The Cowboy's Temptation (17 page)

Veronica was having none of that. “You obviously are still thinking about the men in New York. Jake isn’t like them. I’ve been telling you that all along and you still don’t believe me, do you?”

Elissa shook her head. “He’s a wonderful man, I know that. I think he’s the most wonderful man I’ve ever met.”

 

“Or ever will meet,” Veronica added.

 

“Okay, so he’s perfect in an imperfect way.”

 

“Perfect for you.”

“Anyway, I’m going out to New York to close down my life there. I should be back in a few days, hopefully only two. I’ll definitely be back before Jake gets back. I promised him that much.”

Veronica shook her head. “You shouldn’t leave. Just do everything by phone and have your stuff shipped out here.”

 

“I need to do some things personally. I don’t like Jim Tillman and I want to tell him to his face what an awful person he is and shove his job right back at him.”

 

“Isn’t he the one that was trying to pressure you into an affair right before you came out here.”

 

“One of them.”

 

“Yeah, but Tillman’s your boss. That’s not fair,” she said.

 

“No, but not a lot of things are fair in that world. That’s why I want to get out of it.”

Veronica’s shoulders drooped in defeat. “Okay. I still think this is a really bad idea, but I can’t think of anything to say that will change your mind. But hurry back. Me and the twins need you. Jake needs you too.”

Elissa hugged Veronica. “I need to hurry if I’m going to make my flight. I’ll call you as soon as I get to New York.”

Elissa was on a flight out of Texas two hours later. She boarded the flight and almost started crying as the plane took off. She’d fallen in love with this area in so short a period of time. If it weren’t for Veronica and her pregnancy, she would still be back in New York, slaving away making inane deals that made rich people richer, slowly killing herself in the name of the almighty dollar.

Once in New York, she caught a cab to her apartment. She had a meeting in one hour with a real estate agent who was going to sell her condo to the highest or fastest bidder. Elissa cleaned up the dust that had settled over the sparse furniture over the past month and arranged with a moving company to have the furniture moved out to Texas. She was sure Veronica could help her find a storage company that would hold her furniture until she could find someone who would buy it or she could find a place to live.

The real estate agent rang her doorbell right on time. Elissa opened the door and let the woman enter. “Hello!” Marissa Lyle said, introducing herself and handing Elissa a card immediately. “Oh, this is wonderful. Why are you trying to sell it?” she asked.

Elissa eyed the woman who was in her mid-forties but possibly older, depending on the number of face lifts she’d undergone. Marissa wore a large amount of makeup but it was expertly applied. She was exactly the kind of real estate shark Elissa was looking for. “I’m moving out of the city and need to sell the place fast, but I’m not looking to give it away,” Elissa said in her best, no-nonsense bargaining tone of voice.

Marissa immediately responded to the authority in Elissa’s voice. “I understand. I think we can get you a good price. If you tell me where you’re looking to move, I can start doing a search for a great replacement. Are you planning on going to a single family home?” she asked hopefully.

“I don’t think you’re contacts reach out to Texas.”

That stumped the hungry real estate agent and it showed on her face. “Oh, well, no. Not really,” Marissa said, seeing a fat commission slide down the drain. But she rallied quickly. “Well, that’s no problem. We can sell this beauty in no time. I already know of three couples who will probably be interested.”

“Great. Let’s get the deal done quickly. I can have my furniture moved out of here by the end of the week. The sale will have to be done remotely though. I only have two days in New York and need to get most of this work done quickly.”

Elissa signed the papers to list with the real estate agent, settling on a selling price easily. The next appointment was with the moving company and they arranged to have boxes delivered the next day. Elissa planned to pack up everything the next day and be back on the plane that afternoon back to Texas. She fell asleep that night staring out the window and listening to the noise coming up from the street. Had her condo always been this noisy? Perhaps this is why she’d lost so much sleep. No, it was a combination of the stress, the noise and the long hours. She looked at her clock beside the bed and realized that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been in this bed before nine o’clock in the evening in the six years she’d worked for Tillman and Hirshman. It hadn’t been eighteen hour days all the time.

The following morning proved to be harried. She tried to go out for breakfast, but she’d forgotten about how hurried life was in New York. She wanted to sit back and read the newspaper, watch the sky lighten on the horizon and sip her coffee, just as she’d done back in Texas but everywhere she looked, people were rushing around, grabbing their coffee and moving on to their next appointment. The environment wasn’t conducive to relaxation and sunrise meditation.

She spent the morning packing boxes. Most of her clothes she packed up easily. She sent the formal dresses she’d accumulated to a women’s cooperative which helped women joining the work force. She also sent several business suits and shoes. She kept a lot of them, knowing she might need them in her next life as a business owner.

She didn’t have a lot of knick knacks to pack up. Surprisingly few, she thought since she’d been living in this condo for the past four years. It was terrible that she’d never taken the time to make this place her own, no stamp of her personality showed through.

By midmorning, she was finished packing up. She showered and changed clothes. She dressed carefully for the first time in a month. Pulling on a sharp business suit of navy blue with a cream, turtleneck sweater underneath, she felt full of armor for the event ahead. She was meeting Jim Tillman for lunch to tell him she was resigning.

She took a deep breath and stared at herself in the mirror. She was relishing the idea and knew that he had no clue about her intentions. When she’d called his secretary to request the meeting, he had come on the line himself, ingratiating himself with her and convincing her to meet him for lunch rather than the office.

She suspected that he was hoping she was going to discuss the possibility of the affair he’d suggested before her departure. He was going to be disappointed.

Thirty minutes later, she was standing in front of the hostess stand at Jim’s favorite restaurant. She told the hostess her name and was immediately led to a table where Jim was seated, nursing a gin and tonic.

“Hello, Elissa. It’s good to see you!” he said and kissed her cheek. Elissa immediately wanted to rush to the ladies room and scrub her cheek. She didn’t want his touch and felt dirty now that he had touched her.

“What would you like to drink?” he asked as the waiter approached their table.

 

“I’ll just have water, please,” she said smiling up to the waiter.

 

“Why not have a glass of wine? Relax before you head back to the office and get back into the swing of things,” he suggested.

 

“I guess I should start this whole meeting by telling you that I’m not coming back.”

Jim’s expression showed that he didn’t really believe her. He probably thought she was negotiating for a better salary or portion of the proceeds of her client sales. “You can’t be serious, Elissa. You’re one of the best. Come on back and discover where your true talents lie.”

Elissa shook her head. “No. Thanks. I discovered a lot about myself while I was gone.”

 

“What did you learn?” he asked, leaning back in his chair and looking at her with a patronizing stare.

“I learned that there are a lot of things that are more important than making money. That I’m a very good cook. I also watched a foal being born and watched the sunset from the horizon.”

Jim shook his head, chuckling derisively. “Don’t give me that. I saw the look on your face the first time you closed a million dollar deal. You were thrilled.”

“Sure I was. It was very exciting. But I’ve done that. I’m ready to move on to something different,” she said, leaning back in her chair and imitating his patronizing attitude. She wasn’t going to be intimidated by him anymore. He wasn’t her boss and therefore, her career didn’t hang in the balance if she did or said something he disliked. It was a liberating feeling, considering herself his equal.

“I don’t believe you,” he said and smiled, showing as many of his capped teeth as possible. “You’ve been gone for only a month and, although you look fantastic, I’ll bet you’ll want to be back here in New York in less than a year.”

Elissa smiled and shook her head. “No, I can’t ever imagine needing to come back and do this kind of work again. I like numbers, so I’ll continue to work with them in some capacity, but I can’t imagine any circumstance that would push me back into brokering deals again.”

Jim raised one eyebrow at her dismissive tone. “Elissa, you’re a wealthy woman now because of those deals. Don’t throw away a lucrative career on a whim,” Jim said, leaning forward, actually taking her comments seriously finally.

Jim smiled patronizingly but, to Elissa, he looked more like a shark showing off his chemically white teeth to her. “Tell you what. Let’s have lunch, not talk about business at all. You can tell me about Texas and all the silly country things you’ve been doing for the past month. After lunch, we’ll go back to the office and we’ll sit down with the other partners and see what we can do to tempt you. How does that sound? You’ve got me in a tough position. All of your clients are clamoring to have you back and making money for them. You’re in high demand.”

Elissa shook her head yet again. “Jim, I don’t really want to go back to the office and there’s really nothing you can say that would tempt me back to this lifestyle.”

She started to stand up but he grabbed her arm and forced her to sit back down in the chair. “Don’t you dare leave me like this,” he growled at her. A moment later, he smiled again, knowing that people at the neighboring tables were starting to stare. The smile remained in place, but his fury showed in his eyes. “You’ll eat lunch and we’ll head back to the office to discuss the issue.” With that order, he motioned for a waiter to come take their order.

Elissa was furious. She was not going to stay and eat with this disgusting man, no matter what threats he threw at her. Calmly but with as much conviction as she could convey to the man, she said, “Jim, I’m getting up to leave now. Don’t touch me again or I’ll make a scene.”

Elissa stood up and swiveled on her heel, leaving the restaurant on shaking legs. She knew she had to get back to the office immediately and clean out her desk. It was the first place she went.

She was afraid that Jim might have called and told security to block her from the building but she was waived right through. Several of her co-workers even waived to her. She was able to find an empty box in the copy room and used it to pack up her pictures and some other small items that were hers. Just like her apartment, she had pitifully few personal items to pack. The past six years fit into one small box, she realized.

Not anymore, she told herself. Elissa set the box on her desk and looked around to make sure she had everything. She was just about to leave when she heard the door close behind her. Elissa spun around and watched as Jim approached, his eyes gleaming with something that Elissa didn’t want to confront.

“I don’t have anything else to say, Jim.”

Jim stopped walking when he was right in front of her. “I guess I took the wrong approach at the restaurant. What would you say if I threw myself into the mix to tempt you?” he chuckled.

The idea was so repulsive she almost gagged. “Sorry, not even remotely interested. I thought I’d made that clear before I left,” she said. Elissa stepped around him but one arm whipped out to stop her.

“Elissa, I think you’re a very beautiful woman. I don’t like being told no, so how about if we just spend a few days and explore what we might have together. I could have us on the company jet and in Vale, Colorado in just a few hours.”

Elissa tried to keep the revulsion from her face, knowing that would only infuriate him more. “No, thanks,” she said and tried to slip out of his embrace. But he wouldn’t release her. “Jim, let me go,” she said, her voice rising.

His grip tightened painfully on her arm. “Did I mention that I don’t like rejection?” he said through gritted teeth. Jim worked out every day to maintain his physique and, although he didn’t have muscles like Jake, he was still much stronger than Elissa. He grabbed her wrists and pushed her back against her desk.

“Stop it! Let me go!” she cried.

Elissa heard the door open an didn’t care who was entering and found her like this, just so long as she could get away from Jim’s repulsive embrace. She was stunned when the man was physically lifted from her and thrown across the room. Elissa opened her eyes and was thrilled to see Jake standing over the man sprawled on the floor, looking like an avenging god. “I guess you didn’t hear the lady. She told you no.”

Jake turned to face her and she could see the anger still steaming in his eyes. “Come on, we’re leaving,” he said.

Elissa quickly grabbed the box she’d just packed up and stepped over Jim’s still prone body. She didn’t say goodbye to anyone as they made their way out of the building. She noticed several people staring at her so the rumor about the most recent event had already started filtering through the office.

Once they were in the elevator, Jake turned to face her for the first time. “Are you okay?” he asked, looking down at her, his eyes probing to see if there were any ill effects from the man.

“I’m fine now. Thank you,” she said, smiling up at his handsome face.

 

“I thought you were safely back at the ranch. What are you doing here in New York? I thought you would still be there when I came back.”

 

“I was planning on it. I have a flight back tonight”