Free Mixing Temptation by Sara Jane Stone Page A

pick . . .”
    He stepped back and she missed the feel of fingers against her skin. His right hand plucked the second DVD from the counter.
    â€œ Magic Mike ,” he said.
    She laughed as her lips formed a smile that would have felt impossible moments earlier. “Your big brother gave you a movie about male strippers?”
    â€œYeah.” Josh turned the case over and read the back. “Sorry. I didn’t look at it too closely. He said Kat liked it. After they watched it . . .” He glanced up at her. “He didn’t offer details, but he blushed. And that’s rare for Brody. But we can watch whatever is on TV. Maybe there is a reality show? You can look while I heat the pizza I picked up in town. Half cheese, half pepperoni.”
    â€œOh no.” She plucked the case from his hand. “We’re watching the male strippers.”
    He shook his head as he turned to the small oven with a pizza box resting on top. “See, I was thinking you would go for the adventure movie. Maybe curl up in my arms and pretend to be scared. We’d both know the truth, but—­”
    â€œI’ll still curl up in your arms.” She removed the DVD and knelt down to insert it into the player. Mike had already worked his magic, banishing the serious from the conversation. “And maybe later I’ll talk you into a striptease?”
    T HANK YOU, C HANNING Tatum, Josh thought as the final credits rolled.
    Thirty minutes into the movie, Caroline had set her plate of half-­eaten pizza on the floor and sat back against the pillows lining the wall with her shoulder touching his. Then her hand had brushed his thigh as the men on screen thrust their hips in time with the music. And when the show started and he took off his shirt? Caroline had rested her head against his shoulder. He’d wrapped his arm around her and held her close, the side of her body pressed against his.
    Who needs bow and arrows when you have male strippers?
    â€œI liked it,” he said. “Good message.”
    Caroline laughed and the fingers resting on his thigh pressed into his jeans. “What message?”
    â€œFollowing your dreams and all that.” He allowed the hand draped over her shoulder to explore. His fingers dipped beneath her neckline of her black scoop neck T-­shirt and drew a small circle. “You know, I think Mike will have a really successful furniture business.”
    â€œI don’t know about that,” she said. “If his business takes off, why did they film a sequel?”
    â€œYou’re kidding,” he said, glancing down at her.
    She looked up at him and her expression didn’t give anything away. She appeared downright somber with her wide green eyes staring into his. And she didn’t pull away and tense beneath his touch.
    â€œ Magic Mike XXL ,” she said. “I haven’t seen it—­”
    â€œBut now you’re dying to know what happens next?”
    â€œI saw a few commercials and watched a preview online,” she said. “I have a pretty good idea.”
    â€œI guess I know what we’re watching on our next movie night,” he said.
    â€œYou know,” she said, pulling away and shifting to sit facing him on the bed with her legs crossed, “I’m not sure I can wait until our next date for more male strippers. Why don’t you show me what you’ve got?”
    Her sensual, playful tone, so different from her guarded responses in Big Buck’s back room—­or the broken note he’d heard earlier when she’d tried to explain how Noah had done what she couldn’t when faced with an impossible situation in a damn war zone—­left only one response.
    Yes, Caroline, I’ ll take off my clothes for you.
    But there was one problem with that knee-­jerk reply.
    â€œCaroline, I can’t dance,” he said. “Not like the guys in the