A Matchless Romance (Aisle Bound) (7 page)

Great. Whereas Drew was very much
the
problem for Tabitha. And one to which she saw no solution.

* * *

Tabitha liked her office well enough. Tree branches butted up against the window. It was pretty and peaceful. Best of all, only twenty-six steps away—yes, she’d counted—from Lyons Bakery. A connecting door from her workplace to a bakery full of delectable pies, cookies and gourmet truffles had to be a girl’s dream come true. Yet standing at the door to Drew’s workspace, she was struck with dissatisfaction at her solitary quarters.

The walls and carpets were dark, like a black box theatre. But the space wasn’t depressing. The darkness made the cartoon-bright long couches and ottomans pop. On the opposite wall hung an oversized whiteboard, chalkboard and the biggest plasma screen she’d ever seen. Pinball and foosball machines clustered in the far corner. What looked like an old-fashioned soda counter was manned by a short guy in an apron. Currently the soda guns were abandoned while he toiled in front of a commercial-grade espresso machine.

Spacious cubicles radiated from the center likes spokes of a wheel. They had curved, arching walls that gave more privacy, but still allowed the workers a sightline to the common space. In the middle of it all sat Drew, surrounded by five monitors and radiating a confidence she hadn’t seen in him before.

“Nayal, you need to bring that artist back in tomorrow. I’m not happy with the sketches of the harpies.” He swiveled in his ergonomic chair. It looked like a collection of rubberized harp strings. But under Drew’s ass, it might as well be the captain’s chair on the Enterprise. “Melinda, I need you to sit down with all the other project managers and come up with a prototyping schedule. The advertising department wants to know how much lead time they’ve got. I vaguely promised them it could hit stores by Thanksgiving.”

A girl with spiky black and green hair pulled on the hoop piercing her eyebrow. “I thought you told us we’d finish it by Halloween? Or die trying, were your exact words.”

Drew scooted across to a cubicle to hand a tablet to a good-looking man whose attributes were almost eclipsed by the seventies-style ruffled tux shirt he inexplicably wore. “Oh, we will. But if I tell the guys upstairs that, they’ll try to weasel it out of us by Veterans Day. I want to give us a cushion, so nobody has to cancel their summer vacation plans. Especially you, Whitney.” He crossed his arms and gave a long, low whistle. “That trip you’ve got planned to Easter Island sounds amazing.”

Look at him. Handing out orders. Holding the attention of a dozen people without raising his voice. Interacting with humor and warmth, genuine ease and friendliness with women. Tabitha’s client had managed to turn himself around in the forty-eight hours since she’d last seen him. No doubt about it. Drew was definitely no longer in need of her personality-polishing services. That should put an end to her crush. Although the whole
out of sight, out of mind
thing hadn’t cooled her jets at all in the past two days. More of an
out of sight, run lots of flashbacks of his naked chest through her mind
phenomenon.

“I’ll be sure to send you a postcard, Major.” A girl with a giant organza bow at her neck shot him a loose salute as she walked away. The meeting concluded by some signal Tabitha had missed, everyone scooted back to their desks.

But her offhand remark stirred Tabitha’s curiosity enough to cross the room to Drew. Raised eyebrows and a finger wave were all the greeting she gave. “You graduated from MIT. Designed and put out two of the hottest video games on the market. Medaled in competition against the best athletes in the entire world. When on earth did you manage to do time in the military?”

“Tabitha, hi.” He scrambled to his feet. “Don’t report me for impersonating an officer. It’s just a nickname they gave me. From
The Pirates of Penzance
.”

She shrugged out of her coat. Noticed with professional detachment that he looked as mouthwatering as ever in a forest green hoodie over a plain black tee. Smoothing her red jersey dress, she said, “Oh, that’s not nearly good enough. I need the whole story.”

Drew stared at her for a few, gratifying seconds. “It’s nothing. My first day, I described a ravelin I wanted Curtis to design.” He took her leather jacket and hung it on a giant metal double helix sculpture studded with coat hooks.

“A what?”

Grabbing a marker, he twirled it like a six-shooter, and then sketched out a detailed, three dimensional building on the nearest whiteboard. “It’s a fortification outside a castle. Triangular. The word isn’t very common anymore, but my team recognized it from the Major-General’s song in
Pirates
. They were impressed, so they started calling me Major.”

“I’m impressed your team can quote lyrics from Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. Quite the well-rounded crew you’ve got here.” As well-rounded as his ass looked in those jeans. Damn it. Why couldn’t Tabitha stop noticing his body parts?

Last night, she’d gone to the most notorious pick-up bar in Wicker Park. Not to hook up with someone. Just to find a red-hot guy whose smoldering gaze of appreciation would burn off any residual attraction she felt to Drew. A couple drinks, a lot of flirting, and she’d get her client out of her system for good. Except the plan hadn’t worked. None of the guys had Drew’s matchless combination of looks, smarts and adorable earnestness. The only thing she’d gotten out of the night was a hangover from too many super-sweet amaretto sours. Stupid drink-of-the-night special.

“They’ve all got vision. Innovation is imperative in game design. We push each other in the best way.” Drew led her to the long couch covered in jumbled, bright geometric design. “Gotta admit, I worried about leading a team when I took this job.”

“Why?” It was quiet on the couch, but Tabitha still lowered her voice. She didn’t want his employees to overhear. “For goodness sake, you were just on Team USA in front of the entire world. Why would a team situation here—with no international press coverage—spook you?”

His dark eyebrows drew together in a
did you really just say something that stupid
look. “My event wasn’t like water polo, or soccer. I ran. By myself. Period.” A shrug. “Chalk it up to not wanting to relinquish control. I’ve been designing on my own for years. But it turns out that our ideas and drive fuel each other, like a chemical reaction.”

“Don’t hand off all the credit to your team. Want to know what I saw just now? A man with innate leadership skills.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Drew’s eyes shifted down. Over. Finally back to her. “All I did was hand out a few assignments.”

She held up a hand to stop his protest. Modesty in any man could be sexy. In this man it was irresistible, and Tabitha really didn’t need Drew upping the attraction stakes for her any more. “I saw a man with no problem whatsoever relating to the women on his team.”

“That’s easy. They’re not women.”

“Huh? They look and sound like women.” Tabitha genuinely didn’t understand. “Is there a big transvestite sub-community in the gaming world I don’t know about?”

“No.” He sat up, curiosity sparkling in his eyes. “Well, I take that back. I can’t categorically rule it out without doing some research. I’ll get back to you with an answer.”

“No rush,” she said, biting back laughter. Drew’s zest for knowledge of any sort was yet one more mark in the adorable column. Damn it. Tabitha crossed her legs at the ankles of her knee-high black boots. Maybe that would keep her from accidentally brushing her thigh against his. Because this was Drew’s workplace, and he was a client, and it was all kinds of inappropriate—no matter how much she yearned to touch that long, lean muscle beneath his jeans.

Of course, he chose that moment, when her resistance already ebbed, to lean forward and tap her leg. Drew probably did it for emphasis. Not to tease the be jesus out of her. “What I meant was that I don’t think of Whitney, or any of them, as women. They’re just gamers, like me.”

Sometimes ideas came to Tabitha half-baked. All the ingredients, like a bowl of raw cookie dough, but not yet heated and coalesced into a finished product. Drew’s statement felt like one of those ideas. If she had a big hazelnut latte, a legal pad to doodle on and about fifteen minutes of quiet time, Tabitha felt certain she’d have it.

“Speaking of gamers, can I peek at
Quest
? Get a first look at all its awesome features? Having the game designer himself walk me through it would be such a thrill.” Tabitha bounced on the couch. “I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since you described it.” Well, both the game and its sexy creator swirled ceaselessly through her consciousness.

Drew pushed up his sleeves, revealing muscled forearms dusted in dark hair. God, she couldn’t wait to see those muscles flex as he put the controller through its paces. “Not a lot to show off yet, but I can walk you through a few potential settings.” He shot her a wicked grin over his shoulder as he turned on a series of screens. “Want to try and kill a prototype monster?”

“Nothing would make me happier,” she sighed. This was like peeking at a handwritten outline for the next Dan Brown thriller. Or having Michaelangelo hand her a paintbrush and offer to let her paint a cloud on a fresco.

“It’s not Bring-Your-Girlfriend-To-Work Day, Weston.” A skinny, beautiful woman with black hair to her waist drummed her fingers against the wall. From her platform stilettos to her impeccably tailored suit, she wore unrelieved black. The only color was a slash of red lipstick. “We don’t pay you to sit on your ass and flirt.”

Her bitchy attitude, more than her Asian features, made Tabitha assume this was Drew’s boss. Rescuing him from a bad situation definitely fell under her hazy job description. “I’m flattered you think a man as terrific as Drew would spend his precious spare time with me. He’s quite a catch.” She sent Drew a wistful, yearning smile that required no acting ability whatsoever. His face blanked as he rose to his feet.

“Keiko, you’ve got it all wrong.” He thrust his hands into his pockets and squared off to her. Tabitha could almost see the testosterone seething beneath his restraints. More than ever, he looked like a Major about to go to war. Or a gladiator facing tigers in the Coliseum. So. Damn. Hot. “This is Tabitha Bell. I hired her. As a…personality consultant. To prep me for the media rollout.”

“Really? I didn’t think you had it in you to change. I’d written you off as just another hopeless geek.” She stalked forward, raking Tabitha with an assessing stare. “Most of Weston’s interviews we’ve lined up so far happen to be with women. From what I’ve seen, he sucks at one-on-ones with anything in a skirt. No filter. No rapport. You think you can get him comfortable with the fairer sex in the next ten days?”

Oh, yes. Keiko was every bit the ballbuster Drew had described. Tabitha couldn’t believe she’d insult her employee like that in front of a stranger. Thank goodness they were back here where the rest of his team couldn’t hear. She stood, and crossed her arms with a confident tilt to her head. “Absolutely.”

Keiko stared for one more moment, then turned to Drew. “This shows initiative. Willingness to work within the corporate structure. Impressive.”

“I’ll jump through whatever hoop you wave in front of me to get
Quest
made,” he growled through gritted teeth. Wowza. Now Tabitha pictured Drew as the tiger. The set to his jaw, the cold glint to his eyes, everything about him shot off dangerous vibes. Keiko might have the upper hand in this first skirmish, but Tabitha had no doubt Drew would win the war.

She held out a hand to Tabitha. “Do you have a card?”

“Of course.” After a quick scrabble in her purse, she passed it over.

“Game Domain will foot the bill for this miraculous transformation.” Holding up a finger, she added, “
If
it works. Have Drew pass along your invoice to me directly. What’s the next step in your plan?”

Grabbing onto her half-baked idea, she flung it at Keiko. “Drew’s taking me to a wine dinner at Vinci tomorrow night. Lots of one-on-one practice.” Behind Keiko’s back, Drew’s eyebrows shot to his scalp. “By the end of the night he’ll be calm and charming. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll do great.”

And actually, that wasn’t much of an overstatement. Because she was positive the root of Drew’s problem had little to do with women in general. Tabitha’s bigger concern was personal. How on earth would she survive an entire night—with all the romantic trappings of a date—without throwing herself at her sexily smart client?

Drew didn’t have high hopes for the evening. Sure, the Italian restaurant smelled great, but he was too nervous to eat. Well, twenty percent nervous and all the way turned on. Tabitha sat across from him in a dress that had red, leafy cutouts that made her look naked underneath. Like if she twisted an eighth of an inch, he’d get to see something exciting.

Except she had twisted, and it turned out some nude-colored slip underneath meant no peep show. Still. A man could hope. Every damn time he looked at her. The leafy things circled her neck, then came down to frame her breasts. Glittery earrings dangled from the soft ear lobes he longed to use his teeth on. Her fiery hair was up, which just made Drew long to rake his fingers through it until it draped across her white shoulders. Yeah. He had it bad. For a one hundred percent unattainable woman.

Low lighting, a half-exposed stone wall and floor-to-ceiling wine rack gave the room an air of rustic elegance. The flickering candle on the table and opera piped through hidden speakers made it romantic. And if that wasn’t torture enough, they were all alone.

“Sorry we’re stuck back in this private room. I forgot that the restaurant prefers to serve their wine dinners family style. When I insisted on a table just for two, this was the only option.” Tabitha waved an arm, encompassing the room with five empty tables. As if he hadn’t noticed. As if Drew weren’t acutely aware that aside from the occasional waiter pop-in, the two of them were completely freaking alone.

“No problem.” He concentrated on neatly ripping his bread in half. So she couldn’t see the lie reflected in his eyes. Oh, it was a problem. This was a date. Hell, this was probably more of a certified date than any of the conference hookups he’d managed in the past few years. Well, and those crazy two weeks in the Athletes’ Village. Once he had a medal around his neck, he’d had an international string of women lined up outside his room twenty-four/seven. And that had mostly been a few beers quickly followed by sex. Nothing fancy. Especially given the language barriers. He’d barely spoken at all, come to think of it.

Tonight, though, was different. Classy. A beautiful woman. A romantic dinner. Drew had no doubt he’d stick his foot in his mouth and fuck it up somehow before their salads arrived.

“You’re sporting a new look tonight,” Tabitha commented. “Very fashion forward.”

Drew looked down at the black vest, grey shirt and black and white checkerboard tie. “My closet’s full of training gear and jeans. I haven’t gotten any suits yet for New York. So for tonight, Matthew, my roommate, insisted on loaning me the vest.” He tugged at the pointed hem. “I look stupid, don’t I?”

“Not at all. Let me make one tweak, though.” She leaned forward and undid the knot in his tie as she spoke. “For God’s sake, Drew, I don’t know who foisted this low self-esteem on you, but it needs to stop. You’re hot. You’d be hot wearing nothing at all.”

Tabitha tossed the tie in his lap. “Much better.”

Relieved, he unbuttoned the collar. And wondered just how much thought she’d put into the idea of him stark naked. Suddenly, the night had the hint of potential. As long as he was careful. And remembered to think before blurting just anything out. “Thanks.”

“Sorry we couldn’t do this last night.” Tabitha sipped her Prosecco. “I had a sorority meeting.”

“Aren’t you too old?” God, he’d done it already. Insulted her. Drew looked up in horror.

To his surprise, she laughed. Put a hand to her cheek with an eye roll. “Thanks for the reality check. Yes, I’m too old to be an active member, but I’m just the right age to be an advisor to my chapter at Northwestern. Share my years of hard-earned wisdom. Plus, I love being around the girls.”

“So it’s a volunteer thing.” Drew kept his response brief. Maybe he’d luck out and she’d do all the talking. He did love listening to her voice. The sultry quality made a man imagine how she sounded when first waking up. Naked. Next to him.

Tabitha shook her head. “No need for a hard-core label. I just call it fun. The hours I put in at the women’s shelter, now, that I’d call an official volunteer thing.” She wrinkled her nose and stage-whispered behind the shield of her hand. “Since it involves washing copious amounts of dishes and laundry.” But then another laugh. “Well, maybe not too official. I get so much out of helping those women. They remind me of just how well off I truly am.”

Beautiful. Giving. Selfless. Tabitha had already tied his dick and his tongue in knots. Now Drew felt his heart starting to tangle as well. Despite the utter pointlessness. Wishing he could be with Tabitha was like wishing to touch the sun. Impossible to begin with, but if Drew bothered to try, he’d get nothing but burned for his effort. Besides, he shouldn’t be thinking about sex. Not till after New York. Shit, maybe not even until after
Quest
launched. No distractions. No matter how tempting.

“You’re generous with your time,” he said.

“Feels more selfish than that. Huh.” She scowled at her flute and pushed it away. “Half a glass of bubbly isn’t nearly enough to act on me like truth serum. It must be you, Drew.” Tabitha locked eyes with him. The green depths glimmered like a piece of sea glass, just beneath the water. “You’re a good listener. I like telling you things. Things I probably shouldn’t.”

A polite man would let it drop. But Drew was, above all else, a
curious
man. “Like what?”

She twirled a stack of gold bracelets around her slim wrist. “I’m a joiner. I go to a yoga class every week with Mira. A once-a-month pastry class. Ballet class. Being with other women fills a gap in my life.”

Great. Now all Drew could do was picture Tabitha in a leotard being all bendy and alluring. “A gap?” he repeated like an idiot. She said nothing, just stared down at the bracelets she kept sliding round and round. Finally he reached out, trapping her restless hand beneath his. All lascivious thoughts of her gorgeous body washed away. Drew just wanted to know what troubled her.

“Tell me,” he said. It was a command, not a request. His stern tone popped her gaze up to his.

“I grew up among women. Lots of women. Like a commune, almost. I miss it.”

“A commune? Long robes, barefoot, that sort of thing?”

Giggles streamed out of her like a fast-rushing brook. “Oh, Drew, you have no idea how on the target you really are.”

“Then why are you laughing?” Annoyed, he leaned back. Swiped the bread through the olive oil and popped it into his mouth.

“Might as well stop beating around the bush. I grew up in a brothel. The Tailfeather Ranch. My mother was—is—the madam.”

“Holy shit.” A thousand questions raced through his mind. And just in time, he stopped himself from blurting out any of them. “Quite the unique childhood.”

“Yeah.” Picking her glass back up, she swirled the golden contents a few times. “Aren’t you going to ask?”

“Ask what?”

Lips thinned to an almost straight line, Tabitha picked apart her bread. Didn’t eat it. Just ripped it into crumbs. “The one thing every guy—every damn one—always asks. If I ever…dabbled in the family business.”

“No!” The thought hadn’t even occurred to him. And made him want to rush out and pound his fists into every idiot who dared insult her with that question. “Tabitha, you’re too classy. Too elegant. Too perfect. Too sure of yourself. Of what you want.” Drew shook his head. “No, you’d never leave it up to a man to choose you.”

“My goodness. Once you get a head of steam going, you do talk a blue streak.”

“Tabitha.” He gently took her chin and turned her head back to him. “I talk when I care about something. When it’s important. Making sure you don’t let a bunch of jackasses devalue you is very important.”

With a tilt of her head, Tabitha’s whisper-soft cheek slid into his cupped hand. The edge of her lower lip brushed the arc between his thumb and finger, setting a dozen previously unnoticed nerves ablaze. “You are full of surprises, Drew. Thank you.”

“For what?” He dropped his hand as the waiter entered with their antipasto of fresh mozzarella with marinated mushrooms and roasted tomatoes. The food broke the intimate bubble around them. Probably for the best. He’d been an instant away from rubbing his thumb across the glossy pout of her lip. Then he probably would’ve ended up with the rest of her Prosecco in his face. Drew stabbed viciously at his mozzarella. No matter how delicious and creamy, it couldn’t compare to the feel or taste of Tabitha against his tongue. Not that he’d ever know for sure. Not that it mattered.
Focus, Weston,
he ordered himself.

“Nobody’s ever reacted like that before to my story.” With great precision, she cut and layered equal pieces of cheese and veggie. “Before you ask, brothels are legal in Nevada. Mom runs a clean house. Pays all her taxes every year. I’m not ashamed of my mother. She’s completely happy. Proud, even, of the service she provides and the safe haven she gives those girls compared to hooking on the street.”

Tabitha took a bite. Drew could tell she wasn’t finished with her thought, so he waited her out. Not a hardship at all to stare at her and sip the new wine poured with the appetizer. Just as good as the first one with all the bubbles, and yet completely different. Thanks to his training regimen, Drew hadn’t indulged much in alcohol over the years. Now he found he wanted to learn about wine. Discover what accounted for the flavor nuances.

And then probably find a way to write his newfound knowledge into
Quest
. A tavern owner could make wine. Especially if some magical creatures lived amongst the vines and helped him harvest…until they were called into service for a worthier cause. His fingers itched to grab his phone and type in a note. But Drew was all too aware of the beautiful redhead next to him. It was obvious she wasn’t just chewing her food. She was chewing over what to say. He didn’t want to miss it.

Finally, she set down her fork. “My mother’s choices aren’t mine. I
am
ashamed that anyone would think I would choose that life. You’re the first man who’s seen that in me. The rest assume I must’ve tried it, at least once. For fun. Can you imagine? For the extra money to pay for a spring break trip to San Francisco. Or just because they preferred to picture me as that person, rather than seeing me as who I am.”

Her cheeks had flushed to almost the same color as her dress. It only increased Drew’s desire to beat the crap out of every man who’d made such insulting assumptions about her. “How
did
you finance your spring break trip?”

“I helped do the taxes for my sorority housemother. And her sister. And our cook.”

“A number-crunching prodigy?”

“No, but I majored in Finance. My mother insisted. In fact, it was the only way she’d agree to pay for college. Her plan was for me to get a grounding in business so that I could come back and help her run the Tailfeather Ranch. Make it even more profitable.”

Drew picked up on her careful word choice. Knew there was more to the story. And he wanted to learn it. He wanted to learn all about her. “What was
your
plan?”

“Well, I couldn’t turn my nose up at a free college degree. But I did sneak in a minor in family studies. It gave me a scientific background in mate selection, human sexuality and couple functionality. Everything about it fascinated me.”

“Obviously.” Drew didn’t need a single course in family dynamics to see the root of her interest. “Growing up surrounded by so many examples of dysfunctional relationships? Of course you’d seek out a way to make sense from it.”

“Interest doesn’t always equal opportunity. I didn’t know what to do with that knowledge.”

“Aside from definitely not helping out back at the ranch.”

“Exactly.” Tabitha snickered and clinked her glass against his in a toast. “Can we have a sidebar for a minute? I’d like to point out that we’re having a perfectly normal conversation. Not stilted or awkward in any way. Quick, tell me what’s different about tonight.”

Without thinking, he said, “You.” Then Drew wished he’d thought about it. He sounded dopier than one of the seven dwarves.

In her touchy-feely style, Tabitha skimmed her hand down his arm. “No, really. You’re not nervous. You were when we walked in, but not anymore. Something changed.”

Well, now that she’d made him contemplate a lab rat under scrutiny, Drew felt damned uncomfortable. “I guess I’m not thinking about it. I’m just enjoying dinner with you. Do we have to analyze it? Grade me after dessert, Tabitha.”

Her hand still rested on top of his. Drew fought against the urge to flip his over and intertwine their fingers. Bring their palms flush against each other. See how well they fit together. But then she moved. Clapped her hands together with a gleeful smile.

“You just helped me solidify an idea I’ve had simmering. I know exactly what to do with you now.”

Uh oh. Well, Drew had nothing to lose at this point. Except maybe his chance to make it to the third course. Might as well make a joke. “Give up on me? Or throw yourself into my lap and kiss me passionately?”

Instead of laughing—or dumping the rest of her wine over his head—Tabitha pursed her lips and gave him a sidelong glance. “Unlike my mother, I have a hard and fast rule about not kissing men who are paying for my services.”

Did that mean she’d consider it otherwise? The possibility drowned out his mantra about focusing on his game. Getting in the zone for New York. After all, it wasn’t as if he could accomplish any work on it at dinner. Why not multi-task? He had a whole team working on his game now. New York was still days away. Taking a night off to flirt with Tabitha didn’t have to turn into the kill switch to all his efforts on
Quest
.

So Drew scrambled to point out the loophole. “I’m not. Paying you, I mean.” She didn’t say anything, just kept looking at him with an expression he would’ve given his left nut to be able to interpret. “Keiko and Game Domain have the sole monetary responsibility for your invoice now. Just, you know, as a reminder. An FYI.”

“Thank you.”

He’d pushed his luck far enough. And still couldn’t tell what was going on behind those mermaid green eyes. “Let’s get back to your story. How’d you break the news that you didn’t want a piece of the family business?”