Kathy Altman - Staying at Joe's

She straightened her spine and moved into the room, watching as Joe pushed the roller up and down the wall in the classic W pattern. The muscles of his back and arms alternately bunched and relaxed. Allie dragged her gaze away from his body, annoyed by flashes of erotic memories.

More than his appearance had changed. It seemed that he’d learned a little DIY somewhere along the way. Or had he always known how to do this home repair stuff? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d surprised her.

A hot flush of resentment bubbled up and prickled across her skin. If it weren’t for Joe Gallahan she’d be back in urban Virginia, less than six miles from the nation’s capital, sitting behind a gold-etched nameplate advertising her hard-earned position of “Account Executive.” And collecting the paychecks to prove it.

Instead she was still a PR rep, stuck with this ridiculous assignment in oh so cozy Castle Creek, Pennsylvania, hoping she wouldn’t get paint on a blouse she couldn’t afford to replace and preparing to plead with a man she’d just as soon tie up, slather with honey and roll onto a colony of fire ants.

Then again, she was lucky she still had a job. Though sending her off to meet with her ex-lover put her boss next in line for the whole fire ant thing.

Stroke by stroke, a thick coat of pale blue covered a hideous shade of green. Allison’s stomach lifted then dropped, like a roller coaster cresting that first big hill. He wouldn’t be happy to see her—which at least put them on equal ground.

“Hello, Joe,” she said.

He went still. The paint roller remained suspended in the air, the muscles of his forearms suddenly pronounced. He turned, slowly, his expression as inviting as his ramshackle, middle-of-nowhere motel. He stared at her and she stared back, fighting the urge to grab handfuls of his shirt and shake the stuffing out of him while screaming, Why?

He moved before she did, thank God, bending down and balancing the roller across the paint tray. When he straightened, his hands went to his hips in a familiar “I’m waiting to be impressed” pose.

“Allison Kincaid,” he said.

Silence, except for the low-pitched hum of the fan blowing the fumes toward the open window. Her gaze roved his face. The start of a beard darkened his jaw—yet another difference between this version of Joe and the clean-shaven, designer-suited marketing shark she’d known a year ago. Her throat closed again. If she was having a hard time reconciling the two, Tackett would, too.

Which promised a whole new set of complications. Damn it. Her neck muscles went tight. No matter their history, she had a job to do. A job to keep.

He cocked an eyebrow. “Want to tell me why you’re here?”

Forget “woo the client.” What she really wanted to do was kick his arrogant ass all the way back to Virginia. She risked another inhale, and willed her voice to remain steady.

“Tackett sent me,” she said.

His laugh was immediate and harsh. “The answer is no.” He pulled a tool from his back pocket, squatted and pried open a can of paint.

She didn’t blame him for saying no. She didn’t want him to say yes. But she had her orders.

She ventured farther into the room, heels clunking across water-stained plywood. “You don’t know the details.”

“I don’t need to.”

“You should hear this.”

“You should leave.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Sure, it is.” He finished pouring paint into the tray and with his fist thumped the lid back onto the can. “Turn around. Walk out the door. Get in your car. Drive away.” He stood, his gaze narrowed. “Don’t come back.”

“Joe.” She passed her keys from one hand to the other, the jingle a taunting echo in the near-empty room. “I wouldn’t be here if my job didn’t depend on it.”

“Then maybe you need another job.” He snatched up a bottle of water, gave the cap a vicious twist. “How long did it take you to drive up here? Five hours? Six? To ask a favor of me? On behalf of Tackett? You’re out of your mind.”

“You’re not the only one here with a grievance.”

“You have a grievance? Do what I did. Quit your job. End of grievance.”

“Can we at least talk about Tackett’s offer?”

“Not interested. Go home.”

“Won’t you at least—”

“Go. Home.” He took a swig of water, the plastic crackling in his grip. She glared at him, half hoping he’d choke. She hadn’t expected this to be easy, but she’d figured after all this time he’d feel some remorse for what he’d done to her. Instead he was still fixated on what had happened his last few weeks at the agency.

Tackett had told her to apologize. Fat chance.

“Tackett and I had good reason for what we did,” she said. “Surely after all this time you can accept that.”

“I’m not having this conversation. I don’t want to talk about the agency or Tackett or any lame-ass offer he sent you to make. Unless you want to pick up a paintbrush and dig in, you need to leave.”

“Just give me a chance to change your mind.”

“And how do you plan to do that? Wait. Let me guess.” He set the water bottle on the ladder and with one swift motion pulled his shirt over his head. “You and me, slick. Right here, right now. Remind me how convincing you can be.”

Heat slapped at her cheeks. Her knees felt loose. He was unbelievable. She was unbelievable. While part of her loathed his over-the-top he-man tactics, another part couldn’t help admiring the hard, sculpted plane of his bare chest.

Shame sidled in, jacking her chin high. “That wasn’t what I had in mind.”

“Once upon a time it was all you had in mind.” He balled up his shirt and tossed it aside. “Let me guess why you’re here. One of my former accounts is launching a campaign and he’s asked for me as lead. Tackett smelled big money and picked you to play fetch, said if you didn’t bring me back to Alexandria you could kiss your Christmas bonus goodbye. Am I right?”

“This isn’t about a bonus,” she said carefully. His scorn made it easy to keep her gaze from straying south of his. “This is about my job.”

He shot her a look that was pure disdain. “When Tackett decided to filch my biggest clients, you backed him instead of me. At a time when work was all I had left. And you expect me to hook up with the agency again? Screw that.”

Hook up. Screw. She’d smirk, if only her lips would cooperate. “You know darned well we were trying to—”

“Give it up, slick.”

“At least now I know for sure why you did it.”

“Did what?”

“Are you kidding me?” Her keys gave a furious rattle as she clasped her hands behind her back to keep from yanking at her own hair. “You’re actually going to pretend you don’t know?”

“Know what, exactly?”

“What you did.”

“Why don’t you remind me?” He crossed his arms over his bare chest. Another time, another place, and she’d have started to drool.

“You cost me my promotion,” she said, letting the resentment ring loud in her voice. “And you almost got me fired.”

* * *

JOE SCOWLED. What the hell was she talking about? “Want to run that by me again?”

“Tackett found out about you and me. Want to know how?”

Judas Priest. Joe exhaled. He already knew how.

“Danielle Franks told him,” she said, her tone not quite casual enough to hide the bitterness. “And you know how he feels about fraternization. So Danielle got the promotion he’d promised me.”

“And you’re here because you think I told Danielle.”

“I’m here because Tackett sent me to bring you back to handle a client who won’t work with anyone but you. The company needs you for two months, tops. The fact that you lost me my promotion is the reason I offered to scrub every toilet in the building in exchange for Tackett picking someone else to ‘play fetch.’ Obviously he didn’t accept my offer.”