by Romy Sommer
Through the lacy bed frill, Christian could see Tessa’s reflection in the mirror across the room. With her eyes closed she breathed in deeply, pulling herself together, bottling up all those emotions she’d only just unleashed. The transformation twisted a knife in his gut, as his Tessa disappeared.
“I’m glad. Because we need to talk.” She sounded back in control, calm as ever. She moved away, out of his line of vision, and Christian squirmed to get a better view of the distant mirror, curiosity about this other man, his competition to all intents and purposes, over-ruling his caution.
The bathroom door re-opened and Stefan stepped out.
Christian could see the appeal. Stefan was good-looking, in a preppy, clean-cut kind of way. He wore a navy suit that looked as if it had been tailored in Milan and carried himself with the suave confidence that only a man born to wealth and privilege could have.
Christian hated him on sight.
Stefan wrapped his arms around Tessa and pulled her close. Christian closed his eyes. Not that it helped. He couldn’t close his ears and he knew exactly what was going on out there. They were kissing.
His hands fisted as he suffocated the urge to get out there and plant one in Stefan’s face. How dare the man claim ownership of Tessa when he hadn’t even seen her in weeks?
When she hadn’t yet chosen between them.
He calmed his breathing as the two broke apart.
“I’m so glad you could come to Paris,” Stefan said. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you.”
“Four weeks and two days.”
“It’s been awful, I know, but we’re nearly done. As soon as I get back from Stockholm I’ll be all yours. I’m just so sorry I have to do this business dinner thing tonight. I’d have liked to have you to myself.”
“Do you really have to leave tomorrow?” she asked. “It’s Sunday. We could spend the day together.”
Stefan shook his head. “I have to go. The sooner I get these negotiations over and done with, the sooner I can come home. Besides, it’s not as if we’d see each other anyway. You have your work thing tomorrow.”
“Only in the evening.”
Stefan pulled Tessa down beside him on the sofa and wrapped an arm around her.
“I have a gift for you. That something new from Tiffany’s I promised.”
He took a package from his suit pocket and handed it to her. Tessa opened the box. Christian could see nothing but a reflected glitter.
“Thank you. They’re beautiful.”
“You’re looking good. What with the wedding preparations and this damned job of yours, I thought you’d be frazzled. But you look… different. Are you ready to tell me yet why your father wanted you to take this job baby-sitting Christian Taylor?”
Unseen beneath the bed, Christian stiffened. What did Stefan mean? What did Tessa’s father have to do with her coming to work for him?
Tessa pulled away from her fiancé and rose, putting space between them. Christian relaxed a little – or as much as his cramped position allowed.
“It’s been good for me.” She paced towards the French doors to the balcony, where the gauzy curtains were drawn shut against the darkened sky. “Whatever my father’s reasons, I needed this job. For me.” Her voice rang clear, confident. “I’ve lived my whole life inside a protected bubble. I needed to get out and face a few of my fears.”
Christian couldn’t see her face, but he could see Stefan’s – and he could see that her fiancé didn’t really get what she was saying. Stefan leaned back on the sofa and rested an ankle on one knee. “He’s a smart man, your father. You look… more alive. Radiant.”
Christian inched forward. The damned bed frill blocked half his view, but if he laid his head flat on the carpeted floor, he could see a little more of the room than just the mirror.
Tessa laughed nervously. “That’s only because you’re here now.”
But there was a catch in her voice that Stefan didn’t appear to notice. Christian did.
He wriggled sideways, so he could see her profile. Not just her profile. She held her hands behind her back and he could see what Stefan couldn’t.
Her fingers crossed behind her back.
His breath hitched. She’d just given him his answer. She wasn’t radiant because her fiancé was now here. She didn’t love Stefan, and it didn’t take a genius to see that there was zero chemistry between them.
She was radiant because she’d just been thoroughly kissed moments before by the man she had a whole heap of chemistry with.
If he hadn’t been wedged under the bed and unable to move, he’d have done a victory dance.
Tessa hugged the dressing gown closer around her. “I need to dress. Why don’t you go downstairs and have a drink at the bar while I finish getting ready?”
“It’s fine. I can wait here. Don’t mind me.”
Tessa blushed and Christian grinned. He didn’t think for half a second that she was shy of her fiancé watching her change. She was flustered because she knew Christian was watching.
And he really didn’t mind watching.
“Could you do me a favour?” she asked Stefan.
“Of course. Anything.”
“I forgot to pack toothpaste. And you know I can’t stand to go out without brushing my teeth. Would you please go down to the lobby and see if they have any?”
Stefan frowned but he shrugged and headed towards the door.
As the door shut behind him, Tessa whirled and headed for the bed. She lifted the bed frill for Christian to roll out. Once he was out, he used the bed for leverage and stood.
He couldn’t stop grinning.
“You have to go!” she hissed, as if Stefan might still hear.
“I’m not going anywhere. You don’t love him.” He said it triumphantly.
But Tessa only glared at him, unmoved. “That doesn’t matter. You’ve got to get out of here before he gets back.”
“Why are you marrying the man if you don’t love him?”
“Because he asked.” She gave him a push in the direction of the door, just as the door handle rattled.
“Shit!”
It was the first time he’d heard her swear.
With a surprising amount of force, she propelled him in the other direction, towards the French doors. She unlatched the door to the balcony and held it open for him.
“I’m not going out there,” he said. “It’s freezing.”
The door handle rattled again. “Let me in, Teresa. We can call the concierge desk and ask them to send up toothpaste.”
Great time for him to figure that out.
Tessa swore again and shoved Christian out the door, onto the narrow wrought-iron balcony that was less than a third of the size of his rooftop one, then yanked the door closed behind him. This time he let her.
He wasn’t going to get what he wanted from her by stressing her out more than she already was.
He pressed his ear to the glass pane and listened, but he could hear nothing. Tessa let Stefan back into the room again and Christian turned away.
Damn, it was cold out here. And his shirt was still under her bed. He was naked from the waist up. And it was snowing harder and thicker now.
He shivered and shifted his feet, almost slipping on the frozen snow that glazed the balcony. Bloody hell, if he slipped and fell… he peered over the ledge. She might be on one of the lowest floors, but the drop was still at least two storeys high here at the back of the building. At least the garden below was deserted. He’d hate to have to explain this to the gendarmes. Or the papers.
“Nice night for stargazing,” said a voice out of the darkness.
He spun, nearly slipped again, and grabbed hold of the railing.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” he asked as he made out Dominic’s face in the darkness, one storey up and several rooms over.
“Same thing as you, I expect.” Dom leaned forward, out of the shadows of the overhang of the balcony above, his arms cro
ssed over his chest, as casual as if he did this every day. As if he weren’t turning blue from the cold. He wore even less than Christian, for he’d lost his pants and shoes too.
Dom jerked his head towards the doors behind him. “Husband came home early. You?”
“Fiancé.”
Sometimes you couldn’t make this shit up.
Christian peered through the glass again. Stefan was on the phone, no doubt calling the concierge desk. Tessa seemed to have gone into the bathroom. He hoped she remembered to hide her toothpaste.
He peeled himself away from the door and turned to look for a downward drain pipe.
Dominic’s voice floated down from above. “I already checked. No downpipes this side of the building and the plaster’s slippery as all get out. We might as well jump, but I wouldn’t want you to try. You’re out of practice and you have a movie to finish. The bond guarantors will go crazy if you injure yourself.”
Christian peered back through the window and wished he hadn’t. Teresa was now dressed to go out in a demure little black dress and nude stockings. As Stefan helped her on with her coat, he kissed her neck. Teresa leaned back against him, smiling up at him.
Christian’s fists clenched. She’d let him into her room and kissed him as if there’d been no tomorrow. How could she now so casually do the same with another man?
Frig, it was cold.
He leaned forward, trying to gauge the distance to the snow-covered garden below. It was impossible to tell how deep the snow lay, though, or what might be concealed beneath it.
He and Dom had got their start in the stunt game as two gung-ho kids throwing themselves off buildings and getting paid for it. But that had been a long time ago, and there were no safety mats waiting below for them now. And if his stunt-double-slash-coordinator didn’t think he could make it…
“How long have you been out here?” Christian asked. He rubbed his arms.
“Long enough – I can’t feel my fingers or toes.”
“You’re going to catch your death.” Christian peered over the ledge again. “I think we can do this.”
“I’m not as young as I look.” Dominic said. “And my hip…”
“Your choices are simple: climb and risk an uncontrolled fall; jump or hypothermia.”
Dominic shrugged and pushed away from the wall. “The snow’s been coming down for a few hours now. It might provide some cushioning.”
“Any idea what’s underneath it? If it’s lawn, we’re okay. If it’s paving… ”
Dom shrugged. “This is my Aunt Eva’s roof all over again. And I cracked my collar bone that time.”
“I fractured my shin. But we survived.”
“Just in case it’s not lawn beneath that snow, I’d rate my chances better with two storeys rather than three. I’m coming down to you.”
Agonisingly carefully, Dominic began the slow climb from balcony ledge to balcony ledge. Christian held his breath every time Dom made the leap from one to another, letting it out only when he was sure his friend had a firm grasp on the next railing.
When Dom reached the balcony directly above him, the lights in Tessa’s room dimmed. Christian risked a glance inside. There was no sign of her or Stefan, so they must have left.
Dom wrapped his hands around the railing above and climbed over, hanging over the edge. Christian didn’t need to ask what he needed to do. He braced himself to catch Dom as he let go. Dom’s weight slammed into him and together they tumbled to the balcony floor with a crash that must have been audible to anyone inside the room.
Adrenalin and relief coursed through him. Thank heavens the ancient eighteenth-century balcony hadn’t shaken loose with the impact.
Gingerly, they both got to their feet and peered over the railing ledge. Christian was the first to mount the railing. He grinned. “Do or die.”
It had been their old war cry, when they’d been nothing more than teenagers who believed themselves immortal.
Dom climbed up beside him, balancing on the frozen iron railing.
“Go on, you first.” Christian waved for Dominic to take the leap first, knowing full well he wouldn’t.
Dom’s grin lit up the darkness. “On the count of three.”
One… two… With a leap, Christian threw himself off the edge, bracing for impact. The ground rushed up to meet him, the air swept about him. He whooped his delight.
Then he hit the ground. Hard. And rolled.
Bloody hell, but the snow was hard. He tasted blood in his mouth where he’d bitten his lip. He couldn’t move. But at least it didn’t feel as if anything was broken. Winded, bruised, shaken, but not broken. And thank heavens it was lawn beneath them after all, not concrete.
Dominic hit the ground mere yards away with a loud “oomph”.
Christian raised himself up on his elbows. He couldn’t help laughing at the sight of his friend, spread-eagled, nearly naked in the snow.
Dominic groaned.
“You okay?” Christian asked.
“I seriously need to find a new line of work.”
“You seriously need to stop messing around with other men’s wives.”
Dom chuckled. “You are so not one to talk. The first time you fall in love, and she’s as good as married.”
“I’m not in love.” Christian bit his lip. Or was he? He’d never been so relentless in his pursuit of a woman before. Never wanted a woman so badly before. Never been shopping with a woman before – even his stylist.
Was this love?
“She doesn’t love Stefan,” he said. The joyful giddiness was back, making his head swim.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean she loves you either,” Dom said.
He crashed back down to earth. What if she didn’t feel the same way about him as he felt about her? It wasn’t a possibility he’d encountered before. He was used to women falling at his feet. But what if this one, the only one who mattered, didn’t want him back?
He pressed his eyes shut, surprised to find an ache in his chest that had nothing to do with the fall and everything to do with Tessa.
It was probably for the best that she didn’t fall for him. He only brought pain to the people who loved him. But she did want him. He was sure of it. He’d seen it in her eyes.
And he wasn’t going to let go until she admitted it, until she acknowledged the passion inside her. Preferably after he got her naked and in his bed.
Or her bed. He wasn’t fussy.
“Do or die,” Christian repeated softly, staring up at the sky. Pinpricks of stars glittered high above. In his headlong rush towards stardom he’d lost touch with that old feeling. That sensation of standing on the edge, putting everything on the line, and just going for it. When had he last stood on the edge and taken a risk? While Dominic still lived their old motto every single day, he’d fallen into a comfort zone.
To hell with his comfort zone. He was getting too old to flit from one woman to the next. He wanted what Stefan had with Teresa. Hell, he wanted what Stefan had. Period.
“That was fun.” Dominic moved his arms and legs, making snow angels.
“Yeah, but let’s not do it again.” Christian pushed himself to his feet. “Come on, get up, old man.” He held out a hand to Dominic.
“I don’t think I can,” Dom said. But he reached out and grasped Christian’s hand. Christian hauled him up.
“I’m getting too old for this shit.”
Christian laughed. “You and me both. Let’s get inside. I don’t know about you, but I could do with a whiskey.”
“Drinks are on me if the receptionist squeals when she sees us.”
“Drinks are on me if she agrees to meet you when her shift ends.”
Dominic grinned as he brushed the snow out of his hair. “Deal.”
They headed towards the terrace that led into the Michelin-starred restaurant. The diners shrieked as they emerged through the doors into the classy dining room. Christian grinned and held his head high as he crossed through the resta
urant and headed towards the lobby, Dominic a step behind.
When they walked into the lobby, the receptionist squealed. Christian’s grin deepened. “You can make mine a double,” he said to Dom, gesturing towards the bar.
His entire body ached, but he hadn’t felt this happy in ages.
Do or die. He’d forgotten that mantra along the way. He wasn’t going to forget it again.
Chapter 17
He didn’t see her at breakfast, nor did she answer when he knocked on her door in the early afternoon. Surely there couldn’t be any shops left in the city they hadn’t already visited yesterday. So where the hell was she?
With Stefan? Had her fiancé changed his mind and opted to stay in Paris to be with her? Had she rediscovered feelings for the man she planned to marry? Christian’s stomach clenched into knots at the thought.
As it grew dark, he received a text from her with the time the limo would be there to collect him. Him, not them.
He stared hard at the phone, but there was nothing more.
Would she stand him up? Had he pushed her too far last night?
But when he arrived in the hotel lobby, dressed in the evening suit she’d helped him buy, Tessa waited for him. She stood before a vast oil painting hung on the wall, her back to him.
His breath caught. For a long moment he stood and simply looked. She wore an evening gown of midnight blue, which clung to her tall, slender figure. The long sleeves were made of lace and her back was bare. Over her arm she carried a short matching coat.
Then she turned and saw him. And she smiled.
No way was he going to be left out in the cold tonight.
His heart resumed its beat, perhaps a little faster than normal. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
And yes, he was in love with her. Who wouldn’t be?
She walked slowly towards him, a sensual sway in her step as she crossed the checkered marble floor of the lobby and stopped barely a foot away.
“You really should dress like this more often. You look… dashing.”
“And you look stunning.” Though she made the word seem meaningless. She was so much more. She was poised, sophisticated, and heart-wrenchingly sexy.
It took all his effort not to grab hold of her and kiss her right there, in the middle of the hotel lobby where everyone could see. But then he’d muss her lipstick or her perfectly styled hair – hair so artfully tumbled he had no doubt it had taken hours to achieve. So that’s where she’d been all day.