Cinderella's Christmas Affair (9 page)

They entered the crowded showroom. “I’ll take the media while you set up the gear and lights.”

“Gotcha.”

“Need some help,
compare?
”

Tad glanced over his shoulder surprised to see Rae-Anne at the shop.

“What are you doing here?”

“Working, believe it or not. I’m supposed to get a feel for your company’s work ethic. All of CJ’s team is here tonight.”

He was surprised to hear it but shouldn’t have been. For CJ the job always came first. He had a feeling that if they had dinner tonight it wouldn’t be just the two of them. “CJ’s a hard boss.”

“You have no idea the half of it. Women are…demanding.”

Tad laughed. “You should know.”

Rae-Anne muttered something under her breath and reached for a string of lights testing them. “What’s the point in doing the event?”

“One hundred percent of tonight’s profits go to area schools’ nonvarsity sports programs. We get a lot of traffic and this gives the customers’ kids something to do while they shop.”

“I’m impressed.”

“Let’s hope CJ is too,” Tad said.

“Still waiting for hell to freeze?” Rae-Anne asked.

“Yes.”

“Anything I can do?” Rae-Anne asked.

“Mind your own business,” CJ said, coming up behind them.

CJ knew that old chestnut about listening at eaves but she’d never been able to help herself. Rae-Anne shrugged and walked away. “Talking about me?”

Tad pivoted to face her. His eyes lingering on her lips. She knew he wanted to reach over and kiss her but wouldn’t with all the people around them. She was tempted to lean over and kiss him instead. Anything to shake him up in this environment where he was way too confident.

He shrugged and gave her a half smile that went straight to her heart. “Just soliciting help from your faithful secretary.”

“You need help?” she teased, moving closer to him. He’d changed and was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. He looked like the buff sports guy he was and she wanted him.

He leaned down, his cologne surrounded her and when he spoke his warm breath brushed her cheek. “Not really but I figured any extra couldn’t hurt.”

Awareness spread throughout her body pooling in her center. She wished she could go back in time to this morning in the elevator. She’d hit the stop button and make love to him. Then there wouldn’t be this anticipation running through her veins and filling her with excitement. Then she’d be able to concentrate on her job. On learning everything she could about P.T. Xtreme Sports instead of focusing on the sexy co-owner.

But that wasn’t going to happen, so she patted his butt and scooted away from him. “I don’t think you’re going to need anything extra.”

He threw his head back and laughed drawing many, appreciative feminine stares.

“You like what I’ve got?” he asked, closing the gap she’d opened between them.

“What do you think?” She’d forgotten what it was like to play this teasing game. To let anticipation build until it was a fevered pitch and neither of them could wait a moment longer.

“Cathy Jane, you always keep me guessing.”

That made her feel in control and more sure of herself than she should around Tad. “Good. You’re too cocky for your own good.”

“Too cocky?” he asked, arching one eyebrow at her.

She titled her head to the side and gave him the once-over. His athletic shorts revealed his muscled runner’s legs. She skimmed her gaze over him starting at his well-worn climbing shoes and not stopping until she reached his head. “Yeah, you know that attitude that says I’m a buff-macho-man-in-control-of-his-environment.”

He canted his hips to one side. “I’m giving all that off?”

Now she felt a little silly. “Well, not all that but you know what I mean.”

He cupped her face and kissed her quickly but fiercely. She shivered as he pulled away. “I know you make me so hot I can’t think of anything else but you.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Really.”

“Good. It’ll keep you on your toes.”

He chuckled again, turning to adjust his harness and then step into it. “Better watch that sassy mouth. It’s going to get you in trouble.”

The vee of the straps on his thighs drew attention to his groin. She could tell she’d had an effect on him. With a wink, she said, “That kind of trouble I can handle.”

“Is there any that you can’t?” he asked, moving closer to her.

Teasing and lightness were the key to managing Tad. She wasn’t sure, but she thought he might be content with the facade she showed the world instead of trying to see the real woman she hid. “None that you have to worry about.”

“Who says I’d worry?” he asked, buckling the harness and then wrapping the lights he and Rae-Anne had straightened earlier into a neat coil. He put the lights into a pouch and fastened it to his belt.

He looked every inch the primal man she knew him to be. Tad was the kind of frontier man who would have been able to support his family with no one else around. He was a survivor and that appealed to her because if the past ten years had taught her anything it was that she was a survivor, too.

“I knew all that testosterone had killed the gray matter.”

“Cathy Jane, you are playing with fire,” he said, leaning close to her once again. She grabbed his harness and pulled him closer. His pupils dilated and she knew she was playing a dangerous game.

Though the store was crowded they were isolated together. They stood on the other side of the barrier that separated the public from the climbing wall.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice low and husky.

“Checking to make sure your harness is tight.”

“Why?” he asked.

She’d needed to touch him again before he climbed the wall. It was kind of high and she didn’t want Tad falling. “Because you’ve got all the trouble you need right here with me.”

“Now that you’re here, I can handle anything you throw at me. It’s when you’re running that you give me difficulty.”

“Are you sure you know how to do this rock climbing thing?”

“Oh, I know exactly what I’m doing on the wall.”

“What is the point of this?” she asked.

“Climbing to the top stringing the lights and then rappelling back down. All before Pierce of course.”

“Pierce is your partner?”

“Yes.”

“Is he any good at this?” she asked. What kind of competition was this going to be? From the job perspective this could be just the thing they needed to give Xtreme Sports the edge.

“He’s second best,” Tad said.

“You wish,” a man said.

CJ turned to see a very well-built man in a wheelchair. He had kind eyes and was wearing a harness like Tad’s.

“Cat Girl meet Pierce. Pierce, this is Cathy Jane Terrence.”

“Cat Girl?” Pierce asked, glancing up at her.

She knew she was going to regret that name from the moment she’d met up with Tad. But as she stared at him, very much at home in his environment she realized she didn’t regret having him in her life again.

Seven

“T
hat name is a long story and one that needs to stay in the past. Please call me CJ,” she said, taking the hand Pierce held out to her.

Pierce took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I like stories, tell me about this name of yours.”

CJ flushed and Tad realized that their inside jokes were meant to stay inside. And he knew that the name, which had been her rebellion against a group of peers who didn’t see beyond her outer shell, was still a point of vulnerability with her. Why hadn’t he realized it before now?

“We knew each other in high school. That was her nickname then,” Tad said at last.

CJ gave him a surprisingly grateful look. Did she still not trust him?

“I can see where you got that nickname. You are sexy, but I am surprised high school boys would have been able to appreciate the nuances of your charm.”

CJ shrugged and Tad remembered how he hadn’t made her life any easier during that time. Her expression made Tad want to carry her away from Pierce and the crowded store. He wanted to find a secluded place to apologize once again for the idiot he’d been as a boy. To promise he’d make up for all the hurt she’d endured as a teenager.

“What was your nickname?” Pierce asked.

“None of your damn business,” Tad said. Rad Tad had ruled the school and he’d been very aware of his position in the small pond that Auburndale Senior High was. He’d loved being the guy everyone knew or wanted to know.

Pierce watched CJ with more than just passing interest. Noticing Pierce’s reaction to CJ, Tad realized he wasn’t going to be content to let things develop slowly in the way that CJ wanted. He needed to brand her with his name.

He wanted every man who looked at her to realize they were poaching on his territory. And he knew that screamed of machismo and that CJ would never let him live it down if he gave her any indication of how he felt.

She was his—dammit. On a very elemental level he and CJ had bonded and he wasn’t going to let her go. Tad reached down and tugged her hand free of Pierce’s. CJ lifted both eyebrows at him in question but he ignored her.

His past relationships had shown him one thing. He liked the challenge of going after a woman just out of reach. Was that the appeal with CJ? His gut said there was much more involved than that.

Frustrated, he glared at Pierce. As soon as he did, he saw the amusement on his friend’s face. All this talk of high school had obviously made him revert to that eighteen-year-old behavior. All the experiences he’d gained with women fell away and he felt exposed and raw in front of CJ.

Being ribbed by Pierce for his behavior was insignificant compared to the jealousy running through him. Branding CJ was the least of the things he wanted to do to her.

Usually Tad was amused by Pierce’s old-world manners. In fact, Pierce had flirted all the time with Caroline his last girlfriend and that had only amused Tad.

“CJ Terrence from the ad agency?” Pierce asked.

“The very same,” CJ said.

Tad wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her firmly against him. Her soft curves cushioned against his body, distracting him from the conversation. Too much time had passed since he’d held her in his arms.

“I didn’t realize you two were personally involved,” Pierce said.

“Actually, Cathy Jane’s the woman I’m going to—”

“Say it and I’m going to plant a kiss on Pierce’s lips he’ll never forget,” CJ warned.

“Say it,” Pierce urged.

“Forget it, buddy.” Tad tugged her back and dropped a quick kiss on her full mouth. He tipped her chin up and stared into her eyes. “Not saying it doesn’t change my plans.”

“What plans?” Pierce asked. His friend was enjoying this a little too well for Tad’s liking.

“Nothing. Let’s get this rock climbing thing done. CJ and I are going to dinner.”

“Sounds good to me,” Pierce said. “I’ll go make the announcement.”

Pierce rolled away and Tad checked his gear one more time. He hoped the climb would distract him from the new feelings spreading through him. Marrying CJ was one thing, caring for her something else, something he wasn’t sure he could control and he didn’t like that.

The strong emotions she inspired were intolerable. This was a woman who’d been running from him since the moment that they’d met again a few weeks ago. And Kylie had proven to him that chasing after a woman did nothing but make him look like a fool.

Tad had to be able to let her go. He refused to end up like Pierce had when Karen left him. Sitting alone in a dark room with only a picture album and a bottle of Cutty Sark. Using cheap booze to push away memories that he thought would last a lifetime.

Keep it light.
He could do that. Hell, he had a history of keeping things light.

“Give me a kiss for luck?” Tad asked CJ.

She hesitated. “I kind of invited my staff to go to dinner with us.”

Tad knew that despite what she’d said to him earlier, she was still running from him. Running from something he made her feel?

“I’ll get Pierce to join us as well. What were you planning to discuss?”

“At the time I was afraid to be alone with you. But now…”

“Now?” he asked.

“I think I might have sabotaged myself. Because I can’t wait to be alone with you.”

“Promise?”

She leaned up and hugged him tightly to her. He forced himself to let her control the embrace but he wanted—hell, he needed—to crush her to him. To keep her close to him so that she didn’t change her mind.

“Promise,” she said in his ear.

Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory had been a noisy affair. CJ’s staff had a million ideas and Pierce had been a jovial host spurring them on. Halfway through dinner Pierce’s significant other, Tawny O’Neil had joined them. The leggy blonde had dropped onto Pierce’s lap and planted one hot kiss on his lips.

Tawny had been funny and watching her and Pierce together had made CJ long for something she’d never had. A real relationship. One that was based on mutual desire, respect and affection.

Tad by comparison seemed quiet and brooding. And now that they were sitting in his car outside her condo building, she wasn’t sure how to proceed. So much had changed between them and yet her fears remained.

“Alone at last,” Tad said.

She wanted to smile at him and keep it light. He was just a guy. Just an ordinary guy. But he wasn’t. And she’d always known that.

Sleeping with Tad was the biggest risk she could take. Because she was already half in love with him. He embodied so many of the qualities she wanted in her Mr. Right. Cementing their relationship by making it a sexual one was all she’d thought of since this morning when he’d kissed her in the elevator. But he wanted something from her she’d promised herself she’d give no man.

“Second thoughts?” he asked, tracing one finger down the side of her face.

“Not really. It’s just that now that we’re alone, I’m not sure what to do.”

His features were illuminated by the dashboard lights and in his eyes she searched for some emotion that he felt but couldn’t acknowledge. She saw tenderness and desire. Was that enough?