Tempted

by Kimberly Van Meter

  What was it about Teagan that wiggled past her defenses and left her vulnerable to his charm?

  “And if you saw me from across the room, what would you say to me?”

  Teagan slowly stepped toward her as he closed the gap between them. The air around them crackled with sexual tension.

  “Well, that’s easy,” he answered with a slow grin. “First, I’d say where have you been all my life and, second, I’d say cancel all your plans because you’re spending the day with me.”

  A primal shock coursed through her and her heartbeat fluttered like a caged butterfly. Had anyone ever said anything so remotely sexy to her? “And what makes you think I would change all my plans for you? Maybe I was meeting someone.”

  “Maybe.”

  But what he didn’t say was that it wouldn’t matter. Harper knew that if that scenario had ever played out, she probably would have canceled her plans because the way he was looking at her right now was addicting.

  “Well, maybe I’ll go with this dress, after all.”

  Teagan smiled. “If you ever need a shopping buddy, I’d be happy to help you out.”

  She laughed. “Not many men would enjoy a full day of shopping. Is there something I should know about you?”

  “Are you asking if I like to wear women’s clothing at night when no one is watching? Well, who doesn’t?” He teased. Then he said, “Just kidding. No, I have no interest in tripping around in high heels, but only a fool would turn down any opportunity to spend time with you.”

  Smooth talker.

  Danger. Danger. Danger.

  Harper bit her lip trying to hold back her delighted smile. Men lie to get what they want, a voice reminded her. Remember all the promises and flattery Rex heaped on Mom when he first started coming around?

  Yeah, all lies.

  The reminder cooled her jets. She wouldn’t say that Teagan was anything like Rex at first glance. But what did she know about the man? The superficial story of the charming pilot wasn’t enough.

  “So you own a business?” she prompted. “Is it successful?”

  “Sometimes.”

  She frowned. “What does that mean?”

  “It means sometimes it’s successful and sometimes it’s not.”

  She didn’t like that answer. “Most people want their business to be a success all of the time.”

  “Yes, and some people want to win the lottery. Doesn’t always happen. But I love what I do and the way I look at it is if you have to work, you should work at something you love. That’s a success story in my book.”

  “Not everyone has that luxury.”

  “Depends on the lifestyle you’re trying to maintain. I have simple needs. As long as I can pay my bills, I’m good.”

  No, that wasn’t enough for Harper. “Maybe with a little ambition, you could go from sometimes successful to always successful.”

  Why was she getting angry? It didn’t matter how Teagan ran his business. He could do as he pleased. Whether he wanted to run his business into the ground or live check to check was none of her concern. Harper didn’t want to have anything to do with that.

  “As fun as this has been, I have to get going.”

  “Hot date?”

  “I hope so.”

  “What time should I swing by your room to pick you up?”

  Teagan’s cheeky nerve both astounded and impressed her. “I don’t recall making a date with you.”

  He grinned. “Sure you do. You even picked out a dress just for me.”

  And then before she could stop him, Teagan had given his credit card to the cashier, effectively paying for the purchase.

  “See you at six, darlin’.”

  Harper watched as Teagan strolled out of the boutique as if he’d just won the lottery.

  Damn, the man had style.

  Even if her dress had just put a serious dent in his credit limit.

  * * *

  IF TIME HAD moved any more slowly, it would’ve stopped.

  Chances were, Harper was going to bail.

  But he had to take that chance.

  A part of him sensed that she wanted to say yes but something held her back.

  Did she truly want to shack up with a man old enough to be her grandfather?

  Six o’clock finally came and he exited his door to knock on Harper’s.

  His heart felt stuck in his throat as he waited for the door to open.

  When nothing happened, he swallowed and knocked a little more loudly.

  Silence.

  He leaned in and listened more intently for movement of any kind.

  It was quiet as a tomb in there from what he could tell.

  Son of a bitch. He’d been stood up. Teagan shook his head at Harper’s balls.

  Another door opened and Vanessa appeared, looking well put together as usual, her red lipstick an invite for sin. “Oh, honey, you look like someone just kicked your dog. What’s wrong?”

  “I got stood up, I think.”

  “You? Stood up? Who is this silly girl and is she blind?”

  Teagan chuckled at Vanessa’s defense of him and said, “You look good enough to eat. Got a date?”

  “Actually, I do,” she said, blushing just a little. “Do you remember the old fella I invited to go on the slide with me?”

  “Yeah, Stuart something or other.”

  “Yes, Stuart Buck. Very nice man. I like him, even if he’s a little old-fashioned. It’s kinda cute, actually. Anyway, he invited me to dinner in the Mermaid Lounge. You should come, too. There’s going to be dancing tonight.”

  “I’m not exactly dressed for dancing,” he said ruefully, gesturing to his casual shorts and T-shirt. “And I don’t want to horn in on your date. I doubt you need a third wheel.”

  “Nonsense. Go change. I’ll wait.”

  He’d brought a suit, though he’d never thought he’d actually have cause to wear it. Maybe this would give him a chance to get to know Stuart better, to beat Harper at her own game. What the hell, he was here to make friends, right? “Give me two minutes,” he said and disappeared into his room.

  True to his word, he returned to Vanessa and received an approving smile. “Oh, honey pie, that girl is missing out.” She linked her arm through Teagan’s and they walked to the Mermaid Lounge where Stuart was waiting.

  The Mermaid Lounge was awash in hues of blue and green, evoking the sensation they were underwater. A large ice sculpture of a dolphin dominated the table of hors d’oeuvres and people mingled about before dinner was served.

  Vanessa spied Stuart and waved, her eyes lighting up. Teagan was happy to note that the feeling seemed mutual as the older man made his way toward them.

  “You look like a heart attack waiting to happen,” Stuart said, admiring Vanessa’s sequined dress. “I’m going to be the most envied man here.”

  Vanessa chuckled. “Oh, you sweet-talker.” But it was clear Vanessa enjoyed the flattery.

  The irony was hilarious. Harper wanted Stuart; Stuart wanted Vanessa; Vanessa had started off wanting Teagan and Teagan wanted Harper.

  What tangled webs.

  Speaking of.

  As if a magnet was buried in his forehead, he zeroed in on Harper. She was wearing a black dress that clung to her curves, but unlike the white dress in the boutique, this one was classy.

  And she was killing it.

  Harper was scanning the crowd, no doubt looking for Stuart. He slipped through the crowd to come up behind her, sliding his arm around her waist, startling her. “You stood me up,” he murmured against the shell of her ear.

  She sucked in a quick breath and said, “I never agreed to a date. You shouldn’t make assumptions.”

  He chuckled, taking careful note how
a subtle shiver rocked her body. “Caught a chill?” Teagan teased, knowing full well it wasn’t a chill that caused her to shake. “Lucky for you, all’s well that ends well. I have an open spot at my table for you.”

  Teagan released her and moved in front, daring her to turn him down.

  She met his gaze with a subtle smile playing on her lips. “Maybe I’m already meeting someone.”

  “You are. Me.”

  “Not you,” she countered with a small laugh. “Someone else.”

  “Impossible.”

  “Your ego is quite healthy isn’t it?”

  “So is my libido.”

  Color flushed her cheeks a pretty pink. “What makes you think I’m interested in you like that?”

  Teagan reached over to lightly caress the goose bumps still rioting on her arm. “Because your body tells me so.”

  Harper rubbed at her skin. “It’s cold in here.”

  “Try again.”

  But Harper was as stubborn as she was beautiful. “Don’t you have someone else you can stalk?”

  “When you are so entertaining? Never. Now take my arm like a good girl and I’ll take you to our table.”

  Harper looked conflicted—she really wanted to go with him but she also probably wanted to tell him to pound sand—and he enjoyed every minute of her consternation.

  The little vixen deserved to have her feathers ruffled.

  Harper took one final scan around the room, her mouth tightening with mild frustration, and turned to Teagan. “Fine, but only because the person I was hoping to see doesn’t seem to be here yet.”

  “Oh, did you get stood up, too?”

  Harper scowled. “I don’t get stood up.”

  He laughed. “Now whose ego is healthy?”

  She risked a small laugh. “My record speaks for itself.”

  “I’m sure it does,” he agreed and walked her to the table where Stuart and Vanessa were already seated. To Harper, he said, “Harper, may I introduce Vanessa Vermuelen and Stuart Buck.”

  Harper’s quick look of shock was skillfully smothered as she smiled. “Mr. Buck and I have already met. Pleasure to see you again.”

  Vanessa graced Stuart with a questioning expression and Stuart was quick to explain. “I accompanied the young lady on a stroll around the ship. She was lovely company.”

  Teagan wanted to crow. Stuart didn’t seem all that taken with Harper in the way she’d hoped. But he didn’t think for a moment that she would take defeat so easily.

  “Yes, as were you,” Harper returned smoothly. “We’ll have to try it again sometime.”

  “That’s sweet, honey, but you shouldn’t spend all your time with my old bones when you’ve got this young stud right here,” Stuart said, winking at Teagan.

  Ha! Stuart was a good wingman.

  Harper smiled, though Teagan could almost sense the disappointment seeping through her pores.

  Good. The girl needed a little rejection to correct her attitude. At this rate, she was going to nose-dive into a canyon.

  As he’d guessed, Harper was anything but defeated. “Stuart, please, I find wisdom and experience far more intriguing than the short-lived attributes of youth.”

  “That’s a smart girl, right there,” Vanessa chimed in, and Teagan nearly laughed at the irony again. If only Vanessa knew how Harper was trying to move in on Vanessa’s new man. “Well, sit down, honey. Let’s get to know each other.”

  But as Harper went to sit in the chair beside Stuart, Teagan expertly maneuvered her into the chair beside him, putting himself right in the way.

  He smiled benignly at Harper but she knew full well he’d done it on purpose.

  And there was no way in hell she’d call him on it without exposing her blatant interest.

  Instead, Harper graced Teagan with a tight smile and sat gracefully in the offered chair.

  “Aren’t you two the cutest?” Vanessa exclaimed, tickled at playing matchmaker. “Now, I will say, you are two of the most adorable people I’ve seen in ages. You should get married and make babies, right now.”

  Teagan blinked—whoa there, Vanessa, slow your roll—and coughed as he chuckled. “Not quite ready for that. I barely know this girl. For all I know, she’s a terrible person with a pretty face.”

  Harper flushed and actually dropped her fake smile for a warning look that he found sexier than hell—though she probably hadn’t meant to charge his batteries in that way—and returned with a sweetness he could choke on, “Darling, the same could go for you. Flyboys are notorious players. I’d hate to have my heart broken.”

  Have to have a heart to break it, he wanted to quip but he didn’t.

  Vanessa came to his defense again. “Sweetheart, Teagan is the real deal. I haven’t known him long but I have a sixth sense about people. Teagan is a catch.”

  “I’m sure for the right person, he’s a real...prize,” Harper said, and Teagan could almost hear the sarcasm beneath the seemingly benign comment. “But for me, I prefer my partners to be more...sophisticated.”

  “Funny you should say that, because I prefer my ladies to be more down-to-earth. Less fussy.”

  Stuart nodded in agreement. “My beloved wife, Rachel, God rest her soul, was the salt of the earth. Didn’t paint her face with all that gunk women use now and preferred to bake a pie rather than spend hours at the galleria. Hard to find another woman like her.”

  “Have you tried creating a clone?” Vanessa chimed in with a roll of her eyes. Stuart regarded her quizzically and Teagan wanted to warn Vanessa that she was about to lose her man if she kept talking, but Vanessa was a stubborn woman and she kept on going. “Look, honey, I’m happy as a clam that you had a good marriage and it worked for you, but seeking the same person as your wife isn’t fair to the next woman. You ought to try looking for someone who is the opposite. Might find that you like something different.”

  “At my age, I know what I like,” Stuart said gently, but Vanessa was already talking.

  “And you know what? For years I thought I liked asparagus because my husband, Dale, loved the stuff. So I made it for him and I ate it right alongside him. But you know what? I hate asparagus. Tastes funny and makes your pee smell. So, I don’t eat it anymore and I’ve been happier ever since.”

  Teagan quickly agreed, if only to have Vanessa’s back. “Good point,” he said, but then he added deliberately for Harper’s benefit. “Life’s about trying new things. Sometimes we can get in a rut, always chasing what we thought we wanted because it’s what we always got. Change is good.”

  Vanessa clapped with enthusiasm, her smile infectious. “Exactly! You get it.”

  “Aren’t you the philosopher,” Harper murmured for Teagan’s ears only, and he could practically hear her teeth grinding.

  He grinned, fully enjoying tweaking Harper’s nose.

  Messing with Harper’s game was the best entertainment he’d had in years.

  10

  WHAT WAS TEAGAN up to? Was he purposefully baiting her?

  If she didn’t know better, Harper would’ve sworn Teagan was onto her plan with Stuart and if so, he was actively trying to sabotage her.

  The chilling thought danced on her taut nerves.

  No, impossible. Maybe Teagan was just obnoxious and she was reading into his behavior out of her own panic.

  But even if she were imagining things with Teagan, she was not imagining the connection that was quickly building between Stuart and his curvy guest.

  The older woman was saucy, dark-haired and full of life. She looked like the kind of person who grabbed on to experiences and rode them into the dust.

  Harper envied that sense of self.

  In another world, another life, Vanessa was the kind of woman Harper could see herself looking up to.<
br />
  But in this life, and this time, she was in the way.

  Harper cleared her throat to add, “I think old-fashioned values are making a comeback. There’s nothing better than a man with manners.”

  “A well-mannered man, yes, is a gem. But, honey, I’ve been around the block a few more times than you and I can say with great authority, sometimes when a man says he wants old-fashioned values, he wants a woman who’s going to wait on him hand and foot. Trust me, I know because I was married to one for thirty years. Personally, I like a man who doesn’t need a woman to do everything for him because he’s perfectly capable of getting his own cup of coffee.”

  Harper caught Teagan’s smile and she wanted to glare at him for being so smug. “Of course,” Harper said, clarifying. “I’m just saying some of us still enjoy the idea of being a homemaker.”

  At that Teagan actually bust out laughing. “You’re not saying that you want to be a homemaker, right? Because honey, no one at this table is buying that.”

  “And why not?” she demanded, trying not to stab him with her fork. “Perhaps you shouldn’t judge by appearances.”

  But damn him, somehow he seemed to know when she was lying. She wasn’t a homemaker any more than she was Betty Crocker. But if Stuart wanted a homemaker, she would be a homemaker. At least until the ring was on her finger and the ink was dry on the wedding certificate.

  Teagan chuckled. “I’d wager a guess those hands of yours haven’t washed a dish in at least five years.”

  “Because I take care of my hands, I’m not capable of washing a dish?”

  Vanessa laughed, enjoying the growing tension between Harper and Teagan, misreading it for something else. “Oh, you two are like an old married couple who still have that spark. That there is called sexual tension.” She turned to Stuart with merriment in her eyes. “Wouldn’t you say these two kids have some crazy chemistry?”

  Stuart laughed, seeing the humor in the situation. “There is definitely some energy between those two. Very entertaining.”

  Harper wanted to groan. This was not working at all. She didn’t want Stuart looking at her like some young kid squabbling with her high school boyfriend. She had to do some damage control, fast.