Page 42 of An Irresistible Force (Vancouver Vice)

I walked over and greeted Josephine. “Hi there. It’s been at least ten years since I’ve seen you. I’m sure I wouldn’t have recognized you—you’re so grown up now. You look lovely.”

Her expression was amused. “Thank you, Amanda. Things improved a lot once I got the headgear off.”

“Oh JoJo, you never wore headgear,” Cynthia declared. “But you did have an awkward adolescence.”

Josephine laughed. “We can’t all waltz beautifully through life like you, Sis.”

“As long as everything turns out so beautifully. I’m Chris Luczak.” He inserted his physical presence into our conversation. It was like all the light in the room was shining on him.

For the second time tonight, a woman had no clue who he was. Poor Chris, his ego must have been taking a huge beating.

“Hi. I’m Josie.” She looked up at him from under her long eyelashes. I’d have to practice an hour to get the flirty look that came naturally to her. And her name was different now too.

“Are you a model, Josie?” he asked. Oh for heaven’s sake, did lines like that actually work? What was next—“Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

Josie snorted in reply, which made me like her a lot more. Chris only laughed. “What do you do then? Other than deal noisemakers to young children?” Zachary and Delia were both marching around the room with their thundersticks. Cynthia was flinching at the noise, and James was completely ignoring them.

Obviously, Chris had only one setting when a beautiful woman was in the room: seduction. I recognized his deep, teasing tone of voice. It was the same one he’d used while we were inside V-Ice and he was getting excited. He leaned closer to hear Josie’s answer in the noisy room.

“I’m a bike courier.” Then she turned to me. “Is it okay if I grab a drink?”

“Sure,” I nodded.

Cynthia spoke directly to Chris. “She’s not just a bike courier, of course. Josephine does stunt work for the movies as well. She’s very in demand.” Despite her worries about Josie dating a hockey player, Cynthia seemed more than ready to pimp her out to arichhockey player.

“Really? What an exciting job.” He turned back to Josie, who had twisted the cap off a craft beer and was taking a drink. I could see the muscles in her long neck moving. “That’s fascinating. Why wouldn’t you tell me that?”

“Because you might be impressed,” she replied. “Hey, I think the game’s starting.”

She walked away and sat beside Zachary.

“Did it hurt?” I asked Chris.

“Did what hurt?”

“When you got totally shot down like that?” I laughed.

Chris only smiled. “You know better than anyone that my one skill is perseverance. No guy likes something that comes too easy. Unless he’s really horny.” He laughed his dirty old man laugh and joined the others at the front.

“Are we going to sit back here?” Cynthia asked hopefully, motioning to the comfy couches.

“I actually have to watch the game. Work, you know.”

“You’d watch the game anyway. Why didn’t you tell me that Chris guy was coming? Isn’t he the hockey player you had that huge crush on during high school?”

I lowered my voice. “Yes. But maybe we could not talk about this right now?” If there was one thing I’d already noticed about this suite, it was that the acoustics were excellent. No conversation was private. Luckily, the kids were still making enough racket that Chris couldn’t hear us—I hoped.

Cynthia gave me an exaggerated wink. “Okay. Mum’s the word. But sometime you’ll have to tell me what it’s like to spend your days with someone you fantasized about for years.”

It’s hell, I thought as I watched Chris pick up the horseshoe on Josie’s necklace and ask her something.

18

Jelly Belly

Chris

There’s morethan one way to skin a cat. Although the cat-loving Amanda would shudder if I said that out loud. I was enjoying the challenge of getting Amanda to let down her guard and relax a little. It was hard to define our relationship. She kept denying that she liked me—now or ever—and I kept bugging her to admit it. It was fun and harmless.

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