by Karen Docter
Uneasiness burned a hole in her midsection. Sweet mercy, what would she do if it were true?
“Hey, you’re supposed to smile on days like these.”
Dan’s observation dragged Tess’s attention to where he lounged in her doorway, bigger and sexier than ever in a navy suit and matching power tie. The sight of his self-assured grin smothered the alarm threatening to consume her.
“Don’t tell me,” she said with mock dismay. “You’re one of those Monday Lovers, aren’t you?”
His eyebrows wiggled up and down wickedly. “I can be a lover every day of the week.”
She swallowed a moan, not daring to think of Dan as a lover. No sense in adding fuel to that fire! “I’ll bet.”
Hovering on the threshold, his gaze darted around the room. To Tess, it looked like he was reconnoitering enemy territory before tossing a hand grenade. “Looking for someone?”
“Dragon Lady. You know, the one who sits out front guarding the fortress.” A horrified expression crossed his face as he straightened. “You are the damsel in distress, aren’t you? Don’t tell me I’ve climbed through the wrong castle window!”
Chuckling at his antics, her dark mood retreated further. It felt so good to cast aside her problems, if only for a short time. She’d seen so little of Dan the past few days she’d begun to think he was avoiding her. “Are you the knight sent to rescue me? I thought you’d be taller.”
He glanced down. “I left my boot wedges in my other armor suit but, if you think it’s important, I could come back.”
She tore her gaze off his too masculine body. “If you leave now,” she said, “the gnome who locked me in might return.”
Dan laughed. “If you’re referring to your boss, I don’t imagine he’d appreciate being called a gnome. Besides, I think you’re mixing up your fairy tales.”
“Emily isn’t a dragon, either, and I think Rumplestiltskin is appropriate today. Spinning gold from straw can’t be as problematic as convincing your fellow merchants more customers mean bigger profits.”
“You’re still fighting those demons? No wonder it was so difficult to storm the castle gates.”
“Sorry. I’ve been locked in this office with one person or another since seven a.m., and Emily tends to get protective.” She waved a hand. “Sneak in here and close the door. I’ll hide you for five minutes until my next appointment is due.”
Dan was sitting in front of her desk before she could blink. “You aren’t enjoying your birthday.”
It was impossible to argue that point. “On a zero-to-ten scale, this one rated about a two before you showed up.”
“Ouch.” He hesitated, and then raised an eyebrow. “Where is it now?”
“That depends. If you’re here to tell me you’re moving your storefront to Tahiti, it’s liable to slip into the negative numbers.” The thought of never seeing the laughter in his eyes again actually hurt.
“What if I’m here to wish you a happy birthday?”
A grin pulled at her lips. “We’re pushing for a resounding ten.”
“Then,” he nodded decisively, “Happy Birthday, Tess.”
“Thank you.” No one but her parents and her secretary, who spent more time with her than anyone, had acknowledged her birthday for years. She hadn’t thought it mattered, but the rush of pleasure she felt upon hearing Dan’s simple good wishes told her it did.
“I did have another reason for coming to see you.”
She tensed and was rewarded with Dan’s narrowed gaze. “Don’t do that,” he admonished. “You’ll give me a complex.” He reached into his pants pocket to pull something out. When his fist opened, paper fluttered like snow on her desk.
“What are you doing?”
“Giving back your check.”
The personal check she’d left with his aunt last Friday was unrecognizable now. “That was meant to pay for the repairs you made on my car. I can’t let you do this.”
“Why not? The cost of the parts was negligible, not worth a quarter of what that check was made out for.”
“But, the labor—”
He looked insulted. “I don’t expect payment for lending a hand to a friend!”
Too used to carrying the heavy burdens of her world, she didn’t often receive help from someone else. Dan’s generosity to a relative stranger meant more to her than any prettily-wrapped present. “I don’t know what to say,” she whispered past the huge ball clogging her throat.
His expression softened. “The response is ‘thanks’.”
Standing, Tess walked around her desk, bent over and pressed a kiss to Dan’s cheek. “Thanks,” she said huskily.
“You’re welcome,” he murmured, his gaze dark, unreadable. “Tess, I—”
With an abrupt shake of his head, he flashed one of his melt-your-stockings kinds of grins. “My time’s up. I’m sneaking out before Dragon Lady comes in and mistakes me for a late-morning snack.” Rising, he moved toward the door and opened it. “I hope you’ve left time open for you today, for whatever Anthony’s planned for your birthday.”
Tess had to clear the misunderstanding about her canary. Dan had been so nice to her, and she was treating him shabbily by letting the lie ride. Only a birdbrain would have taken this farce so far. “My parents are taking me to dinner. But, Anthony and I aren’t—”
Emily peeked around Dan’s broad shoulder. “Tess, your next appointment is here.”
The interruption made her frown. “I’ll be another minute, Emily.” She’d take twenty minutes if necessary.
Dan shook his head as Emily left. “That’s all right, Tess. I’ll get out of your hair. Remember thirty’s a big one, though, and make some time to celebrate. Have fun!” With a wave, he was gone.
The urge to go after him was strong. A celebration didn’t sound appealing without Dan, yet explanations about the mix-up with her canary needed to be made, and she still wasn’t convinced removing Anthony as a player was in her or Dan’s best interest. Did she want to take the next step in their relationship, change their status quo?
It was selfish, but she was enjoying the simpler aspects of Dan’s friendship. Yes. He teased her mercilessly whenever he got the chance. His well-developed sense of humor was a large part of his appeal. So was the fact he carried no expectations of her, made no demands. She could relax her guard with him.
Yet, the intense, hot emotions that often shone from his eyes when he looked at her hinted of so much more that she was missing. The day he kissed her on the bridge, she’d yearned for another, the fleeting caress awakening uncertainty, desire, and longing inside her. Making love with the oh-too-manly shopkeeper would be exciting and passionate, even fun. But she hadn’t risked opening her heart since her fiancé had brutally pointed out how little she had left to offer a man.
The first thing to suffer from her eighty-hour-plus work week was her social life. The sad truth was her last real date took place years ago and her two best friends and confidants were canaries. All her spare energy belonged to her parents and the mountain of medical bills which grew larger with each of her father’s surgeries.
“So, put the man out of your head,” she murmured.
That sentiment lasted through two appointments and halfway through the lunch break, when Emily opened the door to her office with a sharp knock.
Tess swallowed the pastry she’d filched from the break room. “Please, don’t tell me my one o’clock is early.”
Emily shook her head. “Laura Beckett’s seldom on time, and never early. Besides, Dragon Lady is on patrol. We can’t have any more knights sneaking past the castle gates without the magic password.”
She smiled at the thought of Dan’s surprise visit. “I don’t know the magic password.”
“That’s why you can never fire me. I’m your sole link to the outside world and all the fun stuff.” Emily called over her shoulder. “Come on in. It’s safe.”
An undulating sea of silver, red, and gold, attached to two legs, squeezed into
the room. A head popped out of the cloud of helium balloons. “A big, happy 3-0, Tess!”
The deliveryman plunked his bundle down on her desk and handed her his clipboard. After he’d gone, Tess was left staring at her secretary who was eyeing the bobbing mass overhead with awe. “There are thirty balloons up there.”
She accepted Emily’s count without question. It was the gaily decorated box sitting on her desk, attached to the end of the balloon ribbons, which drew her attention. Unable to stand the suspense, she cut the ribbons and let the brightly-colored balloons dance across the room in a dozen different directions.
Ripping paper and box alike, Tess exposed the largest Hershey’s Kiss she’d ever seen. “I’ve died and gone to Chocolate Heaven,” she exclaimed falling back in her office chair.
“Who’s it from? Is there a card?”
Her parents couldn’t afford presents any more. This was the kind of extravagant gift her lover, Anthony, might send. But, Anthony didn’t exist. That left....
Searching for the card, her heart thumped irregularly against her ribcage when she found it and read the bold script. Couldn’t resist. Reminded me of you. A special day demands balloons and chocolates. Your friend—Dan.
Glancing down at her clothes, Tess grinned. Her dress was the color of milk chocolate. Her smile broadened when she reached up to touch the silver ribbon she’d tied around her loose hair before racing out the door this morning. She was a five-foot-ten confection.
Her head pressed against the back of her chair, she laughed with delight. Even when he wasn’t there, Dan had the power to make her laugh. What did one do with such a special man?
“You thank him,” Emily replied.
Tess smiled crookedly at the realization she’d spoken aloud. She would thank Dan, but she’d have to wait until the new fantasies he’d inadvertently conjured stopped bouncing around in her head like so many wayward balloons.
There were simply too many ways to thank a man.
***
Thanking Dan McDonald was the last thing on Tess’s mind four days later. In fact, some of the things she was thinking of doing to the man would most likely land her in the nearest jail cell for a very long stay.
The first time his name came up in a discussion of her marketing program, she’d discounted it. That was days, and one too many conversations, ago. Dan was getting to her merchants before she was and swaying their opinions. Why he was doing it was a mystery.
It didn’t matter he’d turned the tide for her, that most of the disgruntled retailers had become compliant putty in her hands. If she heard one more person sing the man’s praises, she’d scream. Whatever happened to her idea? Did no one remember who designed the program in the first place?
“Sour grapes,” Tess said aloud, her pen tapping a nervous beat on her desk. It didn’t make a difference how her program got pushed through, as long as it worked. Too much rode on this summer’s sales figures.
It didn’t, however, make Dan’s interference any easier to swallow. Who knew how her bosses would react if they discovered she’d been bailed out of trouble by one of her own merchants? With the continuing rumors of another investment firm in the wings, the last thing she wanted was to give her directors the impression their investment wasn’t worth the trouble.
Tess rubbed at the headache lodged behind her eyes, then rummaged through her desk drawer to find the pills the clinic doctor prescribed after her accident on the bridge last week. She wanted to go home and crawl under the covers until morning, but she had a business dinner party and one last tenant appointment to get through.
Arnold Sawyer. Considering he was the instigator of her most recent problems, Sawyer had been markedly hard to pin down to an appointment. Then, out of the blue, he’d called demanding to meet before the day was out. He would shoot her down when he arrived. She knew it.
Therefore, she had every excuse for her confusion an hour later when Sawyer greeted her with an effusive smile. “It took time to get everything worked out with my people, but we’re all set now.”
“Set for what?”
“The bazaar, among other things.”
“Other things?”
Sawyer held up a negligent hand. “I’ll admit, when McDonald first came to me with your suggestions, I thought you were both out of your minds. But, with planning, we’ve revamped our participation in your little scheme.”
Tess felt as if she’d walked into the conversation backwards. “Are you saying you support my marketing program again?”
Excitement crept into his voice as his glasses slipped down his nose. “You’ll love what we’ve arranged. It’ll cap off your program and allow us to put forth a fresh image.”
Disbelief washed through her as Sawyer revealed his plan. His store would use the bazaar to put on a fashion show. The floor staff and family members would model the sale merchandise in a runway format. The concept was innovative. It was not her idea.
She cringed. Sawyer hadn’t changed his mind because of something she’d done or said. Once again, Dan had gotten there first. Why?
“I’m glad we worked this out, Tess.” Sawyer rose and shook her limp hand. “Between you and McDonald, I know we’ll have a successful summer. Tell Dan he’s got my vote at the next merchants meeting. The two of you will make a great team.”
Tess watched the short, rotund man leave her office, silenced by the new knowledge slowly, painfully unwinding in her head. For some reason she couldn’t fathom, Dan must have decided to take on the empty Merchants Organization presidential chair.
She was pleased, of course. The group had been rudderless too long, and Dan was a natural leader. But, why didn’t he mention it when he sat in her office on Monday or when she called him Tuesday to thank him for the balloons and chocolate?
Her head pounding, she stared blindly at the last of the balloons suspended over the credenza. She should be surprised at his maneuvering. At the very least, she ought to be angry his friendship didn’t extend to confidence in her and her plan. All she felt was betrayed. Something deep inside her began to hurt. Something fragile and too easily broken.
Sweet mercy, when had Dan McDonald claimed such a large piece of her heart?
***
Dan was satisfied with his day’s work when he backed his truck into the cliff house garage that Friday night. More than once since his arrival, he’d had to reassure his aunt he wasn’t slipping into bad habits. He didn’t intend to fall into that trap again, although he’d pushed his limits this past week. Settling into a new job and a new home, even temporarily, had proven as much a challenge as putting Tess Emory from his mind.
He glanced over his shoulder at the loaded truck bed and winced when a back muscle protested. “Tell you what, Colby,” he muttered to the dog beside him. “Next time we move, you make sure the moving company doesn’t have personnel problems.”
His belongings had made it as far as the warehouse in San Jose, an hour’s drive away, when a strike shut down deliveries. Impatient – there was barely time to unpack before he’d have to pack again – he opted not to wait. He’d hired a pair of college students to help move furniture, but the final truckload of boxes had fallen to him.
Dan took a deep breath and let himself and Colby into the house. Within an hour, his back was complaining more vigorously but the truck was unloaded. He topped off Colby’s automatic food and water dispensers, then pulled an ice cold Fat Tire from the refrigerator. Before he had a chance to open it though, the phone rang.
“Sorry to call so late,” his aunt said without preliminary, “but I’ve been trying to catch you all evening.”
His fingers froze against his lower spine. The last time his aunt had prefaced a call this way was when his father had his heart attack ten years ago. “What’s wrong? Is Mom okay? I knew she shouldn’t have taken up flying at her age!”
Mary tsked. “Your mother’s fine, over eighteen and under sixty. Besides, Frank won’t let her fly solo for two more weeks. He’s being very care
ful.”
Dan liked his mother’s fiancé, but he was far from conservative. In the past year, Frank Connelly had introduced Sarah McDonald to scuba diving, skydiving...now, flying. “At least,” Dan conceded, “she’s inside the plane instead of throwing herself out of one.”
“Be grateful for small favors. For the first time since your father died, she’s living again.”
Dan agreed. Standing as Frank’s best man at the wedding in June was the easiest decision he’d made in years. “Then, what’s the problem?”
“I’m calling about Tess. She stopped by the store around six o’clock. I told her you’d taken off early, and she said she’d talk to you another time—”
“But?”
“It’s probably my imagination, but she seemed...upset. I got the feeling you shouldn’t wait to call her.”
Dan had a healthy respect for his aunt’s ability to gauge the emotions of others. After she disconnected, he dialed Tess’s office. When no one answered, he decided there was no cause for alarm. She’d simply gone home early, for a change. He tried her cell next, but it went straight to voice mail. When she still didn’t answer an hour later, he became worried.
Thirty minutes later, standing in front of Tess’s apartment door, Dan hesitated. It was after ten o’clock. He hadn’t been invited. His aunt’s feelings aside, there could be no reasonable explanation for his appearance. Anthony would probably bust his chops for showing up without warning.
It suddenly occurred to him the reason Tess might not be answering her phone was because she and Anthony were…no, he wouldn’t go there!
He jabbed a hard finger against the doorbell. He was listening to the chimes fade when the peephole darkened briefly and Tess opened the door. She seemed surprised to see him standing there. But, she couldn’t be half as unnerved as he was. The woman was practically naked!