certainly not his ability to keep the family together.
Her mouth parted, and she lifted her chin toward him. One kiss—what could it hurt? Idiot, he thought to himself as he moved closer. Like there was a shot in hell he could stop at just one.
“Benny!” The van honked behind him as Stick rolled up. “Setting a bad example again?”
The pretty went right out of Josey’s blush as red embarrassment ran roughshod over her face. She took a step back. Ben glared at Stick. “Later? I’m going to grind you into dust, man.”
Stick liked to laugh in the face of danger. Right now was a good example of that. “Whatever. Hey, I’m going to take off. We should hire those kids as roadies—they got the van unloaded in record time, man.” He looked at Josey, unaware of how embarrassed she really was. A lifetime of bad bar behavior made him oblivious to the gentler ways of a woman. “Good kids. Maybe’ll I’ll come out some time and teach them some chords or something.”
“That would be wonderful.” She answered Stick, but she looked at Ben as she said it.
“Cool, cool. Hey, Benny—don’t forget the gig tonight.”
Damn. The gig. Now he looked like a total tool, inviting her to a dinner he couldn’t make. She was thinking the same thing—he could see the disappointment of low expectations on her face.
To hell with this. He grabbed her by the arm and hauled her behind the relative safety of the van. “Come to the gig. It’s at Fat Louie’s.”
Behind them, Stick wolf-whistled. Ben whipped his head up and glared at him. “Stick,” he said in warning.
“Hey, man, um, look! Grass!” Stick turned his eyes to the front, although Ben could still hear him humming.
“Come tonight,” he said again. Somehow, they were in the same position—her backed up against a wall, him pressing against her. God, the feel of her body against his… “I want to see you.”
Again, she palmed his cheeks and pressed her forehead to his. “I can’t,” she whispered. Was he imagining things, or was her voice a little wobbly?
“Why not?”
“I have to go through all the things you brought—get them organized, cataloged, stored. I can’t afford to let anything walk off. Not when you spent your own money… It’ll take me a couple of days, at least.”
Damn it all. He knew she was right,