The Charmer (14 page)

With any other woman, he might have turned on the charm and lavished compliments to soothe her insecurities. But as he grew to care about Tenley, Alex realized that they needed to have honesty between them.

“There are great art schools in Chicago, too,” he said. “And you’re good enough to get into a top-notch program, Tenley. Sure, you haven’t had a lot of experience, but you do have talent.”

“I couldn’t move,” she said distractedly, her attention still focused on her sketch. “My grandfather is here. He needs my help. Besides, I have my cabin and my animals. I couldn’t bring them to Chicago.”

Though Alex had considered what the future might hold for them, he’d never really appreciated her ties to this place. She was living in a paradise and he couldn’t blame her for not wanting to leave. He’d only spent a few days here and he didn’t want to leave either. What was Chicago compared to the beauty of this place?

“They have seminars at the Art Institute. You could come for a few days. Meet everyone at the office. Maybe do some publicity shots. You could stay with me.”

“I want to try another pose,” she said, changing the subject. “Turn to the side and lean back against the post.” She stared at him for a long moment. “Put your right leg forward a bit and then hold on to the post with your left hand.”

For the next hour, she sketched, posing him in different
positions and then quickly completing the drawing. She tossed aside the pencil for charcoal and then switched to pastels.

“All right,” she finally said. “You can get dressed.”

“You’re finished?”

Tenley stared at the drawings scattered across her table. “I think I can do this,” she said breathlessly. “I’m not as bad as I thought I was.”

“You’re sure you want me to get dressed?”

Tenley grinned. “Yes. Well, only if you want to. If you prefer to work like that, then you can stay naked.”

“We’re going to work now?”

“Yes,” she said in a gloomy voice. “You’re going to tell me what’s wrong with my novel and I’m going to try to fix it.” She jumped up. “You do need to get dressed. It’s too distracting having you sitting around here naked.” She walked over to him and smoothed her hand from his belly to his cock.

Alex groaned as he closed his eyes, waiting for the involuntary reaction that came from her touch. Though he wanted nothing more than to make love to her, he had a choice to make. She was willing to talk business now. So sex would have to wait until later.

Turning away from her touch, Alex pulled on his boxers and jeans and then slipped into his shirt, not bothering to button it. “All right. The first thing, and this is going to be big—we’re going to have to redraw everything. Your friend has the original, but even that is a little too rough. We’re going to print at a high resolution, so everything has to be very clean.”

“That’s going to take a long time. I’d have to draw it oversized in order to get it just perfect.”

“No, we’ll scan it into a computer and have our graphic artist clean it up. But there are some parts that will need additional drawings and changes to the story.”

Tenley took a deep breath. “Why don’t we start with those changes first?”

Alex pulled up a stool and sat down next to her. He grabbed her hand. He pressed a kiss to the back of her wrist. This was actually going to happen. Tenley was going to sell her book to him and he was going to make her famous. He was also going to make her a lot of money. But it wasn’t that thought that thrilled him. It was the fact that he and Tenley would always have a connection.

Over the next two hours, they worked together, going over the editor’s notes, discussing the production process, arguing about the plot and drawings needed to flesh out the story.

For the first time since Alex arrived, he saw Tenley excited about the possibility of her novel being published. And he was grateful he was the one to make it happen. It was so easy to make her happy. It didn’t require a huge bank account or a fancy apartment or the promise of a comfortable life or social status, things the other women he knew were always searching for.

Tenley responded to kindness and encouragement. Something terrible must have happened to make her so unsure of herself, Alex mused. Though he only knew the barest details of her brother’s death, he was determined to learn more.

He wanted to know every tiny detail of her life, everything that made her the woman she was. He wanted to be the man who understood her the best. He wanted to be the man she turned to when she felt frightened or overwhelmed or lonely.

Making himself indispensable to Tenley Marshall was a huge task. But Alex was afraid of the consequences if he didn’t. For it was becoming more and more evident that Tenley needed to be a permanent part of his life.

T
ENLEY RUBBED
her eyes, then pinched them shut. She knew she ought to just set the work aside and get some sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, doubts began to plague her.

It was simple to feel good about herself when Alex was standing behind her, cheering her on. But without him, all her insecurities rushed back. How would she ever do this on her own? Nothing she drew would ever be good enough. She’d always find fault.

Tossing the drawing pad on the floor, she flopped back into the leather sofa. This was entirely his fault. Until she’d taken him home during the storm, she’d been perfectly happy with her life. She found her work at her grandfather’s gallery satisfying and her free time was spent in relaxing pursuits, not frantically trying to make something out of nothing.

Grabbing the throw from the back of the sofa, she lay down and tucked it up around her chin, staring at the dying embers of the fire. She felt caught in a familiar dream. Tommy was on the phone and he was trying to tell her where he was. She’d scribbled down
the directions, but they’d be wrong, so she’d start, again and again and again, never getting it quite right.

Her heart would begin to race and her hands would sweat as she became more and more frantic. Finally, faced with her ineptitude, he’d hang up. She felt tears press at the corners of her eyes. Would she ever be able to let go of what had happened? Somehow, Tenley knew her guilt over her brother’s death was holding her back. She couldn’t change the past, but was she strong enough to change her future?

Alex had put his trust and faith in her abilities as an artist and a writer. He claimed she had a real talent. Tenley had heard those words a million times from her parents and from her grandparents, but she’d never believed them. They were merely trying to make her whole again.

But Alex was a stranger, someone who didn’t know about her past. He could be objective. She pushed up on her elbow and stared at the crumpled paper scattered on the floor. She’d just have to try again.

“Tenley?”

She sat up and watched as Alex wandered through the kitchen and into the great room. “I’m here.”

“What time is it? What are you doing up?”

“I was just working. Trying to figure out these new scenes for my story.”

He stood in front of her, his naked body gleaming in the soft light from the fire. He ran his hand through his hair, then sighed. “Is everything all right?”

“Sure,” she said. Tenley felt emotion well up in her throat, but she swallowed it back. “Everything is fine.”

He sat down beside her, slipping his arm around her shoulders. “Sweetheart, don’t worry about this. I don’t expect you to finish it in one night. Or one month. You can take your time. I’ll wait.”

A tear slipped from the corner of her eye and she quickly brushed it away before he could see. But from his worried expression, Tenley could tell she hadn’t been quick enough. “Sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m just exhausted.”

“Talk to me.”

“It’s nothing. I’m just having a little meltdown. I’m tired and cranky and frustrated.”

“Go ahead,” he said. “You can melt in front of me if you want.”

Another tear slipped from her eye, but this time she let it run down her cheek. “Really?”

He nodded, then pulled her closer. Tenley sobbed as the tears suddenly broke through her defenses. Nuzzling her face into his naked chest, she let them fall, the emotion draining out of her with each ragged breath.

For Alex’s part, he simply sat beside her, smoothing his hand over her hair and whispering soft words against her temple. She clung to him as tightly as she could, as if his presence would somehow save her from her feelings. Then, slowly, the sadness dissolved, replaced by relief and resignation. She’d allowed her emotions to overwhelm her and she’d survived.

“Better?” he asked.

Tenley nodded. “God, I feel like such a dope. Look at this mess. I couldn’t sleep and I just worked myself
into a panic.” She pressed her hand against his chest and looked up into his eyes. “I don’t know why you like me. I’m a mess.”

“You’re not a mess,” he said.

“I’ve made so many mistakes in my life, Alex. I let so much slip away. I should have listened to my parents. I should have gone to college. I should have studied art. Everything would have been different.”

“But maybe not better,” Alex said.

“What do you mean?”

“That story you wrote came from your life as it was, from the pain you felt at the time. If you’d done things differently, that story might never have come out.”

She sniffled, brushing at her damp cheeks. “I don’t know. I tried to be strong, but it was so much easier to just avoid thinking about it. I didn’t want to make my parents happy, I didn’t want to plan for my future. I just wanted to grieve. And I did, in the only way I knew how.”

“That was the right thing for you to do, Tenley. You have to let these things take their natural course. You can’t be something you aren’t.”

“My life should have begun when I graduated from high school or college. But it feels like it’s beginning now. And that scares me. I’m twenty-six years old.”

“It doesn’t scare me. You can hold on to me as long as you need to.”

“You’re a really nice guy,” she murmured, pressing a kiss to his chest. “Did anyone ever tell you that?”

“No. I think you’re the first.”

Tenley laughed. “Really?”

“You’re the only one that matters,” he said in a quiet voice. Alex took her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Come on. Leave this for later and come back to bed.”

Tenley shook her head. She’d only lie awake and stare at the ceiling until dawn. She needed something to occupy her mind. “I won’t be able to sleep.”

“I know what will relax you,” he said. Alex stood and pulled her to her feet. “A nice, hot bath.”

“You’re going to give me a bath?”

“Well, I thought we’d give each other a bath. Then we’d go back to bed and sleep until we couldn’t sleep anymore.”

Intrigued by the suggestion, Tenley followed him to the bathroom and sat on the toilet seat as he filled the old claw-foot tub. She fetched her shampoo and soap from the shower stall and grabbed a washcloth from the rack on the wall.

When the tub was full, Alex undressed her, pulling her T-shirt off over her head and skimming her pajama bottoms to the floor. He held her hand as she stepped over the edge and slowly settled herself.

Then she leaned forward and held out her hand. “There’s room for you, too.”

Alex stepped in behind her, her body tucked neatly between his thighs. She leaned back against his chest and closed her eyes. “This is perfect.”

“Yeah, it is,” he said. “I need to get a bathtub at my apartment. A big one, just like this.”

“Tell me about your place,” she said.

“I live in a two-flat in Wicker Park,” he said. “I have the second and third floor and I have tenants who live downstairs. It’s an old house, built at the turn of the century. But I’ve renovated it inside. It’s comfortable, but it’s not as nice as this.” He ran his hands through her hair. “This is like a home. It’s warm and cozy. I like it here.”

“When do you have to go back?” she asked.

“I was supposed to leave for a vacation in Mexico on Wednesday, but I missed my flight. I was planning to be gone through Monday, so I guess I’d have to leave Monday night?”

“That gives us four more days,” she said.

“And three more nights,” he said. “Doesn’t seem like a long time, does it?”

“I’m sorry you had to miss your vacation,” Tenley said.

“I’m not. This is the best vacation I’ve ever had.”

She turned over, pressing her palms to his chest as she looked into his eyes. When she’d first met Alex, he’d been so charming, it had been difficult to believe anything he said. But now, as she lay in his arms, Tenley saw the real man beneath the charm, the sweet, considerate, affectionate guy that every girl wanted.

“I could fall asleep in this tub.”

“Don’t do that. You’d wake up all wrinkled.” He scooped water into his hands and poured it over her hair, smoothing the damp strands away from her face. “There. I like you just like this.”

“How is that?”

“With your hair out of your face, so I can see your
pretty blue eyes and your perfect nose.” He bent closer and kissed her, tracing the shape of her mouth with his tongue. “And your lips.”

“Do you realize that we’ve only known each other for just over three days?” Tenley asked.

“No, it’s been longer than that,” he said.

“Monday night. It’s Friday morning.”

He seemed stunned by the revelation. “That’s… amazing.” Alex drew in a sharp breath, then grabbed her hips. “Sit up. I’ll wash your hair.”

Tenley chuckled. “Slave boy has returned.”

“Your wish is my command,” he said, grabbing the bottle from the floor next to the tub. He tipped her head back and rubbed a small amount of the shampoo into her hair. “I think I need to get some of this. So when I’m back home, I can smell it and think of you.”

It was difficult to imagine what her life would be like once he left. He’d changed everything for her. He’d carved out a place in her world and he fit perfectly. She had four days and three nights to prepare herself—to convince herself she could live without him.

It would be difficult to do when every moment they spent together seemed to be more perfect than the last. But Alex had taught her one thing. She was a lot stronger than she’d thought she was.