Tall, Dark And Daring
“Are we going to be able to work together on this, Tessa?” He eyed her with a level gaze, all thoughts of their past put aside for the moment. Sure he owed Ines Cordova big time for convincing Tessa to come to Lake Placid again—he hadn’t been able to get Tessa out of his head ever since his accident. But no matter what he hoped might transpire between him and Tessa on a personal level this week, he wouldn’t risk a misstep with the marketing.
“Of course we are. Didn’t you specifically request my help in getting your new product line off the ground?” She returned his gaze, and for a minute, Mitch spied the steely determination that had no doubt helped catapult her to the top of her field.
“I’ve heard you’re the best.” He leaned closer. “But if you’re going to find it difficult to work with me, maybe we shouldn’t go through with this.”
“It’s been eight years, Mitch.” She folded her arms across breasts he remembered all too well. “I think I’m over you.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “Good. Then you won’t mind having dinner with me tonight. How is seven o’clock?”
She puffed out a small sigh and smoothed her hand over a stray lock of blond hair. His hand itched to mess it up again.
“Seven is fine,” she said finally. “I just want to give you fair warning. I barely had time to repack my suitcase this weekend, let alone do thorough research. I really had intended on working alone tonight.”
Perhaps he frowned at that, because she waved her hands in an impatient gesture.
“I don’t mean to suggest this puts me behind on your account. You have my personal assurance that we’ll come up with just the right marketing strategy for Mogul Ryders.”
Mitch stood. “Okay. You want to take the nickel tour before I walk you upstairs?”
He pulled one of the hotel’s robes off the back of the bathroom door and tossed it around his shoulders. Since his half-dressed state hadn’t made her swoon in appreciation yet, he figured he might as well try another tack.
“I’ve kept my own findings and market research in here.” He opened the door to a second sitting area and wondered if she’d notice the room’s central furnishing. “Just help yourself to anything you might need.”
He gestured to the stacks of brochures and folders on the file cabinets, but Tessa barely gave them a glance. Her eyes were glued to their old make-out couch in the corner.
Her breath caught.
Her cheeks grew pink.
She gulped visibly.
Maybe their weeks together had been as memorable for her as they had been for him.
Although the green love seat used to reside in the library, site of many of their out-of-control kisses, he’d moved the small couch in his office when he bought the ski lodge. Perhaps he wasn’t really playing fair to tease her with it, but he couldn’t resist the temptation to see her reaction.
She looked so much more buttoned-up than she used to. So off-limits.
When he’d first met her, Tessa had searched for adventure around every corner. She was the only girl he’d ever dated who gladly let him teach her how to snowboard. And she’d taken to it like a pro. He doubted she’d ever be so daring now. In her trench coat and navy pumps, she looked more fit for the boardroom than the slopes.
She faced him, cool as you please in spite of the steamy memories the love seat from the library had to call to mind. “Why don’t you box up the files and send them to my room? In fact, I should probably settle in now so I can review my notes before tonight, Mitch. I really can compile a comprehensive plan for your company once I sit down and—”
“I know you can. That’s why I hired you.”
She arched a brow as if she didn’t believe him.
“If you think I hired you because of what happened between us, you’re wrong.” Mostly. “I requested you because you’re reputed to have one of the sharpest marketing minds on the Eastern seaboard.”
That much was true. He’d been amazed to read her bio.
He stood in front of her, making sure to leave enough space between them to reinforce his claim that he only brought her here for business. He couldn’t afford to scare her away. “I need an expert to help me make Mogul Ryders a blowout success.”
Ever since Mitch had lost his ability to compete on the slopes, he’d hung his voracious need to succeed on his business. Tessa would be his ticket to realizing his goals.
She looked him in the eye. “I can do it.”
He shook his head. He didn’t want to hear the pat assurances she’d reel off to any of her clients. “But you said you hadn’t fully researched my company. What if—”
“Frankly, Mitch, if you made snake oil, I could sell it for you with a kick-butt return on your investment.”
He couldn’t help a low whistle of admiration. The cool confidence in her gaze made him a believer. “Really?”
She grinned. “Really.”
Mitch nodded, pleased his company rested in good hands and strangely proud to think Tessa O’Neal had turned into a business dynamo. “Then I guess I’ll show you to your room and let you go to work.”
He ushered her out of his office and toward the elevator. He didn’t need to ask which room she was in. He’d chosen it himself. Number 326, the executive suite.
She shuffled a few of the papers under her arm. “I’ll have at least a portion of this mapped out by dinner. Shall we meet in the hotel restaurant?”
Mitch followed the progress of her stocking-clad ankles as she stepped on to the elevator. “How about we head over to MacRae’s?” he suggested, dropping the name of their favorite restaurant as he punched number three.
Frowning, she cinched the belt around her coat a little tighter. “I don’t know, Mitch. I—”
“They still fry up a mean lake trout.” His mind conjured a wayward image of Tessa in her tan trench coat with nothing on underneath it but high heels. He really shouldn’t torture himself like this.
“You should have gone into my field, Mitch,” she muttered as the elevator doors swished open. “Which way?”
He pointed down the hall. “I’ll take that as a yes?”
She didn’t say anything as she paused in front of her door and slid the key into the lock. When the green light appeared, she pushed her way inside then turned to face him. She stood there a moment, poised in the entry, propping the door open with her hip. “Yes.”
The word hit him with the force of a mogul at high speed—jolting his whole body and launching him through the air. God, but she packed a provocative punch.
She looked at him, her breathing a little fast, her cheeks tinged with color. Right then, Mitch knew he wasn’t the only one who had mentally replayed every moment of their time together in the years since they’d seen each other.
He would have kissed her if he didn’t think she might turn around and hop the first plane back to Miami.
But maybe she’d relax around him after they tied up their business.
“Meet you in the lobby around seven?”
She nodded. “I’ll be there.”
Backing away, he opted for a quick retreat before he did something stupid, like tug on the ties of that trench coat until it fell to her feet.
The door swung shut between them, but it didn’t stop him from envisioning her every move behind it. Would she have that coat off yet?
Mitch hoped Tessa was every inch the marketing genius she was reputed to be, because the quicker they dispensed with the business portion of her trip, the faster he could get her back to that love seat in his office to relive a few fond memories.
2
HE’D KEPT the love seat.
No matter how much she tried to concentrate on developing a marketing plan, that one thought kept recurring in her brain.
Tessa paced the suite bedroom in her towel as she read over Mitch’s file for the third time since her bubble bath.
Why had he moved the love seat into his offices? Didn’t he remember what they had shared on that glorified pine bench? Or worse, what if he did?
Berating herself for her lack of focus, she planned her strictly business approach to tonight’s meeting. She could do this. She had to.
If she could keep things professional between them for one week, she’d fulfill the dare and she’d be free and clear of Mitch, of Lake Placid, of her marketing job. She could start fresh with her sedate life next Monday, go online with her small clothing venture and forget this entire mishap.
Forget Mitch?
She tossed the file on the dresser and turned to the wrinkled clothing selections in her suitcase. Why had she ever agreed to spend the last week of her job in Lake Placid?
As she combed out her damp hair, Tessa noticed her watch read six-thirty. She had just enough time to rest her eyes before her appointment with Mitch at seven. She deserved a few minutes of downtime after her ten-hour trek to the Adirondacks and three-hour cramming session to develop Mitch’s marketing plan. She’d been running on too little sleep all weekend.
Flinging aside her towel, Tessa slid between the taut sheets of the hotel bed and smiled. She snuggled into the embrace of flannel blankets and down pillows and tried not to think how much better her free time would be spent right now if she had a gorgeous man to massage her feet. A gorgeous man with gray eyes and the power to steal her breath.
Tessa squeezed her eyes closed more tightly, hoping to will away images of Mitch. Still, the tickle of cool sheets against her bare skin sent her mind on a vivid replay of this afternoon’s meeting. Especially the first few minutes when he’d been soaking wet and half naked. All those hours on the slopes had given him a washboard stomach and thighs like iron.
If memory served—and she knew darn well it did—the rest of him was equally impressive.
Of course she shouldn’t be visualizing her client in the buff. She wouldn’t get involved with an adrenaline addict again, not when she’d promised herself she would embark on a new era in her life starting with her business venture next week.
She’d been so hung up on Mitch after she left Lake Placid the first time, she’d ended up married to a man eerily similar to him two years afterward. Her husband had seemed like a reserved man with a quiet banking job, but he’d sought his thrills in the stock market. He’d bankrupted himself, filched Tessa’s credit card and run off with a wealthy figure skater before Tessa knew what hit her.
Too bad things hadn’t worked out with fiancé number two. Rob had seemed so safe. So rooted.
So colorless compared to Mitch.
Yawning, she pulled the bedside clock radio on to her pillow and turned up the volume to prevent herself from sleeping. Why did she have to be attracted to such reckless men?
Oh, well. None of that mattered right now while she snuggled in the nest of blankets. She didn’t have enough time to nap, and the dreamy love song on the radio defeated the purpose of music in her ear, so she spun the dial until she found a polka station and cranked the volume to full blast.
No way would she sleep now.
Or so she thought until she lost herself in sensual dreams. She could feel the heat of Mitch’s hands upon her body, breathe the scent of his skin. They lay entwined on the old love seat in the library, their bodies a tangle of hungry limbs. The back of the love seat knocked a seductive rhythm against the wall.
Knock. Knock.
The sound transmuted, mingling with strains of Lawrence Welk.
“Tessa!” Mitch called her name. Too bad the hoarse cry sounded more like a shout of worry than one of ecstasy.
Knock. Knock.
“Tessa!” The object of her dreams shouted to her in time with an accordion riff blaring in her head.
She tried to blink her way out of her dream.
The door to her bedroom flew open. Mitch and a middle-aged woman in a maid’s uniform burst into her room.
“Are you all right?” Mitch’s brow creased in worry. He seated himself beside her and gently shook her bare shoulder. He flipped off the accordion. “The room next door complained about the noise. Sorry about busting in here, but I got worried when you didn’t answer the phone.”
A shiver tripped through Tessa at his touch. Her dreams were still too close to the surface for her to hide her reaction to him.
The little maid peeked around Mitch, biting her lip. “She looks okay. Perhaps she was only tired.”
“Thank God.” His gaze pierced Tessa so deeply she feared he could read her recent wanton thoughts. She might have yanked the covers over her head to escape him if he hadn’t turned away then.
“Sorry to have bothered you, Daniela.” He nodded to the maid. “Tell your son we’ll resume our practice schedule next week. Joey is really turning into a pro on his snowboard.”
The woman beamed with maternal pride. “He looks up to you so much. Thank you for all you do for him.”
Tessa blinked again as the maid left. She tried to gather her thoughts. “What time is it?”
He dropped down to sit on the edge of the bed and waved the clock radio in front of her nose. “It’s quarter past seven. I was just starting to wonder if you were going to keep our appointment when I got a call about the noise up here.”
Her sleepiness evaporated as the full impact of Mitch’s presence in her bedroom hit home. He sat so close his thigh pressed against her waist and hip. In light of the awareness zinging through her, the goose down comforter separating them seemed as substantial as a bargain brand tissue.
She was definitely not dreaming.
“I guess I fell asleep.” Too many cross-country trips for her clients. Too many Jell-O shots the other night. Only one more week and she’d reclaim her life.
He barely suppressed a laugh. “How could anyone fall asleep to the musical stylings of a German oom-pah band?”
She wriggled a few inches away from him in a vain attempt to halt the hormonal overload his thigh had instigated. The fact that she was naked beneath the sheets didn’t help matters, either. If she had to stand much more of this, she’d be wrestling Mitch to the mattress in no time.
“Sorry I’m late.” She tried to discreetly pull the covers closer to her chin. “If you give me five minutes, I’ll meet you downstairs.”
She hoped he would take the hint and go before she spontaneously combusted.
“Are you sure you’re up to it?” He skimmed his hand over her forehead and leaned closer, a wolfish grin spreading over his face. “You feel kind of warm to me.”
He didn’t know the half of it.
Those long fingers called to mind the nights he had touched her, teased her in ways she hadn’t experienced before or since.
Heat kicked through her even though she wasn’t about to let herself be swayed. “I’m fine. I’ll be in the lobby in no time.”
She waited for him to leave, a prisoner of her nakedness under the covers.
He straightened but remained on the bed.
Mitch stilled his questing fingers, but his eyes were as predatory as ever. “Just out of curiosity, what have you got on under there?”
Every nerve ending leaped to life at his pretended interest, yet she would be damned if she would acknowledge it. Besides, she could handle his teasing. This was much easier than his caring.
“It’s really none of your business.” It strained her dignity to look coolly professional when she had a rat’s nest for a hairdo and had no choice but to lie down.
“I notice your bathrobe is hanging on the back of the door.” His voice turned husky and low as he jerked his thumb toward the length of navy blue terry cloth. “My guess is that it’s a hell of a lot less than that.”
Her skin tingled. Still, she pointed toward the exit. “I want you to go now.”
“Do you really?”
No.
“Yes.” She forced a determination into her voice she definitely didn’t feel.
“If we were playing our old truth or dare game right now, Tessa, I think I’d have to penalize you for fibbing.” He trailed a finger along her bare shoulder and then skimmed the length of her arm.
The touch reverberated through her, tickling nerves all the way to her thighs.
Lava streamed through her veins at the memory of past penalties. Mitch had been so very inventive….
But as delicious as those memories might be, Tessa had a job to do. She would never get it done by drooling over a man whose idea of commitment was to hire a management staff for his hotel property while he hopped the globe and broke hearts.
“I’m not here to play games this time, Mitch.”
The quiet seriousness in her voice seemed to call him from his teasing flirtation.
He scrubbed his hand over his forehead and nodded. “You’re right.”
She realized how unfulfilling being right could be when she experienced a rush of aching loss as he backed away from the bed.
He held up his hands in mock surrender. “No games this time.”
“No games.” Clutching the sheet more tightly to her, she assured herself that’s what she wanted.
Mitch had nearly reached the door when he paused at the dresser to examine a sheaf of papers she’d left there. “Can I take your Mogul Ryders file to occupy myself until you come downstairs?”
He scooped up her papers and began leafing through them.
“Could you wait with that? I’ll only be five minutes.”
Engrossed in the file, he barely acknowledged her. “See you then,” he mumbled, folder in hand. He shuffled to the door as he read, seemingly oblivious to Tessa’s protest that her notes were still too rough for his review.
At last the outer door finally closed.
Frustrated he’d absconded with her work, but very happy to have escaped the temptation of his presence, Tessa breathed a sigh of relief.
That was close.
Much too close.
How was she ever going to stay out of Mitch’s bed when she’d found herself naked with him inside their first twenty-four hours together?
She headed to her suitcase to choose her most conservative suit for their business dinner. After the close encounter in her bed, she needed a no-nonsense armor to ward off any stray charm he might fling her way.
Because no matter how appealing Mitch might be, Tessa had no intention of failing in her dare. She’d conquered the bunny hop, by God. She could darn well keep her hands off an overgrown playboy for one week.
MITCH WATCHED Tessa storm into the lobby about fifteen minutes after he left her room. He’d had just enough time to read over the file she had told him not to touch.
He could tell by the gray tweed suit and the all-business French twist of her hair that she was mad. The stern set to her jaw and the pursed lips reinforced the impression. But he could not compel himself to regret filching her file on Mogul Ryders. The marketing plan she’d sketched out for his enterprise was ingenious.
He handed over the sheaf of papers as a peace offering. “You’re brilliant.”
“You’re a thief.” She snatched it out of his hand and tucked it under one arm.
So much for charming her. “Sorry, Tessa. You hadn’t even closed the folder. Once it caught my attention, I could hardly put it down.”
“You shouldn’t have been in my room to start with,” she grumbled.
He would bet she had no idea how the damp hair curling in sexy waves around her neck defeated the rest of her uptight hairdo.
“I suppose you would have been happier if I’d let you go deaf? C’mon, Tessa.” He nodded toward the front doors, eager to pick that sharp brain of hers. “Let’s have some trout and start this evening all over again. You can wow me with your plans.”
Thankfully, she seemed to forget her annoyance once they got outside. Tessa was like a kid in the snow. She held out her hand to catch the snowflakes and tilted her nose in the air to let them fall on her cheeks. She even forgave him enough to take his arm as they crossed the slippery parking lot. She’d traded in her heels for black leather boots that hugged her calves.
He tried not to think about the legs inside the leather. He needed to focus on learning everything he could from her about promoting his company. This venture embodied all his hopes for the future. He couldn’t afford to foul up another career since his professional snowboarding days had run amok.
She seemed more relaxed while discussing business over dinner, although Mitch questioned his wisdom at bringing her for a walk down memory lane at MacRae’s. The café had an outdoor service window that accessed the ice pond. He and Tessa had once skated up for cocoa before heading back to his place….
And he really shouldn’t think about that now. He grilled her about marketing in an effort to distract himself. When he was thoroughly satisfied she knew exactly how to handle his account, he paid the check and ushered her outside.
“It’s no wonder you’re at the top of your field, Tessa,” he remarked as they stepped into the crisp night air. “I can’t believe you put all those plans together in a few hours.”
Another inch of snow had fallen in the time they’d eaten dinner. Mitch knew he shouldn’t court temptation by keeping company with her any longer, but she eyed the frozen pond and the skaters with open longing. He could empathize. Lake Placid in the winter seemed like a Christmas card come to life.
He nodded toward the bench near MacRae’s skate-through window. “Want to watch?”
Shades of the adventurous Tessa flashed in her wide grin. “Sure. Cocoa’s on me.”
As she paid for the steaming beverages, strains from the restaurant’s lone guitar player drifted through the skate-up window to serenade them.
“Don’t be too impressed with my work, by the way,” she remarked as they seated themselves on the rough-hewn plank that served for a bench.
He blew on his cocoa and watched the steam curl into dancing white wisps in the cold air. “You’re being modest.”
She shook her head. “Hardly. I had the office fax me a lot of the contact names and the links for the Web site we’ll make for you.” She shrugged, as if compiling fifty pages worth of resources had been no big deal. “We’ll hit your target audience with an interactive, flashy site. Between that and the other ideas, we’ll get a broad range of exposure.”
He believed her. And felt relieved for the first time in months. He’d been so worried about taking his company to a new level that he hadn’t been able to really relax in ages. But somehow Tessa’s conviction rubbed off on him. With her by his side, he could make his new venture a success. It had been easy to buy the Hearthside, which had been a well-run business to start. The self-sufficient hotel would never give him the same degree of satisfaction as getting his snowboard business off the ground.
“So why did you leave Tahoe?” she asked between delicate sips of hot chocolate.
He stared at the tiny rim of foam on her top lip. Eight years ago he could have leaned over and licked it off. He wondered what she would do if he tried it now. “Too young. Too full of X Games wannabes.”
She licked her lip, sending shockwaves of primal hunger right through him.
“You mean too many youthful Mitch Ryders.”
The guitar player inside launched into “Bad Moon Rising.” Mitch knew half the kids in Tahoe would think Credence Clearwater Revival was an environmental movement. “I was never that young.”
Tessa snorted.
“I take it you disagree?”
“You used to be pretty wild.”
The key words being used to be, Mitch thought with disgust. Since his accident, he hadn’t even hit the top of Whiteface. He still spent some time showing the local kids the tricks and twists that had once put him at the top of his game, but he’d never have the edge that he used to. Fortunately, he had a new game to conquer, a new field to dominate. The business world.
And as long as he had Tessa to help him, he would be on top in no time.
He groaned at the image. On top.
He definitely didn’t need to think about how much Tessa liked being on top.
Tessa watched Mitch stare at the stars and wondered what he was thinking. He didn’t seem to want to talk about the past, but Tessa didn’t want to leave their winter wonderland just yet.