Tangled in Tulle: Tulle and Tulips, Book 1 (4 page)

Lori’s exhaustion lifted away as her spirit was buoyed by the cheerful gift. “Who sent that?”

Mitchell shook his head and placed the ridiculous rat on the floor by her chair before leaving. Few of Trevor’s security experts—all former military—had a sense of humor.

A note was pinned to the rat’s collar.

From one rat in the race to another I can’t wait to see how you’ve transformed the place. Be back soon. Yours.

“How is a woman not supposed to fall for a guy who does these things?”

“She doesn’t fight it if she’s smart,” Misty said.

“He’s engaged to someone else.”

Misty snorted again. “He isn’t going to marry Randy.”

“And yet she came by the other day to see sketches of the wedding.”

That visit had come when Lori had just settled down to work on some dress sketches she intended to frame and hang throughout the store. Taking the chance to get the bride’s insights and opinions had been an exercise in frustration. Randy deflected every question with something like “I think Trevor’s got the right idea” or “I’m just not a flowery kind of girl, so I’d trust you with that.”

When Lori had shown her the sketches of the dresses for the bride and wedding party she’d been working on Randy claimed to love them all and once again deflected with “which is your favorite?” Predictably, whichever one Lori suggested was the one Randy fell in love with.

“Did she tell you straight out it was her wedding?”

“She didn’t say it wasn’t.”

She’d liked Randy, but spending time with her had Lori wondering why Trevor had chosen her. They seemed to have little in common and Randy would never see the humor in being sent a giant rat.

Fingering the rhinestone bejeweled collar winking at her, Lori smiled. It was entirely like Trevor to deliver a note in some unexpected way. Or it had been when she’d been at Madame V’s. More than once she’d found notes hidden in her clothes or car after leaving him. Once he’d programmed a message to appear on her phone’s main screen and another time he’d found her laptop in her car and set a message to pop up like an error message. Only it had said how much he’d enjoyed their time together. It too had been signed “
Yours”
. She’d never figured out how he pulled them off. He claimed outrageousness kept people guessing and that wasn’t always a bad thing.

“Are you going to go to him?”

Misty’s laughing question pulled Lori back to the present to find her friend swiveling her chair left and right with a sex-me-up smirk cocking her cherry-glossed lips for the benefit of the delivery men. One of them would surely take her up on the offer before they left. They’d also believe she was as shallow as she played.

“Of course you will,” Misty went on. “No one else could thrill you and hurt you all at once and without appearing.”

Lori pulled her hand away from the gift. “I am neither thrilled not hurt by Trevor.”

“Says the woman wiping the grin off her face and trying to mask the upset in her eyes because she stupidly believes the man she loves is marrying someone else.”

“I do
not
love him.”
Can’t.
“If I’m upset, it’s thanks to my business partner’s disregard for his fiancée.”

“Doubtful.”

Lori slitted her eyes at Misty. It was a look she had mastered in her former life, a look that always got her the truth. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Simply put, it means I’m not sure I believe you. In fact, I know I don’t. Which delivery guy do you think I should ask out?” she asked in a rapid and hushed sidebar as the two guys headed out again.

Lori opened her mouth with defenses dancing on her tongue. Misty raised a single finger, effectively silencing her.

“Never mind on all counts. I know you’ve had a rough, hell, a downright shitty life until recently. I’ve known you longer than anyone. Long enough to have an idea of what happened in the job you had, the job that almost killed you. I accept you have secrets you’ll never share.”

“But?” She didn’t want to think about what Misty had gleaned, so she zeroed in on the moment and what Misty would say next. Misty never let an argument go when she thought she was right. There’d be no stopping her now that she’d started.

“But I’m not as dense as you try to pretend.” Misty rubbed the rat’s raised paws before twining one of the many ribbons around the same finger she’d shushed Lori with. “Trevor is more than your business partner.”

“No.”

“He’s the man you were falling in love with a few months ago.”

“You’re wrong.” They hadn’t talked about what had happened, about Lori being held captive and tortured on a mission, but Misty’s word choice suggested she knew more than Lori had divulged.

“He’s the man who knows you well enough to know a traditional bouquet of flowers wouldn’t impact you.”

“You spin pretty tales.”

“He’s the man helping to make your dreams come true.”

“It’s business.” She wouldn’t buy her own arguments if she stitched them in hidden seams of satin and tulle.

“Not entirely on his part.” Misty stood and set a balloon to dancing with a thump. The others instantly joined in. “But you keep lying to yourself if it helps.”

“He’s asked me to plan his wedding. If he has any feelings for me or his fiancée he won’t send me anything else.”

“A point I’m sure you’ll make clear. Just know which side of it you’re hoping is true before you blast him.” Misty sauntered out with her parting shot hanging in the air.

Lori’s heart sped as her blood hammered faster and faster and faster. Misty was right. It was time to set Trevor Masters straight.

“He asked not to be disturbed.”

Trevor glanced up from his computer, eavesdropped on Gina in the outer office. He’d intended to shower off the week of travel, but had been sidetracked by a panicky phone call and the need to send an emergency email. Closed in the privacy of his office he only bothered wrapping a towel around his waist.

Now sidetracked again, he waited to see who Gina was speaking to and how she’d handle it. He only waited a couple beats.

“Then he shouldn’t have insisted on a partnership with me.”

He grinned, easily picturing the scene in his office waiting area. Judging by the shift of their voices, Gina had positioned herself between Lori and his door. And if Lori’s tone was a clear indicator, she was rediscovering her fire. She certainly didn’t
sound
like the uncertain, nearly defeated shell of herself she’d been the last times he’d seen her.

“I’m sorry,” Gina said. “You will have to come back later.”

“No.”

After hitting “send” on the email, he tightened the towel at his waist and moved around the desk, eyeing the door, half hoping Lori listened to Gina and half hoping she bulldozed inside. Something about her gave him the impression Gina would never know how she’d been bested and why he thought that was one of the many mysteries of Lori he wanted to solve.

“Ms. Mullins.”

“Gina,” Lori stated, mirroring Gina’s calmly modulated tone.

“I have my orders.”

“And still I suggest you move. Or I will move you. Either way I am going in.” She paused for a long moment between each statement, giving Gina a chance to respond.

Trevor glanced between the main door and the door to the bathroom which led to his private apartment. Lori was one of few people privy to the set up. Mostly naked, there would be no escaping her if she got past Gina.

Assuming he was interested in escape, which he wasn’t.

Again calculating the distance he knew well, he considered darting to the bathroom and dropping the towel. If she was going to disturb him she may as well be disturbed.

“I’ll tell him you put up a good fight,” Lori said from just beyond the door. Silent and slow, the knob turned.

Glancing down at the towel, he shrugged and leaned against the nearest chair. If she had issues seeing him without his clothes she’d learn to listen to Gina. He’d have to consider how such an issue played into his plans. His bride-to-be couldn’t take issue with his nudity.

“Trevor.” She addressed him before she was even in the office. “I need—”

Her words died as she flung the door wide. Her mouth dropped. She stumbled to a halt. For the first time since her return she failed to hide her reaction. Instant arousal, judging by her eyes.

Gina silently closed the door, essentially imprisoning him and Lori together. He restrained himself. Instead of reaching out to her and answering her desire, he crossed his arms over his chest. Instead of listening to the wails of his body calling out to her, he sought her gaze as directly as he would any opponent.

“How can I make your day better, Lori?”

Her mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. Closed again. She stuck her hands in her pockets where she fisted and unfisted them judging from the shifting of her pants.

Trevor said nothing. Only waited, more pleased than a wolf scenting his life mate. Like a wolf, his body quivered until each hair follicle became a sensory receiver in the chilled breeze from the air conditioner. Lavender and mint. As if she’d just stepped from a garden or kitchen, her sweet scent sauntered around him, brushed teasing caresses over him until goose bumps took over his skin.

“You need to stop.” She sounded far from strong in her conviction. Whatever her conviction was about.

“Stop what?”
Dreaming of you? Wanting you more than before?

“Stop whatever it is you’re up to. You sent me balloons.” The last was a verbal foot stomp.

“Ah.” He’d confused her. “I can’t do that.”

The woman who’d testified against her former bosses and tormentors before slipping into darkness—he’d coaxed a few more details out of Breck—deserved to find joy again.

“Do it anyway.” Her tone strengthened. She advanced on him—slowly—no longer distracted to the point of wide-eyed speechlessness by his near nudity. “You have me planning your wedding. You shouldn’t be sending me gifts or trying to lure me into falling for you again.”

Her voice rose fractionally with each syllable of her tirade.

“What is so wrong with falling for me, Lori?” He raised a brow, thrilled at how quickly his gift had gotten her riled. Damn if he wasn’t going to poke the lioness a bit and dare her into revealing her feelings. “You never complained the first time.”

“This is different. Randy wasn’t around then.” She blanched and rocked back as if she’d been struck. “Was she?” Disgust darkened her demand. “Was Randy around? Were you playing us both? Is that how you came to be engaged so soon? That’s it.”

“It makes sense.” She shook her head and sneered. “You bastard.”

She lunged, landing a solid uppercut to his jaw before he could defend against her. His teeth clacked together.

“Lori.” He grappled for her wrists, barely thwarting a second hit when the towel slipped and he grabbed for it. “Stop.”

“You son of a bitch.” She punctuated her driving words with punches, some of which he blocked one-handed. Others he let go for the sake of keeping the towel secure at his waist.
 

“I thought you were a better man.”

More than a little surprised by her hand-to-hand abilities, and a little tired of defending against her, he released the towel, gripped her arms tightly just above her elbows and yanked her forward. The towel loosened, but until he let her go it would stay in place.

“Stop.” He pinned her close, fighting the urge to roll his overly-aware-of-her dick against her.

“You suck.”

Not how I’d like.
“You’re wrong.”

“Bullshit. You’re only a player. A lousy, predictable, pus—”

He seized her mouth in a kiss and held nothing back. He let his hurt and loneliness, love and confusion, desire and sadness pour forth. When she gasped for a breath, his tongue sought the inner haven of her mouth, where he found a slice of heaven he’d been missing, and thwarted any insults remaining in her arsenal.

She’d misunderstood his intentions about the wedding, but the misunderstanding had led her here. Into his arms with fire flashing inside and igniting her spirit. Damn if he’d let her go.

When the tension in her petite curves finally uncoiled and she relaxed into him, when she allowed herself to enjoy his touch, when she began to kiss him in return, he straightened. Only an inch or two separated their mouths, a space easily conquered again, yet it felt more like miles.

Not sure he could trust her to resist wailing on him some more, he retained his grip on her arms. At some point she’d rested her hands on his hips, just above the towel. Though she probably gave the contact no thought, his body noticed and responded with racing tingles radiating from beneath her hands.

“I’m not a player, Lori.”

“Bull.”

“Yes, I asked you to plan my wedding.”

“No shit.”

He rolled over her. “But Randy is only an employee.”

“One you’re very friendly with.”

“I’m friendly with all my employees, but I’ve never been
friendly
with any of them.” Definitely not as friendly as he’d been with her. Or wanted to be. Friendly enough to be rewarded with her smile, her laugh, the humor she shared with few. Friendly enough to be granted mornings, nights and stolen afternoons to pleasure her and make the birthmark on her hip dance with her quivering skin.

She leaned her torso away to see him better. Suspicion glared up at him. “Then who are you marrying? I’ll have to meet her before we go much farther in the plans.”

Here it was. The risk-it-all-though-the-house-didn’t-hold-the-strongest-cards moment. The moment he’d thought he’d be dressed for. Now, his vulnerability was huge. If she ran he couldn’t give chase. If she refused him with any finality in her tone… He’d have to honor her wishes. He loved her too much to not, even if it meant shredding his heart. Both scenarios sucked.

“You, Lori. I intend to marry you.”

Chapter Five

You, Lori. I intend to marry you.

Trevor’s words, spoken as plainly as when he’d agreed to back her business looped in her buzzing brain. Around and around and around they flipped and flopped, zipped and zagged through her head mixed with the cacophony of her slamming pulse.