Dodging Temptation (The Retreat) (15 page)

Chapter Thirteen

H
arper
could blame the Long Island Iced Tea tomorrow morning, but tonight she wanted one last taste of the
man who
’
d rocked her world and left her reeling from the impact—not because she couldn
’
t stand to be without him but because she wanted to prove to herself that she could.

“What do you want?” He may have asked the question, but lust darkening his moss-green eyes said he already knew the answer.

“To fuck you and forget you.” Her mouth came down on his, and her fingers flicked open the top button of his jeans.

The zipper went down in one smooth motion, and she reached inside. He was already hard for her. Hot and heavy, his cock filled her hand. She wrapped her fingers around his girth and squeezed hard enough to let him know that soft and gentle weren’t in the cards tonight.

“Fast and hard with a line of people outside the door waiting to come in, huh?” He kissed his way down her neck, leaving a trail of fiery desire in his wake. “You really think you can forget me? We need to talk.”

“Nothing to talk about. We’re done.” Anticipation licked her skin, flaming her already hot yearning to molten need. “This is just putting the cherry on the ice cream sundae of our breakup.”

He wrapped his hands around her wrists, stopping her stroking motion but not pulling her away from his hard length. “Why?”

Why him? Why here? Why now? The answer was a shredded mess under her ribcage, but she wasn
’
t going to tell him that. She could barely admit to it herself, but it was true. She
’
d fallen for Dodge Loving. Fallen hard and fast and, it turned out, all by herself. The only cure was to rip the bandage off and leave herself raw and aching—one last time with him would accomplish that better than anything else she could do.

Summoning up her inner bad girl who
’
d never seen the light of day before, she gave him a sassy wink. “It doesn
’
t matter.”

She leaned in and kissed him, her tongue sweeping across his juicy bottom lip before sweeping inside. He tasted of beer, peanuts, and bittersweet good-bye.

Dodge turned his head, cutting off the kiss. “I want to know.”

She skimmed her lips with her tongue before tugging on her bottom one with her teeth, arching one eyebrow when his hold on her wrists tightened in response. Oh, he wanted her, but this time it was by her rules. “Well, for the first time in your life you
’
re not going to get what you want.”

“That
’
s where you
’
re wrong.” He yanked her arms up as he spun her around so she faced the mirror. Then he placed her hands flat against the mirror over the small sink. “Don
’
t move them.”

Desire made her chest tight and her muscles loose. It took everything she had not to mewl in pleasure and melt into putty in his hands. But that would be giving in too soon. This last time he was going to have to work for it. So she stood rooted to the spot, her stillness a challenge for them both.

He slid a hand under the hem of her silk tank top, his palm flat against her stomach. Up or down? Whichever direction he chose, she wanted. His fingers glided up across her skin, brushing against the full bottom curve of her breast. The strength of his groan made the hair tucked behind her ear fly forward. “Christ.” He pinched her nipple. “You
’
re not wearing a bra.”

“The tank
’
s straps are too narrow.” Her knees nearly buckled under his finger
’
s blissful assault. He knew, he always knew, right where to touch her.

If only
… She slapped back the thought before it could move any further into the light. Now wasn
’
t the time and Dodge wasn
’
t the man, no matter how much she wanted him to be.

He rolled her puckered nipple between his fingers and pushed his hardness against the cleft of her jean-covered ass. “Are you wearing panties?”

“You
’
re going to have to find out for yourself.”

Reaching around to her front, he toyed with the top button of her jeans. “I take these down, they
’
re not coming back up until you
’
re screaming my name loud enough for everyone in the bar to hear.”

Her heart stopped beating, and all the air rushed out of her lungs when she met his gaze in the mirror. He was serious. This wasn
’
t just talk like in her hotel room. It wasn
’
t a tease in The Retreat
’
s hallway. She inhaled greedily, jumpstarting her heart. The old Harper would have given in, answered. But even if she
’
d wanted to go back to being the woman her parents trained her to be, she couldn
’
t. Dodge may have broken her heart, but he
’
d helped her figure out who she really was—her own woman.

She opened her mouth as if she was going to describe her panties, but instead she blew his reflection a kiss and watched as the vein in his temple pulsed. Then she dropped her hands to her jeans, unbuttoned them, and shimmied the denim down over her hips as far as she could with him pressed up against her from behind.

“These don
’
t count as panties.” Dodge hooked a finger around the thin black strap of her green G-string and pulled it out as far as it would go before letting the elastic snap back against her hip. “Now get your hands back up.”

She did, keeping her gaze on him in the reflection. The color of her shirt nearly matched the darker hue of his eyes while his dark brown skin was the opposite of her own creamy complexion. They were so alike in some ways and completely different in others, yet they found a place in the middle where everything meshed and made sense. At least they had. The realization made her yearn for more than this one last encounter, but she squelched it before it could grow. This wasn
’
t about more; it was about right now, because that
’
s all they had left.

Dodge disappeared from view, dropping down and sliding her jeans and G-string down as he went until the denim was down to her ankles. His firm hands pushed her legs as wide as they would go, constrained as they were by the material, before gliding the back of his fingers up the insides of her legs as he rose up. His touch was so teasingly gentle she was panting by the time he got to the juncture of her thighs.

“So warm and wet for me.” He sank a finger in and then a second, rubbing against the bundle of nerves just inside the entrance. “And it is for me.”

Her eyes fluttered shut as her legs began to tremble. “Don
’
t kill the moment with ego.”

His fingers stilled, and he nipped at the sensitive spot where her shoulder and neck met. “Open your eyes and see what I see and then tell me that
’
s just ego talking.”

She did and almost climaxed from the sight. Her tank top was pushed to the side, one breast exposed. She looked like a complete hedonist. Watching his hand slide again between her thighs, rocking her closer to orgasm, the tension tightened in her belly and spread outward, making every inch of her skin tingle.

“Look at yourself. I do that to you.” He increased his speed, his fingers hurtling her toward her climax. “But look at what you do to me.”

Her gaze flicked up to the man behind her. Dodge stood, hard and hungry, looking every bit like a man who would take her body places she
’
d never been before but always wanted to go. “You make me forget about everything in the world but you.”

No man should be able to look so hard and talk so sweet. Fucking him one last time had been a mistake, an emotional disaster, but she couldn
’
t stop now. She didn
’
t want to, no matter the consequences. He placed his palm against her lower back and tilted her forward over the sink as he withdrew his fingers from her wet folds.

“Don
’
t stop,
” she said, not caring how desperate she sounded.

“You
’
ll like this just as much.” He grabbed a condom from the small bowl next to the sink and tore the foil package open with his teeth. “I promise.”

He sheathed himself on the inhale and sank deep inside on her next breath, filling her completely. Locked between the hard sink and the harder man behind her, Harper gave in to the sensations washing over her, pleasure so intense it nearly blinded her. The vibrations started in her calves, zipping up her inner thighs in a race to sweet oblivion.

“Open your eyes,” Dodge said against her ear. He raised his hands so they covered her hands that were still pressed against the mirror. “Watch us together.”

As soon as she did, her orgasm hit and she screamed out his name. With one final deep thrust, he came with her name on his lips, his body shaking from release.

Unable to keep them open any more, she let her eyes drift shut as the aftershocks made her shiver in his arms—the one place she felt at home. Harper relaxed against Dodge, relishing the feel of his strength. She opened her eyes and blinked her surrounding slowly back into focus, and with it the real world. The bathroom. The bar. The man who
’
d told her in no uncertain terms to leave. Reality knocked the bliss out of her breath.

Dodge withdrew a step, and cold air swept across her overheated skin. She took advantage of the moment to pull up her pants, straighten her tank top, and calm her ragged breathing.

He disposed of the condom and buttoned his pants, guilt etching deep lines in his forehead. “About the interview…”

Her throat tightened, and she held up her hand. She stopped him before he said another word that would slice through her. “It doesn
’
t matter.”

“It does.” He encircled her wrist, his touch easing and stoking her misery.

But this time she shook him off. “Maybe it matters to you, but not to me.” Voice firm, her denial sounded true and, if she said that a few more times, she just might find herself believing it.

“You don
’
t mean that. You can
’
t after what we just did.” He reached out but hesitated, his hand hovering over her skin as if he wasn
’
t sure he had the right to touch her anymore. “It matters.”

She turned her back on him and faced the mirror, studiously ignoring his reflection and hardened herself from the inside out. Might as well tell him. It
’
s not like she had anything left to lose.

“You know, after everything, I almost went back to being the old Harper, the one who did what she was told and followed the rules and put everyone else
’
s needs in front of her own. It wasn
’
t until I saw you in that hallway tonight that I realized the idiocy of that path. If I ever really was that woman, I
’
m not anymore.” She fluffed her hair and reapplied her lipstick before dropping the tube into her small purse. “It
’
s too bad I had to fall in love with
you
to figure that out.”

“Love?” It sounded like a foreign word on his tongue, new and unspoken until now.

Something twisted apart inside her, leaving a jagged hole in its place, and she knew she had to get out of there before she crumpled under the pain.

“
Yes, love. But don’
t worry, it
’
s not catching.” She spun on her heel, crossed the small bathroom, and opened the door. “And if it was, you
’
ve got a natural immunity. Good-bye, Dodge. If you’re ever in Washington, D.C., be sure not to look me up.”

She strutted out of the bathroom with her head held high even as a dozen pairs of eyes watched her go. What did it matter? She
’
d never be back in Wyoming again.

Dodge called her name and her step faltered, regret pinching her heart, but she kept moving. Increasing her speed, she strode to the table where Skyler and Amelia sat so she could tell them she was leaving. She had to get back to The Retreat before the first tear fell.

Chapter Fourteen

D
odge carried the steaming mug of coffee out onto the family
’
s veranda at The Retreat—not that he
’
d need it. Every time he closed his eyes he
’
d seen Harper
’
s face
as she
’
d told him good-bye. So he
’
d spent the hours since leaving The Bison
’
s Horn pacing in his rooms and watching the sky for first light. As soon as the birds started chirping and his five a.m. alarm went off, he
’
d showered, pulled on a suit, and gone downstairs.

Looking out on the quiet grounds should have been a triumph. Once Jean-Luc toured The Retreat, there was no way The Brasch Group would go with Dodge
’
s grandfather
’
s hotels. What he
’
d told Harper had been true. The deal made perfect business sense. The Brasch Group wanted to create a chain of unique resorts that would fit in with each location
’
s individual environment. His grandfather
’
s hotel chain was all about providing a common experience where every hotel was exactly the same no matter where it was. Meshing The Brasch Group
’
s vision with his grandfather
’
s hotel made about as much sense as Harper last night. None at all. And because he wouldn
’
t be touching her soft skin, or hearing her lusty moans, or watching her come apart in his arms again, he
’
d concentrate on the one thing he could do something about—closing this deal.

Garth Hampton emerged from behind a trio of trees, slowed his pace, and jogged toward the veranda. Finally, something was going Dodge
’
s way. He
’
d been trying to track down the rock star for the past day to find out what he could do to make up for the photo going viral.

Hair slicked back into a man bun and in a worn
Sex & Drugs & Rock-n-Roll
T-shirt soaked through with sweat, Garth stopped in front of the veranda
’
s steps, gulping in lungsful of air. Dodge grabbed one of the oversized bottles of water his mom kept in a decorative cooler and handed it to the other man.

“
Thanks.
” Garth pressed the cool bottle to the back of his flushed neck. “You look like you ran over your own dog.”

Didn
’
t he know it. “Mr. Hampton, I
’
d like to apologize.”

“Did you run over
my
dog?
”

Dodge laughed despite himself. “No.”

Garth cocked his head. “
Then I can
’
t imagine why you need to apologize to me.”

Dodge set down his coffee on one of the small tables scattered across the veranda and rubbed the back of his neck, his muscles a tense line from his head to his shoulders. “For the photos and the reporters and the general mishandling of your stay here. We
’
ll of course give you a full refund and find new lodgings.”

Garth snorted. “I
’
m not going anywhere, and I have a lot more money to spend now that it
’
s not going up my nose, so I might as well spend it here.” He twisted open the bottle of water and took a long drink. “I
’
ve spent decades in the public eye. Paparazzi have tracked me down in club bathrooms, at my dealer
’
s house, and even once on a yacht in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. The fact that you kept them off the scent for as long as you did is pretty much a miracle.”

He hadn
’
t thought about it that way. For him, keeping the press away was another zero-sum game. He either won it all or lost it all with no in between. “If you
’re sure
…”

“I am.” Garth gave Dodge an assessing look as he chugged down the rest of the water. “But you still look like shit. Late night or a woman?”

The question was a hard backhand against his cheek, and it hurt enough to make his teeth ache. “Both.”

“Deadly combination that.” Garth sat down on The Retreat
’
s front steps and slapped the empty spot beside him. “Tell me the story, and we
’
ll call ourselves even for the lying reporters snapping pictures of me. Holding a vodka bottle my ass. You know that was a water bottle, right?”

Dodge hesitated. He wasn
’
t a talk-it-out kind of guy and especially not to a guest. “
I don’
t think—”

“Do you know how many recovery meetings I
’
ve sat through?” Garth narrowed his eyes and smacked the wood step beside him again. “Enough to know there is nothing in the world you can say that will shock or surprise me. Sit down and let it out.”

Maybe it was the exhaustion, or the aching feeling that he
’
d fucked up in a way that couldn
’
t be fixed, but Dodge sat down, stared out at the landscape turned golden by the dawn
’
s light, and spilled his guts. He told Garth the whole story starting with his plan for revenge by ruining his grandfather
’s hotel business and ending with Harper walking away from him at The Bison’
s Horn. “I couldn
’
t sleep. So I paced my room until it was late enough that I could go to my office and start prepping for The Brasch Group representatives
’ tour.
”

His office. It was the last place he wanted to be, but the only place he was welcome—Harper had made that more than clear.

“Man.” Garth shook his head. “You didn
’
t ask me for advice, and God knows I
’
m not an authority on happily ever after, but you need to get that girl to stay. Man, you need to get down on your knees and grovel.”

His gut cramped. Garth may be right, but there wasn
’
t a damn thing Dodge could do about it. Harper had been more than clear last night. She was right—this time he wasn
’
t going to get his way, because letting her have her way was more important. At this point, it was the only thing he could offer her.

The aging rocker stood and walked down the steps where he paused and turned back to Dodge. “If you don
’
t, you
’
ll regret it, and I
am
an expert in regrets.”

Garth
’
s life story was the stuff of legends. He
’
d vaulted to superstardom decades ago and had never fallen. Critics loved him, fans adored him, and groupies had flocked to him. Yet, he still ended up losing himself in drugs and alcohol. Regrets. Yeah, they both had a few.

“Why The Retreat?” Dodge couldn
’
t help but ask. “You could be on an island in the middle of nowhere without any threat of paparazzi.”

“You
’
re not the only one with a master plan.” Garth winked and took off at a jog down the path to his private cabin.

I
t was close to seven by the time Dodge carried his now lukewarm cup of coffee into his office where he found the last person he expected to see there: his mother. May made it a point not to be involved in the day-to-day
operations at The Retreat, but here she was sitting behind his desk, flipping through the folder marked The Brasch Group.

His mom in his office meant trouble of the matchmaking momma kind, exactly what he didn
’
t need right now if he was going to finally give Harper what she wanted, what she deserved.

“You
’
re up early,” he said.

May rose from his chair and walked around to the front of the desk. She took his face between her palms and looked hard at the bags under his eyes and probably all the way down to the weariness of his soul.

She tsk-tsked. “At least I went to sleep. It looks like you didn
’
t even catch a wink.”

Stepping out of her grasp, he walked to the other side of the desk and half flopped down into his chair. “What can I help you with?”

May sat in the guest chair across from him, crossed her legs into lotus pose, and rested the back of her hands on her knees before taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “You can help me with Harper.”

Just hearing her name out loud hurt. He scrubbed his hand over his face, as if he could wash away the past twenty-four hours, but he couldn
’
t. It was too late. “Mom, this isn
’
t the time for your matchmaking games.”

She lost a little bit of her Zen sheen, and her eyes narrowed. “Okay, then let
’
s talk about you and your foolhardy quest to ruin your own grandfather.”

He
’
d spent the past year setting up this deal, wooing the investors, and watching the man who
’
d disowned his own daughter without a second thought get closer and closer to the edge of financial ruin. It wasn
’
t just revenge; it was retribution. “He deserves it.”

“That may be so,” May said. “But getting your own hands dirty like this only leaves you with muck under your fingernails. Trust me, the last thing you want to do is be so hell-bent on beating your grandfather that you turn into him.”

“It’s too late.”

“Oh, honey. It’s never too late. The universe is always moving, always changing, and you can, too.”

Didn’t he wish. But with Harper gone, what was the point?

“I have to close this deal.” Of all the people in his family, he knew she
’
d be the hardest sell, but deep down she had to understand. “The deal is all I have left to redeem myself.”

“Why?” She uncrossed her legs and jumped up from her seat in one fluid motion. “Because your grandfather was an idiot before you were even born?”

Born. That was the problem, wasn
’
t it? Heat blasted his face, and his hands tightened into fists. “Did you ever think if it hadn
’
t been for me, he would have reacted differently?”

May planted her palms on his desk, her whole body trembling. Anger, frustration, sadness—they all came off her in waves, but when he looked up into his mother
’
s eyes all he saw was love.

“Your grandfather didn
’
t disown me because I was pregnant with you.” Her lips curled in a sad smile. “He did it because your father was black, and I
’
d broken some unwritten code that existed only in his mind. None of it is your fault. You
’
re not responsible for your grandfather
’
s pigheaded reactions.”

“But he should pay for what he did.” He was as certain about that as he was that the sun would rise in the east and that beer tasted best on Saturday afternoons in September while watching college football.

May shook her head as she sank back into the guest chair. “You don’t need to redeem yourself, Dodge. Not to me, not to your father. All this obsession with revenge only blocks you from seeing what
’
s right in front of you.”

But that was the catch, wasn
’
t it? Harper didn
’
t want to be right in front of him. She wanted to be half a country away—and after the way he
’
d acted the other day, he couldn
’
t fault her for wanting to put 2,076 miles between them.

“She
’
s leaving today.”

He didn
’
t need the reminder. All he could think about was the totally neutral look on her face when she
’
d told him good-bye, like she
’
d already forgotten him. “I know, I
’
m the asshole who told her to go.”

“And have you asked her to stay?” May slapped her palms against the chair
’
s arms, her voice uncharacteristically loud and strident. “Have you fought for her with as much effort as you
’
ve put into this plan of yours with The Brasch Group?”

“What difference would it make?” he yelled, his heart hammering against his chest like it was going to make a break for it and chase after Harper. “She
’
s made up her mind.”

His phone rang, startling them both into silence. He yanked the receiver free. “
Hello?
”

“Mr. Loving, this is Paul from the front gate. The Brasch Group representatives are coming up the drive now.”

His gaze jerked to the clock on the wall. It wasn
’
t even eight o
’
clock. “They weren
’
t supposed to be here until ten.”

“Well, they
’
re early.”

“Thank you, Paul.” He hung up. It had taken all his powers of persuasion to get Jean-Luc to agree to come to The Retreat. There was no way he
’
d get this close to making the deal of his life, and he wasn
’
t going to fuck it up now, especially not to beat his head against the brick wall of Harper
’
s decision. He stood and straightened his tie. “I gotta go, Mom.”

Not giving her time to stop him, he hustled to the door and opened it, mentally preparing for whatever this tour held.

“Dodge,” his mother called out. “Imagine your life without her. That
’
s what
’
s at stake here.
”

His step faltered, but he powered on. Harper had made her decision. It was too late now.

M
ore of a surprise inspection than a formality-only tour, Dodge led Jean-Luc and his three-man team around the hotel. They started in the behind the scenes areas like the kitchen.

“And this is the walk-in freezer.” Dodge opened the door as he was pelted with images
of Harper sitting on the prep table in her form-fitting yoga pants, laughing while stealing bites of his ice cream. He could still taste the chocolate mint on her lips and the whipped cream left behind on the corner of her mouth. An ache began in his chest, spreading outward until he hurt right down to the marrow in his bones.

Jean-Luc looked around the walk-in. “You have a lot of small pints of ice cream.”