A Taste of Temptation (Love Spectrum Romance) (10 page)

CHAPTER 11

The very idea of spending the weekend in Albany with Mr. Untouchable was driving Brandi crazy. She didn’t know how she would be able to stand it, but knew ultimately she had to make the best of it. The hands-on was important and she had to qualify for the next phase, the writers retreat in Niagara Falls. But the idea of the entire trip was making her anxious, and she looked forward to having it all behind her.

As if she didn’t have enough to worry about, her car was refusing to start. She gave it the gas, praying it would crank, because the bus to the Albany Convention Center would leave by noon. She pressed down on the pedal, waited, tried it again—still nothing. It was 40 minutes to get to the bus.

Both of her parents had gone to Brian’s hockey game and it would be after 12:00 before they returned. There was only one move to make: try and catch up with Tiffany. Then she remembered Tiffany was hitching a ride with her brother, who volunteered to drive her there on the way to his friend’s house. Brandi hadn’t asked early enough to ride with them, so they left. Her only other option was to page Tim, and pray he could pick her up. Either that or call Eric and ask him to take her up there. She killed that idea, because no way in hell was she going to ride that distance and have to endure him and hear his mouth. That left Tim!

After paging Tim, she waited for him to ring back. She looked up at the darkening sky. A big storm was headed their way. Everyone wanted to get to Albany ahead of it.

The phone started ringing and she answered without looking at the display. “Tim, thank God you called back.”

“Brandi. Why aren’t you at the bus?”

“My car won’t start. Can you pick me up? We should still have enough time.”

“Are you at home?”

“Yes, I’m ten minutes away from Madison.”

“Okay, but we will really have to hurry, because the bus will take off without us. Be ready to hop in when I drive up.”

“I’m sorry, Tim. Thanks a bunch.”

Fifteen minutes later, Tim pulled up and honked. He liked her outfit: an ice-pink, velvety jogging outfit that hugged her curvy, yet slender frame in all the perfect places. He knew he had to get his mind out of the gutter, because it was going to be a long trip up to Albany. Sweating over her would only make it longer.

Brandi hopped, in bouncing to whatever was playing on her headset, and smiled at him. “Thanks, Tim. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

He spoke louder so she could hear him over the music. “It’s okay. I’m just glad you caught me. I was at the bus doing the head count and didn’t see you. That made me…”

She snatched the headphones off. “Okay, I can hear you better.”

“I didn’t see your car in the lot, nor you on the bus. I got a little worried. Then I got your call.” He checked his watch. “I told them to take off at 12 whether we were there or not.”

“Why? Don’t you want us to be there?”

“Of course I want us to be there, Brandi. I know the way. In case we had problems, I didn’t want the others to miss out on the presentations.” He pulled into gear and headed west on the expressway.

“I hope you didn’t mind me paging you?”

“I gave you the number in case you needed me, and you did, so don’t sweat it.”

A CD case rested on her lap. “What are you listening to?”

She teased. “Something you wouldn’t know about.”

“Really wise, Brandi. I did manage to crawl out of the caves of Europe to learn music.”

“Just kidding. I’m sorry if that bothered you.”

“Nothing Brandi Elaine Miles does bothers me. So, what is it?”

“
Unwrapped
volume two. It’s good, so is volume three.”

“Isn’t Jeff Lorber on parts of one of them?”

“You do know a lot to be a cave dweller. Yeah, you want to listen? We can put it on yours.”

“We’ll be at Madison shortly, so keep listening. Enjoy yourself.”

They arrived at the school by 12:16, and the bus was gone. That unnerved him to no end. “Damn it!”

“I’m really sorry, Tim. I went to the university bookstore and picked up my paycheck, thinking I had enough time to go back home for some things. This is all my fault.”

The only thing on his mind was deciding what route to take. Seeing her brood over the situation made him feel bad. He turned her face to his, feeling baby soft skin barely kissed by pink blush. Her skin was so warm and tantalizing. “Come on. It’s not the end of the world. I know the way up there. We can take the same route the bus took.”

“We should be on that bus. I went back home to get music that I could have lived without until after the trip.”

“Brandi, don’t worry about it. I’ll gas up, and we can get started. The storm is not supposed to hit until later in the day, anyway. We have plenty of time. Take out ‘Hidden Beach’ and let’s hear it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s going to be a long trip, so we’d better listen to something on the way up there. What do you have?”

“Everyone.” She flipped open her leather case full of CDs and showed it to him.

Erykah Badu was the first thing he saw. “Let’s hear her.”

“You like Erykah?”

“Darn right I do. Anything smooth and mellow gets my attention.”

Around 1:00, they had to pull over to the side of the road. The wind gusts were practically pushing the car. The rain was blowing so hard the wiper blades couldn’t keep pace. He wished the truck had been out of the shop; it could take this kind of weather better than his Mercedes Coupe.

They sat by the side of the road under an underpass and talked. “Brandi, take that disc out so we can hear the weather reports.”

The radio repeated that the storm was ahead of schedule, and that flooding was expected. Tim had never seen rain like this in his thirty years of living. He was concerned, because he knew they would never make it on time to the convention center. What also worried him was the people on the bus. He didn’t let on to Brandi just how concerned he was, because she looked concerned enough herself.

2:30. The seminar had started. They were not going to make it in time for the main event. He hoped Monica and Daniel Lang had made it. They were his back up, had an extra set of his notes, and knew the program well. Some of the students had taken their own cars, and he wondered if they were able to make it.

Finally, there was a break in the weather and they pulled off in the direction of Albany. They had gotten a good start, but the main road to the convention center was flooded. Tim stared straight ahead. “Christ!”

Brandi had dozed off but was awakened by his sharp tone. “What’s wrong?”

“The main road is flooded, and the rain is picking up again.” He looked around. “Where’s the bus? It couldn’t have gotten through this.” He turned the radio up and heard the announcer forecasting tornado watches everywhere. “We’d better back out of here and try another route.”

“Is there another one?”

“Yes, but I don’t know where. Maybe the bus driver found it.”

They drove another half-hour, and could feel tornado weather approaching. Tim looked up at the dark sky. “We had better find somewhere to stay until this blows over. We can’t even make it back home in this weather.”

“I just wish I hadn’t gone back home.”

“This is not your fault, Brandi. We missed the bus by minutes at the most. I doubt if they even made it up there.” He tried calling Monica and a few of the students, but the reception was lousy.

“What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know. Let’s back out of here and hit another main road. Hopefully, it won’t be flooded. Maybe we can find a restaurant. You hungry?”

“Not really. You?”

“I’m okay—for now.”

He slowly backed up and made it to the road. They drove on looking for lodging as the storm grew worse. Finally, they saw a motel sign. Tim smiled. “We can get something to eat in there, hopefully.”

Tim pulled into the motel. Moments later, he was back, soaked to the bone. “There’s no restaurant, just snack machines. They do have a room that we can stay in until the storm passes.”

A motel room was the last place she had wanted to be with him. “Do they have two rooms?”

“I already asked, and they only have one room left. Other travelers booked the rest at the last minute due to the storm. Should we take it or stay in here?”

“You’ll catch pneumonia if you stay in those clothes.”

“My pants aren’t too wet because I ran, but this shirt.…”

“Come on, let’s get the room.” That was not her preferred choice, but there wasn’t another one available. Her only salvation would be to sit on the bed, eat whatever candy they could get, and play her music. Ignoring him would be hard, but she had to do it. Looking at Tim without a shirt on in a room with a bed in it could drive her completely crazy.

They went over to the desk clerk, and Tim put his credit card on the counter. “We’ll take the room.”

The woman blurted out: “It’s taken.”

Tim could see her eyes shifting from Brandi, then back to him; he knew what the deal was immediately. “How can it be taken? I was just in here, and you said there was one room available. I want the room, now where’s the key?”

“Sir, the room is taken. A couple came in after you.”

“No one walked into this place after me. The driveway is empty except for my car. What did they do, walk here in the rain? Where’s the key?”

Brandi tugged on his wet sleeve. “Tim, we can stay in the car and let the shirt dry.”

“I’m not staying in any car when I know a room is available. This is ridiculous! I want a manager out here immediately or I cause trouble. Will that be necessary?”

The woman glared at him then reached under the desk. “We only have the honeymoon suite available, and housekeeping hasn’t gotten to it yet.”

“I don’t care at this point.” He slid the card over to her and waited for his receipt. Once he signed it he shoved the receipt into his pocket, stared at the clerk with contempt then took Brandi’s wet arm. “Come on.”

It was disturbing seeing Tim that mad, but he had good reason. She hated when people looked at her that way.

They walked up the second-level steps, and Tim opened the door to the luxury suite. He checked the place before letting her enter, just incase something shady was going on. “It’s clean already. I knew she was lying just to get us out of here. Backwards bit…”

“Tim, don’t say it. She’s not worth it.”

“I have to get this off my chest somehow.”

“Not like that.”

“Whatever. Go on and get settled.”

“Don’t let her upset you like that, Tim. It’s over now, so let’s just deal with what we have. It is not over. We’re trapped in this place and can do nothing about it.”

She wasn’t exactly crazy about sharing a room with him either, knowing how they would have to fight to stay away from each other. She walked into the honeymoon suite with pink-and-plum accents.

The large bed was in the middle of the sunken room. “Pretty.”

“Should be for what it cost, and the bull we had to take at the counter.” The look on her face made him regret getting so mad. “I’m sorry, Brandi. It’s just that…”

“I know. Things haven’t worked out the way you wanted them to. I feel bad about that.”

“Don’t. It’s not your fault, and I’m sorry if I made it seem that way.”

“I know your heart, and you’d never do that. Go on, get out of those wet clothes. ”

“Thanks for understanding.” He went into the bathroom to hang his wet shirt over the shower railing and wash up.

Brandi lay across the bed listening to her music, trying to ignore this other side of him, though it was rather sexy. She pulled the covers over her head, not wanting to think about being in a honeymoon suite with him. She could still hear him splashing about in the bathroom, probably nude by now. Turning her CD player up and drowning in his Drifters CD did not calm her. Nothing worked. Her mind was in over-drive from want of him.

Tim walked out tying a terrycloth robe around his waist. He threw a matching one on the bed. “They left us these.”

Thank God.
She tossed him a candy bar and returned to her music. “That’s your lunch. Enjoy.”

Unable to reach anyone by cell phone, he assumed they had made it to the conference. He started riffling through the material in his briefcase.

By evening, they were tired of watching television and touring the small pool area and vending machines, so Brandi returned to the room and decided to call home to tell everyone she was safe. She neglected to tell her parents she was in a motel room with Timothy Polaris. Hearing their mouth about that would be the last straw; she was in no mood to explain herself.

The rain was still heavy and the tornado, though still a distance away, was expected to hit neighboring communities. New York City was already a washout, as were the surrounding areas. She and Tim stared through the picture window in the front of the building and saw nothing but darkness and sheets of rain.

Brandi ate the last of her chips and yawned. “Why am I so tired? It’s only 8 o’clock.”

“It’s been a long day, Brandi. I’m tired myself. Why don’t you get some sleep?”

“I have never gone to bed this early; not to sleep, anyway.”

Hearing that comment wasn’t helping him, though he knew she hadn’t meant to frustrate him that way. He ate his last chip and tossed the empty bag away. “I might grab a beer at the bar.”

“I’ll call home again to see if everyone’s okay. Hopefully I can get through this time.”

“Don’t count on it. You were lucky before. You didn’t tell them I…”

“Of course not. I told them I drove up with Joan.”

“Good. All I need is Dr. Moore about this.”

“Why are you so scared of him?”

“I’m not scared of him; we’re friends. The problem, we’re such close friends that he knows without my having said anything that I have the hots for you.”

“You still like me that way after all the trouble I’ve put you through?”

“How can I not? Look at you, gorgeous beyond reason, a good head on your shoulders, and you’re sincere. I see why Eric is so crazy about you. Brains and beauty are a lethal combination. I’m hating this motel more and more because you’re here and I can’t do a thing. I can barely look at that bed without thinking of you.”