Secret Seduction (3 page)

“I think it’s time I called it a night,” she said, walking away from him, heading toward the bar.

“Do you think that’s wise?” he asked.

Vanessa halted, looked back over her shoulder at him. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’ve had two shots of tequila in under two hours.”

Suspicion descended over her face like a heavy curtain. “You were watching me?”

“The entire bar was watching you,” he said. It was true enough. “You shouldn’t be driving. Maybe we could go to the hotel down the street, next block over, and grab a late dinner in their restaurant. They stay open until eleven on weekends.”

“I don’t drink and drive,” she said. “I took a taxi. When I plan to drink, I think ahead.”

He knew that. He’d followed her here from her condo, but he couldn’t show that he knew it.

“But,” she said, “I am hungry.” Then she raked a glance over him like a very naughty girl and licked her lips. “So I accept your offer of dinner.”

Whoa, Tanner thought as he stared into her dark, enigmatic eyes.

How had he ended up here? Nothing about this evening had gone according to plan. He was getting in over his head and he realized too late that he’d forgotten how to swim.

“Like you need to bolster your courage?” he finished.

That wasn’t what she was going to say at all, but it was the truth. Taken aback, Vanessa stared at him.

The man’s unsettling blue eyes held her own over the flickering candles in the middle of the white linen tablecloth. She had an urge to put up her dukes in a boxing stance.

“Why did you say that?” she asked.

“Going to a nightclub you don’t often frequent, dancing with a stranger, then joining him for dinner. Now ordering steak. Do you want to talk about it?”

Irritation sideswiped her like transfer paint in a fender bender. Vanessa swallowed, arranged her face into a smile. Was she that transparent or was he that perceptive? “I changed my mind. I do want to know your name. But only your first name.”

“Why’s that?”

“Last names complicate things.”

“Tanner,” he said. “How ’bout you?”

She extended her hand across the table. “Vanessa.”

He shook her hand. His palm was warm in hers, calloused. These were not the pampered hands of a surgeon, the type of men she usually dated. These hands knew manual labor.

The waitress appeared at their table with two glasses of water.

“Two tenderloin steaks.” Tanner looked at Vanessa, “Medium?”

“Medium rare,” she supplied to be perverse. She did prefer her steaks cooked medium, but she didn’t like him guessing that about her.

“Two coffees, steaks medium rare and the sautéed vegetables,” he told the waitress and handed her their menus.

She frowned, not knowing why she was feeling so argumentative and yet so interested.

“Why are you trying so hard to look so tough?” he asked.

“Who says I’m not tough?” She hardened her jaw, sat up straighter in the seat and gave him her best barrio-girl expression.

“That cross-me-and-you-die look in your eyes.”

“You don’t think I’m serious?”

He shook his head. “Oh, you’re tough on the outside, but inside—” he thumped his right fist over his heart “—you feel deep.”

A sense of vulnerability wrapped her in a sweaty hug. She made a derisive noise even though she would like very much to feel him inside her. “Is this your best pickup line?”

The notion was unexpected but intriguing. One night in bed with this tall drink of water might just be the antidote she needed to quell thoughts of Carlo Vega. She found Tanner far more appealing than she should. Everything about him was sexy, even the proprietary way he’d ordered for her.

“You picked me up, remember?”

She had indeed. “And now you think you know everything about me.”

“Not everything.” He took a sip of water. “But I’d like to know more.”

Yeah, she’d like to know more about him, too. But why? She wasn’t in the market for a serious relationship, or any relationship for that matter. She still had a year to go on her residency and it required all her dedication and concentration. But one glorious night with the studly Viking here? Oh, yeah.

The waitress, clad in a simple uniform of black slacks and a white silk blouse, brought their order, rescuing Vanessa from having to answer the question in his piercing blue eyes. She couldn’t help wondering what he would think if he knew the truth about her. Where she was from. The things she’d done to survive and make her way in the world. And that nothing mattered more to her than her career.

“Did you used to be a Boy Scout?” she asked to derail him.

He stopped buttering his roll and looked at her. “What makes you say that?”

She shrugged. “You just look like a Boy Scout. Blond. Clean-cut. Perfect posture.”

“Yes,” he said. “I was a Boy Scout. Even earned a good conduct medal.” His grin was self-deprecating. “Were you ever a Girl Scout?”

In the barrio?

“So what do you do for fun?” he asked, cutting into his steak. “When you’re not dancing at Emilio’s?”

“I don’t have much free time. The closest I come to a hobby is my daily jog.” Vanessa cut into her own steak. “And once in a rare while I get to indulge my passion for old movies.”

“Ah,” he said. “A workaholic.”

She eyed his biceps straining against the sleeves of his shirt. She wished she had X-ray vision so she could see the delineation of each strata of those muscles. “I can see you’re not a slacker in the exercise department. What do you do to keep your guns in shape?”

He smiled and flexed his upper arms. The man had every reason in the world to be proud of his spectacular physique. “Power lifting. But for fun, I kayak the Colorado. You ever been?”

“No,” she admitted. Not much opportunity for kayaking where she came from. “But it sounds like fun.”

“Maybe I’ll take you sometime.”

Hope coiled tight inside her. Sometime. Ha! There’d be no other time with him. Now was all she could afford and even this was risky. She ducked her head, busied herself with spearing a bit of juicy tenderloin. “So you’re a Texan?”

“Born and raised,” he said.

“Where’s your hometown?”

“Right here in Austin. You?”

“El Paso.”

“What brought you to Austin? Boyfriend? Husband?”

“Is this your way of asking if I’m attached?”

His eyes darkened. “Hey, no guy likes ugly surprises when he’s out with a pretty woman.”

The comment made her smile. “I’m single,” she said. “Never married.”

“I’m single, as well.” Tanner nodded, but he had a strange look on his face, almost as if he were lying. “So you’re in Austin because…”

Here he was asking the question she dreaded most. Vanessa gave him the pat answer that was only partly the truth. “Med school.”

The minute the words were out of her mouth, she could have bitten off her tongue. She hadn’t wanted him to know she was a doctor. A lot of guys got weird when they found out what she did for a living. Many of them felt challenged by a smart, successful woman.

“You’re a doctor?” He sounded impressed.

“Resident.”

“I see why you don’t have much time for fun.”

“Work does take up most of my time.”

“So what is your favorite classic movie, when you have time to indulge your passion?” he asked.

“Dark Victory,” she said without hesitation.

“You go for the tearjerkers.”

“Tearjerkers are more like real life.”

“Which is exactly why some people like to escape into comedies.”

“Let me guess, you’re a Three Stooges fan,” she said. “Or maybe the Marx Brothers?”

“Actually, “he admitted, “when it comes to classic movies, it’s John Wayne all the way.”

“I should have guessed.” She smiled. “What’s your fav? Rio Bravo?”

“McLintock!”

“Seriously?”

“I’m a sucker for romance. Plus Maureen O’Hara was pretty easy on the eyes. I have a thing for feisty women.” He winked.

Suddenly she had a hard time catching her breath.

The conversation lagged and Vanessa didn’t try to stir it. Strangely enough, the silence between them didn’t feel awkward at all. It felt nice. Natural.

They finished their meal and lingered over a cup of coffee.

“What’s your specialty?” Tanner asked.

“Specialty?” She was so busy staring at his impressively broad shoulders, his question caught her off guard and for a minute there she thought he was asking her a very personal question.

“Pediatrics, internal medicine, heart surgeon?”

“Cosmetic and reconstructive surgery.”

“Really?” His tone sounded almost accusatory.

She bristled. “Something wrong with plastic surgery?”

“Settle down,” he said. “The question wasn’t a shot against your chosen career. You just seem like you’d be a pediatrician.”

“Why? Because I’m a woman? You just assume I’d be good with kids?” She knew she sounded defensive. She didn’t even know why she was reacting this way.

Tanner held up his palms. “I surrender. I can see I’m snugged up behind the eight ball on this one.”

He looked so contrite, Vanessa laughed. “Well, thanks for having dinner with me, Tanner,” she said, opening her wallet to pull out enough cash to cover the cost of her meal.

His hand closed over hers. “Dinner is on me.”

“No,” she said and lifted her chin proudly. “I always pay my own way.”

He didn’t argue, just let go of her hand. Vanessa suddenly realized she was breathless. “All right,” he said. “If you insist. But then at least let me give you a ride home.”

“I’ll catch a cab.”

“Beholden to no one,” he said lightly.

“That’s right.”

He studied her for a long moment. “Doesn’t it ever get exhausting?”

“What?”

“Never letting anyone help you. Always going it alone.”

“I’ve been beholden to people before,” she said. “There are always strings attached. I prefer life without any ties that bind.”

“So you don’t have any family.”

“No.”

“Don’t you ever get lonely?

Yes.

The man was too perceptive. It unnerved her that he could assess her so easily, how much he seemed to understand.

Vanessa swung her purse strap up on her shoulder and pushed back her chair. “Nice dance, nice meal, have a nice life, Tanner.”

She got to her feet, her movements tense and jerky. She felt so many conflicting things at once—nervousness, disappointment, sexual frustration—and he was the cause of it all.

Not really. Carlo Vega has a lot to do with you ending up here.

“What’s your hurry, Vanessa?”

She wished she’d given him a fake name. The sound of her name on his tongue, spoken in that deep, arresting voice, did funny things to her insides. “It’s late,” she said. “I gotta go.”

Without a backward glance, she hurried from the hotel restaurant, pushing through the revolving glass door and ending up on the vacant street.

The wind had kicked up while they’d been inside, tossing litter and leaves along the sidewalk. Lightning lit the sky in the distance. Thunder rumbled. An unseasonable rainstorm on the way.

Goose bumps raised on her arms. Who would have thought she’d need long sleeves in August in Austin?

She walked to the front of the hotel entrance, but there were no cabs at the cab stand. She stood underneath the streetlamp, glancing up and down the block. No taxi in sight, but surely one would be along in a minute. No sign of the valet, either. She paced to the end of the block, feeling like a target in her red dress and high heels. Maybe she should wait in the hotel lobby.

And risk running into Tanner again? No thank you. She had the feeling if she saw him again she’d throw all caution to the wind and ask him to take her home with him.

Where was a taxi?

“Come on, come on,” she muttered and glanced at her watch. She remembered other late nights, other lonely streets and her gut squeezed.

Footsteps sounded behind her and her heart froze. She fumbled for the mace in her purse and found it.

With the mace in her palm, finger on the nozzle, she whirled around, growling, “Back off!”

Tanner raised both arms. “Don’t shoot.”

“Oh,” she said and let out a breath. “It’s you.”

“Storm got you spooked?”

“A little,” she said, dropping the mace back inside her handbag. She hated to admit it, but she was relieved to see him. “What are you doing here?”

“What kind of gentleman would I be if I let you stand out here alone? Are you sure I can’t give you a lift home?”

In the time it took her to draw in a deep breath, she considered his offer, but she was intensely private and didn’t like strangers knowing where she lived.

No, but you’ll dance with a stranger and have dinner with him.

That wasn’t normally true, which was what was so unsettling about this man. He made her want to do lots of things she normally wouldn’t do.

Lightning flashed again, moving closer, rapidly followed by more grumbling thunder. Fat raindrops spattered the cement around them.

“Let’s go back in out of the rain,” he said, and inclined his head toward the hotel.

The combination of his hard body, his delicious masculine smell and the quickening raindrops were too compelling to deny. She nodded. They pushed through the double doors together and ended up inside.

Vanessa couldn’t deny she was attracted to the man. She loved that he was taller than she. At five eleven, it was often a challenge to find a man whose height surpassed her own. Even with the two-inch stilettos she wore, he was still taller. He made her feel petite, which was an alien feeling. She wanted him and that was damned dangerous considering how emotionally vulnerable she was right now.