Ty scoffed. “That is not the same as going deep into the woods, lying down on a sleeping bag, and listening to nothing but the sounds of nature.”
“I’m a sociologist, not a botanist.” Plants were green, end of story. She didn’t feel the need to submerge herself in them.
He cut her a look that told her he wasn’t amused. “No arguments, I’m taking you. This is the stubborn Taurus talking.”
That irritated her in return. “You can’t make me go. And we’re not even supposed to be dating.”
Now he really shot her a look that told her he did not appreciate that little reminder. “Okay, here’s the deal. Everyone should be open to new experiences, right? So you agree to go camping, and I’ll agree to do something you want me to try. You can drag me to an art gallery or something, whatever you want.”
They had just pulled into Ty’s driveway and he put the car in park as Imogen watched him. He was serious about his offer, and it intrigued her. What would she like Ty to experience? And was she willing to venture into the woods for a weekend of bug bites, misery, and uncertain hygiene to introduce Ty to something from her world?
Without hesitation, she realized she was. Because it occurred to her that both she and Ty had lived very narrow lives and could only benefit from a little broadening of experience. Plus she knew that he underestimated his own intelligence, and she wanted him to appreciate and understand that he was a very bright guy.
“Okay. I will go camping if you read Much Ado About Nothing in its entirety.”
Something flickered in his eyes, but he only hesitated a second before saying, “It’s a deal. I’ll pick me up a copy in the next few days. And you look at your calendar and see when you have a Monday and a Tuesday free and we’ll hit the woods.”
“Oh, that’s going to be tricky,” she said, seeing an out for herself immediately. “I have class.”
“Don’t you have any days off? Veterans Day is next week, don’t you get that off?”
“I don’t know,” she lied. Then because she never lied and wasn’t comfortable with it, she immediately admitted the truth. Her mother had always said she didn’t need to confront Imogen about her lies, she just needed to wait thirty seconds and Imogen would confess. It was clearly still true because she said, “Yes, we have the day off.”
“So we’ll go then. We can leave first thing Monday morning and come back Tuesday. Just one night. I’ll clear those two days with my assistant Toni and find a campsite.” He smiled at her. “We’ll have a great time.”
That she seriously doubted. “You’re going to regret taking me out into nature. I am confident I’m going to complain the majority of the time.”
But Ty just said, “You can’t complain if your lips are busy doing other things.”
“Like what?” she said, even though she knew full well what he was talking about.
“Come inside and I’ll show you.”
He didn’t need to ask her twice. In fact, he’d only needed to ask her once—she’d been ready the night before. Of course, she had been a nervous wreck about the whole thing and probably wouldn’t have enjoyed herself as much as she could have. She couldn’t say why precisely, but it was only twenty-four hours later and she was experiencing none of the anxiety she’d had the night before. It wasn’t logical but she decided not to question it and just accept it for what it was.
This was her fantasy. This was her opportunity to step outside of the academic dating pool of men in ill-fitting sweaters and experience sex with a very masculine race car driver. A man she had been attracted to from the first moment she had laid eyes on him, even as she had known having any kind of relationship with him was sheer lunacy. She had never even thought that Ty would be attracted to her in return, she had never expected to be given the opportunity to share a bed with him, and she wanted to take advantage of it. She wanted to discover if he was as aggressive and fun and sexy in bed as he was out.
“Lead the way,” she said, and even as she spoke the words, she had a sexual epiphany. Every man she had dated had been confident in his intelligence and his career, but not necessarily sexually. She had been forced to be more dominant than she would have chosen, and that was part of the appeal of Ty—she wanted a man to take the reins while she sat back and enjoyed. Or laid back as the case may be.
The very thought of Ty taking and giving, in total control of her pleasure, sent a rush of liquid warmth between her thighs.
She was aware that her voice had gotten husky and it was clear Ty was aware of it, too. They stared at each other in the shadowy dark of the car for a long, drawn-out minute, each second of his eyes on her working as effectively as if they were his fingers stroking over her bare flesh, causing her ni**les to harden, abdomen to tighten, legs to shift slightly apart.
“Oh, f**k,” Ty said, shaking his head slightly. “You are so hot.”
“I’m not doing anything,” Imogen said, bewildered.
“Yes, you are. You’re devouring me with your eyes. And God, you have the deepest, most intelligent eyes I’ve ever seen. I can see the complexity of your brain in your eyes and it turns me on.”
“And here I was just thinking I would love to run my hands all over your chest and squeeze your butt.”
Ty gave a soft laugh. “You’re more than welcome to anytime. Now I’m going to get out of this car before I take you right here. Which has its merits but might upset the neighbors.”
Imogen didn’t even have time to answer before Ty was out of the car, so she opened the passenger door and bent over to snag her purse off the floor. When she looked up, she was startled to find Ty in the doorway, his crotch almost eye level to her. Not sure what he was doing, she dragged her gaze off his promising erection and up to his face.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Just giving you a hand.” Ty reached out to help her out of the car.
For some stupid reason, that touched her. It was a basic courtesy, yet it melted her very vulnerable heart. Other men could do the same and she would think nothing of it, except that they were decent human beings who had been raised well, but there was something about Ty that had always affected her differently, from the very first time she’d met him.
She wasn’t sure whether she liked it or hated it.
“Thanks.” Taking his hand, she got out of the car, expecting he would let go of her the minute she was vertical. He didn’t. He just held her hand and led her into the garage and through the back door into his kitchen, flicking on lights as they went.