Tall, Dark And Daring. Joanne Rock

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      If she could keep things professional between them for one week, she’d fulfill the dare and she’d be free and clear of Mitch, of Lake Placid, of her marketing job. She could start fresh with her sedate life next Monday, go online with her small clothing venture and forget this entire mishap.

      Forget Mitch?

      She tossed the file on the dresser and turned to the wrinkled clothing selections in her suitcase. Why had she ever agreed to spend the last week of her job in Lake Placid?

      As she combed out her damp hair, Tessa noticed her watch read six-thirty. She had just enough time to rest her eyes before her appointment with Mitch at seven. She deserved a few minutes of downtime after her ten-hour trek to the Adirondacks and three-hour cramming session to develop Mitch’s marketing plan. She’d been running on too little sleep all weekend.

      Flinging aside her towel, Tessa slid between the taut sheets of the hotel bed and smiled. She snuggled into the embrace of flannel blankets and down pillows and tried not to think how much better her free time would be spent right now if she had a gorgeous man to massage her feet. A gorgeous man with gray eyes and the power to steal her breath.

      Tessa squeezed her eyes closed more tightly, hoping to will away images of Mitch. Still, the tickle of cool sheets against her bare skin sent her mind on a vivid replay of this afternoon’s meeting. Especially the first few minutes when he’d been soaking wet and half naked. All those hours on the slopes had given him a washboard stomach and thighs like iron.

      If memory served—and she knew darn well it did—the rest of him was equally impressive.

      Of course she shouldn’t be visualizing her client in the buff. She wouldn’t get involved with an adrenaline addict again, not when she’d promised herself she would embark on a new era in her life starting with her business venture next week.

      She’d been so hung up on Mitch after she left Lake Placid the first time, she’d ended up married to a man eerily similar to him two years afterward. Her husband had seemed like a reserved man with a quiet banking job, but he’d sought his thrills in the stock market. He’d bankrupted himself, filched Tessa’s credit card and run off with a wealthy figure skater before Tessa knew what hit her.

      Too bad things hadn’t worked out with fiancé number two. Rob had seemed so safe. So rooted.

      So colorless compared to Mitch.

      Yawning, she pulled the bedside clock radio on to her pillow and turned up the volume to prevent herself from sleeping. Why did she have to be attracted to such reckless men?

      Oh, well. None of that mattered right now while she snuggled in the nest of blankets. She didn’t have enough time to nap, and the dreamy love song on the radio defeated the purpose of music in her ear, so she spun the dial until she found a polka station and cranked the volume to full blast.

      No way would she sleep now.

      Or so she thought until she lost herself in sensual dreams. She could feel the heat of Mitch’s hands upon her body, breathe the scent of his skin. They lay entwined on the old love seat in the library, their bodies a tangle of hungry limbs. The back of the love seat knocked a seductive rhythm against the wall.

      Knock. Knock.

      The sound transmuted, mingling with strains of Lawrence Welk.

      “Tessa!” Mitch called her name. Too bad the hoarse cry sounded more like a shout of worry than one of ecstasy.

      Knock. Knock.

      “Tessa!” The object of her dreams shouted to her in time with an accordion riff blaring in her head.

      She tried to blink her way out of her dream.

      The door to her bedroom flew open. Mitch and a middle-aged woman in a maid’s uniform burst into her room.

      “Are you all right?” Mitch’s brow creased in worry. He seated himself beside her and gently shook her bare shoulder. He flipped off the accordion. “The room next door complained about the noise. Sorry about busting in here, but I got worried when you didn’t answer the phone.”

      A shiver tripped through Tessa at his touch. Her dreams were still too close to the surface for her to hide her reaction to him.

      The little maid peeked around Mitch, biting her lip. “She looks okay. Perhaps she was only tired.”

      “Thank God.” His gaze pierced Tessa so deeply she feared he could read her recent wanton thoughts. She might have yanked the covers over her head to escape him if he hadn’t turned away then.

      “Sorry to have bothered you, Daniela.” He nodded to the maid. “Tell your son we’ll resume our practice schedule next week. Joey is really turning into a pro on his snowboard.”

      The woman beamed with maternal pride. “He looks up to you so much. Thank you for all you do for him.”

      Tessa blinked again as the maid left. She tried to gather her thoughts. “What time is it?”

      He dropped down to sit on the edge of the bed and waved the clock radio in front of her nose. “It’s quarter past seven. I was just starting to wonder if you were going to keep our appointment when I got a call about the noise up here.”

      Her sleepiness evaporated as the full impact of Mitch’s presence in her bedroom hit home. He sat so close his thigh pressed against her waist and hip. In light of the awareness zinging through her, the goose down comforter separating them seemed as substantial as a bargain brand tissue.

      She was definitely not dreaming.

      “I guess I fell asleep.” Too many cross-country trips for her clients. Too many Jell-O shots the other night. Only one more week and she’d reclaim her life.

      He barely suppressed a laugh. “How could anyone fall asleep to the musical stylings of a German oom-pah band?”

      She wriggled a few inches away from him in a vain attempt to halt the hormonal overload his thigh had instigated. The fact that she was naked beneath the sheets didn’t help matters, either. If she had to stand much more of this, she’d be wrestling Mitch to the mattress in no time.

      “Sorry I’m late.” She tried to discreetly pull the covers closer to her chin. “If you give me five minutes, I’ll meet you downstairs.”

      She hoped he would take the hint and go before she spontaneously combusted.

      “Are you sure you’re up to it?” He skimmed his hand over her forehead and leaned closer, a wolfish grin spreading over his face. “You feel kind of warm to me.”

      He didn’t know the half of it.

      Those long fingers called to mind the nights he had touched her, teased her in ways she hadn’t experienced before or since.

      Heat kicked through her even though she wasn’t about to let herself be swayed. “I’m fine. I’ll be in the lobby in no time.”

      She waited for him to leave, a prisoner of her nakedness under the covers.

      He straightened but remained on the bed.

      Mitch СКАЧАТЬ