Tempted

by Kimberly Van Meter

  It was all about the sex.

  He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.

  If sex was all she wanted, then Teagan would oblige her.

  It wasn’t a huge tragedy to screw Harper six ways from Sunday.

  Maybe he’d been overthinking things, anyway.

  Sex—epic sex, at that—wasn’t meant for the long haul. Anything that burned that hot burned out quickly.

  Maybe Harper was doing him a favor by keeping things superficial between them.

  The last thing he needed was to get emotionally tangled up with a woman like Harper. He could only imagine how many notches she had on her bedpost from men she’d eaten alive.

  Yeah, well, it was one thing to try and convince yourself of something when you’re mad, quite another when you’ve sobered from your bruised ego and realize that, crap, feelings are involved, after all.

  He wanted Harper.

  How was it his dumb luck that he’d have to find the one woman on the entire ship who couldn’t be more wrong for him?

  The bus pulled to a stop in town where they’d boarded and everyone dispersed in different directions. It didn’t escape his notice that Vanessa and Stuart had snuck off, taking matters into their own hands without making things awkward, leaving Harper and Teagan by themselves again.

  “You still want that drink?” he asked.

  Harper cut him a reproachful look. “With you? Certainly not.”

  “Suit yourself. You might want to head back to the ship, then. The streets aren’t safe for a single young woman.”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  He tipped an imaginary hat toward her and then started walking away in the direction of a bar he knew. He needed a beer and didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg for it like he would on the ship.

  Suddenly, the sound of feet running after him made him smile with knowing. Little Miss I Can Take Care Of Myself wasn’t so sure about being alone.

  “Change your mind?”

  “Shut up and just buy me a drink,” she grumbled as they walked into the small bar.

  Teagan liked the bar because it wasn’t a tourist trap, but then, it wasn’t fancy, either. It was a place the locals enjoyed, which meant the drinks were stiff and the bartender wasn’t going to rob them blind.

  They grabbed a couple stools at the bar and Teagan ordered two beers.

  Once two cold ones were delivered, Teagan took the time to savor that first drink, letting everything else slide away for the moment.

  A good beer could save a bad moment.

  At least, most times.

  Teagan wasn’t sure a beer was strong enough to handle the storm building inside him for no good reason.

  All he knew was that he wanted to shake some sense into Harper before she irreparably damaged something good in two people’s lives.

  * * *

  TEAGAN’S JUDGMENT SAT heavily on Harper’s shoulders.

  Why did she care what he thought of her plan or how she lived her life?

  The breadth of his broad shoulders were just the perfect size to rest her head on but he looked as cuddly as a sea urchin at the moment.

  “Why are you so mad at me?” she asked, a bit defensive. “It’s not as if we’re a thing. I told you from the start—me and you—just isn’t going to work.”

  “Honey, I heard you loud and clear. Not asking to marry you,” he muttered, his attention centered on enjoying his beer. After a good swallow, he added, “Look, you can do what you want, but I’m not going to sit and watch you selfishly put your interests before everyone else’s. In case you’re blind, Stuart is really into Vanessa. Hard pill to swallow, isn’t it, Hot Stuff? Must be difficult to realize that you’re not irresistible.”

  Why did he have to make her feel small like that?

  “Ask me why I have to do what I’m doing,” she said.

  He cut her a sharp look. “I don’t care. Nothing can justify what you’re doing.”

  Frustration ate at her for a couple reasons: one, for caring about his opinion and two, because he was right.

  Now she wanted to cry.

  It was the overall rush of adrenaline, she reasoned. Defying death and all that. Normal reaction. Drawing a deep breath, she ignored Teagan for the moment and sipped her beer to collect herself.

  Mmm, it’s good, at the very least.

  “How nice for you that you’ve lived a perfect life,” Harper said. “Not everyone is as lucky.”

  “What makes you think I’ve lived a perfect life?” Teagan asked with a scowl. “Honey, just because I don’t make it my business to stomp on other people doesn’t mean I haven’t been given my share of screws in the life department. Think of this...maybe you didn’t corner the market on pain.”

  Harper opened her mouth to defend herself but he had other plans and kept going, gaining steam as he went.

  “I’ve watched fellow airmen die in the line of duty. I’ve attended funerals for soldiers who took their own life when the PTSD got to be too much to handle. I’ve chased my little brother all around the world, trying to keep his ass alive, and most recently, had my entire life blown up, including my business, when my brother got tangled up with a lunatic billionaire drug lord. I’ve slept on the ground with nothing but leaves to cover me, I’ve eaten bugs to survive, hell, I’ve even done things I can’t talk about because they’re classified but that don’t mean they don’t haunt me at night. So, yeah, baby girl, we all got pain. How you deal with it is the measure of your character.” He cast her a dismissive glance. “So far, your character sucks.”

  Why didn’t she get up and leave him there? At the very least tell him to stick his judgment up his ass and spin on it?

  Because she couldn’t speak.

  The lump in her throat was too tight, blocking her airway and choking off her ability to speak.

  No. Stop. He doesn’t have the right to shame you for your choices.

  That tiny voice of defiance was the one thing keeping her from openly bawling.

  Her heart rate quickened as she struggled with her need to cry, scream or flat out tell him to mind his own business.

  But after a few gulped breaths, she regained her composure, finished her beer and tossed a few dollars on the bar, saying as she rose to leave, “I wouldn’t want you to think I was using you for your money.”

  At that, he quirked that annoyingly handsome grin and said, “Baby, no worries there. I know you’re just using me for sex and I’m good with that.”

  Her cheeks flared with heat as a few people glanced their way and she hustled from the bar, eager to escape the unwelcome feelings cramming their way down her throat.

  She had to return to her room. Decompress. Get focused.

  Or maybe Harper would just cry her eyes out in her own pity party for one.

  No one understood the struggle.

  The loneliness.

  The yawning chasm of emptiness that grew with each passing year as she chased her goal.

  She just wanted to be self-sufficient, never beholden to anyone.

  Ever.

  The only way to get there was the path laid out for her.

  Damn you, Teagan Carmichael—you don’t get to judge me.

  Only God can judge me and so far, He hasn’t seen fit to say a word.

  So cram it, asshole.

  16

  IN HINDSIGHT, MAYBE he should’ve cut himself off at the third beer.

  Or the tequila shot.

  Or even the whiskey body shot off the soft belly of that hot local woman.

  But he hadn’t.

  Which was probably why he didn’t quite remember how he got the black eye he was sporting.

  Gotta love Mexico.

  At least his wallet was s
till in his pocket.

  Teagan might not remember how he got back to the ship or what exactly happened after Harper left, but he did remember in excruciating detail how crushed she’d looked, even if she’d tried to hide it.

  He’d hurt her.

  Teagan rubbed his head, the angry pain of a killer hangover bludgeoning his brain, and rose to guzzle some water and eat some aspirin for breakfast.

  He didn’t know why he couldn’t just let Harper do what she planned to do. It really wasn’t his business how she ran her life.

  But he did care.

  Damn, he cared a lot.

  More than he wanted to.

  Harper was more than she sold herself as and it pissed him off that she was chasing after a plan that stank of deception and lies.

  Teagan wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her.

  But if he put his hands on her...he couldn’t promise that he wouldn’t go a step further and just screw the sense into her.

  He chuckled at his own stupidity. Yeah, like that’s possible. If it were, their epic first night together would’ve accomplished far more than it had.

  Teagan grabbed a bottled water and washed the aspirin down, catching a brief look at his sorry self in the bathroom mirror before walking away in disgust.

  It’d been quite a while since he’d thrown punches in a bar.

  He liked to think he’d outgrown that bullshit.

  Apparently not.

  A knock at the door made his head throb anew.

  When he saw Vanessa holding an ice pack, he swallowed his disappointment that it wasn’t Harper and let her in.

  “Sorry, not the right gal you were hoping for?” Vanessa said, winking.

  He needed to work on his game face. “Sorry,” he said, sheepish as he fell back onto the small sofa with a groan. “Do you have any idea what happened to me? Or how I got back to my room?”

  “Yes and yes,” Vanessa answered, handing him the ice. “Figured you might need this.”

  “Yeah, I do. Thanks,” he said, placing the ice on his forehead. “I feel like I went a few rounds with Mike Tyson and lost.”

  “You didn’t win,” Vanessa agreed with a short laugh. “But you gave it a good college try. To be fair, the numbers weren’t in your favor.”

  That caught his attention, and he removed the ice pack. “What do you mean?”

  “The thing about local bars is that they usually have locals in them,” Vanessa answered as if that should be obvious. “And locals hate tourists.”

  “I’ve been to that bar before and never had a problem.”

  “Yeah, but you have that look about you on this trip that screams ‘I’m not from here’ and well, you’ve also got a face that can make other men instantly jealous. Pretty boy problems.”

  “Pretty boy? Not sure anyone has ever called me that.” He replaced the ice. “And with this shiner, I doubt they will anytime soon.”

  “All right, well, let me give you the short version of what happened.”

  “Please do. I’m all ears.”

  Vanessa took a seat opposite him. “Me and Stuart finished up our drink and started to head back to the ship. We happened to pass Harper and she looked upset so we tried to ask her what was wrong and she gave us some vague total baloney answer, which we saw right through, and then because we knew that you two had left together, we asked where you were. She told us, and then split. We got to the bar just in time to see you taking a punch. Judging by the general mayhem, it looked as if you got a few lucky strikes in but, honey, you have to know when you’re outnumbered.”

  “I don’t remember any of that. I remember Harper leaving, but...after that... I kinda drank more than I usually do.”

  “Something tells me that young thing could drive any man to drink,” Vanessa joked, amused by the entire situation when she should be outraged that Harper had sights on Stuart. He didn’t understand women. “The only reason you weren’t arrested and thrown into a Mexican jail was because Stuart made the problems go away.”

  “How?” he asked.

  “Money,” she answered simply. “That man is generous to a fault, which is why you need to get off your ass and stop playing footsie with Harper.”

  “Trust me, not playing anything with her.”

  “That’s the problem.”

  He did a double take. “Come again?”

  “Look, honey, I know Harper thinks she’s going to put her baby claws in Stuart and I know why she’s so keen on getting him, but she needs to know that I’m not going to let that happen and I’d rather not crush the poor girl for her ambition. I like her,” Vanessa admitted with a shrug. “She has spunk.”

  “Yeah, well, Harper has her mind set. Not sure there’s much else I can do to change that.”

  Vanessa waved away Teagan’s sour attitude. “You have to be dumber than a box of rocks if you can’t see that girl is into you. Like really into you. She can hardly take her eyes off you and when you two are together, that sexual tension is contagious.”

  Couldn’t argue the point about the tension. Even when he was pissed as hell, he still wanted to feel her beneath him.

  It felt a little weird to be talking about this with Vanessa.

  But Vanessa got a kick out of it, apparently.

  “And to think, I thought you were going to be my catch on this trip. Fate is funny. Now I’m glad I wasn’t your cup of tea. Stuart is...well, he’s damn awesome. And virile for a man his age. Flexible, too.”

  Teagan tried not to look sick but the mental image of Stuart doing the Kama sutra with Vanessa was more than his brain could handle.

  “You two seemed to have hit it off,” Teagan said, hoping to nudge the topic to safer ground. “I’m glad. You’re a helluva woman. Stuart is lucky.”

  “Yes, he is.” Vanessa smiled widely. “But you need to get your A game in better shape because that girl is a powder keg of need and want. All it’s going to take is the right spark to cause an explosion.”

  “She’s not interested,” he said, chuckling at Vanessa’s assessment. “I appreciate you and Stuart keeping my dumb ass out of a Mexican jail, I really do, but I think I’m just going to keep my distance from Harper. She and I are like oil and water, they just don’t mix well.”

  “I call it fire and ice,” Vanessa corrected with a sly expression. “Look, trust me, I’m a woman. I understand the complexities of a woman’s mind. You’re going to have to believe me when I say she’s into you a lot more than she wants to admit. It’s your job to press the right buttons.”

  Oh, he knew the right buttons on her body to push, but the mental buttons? He couldn’t seem to find the right switch.

  He sighed. “Got any ideas?”

  “More of what you did today,” Vanessa answered promptly, already with a solution. “She was scared to death until you went on that zip with her. She trusts you. I’m willing to bet trust is something she’s got in short supply. Give her more. Show her that you’re not going to break her like someone did in the past. It’s really not that hard to figure out, honey. Sometimes you got to get a little dirty to find the treasure buried underground.”

  “That’s some philosophical stuff you’re dropping on me,” he said, half joking.

  Vanessa smiled and rose, pleased with herself. “Just do as I’ve told you and you’ll have that sassy girl eating out of your palm.”

  Teagan wasn’t so sure about that, but he respected Vanessa enough to give her the benefit of the doubt.

  Hell, maybe Vanessa was right and he really was dumb as a box of rocks for not seeing what was right in front of him.

  “Now,” Vanessa said, heading for the door, “shower, slap some deodorant on and meet us downstairs in an hour. We have a new excursion planned and I can’t wait.”

&nbs
p; Excursion?

  Vanessa wiggled her fingers in goodbye and then she was gone.

  That was the thing about older women...wisdom, man, wisdom.

  Hopefully, Stuart’s ticker could handle all that woman.

  If not, at least the old guy would die with a smile on his face.

  * * *

  HARPER KNEW SHE ought to get up, dress and return to the schedule, but her heart wasn’t in it.

  Staying locked in her suite seemed a great idea.

  So did eating a bucket of ice cream—not that she would ever do that—but she could fantasize.

  Munching on carrot and celery sticks didn’t have the same soothing effect as a creamy sugary treat, but at least she could eat the veggies without worrying that the extra calories might end up on her behind.

  When she finally made enough money to retire, she was going to eat ice cream until she puked.

  And pizza.

  And chocolate chip cookies.

  And fettuccine Alfredo with tender bay shrimp and garlic bread.

  Ohh, bread, she groaned. She missed carbs.

  Something slid under the door and she sat up abruptly with a curious frown.

  A neat white envelope with her name on it had been slipped into her room like something out of a spy movie.

  Her first thought was of Teagan. Seemed like something he would do.

  But when she started to smile at the thought, Harper stuffed it down and snatched up the envelope, ready to trash it if it was.

  She opened the envelope and saw with surprise Stuart’s name scrawled on the back.

  Stuart had sent her an invitation to something?

  Maybe her luck was turning around.

  Harper read the invitation, puzzled.

  “Join us for an excursion, off the book! Meet in the lobby in one hour.”

  Us? Off-book?

  What did any of that mean?

  Well, it was an invitation from Stuart, so that was a good sign. Maybe she’d prematurely lost hope that the older gentleman was interested.

  Maybe whatever he and Vanessa had shared had run its course.