The Charmer (9 page)

No, it wasn’t that easy. His first instinct wasn’t to put business first. He wanted to choose Tenley. The notion startled him. He’d never made a woman the priority in his life. Beyond his sisters and his mother, women were pretty much a temporary distraction. Work always came first.

Alex shook his head. Maybe it was time to start thinking about business. He crossed the room to the phone, then picked it up and dialed the office. When the receptionist answered, he asked for his sister’s extension.

“Where have you been?” she asked. “I’ve been ringing your cell and it kept bouncing through to your voice mail. I’ve called all the hospitals up there thinking you got into some kind of accident.”

“I’m sorry. I lost my cell in a snowbank and I spent the night with the Good Samaritan who rescued me from the ditch. My car got hit by a snowplow and I
haven’t had a chance to talk to this artist yet. So, I’m going to be here for a while.”

“Sounds like you’ve had a very exciting twenty-four hours,” she said.

“You wouldn’t believe it,” he said. “I need you to overnight another cell phone to me. Send it to the Harbor Inn in Sawyer Bay. Then find a place for me to rent a car. And have them deliver it to the inn. On second thought, rent an SUV. Once I get into town, I’ll try to find a wireless network and I’ll pick up my mail.”

“What’s your number at the inn?” Tess asked.

“I’m not there yet. I probably won’t be until tomorrow morning.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m staying with this…with T. J. Marshall’s granddaughter.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Tess said. “So things are going well?”

“That’s debatable,” he said. “And a very long story to tell. But, I should be at the inn sometime tomorrow. I’ll call you then.”

He set the phone down, then picked up his book from the sofa.
Walden
was one of his favorite books and obviously one of Tenley’s as well. She had written notes in the margins and he found drawings at the ends of chapters. Frowning, he walked over to the bookshelves that flanked the fireplace.

He’d noticed the eclectic selection of literature and was quite impressed. But the books hadn’t been hers originally. Most of them held copyrights from the 1950s
and earlier. The library had probably belonged to her grandfather.

He plucked out a copy of
Jane Eyre
and flipped through it, noticing the notes and drawings. If he looked hard enough, he could see hints of the artist who had drawn Cyd. Alex grabbed another book,
The Catcher in the Rye,
and opened it, only to find a drawing of a young girl on the title page.

The parallels were there to see. In the eyes and in the hands. T. J. Marshall had drawn these sketches and he’d drawn the graphic novel. But according to Tenley, her grandfather only painted landscapes. She’d been adamant that the novel wasn’t his work.

Something wasn’t right. He wasn’t getting the whole story, and Tenley was standing in the way. She worked at her grandfather’s gallery. Was she afraid that publishing an edgy graphic novel might hurt his reputation as a serious painter? If that was the case, they could publish under a pseudonym.

Alex needed to meet this man and make his proposal. If the roads were clear, then he’d have Tenley take him into town. If not, he’d go tomorrow morning. But he was definitely not sleeping with Tenley tonight. There was every chance that she was deliberately distracting him.

“Definitely not,” Alex repeated. He grabbed the copy of Thoreau and sat down on the sofa. But as he tried to pick up where he’d left off, Alex’s thoughts kept returning to Tenley. Sleeping in separate rooms seemed like a good plan, but in reality, he’d have a serious problem
staying in his room. And if she crawled into bed with him, then all bets were off.

No, he’d have to get back to town tonight. If Tenley wouldn’t take him, then he’d call a cab. Perhaps the inn had a shuttle service.

Over the next half hour, Alex tried to focus on reading, but he found himself walking back and forth to the window, peering out at Tenley as she ran the tractor up and down the driveway. He’d never known a woman who could drive a tractor. But then, he wondered if there was anything Tenley couldn’t do for herself. She seemed like the kind of woman who didn’t need a man.

When she parked the tractor near the shed and started back toward the house, Alex returned to the sofa and opened his book. She burst through the door, brushing snow off her jacket and stamping her feet on the rug.

“Get your things together,” she said. “The road is plowed. I’ll take you into town.” She opened the closet door and pulled out a down jacket. “Wear this. You’ll need something warm. And find a hat. It’s still windy.”

With that, she turned and walked back outside, slamming the door behind her. Alex stared after her. “I guess I will be sleeping alone tonight, after all.” He wouldn’t have to worry about controlling his desires. Somehow, he’d rather that the decision had been his.

Alex went back to the guest room and gathered his things, then found the pair of boots he’d worn out to the sauna. When he was dressed against the cold, Alex
walked out onto the porch, expecting to find Tenley waiting there with her SUV. But the woods were eerily silent.

He hiked down to the shed, calling her name, the sound of his voice echoing through the trees. As he passed the barn, he noticed her inside. She was working with one of her horses.

“I’m ready,” he said, dropping his duffel on the ground.

“I’ll just be a few minutes.”

“Tenley, I don’t want you to think that I’m angry with you. I can understand why you might want to protect your grandfather’s reputation.”

She gave him a perplexed look. “All right,” she said. “You have business to do and sleeping with me is probably just a distraction. It’s better that you go.”

“You’re not a distraction,” he said, contradicting what he’d been thinking earlier. “I don’t regret the time we spent together. Or anything we did. Do you?”

She smiled and shook her head. “No. I liked having sex with you.”

He caught her gaze and held it. Was that all it had been to her? Just sex? “Do you want me to stay the night?”

“You don’t have to,” she said. “The roads are plowed.”

“That’s not the point,” Alex countered. “I’m asking if you want me to stay another night.”

“Have you ever taken a sleigh ride?” she asked, striding out of the barn, the horse following her. She handed him the reins. “Hold these.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Tenley smiled. “Minnie needs exercise and the roads are perfect. They’re covered with snow so they’re nice and smooth. It’ll be fun.” She walked to a large sliding door on the side of the barn and pulled it open to reveal a small sleigh. Then she took the reins from his hands and deftly hitched the horse to the sleigh.

“Hop in,” she said, leading Minnie toward him. “You can toss your things in the back.”

When they were both settled in the sleigh, a thick wool blanket tucked around their legs, Tenley snapped the reins against Minnie’s back and the sleigh slid out into the yard. The horse took the hill up to the road without breaking stride and before long, they were skimming over the snowy road at a brisk pace.

The horse’s hooves were muffled by the hard-packed snow. Alex drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, listening to the hiss of the runners beneath them. He glanced over at Tenley, the reins twisted in her hands, her gaze fixed intently on the road.

She was amazing. He’d had more new experiences with her in the past twenty-four hours than he had in the past year of his life. How could he ever forget her? And why would he want to? He scanned the features of her face, outlined by the afternoon sun.

It was all so breathtaking—her beauty, the sparkling snow, the blue sky and the crisp silence of the winter evening. She glanced over at him. But this time, she didn’t smile. Their gazes locked for a moment and he leaned over and dropped a kiss on her lips. “This is nice.”

“My grandfather used to take my brother and me out after snowstorms. We’d bundle up and my mother would make us a thermos of hot cocoa and off we’d go. We’d sing and laugh and my face would get so cold it would hurt. It’s one of my favorite childhood memories.”

“I can see why. It’s fun. Does he live around here?”

“My grandfather lives in town. I told you, he has a gallery—”

“I meant your brother,” Alex corrected.

An odd expression crossed her face. Alex wasn’t quite sure how to read it. She looked confused and then sad. Tenley shook her head. “No. He died.”

Alex was shocked by her reply. He’d come to believe he knew most of the basic facts about Tenley. But what he’d pieced together obviously still had a lot of holes. Very big holes. “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“No, it’s all right. Nobody ever mentions him around me. I’m just not used to talking about him.” She pasted a bright smile on her face. “People think I’m…fragile. I’m not, you know.”

“I can see that,” Alex replied. “I don’t know a single woman who can drive a sleigh
and
a tractor. Or run naked through the snow.”

“People also think I’m crazy,” she said. “You’ll probably hear a lot of that when you’re in town.”

He slipped his arm around her and pulled her body against his. “I like crazy.” Alex paused. “I’m going to see your grandfather tomorrow. I’m hoping to convince him to let me publish his novel.”

“I know,” she said.

“And then, after he’s signed a contract with me, I’m going to come back out here for another sleigh ride.”

They passed the rest of the trip in complete silence. As they drove into town, Alex was struck by the fact that he’d spent an entire day away from what he considered the conveniences of civilization. There were people driving on the streets and lights that seemed a bit too bright and clocks confirming what the sun had already told him—the day was coming to an end. And it was noisy.

He fought the temptation to grab the reins from Tenley and turn the sleigh around. Their time together had been such a nice respite from his real life, much better than a week at his family’s beach condo in Mexico.

They wove through the narrow streets of town, snow piled high and nearly obscuring their view of the white clapboard buildings. She pulled the sleigh to a stop. “I don’t know where you were planning to stay,” she said. “But this is the nicest place in town. Ask Katie for the big room at the top of the stairs. It has a fireplace.”

He caught sight of the sign hanging from the porch. “Bayside Bed and Breakfast,” he said. “I had a reservation at the Harbor Inn.”

“This is better. Katie Vanderhoff makes cinnamon rolls in the morning.” She twisted the reins around a ring near her feet, then jumped out of the sleigh.

Alex followed her around to the back, then grabbed his things from the luggage box. “Thanks for everything. For saving me from the storm, for taking me in and feeding me.”

“No problem,” she said.

This wasn’t going to be easy, saying goodbye to her. Alex didn’t like the prospect of spending the night alone in bed. Nor did he want this to be the end. “Let’s have dinner tomorrow. I’m going to be staying another night and you probably know of a nice place.”

She hesitated, then nodded. “Sure. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Tenley turned to walk toward the sleigh, but Alex didn’t want her to leave.

He dropped his things onto the snowy sidewalk, then caught up to her and grabbed her hand. He pulled her against him, his mouth coming down on hers, softly at first, then urgently, as if he needed to leave her with something memorable. Alex searched for a clue to her feelings in the softness of her lips and the taste of her tongue.

She surrendered immediately, her arms slipping around his neck. Time stood still and, for a few moments, Alex felt himself relax. She still wanted him, as much as he wanted her. So why the hell were they spending the night apart?

“Stay with me,” he said.

“I can’t. I have to take Minnie back. And if I stay here, the whole town will know by tomorrow morning. They already spend too much time talking about me.” She pushed up on her toes and kissed him again. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With that, she hopped back into the sleigh and grabbed the reins. The horse leaped into a brisk walk when she slapped the reins against the mare’s back and
Alex watched as she disappeared around the corner. A sense of loneliness settled in around him.

Suddenly exhausted, Alex picked up his things and walked up to the porch. When he got inside, he rang the bell at the front desk. A moment later, an elderly woman stepped through a door and greeted him.

“I need a place to stay,” Alex said. “I’m told that I should ask for the big room at the top of the stairs.”

“Have you had friends that have spent time with us?” she asked.

“No. Tenley Marshall suggested this place.”

The woman blinked in surprise. “You’re a friend of Tenley’s?”

“Yes. Is the room available?”

She nodded. “How is Tenley? I haven’t seen her recently. She used to work for me when she was a teenager. But that was before all that sadness.” She drew a sharp breath and shook her head, then forced a smile. “I’m glad to know she has a friend.”

Alex frowned. Though he wasn’t one to pry into other people’s private affairs, he believed he had a right to know a little more about the woman who had seduced him. “Yes,” he said. “I heard about all that. You’d think after all this time—how long has it been?”

“Oh, gosh. Ten years? She was fifteen or sixteen. They were a pair, those two. Joined at the hip from the moment they were born. And you’ve never seen such beautiful children. That black hair and those pale blue eyes. You’d never recognize her now with all that silly makeup.”

“I think she’s beautiful,” Alex said, feeling the need to defend Tenley.

She blinked in surprise. “Well, that’s lovely.” A smile slowly suffused her entire face. “Let’s get you registered and then I’ll show you your room.”

Though he was tempted to ask more, Alex decided to bide his time. He didn’t want to give the town gossips any more to chat about.

T
ENLEY CAREFULLY
maneuvered the sleigh down the narrow streets to the harbor. Before long, the salt trucks would be out and the snow would melt away, making it impossible to use the sled. They could have brought her truck, but Tenley had wanted time to talk to him, to tell him the entire truth.