Can't Say No (14 page)

“It isn't very deep.”

“I told you that yesterday. It's probably not much more than knee-high.”

Hesitant violet eyes met his and faltered. “Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.”

“Why not?” Blake asked, beginning to unzip his windbreaker. Audrey's eyes followed his movements with fascination. “It's clear. It might be pretty cold, but we'll hardly notice once we get in.”

He stripped off his windbreaker, then lifted his polo shirt over his head and heard her muffled gasp. “Come on, now. This was your idea.”

“A bad one,” she muttered nervously, backing up as his fingers went to the snap on his jeans. Her eyes were round as they watched him. “Definitely a bad one.”

Suddenly Blake's shoulders shook with laughter. Audrey's eyes immediately narrowed and she glared at him.

“You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?”

“What?”

“You knew this water wouldn't come up to the chest of a three-year-old and you knew I was going to chicken out.”

“It did occur to me that you were setting yourself up for a mighty big risk for a proper young lady.”

Audrey's eyes flashed angrily at his words. “Now you're saying I'm a coward again.”

“No, really. I swear it.” Somehow the laughter didn't add to his credibility. He could see that in her eyes. Those glints of anger were coming back. “I just meant that skinny-dipping didn't seem to be your style.”

“And just what do you think my style is? Boring? Uninteresting? Staid?” She tugged her sweatshirt over her head. “Okay, Mr. Macho, I'll show you.”

“Audrey, wait. You don't have to prove anything to me.”

She kicked off her shoes and stomped toward the stream, the sway of her rear end deliberately taunting him. At the last instant she stripped off her T-shirt. There was no bra, he realized, his gaze riveted to her bare back. Then her jeans and briefs were tugged off in a gesture that made up in speed what it lacked in grace. She never once looked back.

“I have to prove it to me,” she muttered stubbornly and waded into the water.

It was entirely likely they could have heard her screech back in Aspen. “C-c...c-c...cold.” Her teeth were chattering.

Blake stood on the edge of the bank and looked on helplessly, trying to keep his eyes averted from the sheer perfection of her curves. If this was a test for sainthood, he'd never pass. “Audrey, please, come out of there before you catch pneumonia. We don't have any towels.”

“C-c...come and g-g...get me.”

“Audrey!”

In a concession to modesty that turned her lips blue, she sat down in the middle of the stream and glowered at him. He could see the goose bumps from twenty feet away. Stubborn. Barely five feet tall and stubborn as any mule.

“Okay, dammit.” He strode toward her, splashing in the shallow water, soaking his shoes and pants. “You are the most obstinate, pigheaded—”

“Assertive?” Suddenly she grinned at him.

He lifted his eyebrows in mocking agreement. “Assertive woman I have ever met.” He scooped her into his arms and carried her back to shore. “And if you ever do anything that foolish just to prove a point again, I will tan your hide.”

She poked him in the chest. “Don't even think about it.”

He glanced down into her flashing eyes—he didn't dare look lower—and shook his head. “Has it occurred to you that you have a perverse streak in you that could drive a man to madness?”

“Really?” There was an interested gleam in her eyes.

“Don't let it go to your head. I didn't mean it as a compliment.”

“That's okay. I consider it one. Now put me down so I can put my clothes on. I'm frozen clear through.”

“Little wonder.”

“Put me down and turn around.”

“Audrey!”

“Blake!”

Blake plopped her unceremoniously on the ground and turned his back.

“This is ridiculous, you know. It's a little late for the shy maiden routine.”

“A gentleman wouldn't think so.” Her teeth were still chattering, and he whirled back around impatiently, just in time to see her tugging her sweatshirt back into place.

“Sit,” he said gruffly. She gave him a mutinous look, but she sat. He knelt down beside her and picked up one dainty, ice-cold foot and rubbed it gently until the circulation was restored. Then he massaged the other one, his fingers lingering on her ankle where a pulse was beating rapidly. Finally, reluctantly, he released her foot and slipped on her shoes.

He tried very hard not to notice that his actions were having a decided impact on her breathing. If he thought about that, it might lead him to try massaging other parts of her chilled anatomy and then they'd be right back in the same tempting situation they'd been in earlier. It would be far better for the two of them if they didn't touch each other, not until they meant to follow through. A shudder rippled through him at the image that aroused. God help them both, if that didn't happen soon.

“We'd better get back to the balloon,” he said gruffly. “They should be looking for us by now.”

They had just reached the edge of the clearing when they heard the drone of the helicopter overhead. Blake waved and it circled the clearing, then set down in the middle.

The blades of the helicopter had barely stopped whirling when, to his surprise, Harvey's hefty form appeared in the doorway. His hair was rumpled, his clothes bedraggled and there were dark circles under his eyes, but there was no mistaking the energy behind his fury. Blake had never seen the man so irate. He strode toward the two of them like some of avenging angel, waving a handful of newspapers in their direction.

Blake caught Audrey's eyes and winked. “I don't think the coverage was what Harvey expected when he sent you up here.”

“I'll bet it was front page, though,” she retorted with a grin. “That ought to count for something.”

Blake glimpsed Harvey's expression again and shook his head. “I don't think so.”

“Are you two out of your ever-loving minds?” Harvey blustered breathlessly. “Not only have you taken ten years off my life—years I'd been counting on, I might add—but you've been made out to be no better than a couple of irresponsible teenagers. To tell you the truth, I think the press has been too kind. Of all the simpleminded, harebrained things to do.”

“We didn't plan on the storm,” Blake pointed out.

“This mess started long before the rain. I've heard all about it, starting last night on the network news. You!” He thrust an accusing finger in Blake's direction and glowered at him. “I might have expected something like this from you.”

Then he scowled ferociously at Audrey. “But I thought you were a smart lady. Tough, no-nonsense, businesslike. That's why I sent you up here, to keep him under control. I figured if anybody could handle him, you could. Instead, you let this overgrown playboy talk you into going for a joyride in some flimsy contraption that the devil himself wouldn't fly.”

“I was kidnapped,” Audrey said primly in response to Harvey's indignation. She had to avoid Blake's gaze to keep from laughing.

Her announcement definitely took the wind out of Harvey. She could see him trying to process it and decide how the press would deal with that tidbit. Apparently he didn't like what he saw. He sank down on a boulder and stared up at the two of them.

“Kidnapped?” he repeated dismally. “Dear God, Blake, of all the damn fool things to pull. Don't you have enough women in your life without going and kidnapping one of your own employees?”

“I only have one woman in my life,” Blake said very, very quietly. “And I want to thank you for sending her to me. Otherwise yesterday might have been just another balloon race.”

Harvey's eyes widened incredulously. “You're blaming me for this?”

“I'm not blaming you, Harvey. I'm thanking you. Can't you tell the difference?”

“I'm the one who's blaming you,” Audrey inserted. “If you hadn't insisted on my coming up here this weekend in Joe's place, none of this would have happened. I'd be in Hawaii, Blake would have won the race, and you wouldn't have a public relations disaster on your hands.”

“Wait just a minute. You are two grown people, even if you haven't been behaving much like it. You're responsible for your own destinies. This disaster is your doing, not mine. I was down in San Francisco doing my bit for the company by drinking wine that was no better than vinegar.”

He grimaced at the memory, then gazed suspiciously at Audrey. “Didn't you even try to stop him from kidnapping you?”

“Oh, I tried,” she said. Blake nodded. Harvey stared at them in disbelief.

“You must not have tried very hard. I've heard you yell. If you'd done any of that, the police from four counties would have heard you.”

“I yelled. Nobody seemed to take me seriously, least of all Blake.” She shrugged. “Maybe a lot of his women yell.”

Harvey's brows shot up. “Blake, is it? What happened to employee respect for the company president? What happened to Mr. Marshall?” He glared at Blake and added significantly, “Not that you deserve it.”

“I told her she could drop it after I kissed her the first time,” Blake said solemnly, but with a definite twinkle in his eyes.

That brought another horrified groan from Harvey. “Kissed her? You kidnapped her and then you seduced her? A sweet, innocent girl like Audrey?” he said incredulously. “I should have known the minute I heard the two of you were out in the middle of nowhere all alone that something like this would happen. That does it. I quit. Not even I can figure out how to handle this one.”

Blake sat down next to the distraught Harvey, placed an arm around his shoulder and squeezed. “Come on now, Harvey. You don't really want to quit, do you? Think of this as a challenge, an opportunity. The company needs you.”

His voice dropped persuasively. He figured he'd better ooze sincerity or the best PR man in the business was going to walk out in a huff. “I need you.”

Harvey accepted the flattery as his due. “Damn right, you do. But I can't work for a man with the morals of an alley cat. Forget the company's image for the moment. How will I explain this little escapade of yours to Audrey's mother? She's a nice, middle-class, church-going lady, who raised her daughter for a better fate than this.”

“Right. Embroidering samplers,” Blake grumbled under his breath.

Audrey didn't even hear him. She was regarding Harvey in confusion, trying to make sense of his reference to her mother. “What does my mother have to do with anything? You don't even know her.”

“I do now. She's been on the phone with me all night. She's worried sick. She told me if anything happened to her daughter, it would be on my head. She sounded pretty convincing. I see now where you got your temper.”

“Terrific,” she muttered.

“Some guy named Derek's been calling, too. He seemed real concerned.” He studied her with renewed interest. “How come you've never mentioned him?”

A knot formed in her stomach and she ground out between clenched teeth, “Because there's nothing to say.”

Blake stared at her. “Derek's the jerk?”

She nodded.

“Okay,” Blake said decisively. “That does it. Let's get in the copter and get back to Snowmass. Audrey can call her mother and reassure her and I'll deal with the press.”

“And what about this Derek?” Harvey demanded.

“He can take a hike.”

“Sure, Blake, just dismiss him. You've gotten too damn sure of yourself. You make this whole thing sound perfectly simple,” Harvey grum bled. “Exactly what do you plan to tell the media, when this guy goes to them and starts screaming about alienation of affection?”

“I don't think that will be a problem,” Audrey said with wry conviction.

“I'm not so sure.” He stared pointedly at Blake. “You will have to deal with the media, no matter what. What can you possibly say that won't make you look like the flake of the century?”

Blake gazed into Audrey's eyes—not Harvey's, she noticed—and said quietly, “I'm going to tell them I was up there falling in love.”

A
udrey wasn't sure whose gasp was more shocked, hers or Harvey's. Then she noticed the wily glint in Harvey's eyes. She'd seen that look before, usually when some outrageous promotional scheme was forming in his clever little mind. She had a pretty clear idea where this one was headed—to a church. More likely a cathedral, with her in satin and lace preceded by a line of bridesmaids that went on forever. Before she could get too attached to it, she tried to block the image of Blake in a tuxedo waiting for her at the end of the aisle.

“Forget it, Harvey,” she said.

“But the man just said he's in love with you,” he said, his enthusiasm making him speak in a run-together burst of words. He was practically rubbing his hands together at the prospect of all the plans to be made. “What could be more perfect than a wedding? If we play this right, hit hard on the romance angle, it'll get international media attention. You'll be on the cover of every magazine. The gossip columnists have been waiting for years for a story like this about Blake. You'll be the most talked-about bride since Fergie walked down the aisle in England.”