The Charmer (12 page)

“Always about business,” she muttered. “I find business very dull. And if you’re trying to charm me, you’re not doing a very good job. If I want to go skating, then you should be happy to take me.”

“I don’t have anything to wear,” he said.

“We have stores here. You’ll need some long underwear and a decent pair of boots. And some good gloves. Those leather gloves won’t last. We’ll go shopping after breakfast.”

It was nice to have a playmate, both in and out of bed. Alex made a good companion. He was funny and easygoing and he seemed to find her amusing. And he made her shudder with pleasure whenever he touched her. What more could a girl want?

She grabbed a piece of bacon from her plate and slowly munched on it. With Tommy’s death, she’d lost her best friend. Since then, she hadn’t tried to find a new one. Alex was the first person she really wanted to spend time with.

“All right,” he said. “We’ll talk business at dinner.”

“At my place,” she said. “I’ll cook.”

“You’re not going to distract me again,” he said. “I want you to promise. And I think it would be better if we went out.”

Tenley shrugged. “We’ll see.”

“If you don’t promise, I’m going to kiss you, right here and now.” He glanced around. “What would the gossips say about that?”

“Go ahead,” Tenley said. “I dare you.” In truth, she wanted him to accept the challenge. She wanted to shock everyone watching, to make them wonder just what poor, pitiful Tenley Marshall was doing with this sexy stranger.

When he didn’t make a move, she leaned across the table, took his face in her hands and gave Alex a long, lingering kiss. She didn’t bother to look at the crowd’s reaction. Tenley chose to enjoy the look on Alex’s face, instead. “I don’t make a dare unless I’m willing to back it up.”

He licked his lips, then grinned. “Bacon,” he murmured. Reaching out, he snatched a piece from her plate. “Maybe I’m hungrier than I thought.”

A
LEX CURLED INTO
Tenley’s naked body, pulling her against him and tucking her backside into his lap. He usually didn’t spend a lot of time outdoors during the winter. But since he’d come to Door County, he’d realized just how delicious it felt to spend the day outside in the cold and the evening getting warm in bed.

Though this had begun as a business trip, it was slowly transforming into one of the best vacations he’d ever had. Previous vacations had always been solitary escapes, a time to get away from his social life and focus on himself. But his time with Tenley was making him question why he hadn’t enjoyed those holidays in the company of a woman.

Perhaps because he didn’t really know any women who shared his interests. The girls he dated weren’t really interested in hiking the mountains or rafting river rapids. But Tenley had probably experienced more of those things than he had. “Are you awake?” he whispered.

“Umm. Just barely.”

“What do you think of rock climbing?”

“Right now?” she asked.

“No, in general.”

“It’s difficult to do in the winter,” she said. “Cold hands, slippery rocks, big boots. But there are some nice spots around here if you come back in the summer. We could go.” She rolled over to face him. Her hands smoothed over his chest and she placed a kiss at the base of his neck. “You should try kayaking. And hiking at Rock Island is fun. But that’s all summer stuff. We could snowshoe. Have you ever been snowshoeing? I’ll take you tomorrow if you’d like.”

“Interesting,” he said.

“It is.” She sighed, then rolled on top of him, stretching her naked body along the length of his. “And then there’s sex. Sex is a year-round thing in Door County.” Her lips found his and she gave him a sweet kiss.

Was it possible she was the perfect woman? He’d always imagined his ideal mate to be tall and blonde and eager to please. And though Tenley did excel in the bedroom, she did it on her own terms. There was no question about who was in control. Maybe he’d been looking for the wrong perfect woman.

“Is there anything you wouldn’t try?” he asked.

“Scuba diving,” she said. “Being underwater scares me. It would be like drowning alive.”

Well, there it was. She wasn’t perfect. Alex loved scuba diving. “Interesting,” he said.

“You know what would be
really
interesting? If you’d get up and make dinner for us.”

“Don’t you think you’re taking this slave-boy thing
a bit too far? Just because I want that contract, doesn’t mean you can take advantage of me.”

She sat up and clapped her hands, her face lighting up with amusement. “Oh, a slave boy. I’ve always wanted one of those. I think that’s a wonderful idea.” Tenley crawled over the covers until she was stretched out alongside him, her head at his feet. She wiggled her toes. “Rub my feet, slave boy.”

Alex let his gaze drift along her naked body. Would he ever get enough of her? Though he’d only known her for a few days, he’d come to think of her body as his, as if he were the only one smart enough to see what an incredible woman she was.

Grabbing her foot, he rubbed his thumbs against her arch. “How’s that?”

“Oh, that feels so nice.”

He pressed his lips to a spot beneath her ankle. “How about that?”

“That’s nice, too. But don’t stop rubbing.”

“So, let me tell you about what we can do for your novel.”

“Please don’t. I just want to relax. Talking about business makes me nervous.”

“Do you plan to fight me on this every step of the way? If this is some plan to drive me crazy so I’ll leave, it’s not going to work.”

“Would sex work?” she asked.

“Sex?”

“Yes. If I seduced you right now, would you be satisfied?”

“I’m always satisfied when you seduce me.” Alex picked up her other foot. “What are you afraid of, Tenley? Most artists would jump at the chance to sell their work.”

“I don’t really know what I’m doing,” she said. “I didn’t go to art school. I haven’t studied writing. I have no technique, no style. I’m afraid if I have to produce something, I’ll just…freak out.”

“You don’t seem like the type to freak out. Besides, some of the greatest writers and artists never went to college. So that excuse doesn’t fly. What else?”

“That story was personal. What if I only have one story in me? And now that it’s out, there’s nothing left.”

“No problem. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we’ll focus on the novel you have written. Anything else?”

“Are you going to work on this book with me?”

“Yes. You’ll also have an editor to work with once the contract is signed. But if you want me to stay involved, I will. This imprint is my idea, so I am going to have my fingers in it until it gets up and running.”

“So, you and I will be. business associates? And we’ll pretend that we’ve never seen each other naked. And that we’ve never touched each other in intimate ways.”

He chuckled. “That’s going to be very difficult to forget.”

She sat up, crossing her legs in front of her and resting her arms on her knees. “But how will it work, when I see you? Don’t you think it will be strange?”

Alex saw the confusion in her eyes. “Because we’ve been lovers? I don’t know. I guess we’re just going to have to make it up as we go along.”

To be honest with himself, Alex hadn’t really thought about the end of their affair. He wasn’t sure why it had to end. The passion they’d shared was real and intense, not something that could be tossed aside without a second thought.

Was Tenley worried she was about to become another notch on his bedpost? Like all those other women who’d registered their complaints on that silly Web site? Sure, he didn’t have the best reputation, but where was it written that a guy couldn’t change?

“Tenley, I want to get to know you better. I don’t want to think this will be over when I go back to Chicago.”

A tiny smile twitched at her lips. “Me neither.”

“Then let’s do it. Let’s get to know each other. You start. Ask me any question and I’ll answer it. Go ahead.”

She regarded him shrewdly. “All right. Do you want to have sex with me all the time, or are there times when you’re thinking about something else?”

Alex laughed. This was one instance when he wasn’t afraid to be honest. “When you’re in the room, I’m pretty much thinking about the next time I’ll see you naked. And when you’re not close by, I’m thinking about the next time I’ll be with you—so I can take off your clothes and see you naked.”

“Men think about sex a lot, don’t they? Women aren’t supposed to think about it.”

“Do you?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice filled with astonishment. “All the time. When I see you dressed, the first thing I want to do is take your clothes off. I like the way you look. I like your skin and your muscles and your eyes and your hair.”

“My turn. Tell me about your favorite fantasy.”

Her face softened and her expression grew wistful. “That one is easy. I’m at work and I’m sitting at my desk and the bell above the door rings and there he is. All grown up. He still looks the same, but he’s bigger. And it’s like it never happened, like he was just gone for a few hours, running errands or having lunch.”

He’d expected a sexual fantasy, at least that was what he thought they were talking about. But from the look on her face, he could see the emotional toll the confession was taking. He wanted to stop her, to tell her she misunderstood, yet he was curious to know the truth.

“Your brother?”

She nodded. “I used to have that dream all the time. It would be the only thing that kept the nightmares from becoming unbearable. I’d wake up and I’d be so happy. Sometimes, it was different. I’d be somewhere and I’d see him on the street and I’d run after him. Or I’d be hiking and find him sitting in the woods, all alone.”

“What happened, Tenley? How did he die?”

She bit her bottom lip. Her voice wavered when she spoke. “Tommy drowned. In a boating accident,” she said. “I’m getting hungry. I think you should fetch us some dinner.”

He kissed her gently, satisfied that she’d told him enough for now. “I’m not much of a cook.”

“There’s a bar in town that makes the best pizza. We can order one and you can go pick it up. And while you’re gone, I’ll feed the horses and make a fire. Then after supper, we’ll take a walk down to the bay.”

“That sounds good to me,” he said, dropping a kiss on her lips. “And then we’ll talk about your book.”

“What if I just say ‘yes’ right now? Then do we have to talk about it tonight?”

“Are you saying yes?” Alex asked.

Tenley nodded. “Yes. Yes, you may publish my silly book, Alex. Yes, I’ll sign your contract. As long as we don’t have to talk about it for the rest of the night.”

Alex held out his hand. “Deal.” He paused. “Don’t shake unless you mean it. A verbal agreement is legal and binding.”

She shook his hand. “Deal. Green olives, green peppers, sausage and mushrooms. And get the eighteeninch. With extra cheese. And hot peppers on the side.”

“Can I get dressed first?” he asked.

Tenley rolled over onto her stomach, her legs crossed at the ankles. “As long as I can watch. But do it really slowly.”

He got up and began to retrieve his clothes from where they were scattered on the floor. Tenley followed his movements, a brazen grin on her face. “Stop staring at me,” he teased, repeating the words she’d said to him their first night together.

“In the summer, I live without clothes.”

“Really?”

“I walk down to the bay and climb down the cliffs and take off all my clothes and lie on the rocks in the sun. Sometimes sailboats go by and see me, but I don’t care.”

Alex could picture her, walking through the forest like a wood nymph, her long, pale limbs moving gracefully through the lush undergrowth. He’d be back in the summer to see that, making a silent promise to himself.

“Why don’t you come with me to this bar? We’ll eat there. Maybe have a few drinks. Then we’ll come back and I’ll help you feed the horses.”

“Would this be a date?” Tenley asked.

“Yes,” Alex said. “This would be a date.”

“Then I accept,” she said. She jumped up and ran from the bedroom to the bathroom. “I’ll have to make myself pretty.”

“No,” he said. “I like you just the way you are.” There was nothing at all he’d want to change about Tenley. And Alex found that fact quite amazing.

T
ENLEY GRABBED
the pitcher of beer from the bar and walked over to the table she and Alex had chosen. He followed behind her with two empty glasses and a basket of popcorn. Before she sat down, he pulled her chair out for her and Tenley sent him a playful smile.

“Your mother taught you well,” she said.

“My great-grandmother,” he corrected. “She was from the old country. She learned English by reading Emily Post and she somehow got the idea that all
Americans had to act that way. Usually Greek families are loud and boisterous. We’re loud, but unfailingly polite. You should hear our conversation around the table at Easter.”

“My parents didn’t believe in social conventions. They let us run wild. We were allowed to say and do anything we wanted. As I look back on it, I’m not sure that was good. It’s cute in children, but people think it’s weird in adults.”

“I think you turned out just fine,” Alex said.

Tenley loved the little compliments he paid her. She’d often thought a good boyfriend would work hard to make her happy. And Alex seemed to do that naturally, as if his only thought was to please her. “Do you have a girlfriend?” she asked.

The words just popped out of her mouth and an instant later, she wanted to take the question back. Yet her curiosity overwhelmed her. How could a guy like Alex be single? He was smart and funny and gorgeous. And there were a lot of women in Chicago who would consider him a great catch.

“No,” he replied. “I don’t really get into long-term relationships. I date a lot of different women, but no one seriously.”

“I see,” Tenley said. Though it was exactly what she wanted to hear—he was unattached—she wasn’t sure she liked the fact that he dated “a lot” of women. Was she just the latest of many? “But do you sleep with them?”