***
Steel took a quick shower and changed into his sleeping pants. Normally, he slept bare-chested but worried that might alarm Tess, so he tugged on a T-shirt and gathered his hair with a band at the nap of his neck.
He softly knocked and entered her room. He thought she might be asleep, but she wasn’t. In fact, she wasn’t in her bed.
Disappointment flooded his heart. Forget the morning, she already regretted her request. Probably ran off to sleep with Helen.
What the hell was he doing? Why had he agreed to share her bed? This relationship was doomed from the start. Tess had more baggage than all his past women in aggregate, and none of those relationships lasted more than a month.
Nor had he cared when they ended. But Tess was a whole ’nother story. She was his elusive white whale: the woman who suited him to a tee.
A woman who couldn’t love.
Damn it, he was smarter than this! He pushed himself off the bed and headed to the door.
“Steel?” Tess spoke from the bathroom door.
He turned and faced her, dark hair falling down her chest, wetting the thin fabric on her pajamas, allowing him to see too much beneath.
“I thought you’d changed your mind and left to sleep with your grams,” he explained.
“No. When I heard you jump in the shower, I got itchy. So I took one, too. I need to change the sheets. Will you help me? It’ll go faster.”
His heart lightened. Maybe she’d dropped some of her baggage while running from that bear. “Sure. Just tell me what to do.”
Her body tensed. “You’ve never put sheets on a bed?”
He grimaced. “No, but it doesn’t mean I’m not willing to learn.”
Her brow furrowed. “So your mother took care of that sort of stuff?”
He choked at the idea. “I can assure you my mother has no idea how to change a sheet either.”
Once the sheets were on and the summer blanket back in place, Tess climbed into her side. He joined her in the bed, but when he reached out to pull her back to his chest, she rolled over and faced him, her eyes filled with worry.
“Talk to me,” he said, refusing to believe she’d give him grief because he didn’t know how to make a damn bed.
“Why wouldn’t your mother know how to change sheets?”
He sighed. “This is something I never share, but you, I’ll tell. But this stays between us, and never talk about my family to anyone else. Promise?”
She nodded.
God, he hated talking about this. People always changed once they learned who he was. “My mother is a distant third cousin to the Queen.”
“The Queen of England?” she asked.
He nodded and waited for the change in her eyes.
“Oh, thank God! For a minute, I feared you were Mafia!”
“Mafia?”
“It would be just like Father to try and sneak some mafia rodent into my life now that I’m losing my grams.”
“So you thought I was a mafia rodent because I didn’t know how to make a bed?”
“I’m sorry.”
He rolled onto his back. “I thought you were beginning to trust me.”
“I am. But people who work in forestry usually come from middle-class families, and they send their kids to camps where they have to make their own beds, even the boys. But mafia boys won’t. It’s not manly. One of the staffers will make their beds. I know because the staffer for my brothers refused, and then he disappeared. The one that replaced him made their beds.”
“What do you mean disappeared?” he asked.
“His body was never found, but I’m sure my brothers or someone working for my father killed him.”
He pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. “Thank you for explaining why my lack of house skills upset you.”
Her arms tightened about him.
“So why don’t you like the Queen? Is she mean?” Tess asked.
He kissed the top of her head. “I’ve never met her personally, but I assume from what I’ve read in the papers and seen on the telly, she’s a kind, old lady, confused by the change of times and the media’s crucifixion of royalty.”
“Then why don’t you want anyone to know you’re related to her?”
“Because, for most people, it changes how they see me. The moment they realize I’m royalty, no matter how distantly, they assume I bought my degree and I don’t know a damn thing. So I lead people to believe that I don’t like my family, so when I refuse to bring them home, they’ll not push it.” In truth, he truly didn’t care for his parents and their constant disappointment in him, but if he admitted that, she might wish to hash through all their issues.
“When you say people, do you mean girlfriends?
“Sometimes, but I don’t invite my male friends home either. Which is why I prefer jobs in the States. That way no one can reasonably expect to have dinner with the parents.”
“You’re lucky you can do that. I don’t think it matters where I go. Everyone seems to soon discover who I am. I hadn’t been at the university two weeks when I started hearing ‘mafia princess’ when I made the top grade in the class.”
He snorted. “Tess, you know more about forestry than any professor I’ve ever met.”
“I did wonder if my father had told them to give me A’s, so I screwed up a test on purpose, and it came back a C. I was so happy!”
He turned her face so he could lock into her eyes. “Don’t ever do that again.”
“Grams already scolded me for that. Especially since the possibility that my father would want me to get A’s was laughable. He wants me to quit college and marry the monster of his choice.”
Her declaration worried him. “I thought you and your father never spoke.”
She sighed. “Well, I used to need him to co-sign for my loans, but Grams says I don’t have to worry about that now—” She burst into tears.
God, Helen must have told her when she died, she’d have enough money to pay for college. “She’s just looking out for you,” he whispered and held her tight as Tess cried herself to sleep.
***
Tess woke, confused by the hardness of her pillow…and the pillow case didn’t feel like 3000 count quality linen. She opened her eyes and stared at Steel’s handsome face. At least now she understood why it felt so unyielding. Her hands caressed Steel’s chest and arms.
Her brothers had muscles, acquired by steroids and weightlifting. She had no doubt Steel’s were natural, earned by hard, honest work.
Her feelings for him frightened her. She’d thought it would take years to connect with someone other than Grams. Yet all it took was opening her heart to the possibility, and now her heart was his.
What if it wasn’t him, but simply her need to be loved by someone since she was losing her grams? Would any guy have been able to knock down her defenses so fast?
His strong hands moved up and caressed her back. “Good morning.”
His voice was low and gravely and so filled with kindness that it warmed her from head to toe. She smiled. “Did I wake you?”
His eyelids lowered a bit into a sultry stare. “Maybe, but you’ll get no complaints from me.”
“I woke to a very hard pillow. Just be glad I didn’t try to pound it into submission before I figured out what it was.”
A deep chuckled rumbled from his chest.
She stared down at the T-shirt, wishing it wasn’t there. “Do you always sleep with a T-shirt on?”
“In fact, I normally sleep bare-chested. I thought you’d be more comfortable if I wore one.”
“I wouldn’t have minded,” she said as she rolled to the side and pulled up the T-shirt to get a peek.
He took the edge of the shirt from her hand and pulled it over his head, causing his white-blond hair to come out of the ponytail.
She gulped. “You’re very beautiful.” Too beautiful for her…
He tilted her chin up so her gaze met his. “So are you.”
<
br /> She shook her head until he stopped her by placing his hands on both of her cheeks.
“Clearly, you don’t think so, and that’s good. Being beautiful and knowing it is the worst situation for a teenager. At least it was for me. Girls loved me for my looks. They couldn’t care less what I wanted in life. I was related to the Queen and I was cute, so they all declared their undying love, which to them, meant giving me as much sex as I wanted.”
Tess really didn’t like where this story was going.
He stroked her arm as his eyes grew distant. “I was fully jaded by the time I turned fifteen. I believed declarations of love were only attempts to manipulate.”
Since Tess had believed the same before she’d met Steel, she decided to be quiet and just let him talk himself into a grave or into her arms.
“When I left England, things improved a bit. At least no one knew about the whole royalty shit, but I still had this face.” His tone left no doubt he thought it a curse rather than a gift.
“My father claims I chose two male-dominated majors just to avoid young women. That might have been true with Forest Management, but I loved archeology from the very first.”
Tess had seen his adoration the moment he’d found the Indian village.
“To get my field work funded from a legitimate source, I had to become a college professor. That resulted in a great deal of young women enrolling in my classes.”
“I can imagine,” she chuckled, but sobered at his pained eyes.
“Because I didn’t believe in love, I didn’t value their affections. I was going through my female students about one a month.”
Her heart tightened. “What do mean ‘going through’?”
“I’d let a young woman pursue me for a while, then drop whoever I was shagging—and to me that’s all it was—to start up with a new student. But at the first fight or argument, I’d drop her for the next in line.”
“That sounds horrible…for everyone.”
“Well, it almost cost me my career, and it did cost me my first job.” His eyes darkened with pain. “It probably caused two young women to lose their lives. So from my view, I had become a man who shamed and disgusted me.”
She wanted to comfort him, but she couldn’t until she knew more about the two women who died. “The two women…” She didn’t even know how to finish the question.
“They were grad students, probably in the picture you found on the Internet. Diane Compton and Ashley Stanton. I’d had affairs with both of them while they were undergrads. When they applied to go on my archeological dig, I turned them down. Only they took it to the dean, declaring I was discriminating against females. So the dean insisted I take them.”
He sighed as he covered his face with his hands and remained quiet for a long moment. Finally, he spoke. “I treated them with utmost professionalism, but they constantly challenged my orders and questioned my competency. The male grad students were convinced I was sleeping with them because why else would I put up with all their shit?”
“Why did you?”
“Because I felt responsible for the anger that fueled their bad attitudes.” He sighed heavily and stared at the ceiling a long time before continuing.
“When the helicopter arrived and started shooting at us, I ordered everyone to the hills. So naturally, they refused to leave the car. I can’t help but think if I had never mixed work with pleasure, they would still be alive. Their parents certainly thought so. They blamed me for luring their daughters into harm’s way.”
“But you tried to stop them from going.”
“The dean seemed to have forgotten that. I was charged with behavior unbecoming and for endangering the lives of my students. Never mind they had approved and paid for the dig, never mind that I had never had sex with these women since they became grad students. They declared the whole disaster entirely my fault.”
She gripped his hands in hers. “It wasn’t. First of all, they pursued you as undergrads.”
He nodded.
“Then they forced you to take them on this dig. And finally, they ignored your orders, which ultimately got them killed. Your only mistake was not to build a wall between personal and professional.” Pain forced her to close her eyes as she realized something. “And Dr. Castile, you’re doing it again.”
“Tess, no,” he pleaded, clearly seeing where she was going.
“This has nothing to do with trust. I trust you with all my heart. I’ll have your back for life. But as long as we work together, we can be nothing more than friends.”
His blue eyes filled with misery. “Tess, you promised you wouldn’t do this.”
“I promised I wouldn’t regress, and I haven’t. I opened my heart to trusting you, and the second I did, I fell in love with you. I would like nothing more than be possibly the first love of your life.”
“I believe you already are. I’m begging you, don’t back away from this. You’ve no idea how rare it is.”
“I don’t, but I can’t imagine it’s common because the feelings I have are so intense. I will always look out for you, even if that means being only a friend and professional partner.”
“Damn you,” he cursed and rolled to get out of bed.
She gripped his arm. “No, you have to listen to me first. To my reasoning. Only then are you allowed to curse me.”
He could have broken away from her grip, but he didn’t. Instead, he lay back down and covered his eyes with his right arm.
“I recall you saying you cursed out your dean from your last college, so I’m thinking your career is in tatters and finding that village and mounds could recover it…if you aren’t seen repeating the same mistake again.”
“What I feel for you is different—”
“I believe you, but they won’t.”
He sighed but didn’t argue.
She gripped his left hand. “But there’s another reason. One that I’d foolishly pushed aside.”
He pulled his arm off his glassy blue eyes. “What?”
“If my father thought you and I were lovers, he might kill you.”
“Helen said he’d just try to corrupt me.”
She shook her head. “He seems to read people pretty well. He would see right off you’re too honorable to dance to his orders. So he would kill you. The only way I can save your career, which you love, and save your life is for us to remain professional. But I have not back-stepped. My feelings for you are very intense. But for your safety, we need to keep our relationship platonic.”
He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “Okay, first of all, I was cursing at God, not you. Secondly, thank you for insisting I listen to your rationale. You are right about my professional career. It’s hanging by a thread, and the mounds will either save or destroy it. And that is my responsibility. As to your father, I’ll trust your assessment. Helen may have told me what I wanted to hear so I’d be your rock once she’s gone.”
His last words worried Tess until his left hand gripped hers tightly. “I can’t be your rock if I’m dead, but alive, I will always be there for you as the best friend you’ve ever had.”
She didn’t tell him she’d never had a best friend unless her grams counted. It didn’t matter. She had one now.
Chapter 9
Steel returned to his own room and dressed for his first official day as forest manager. His first action was to call Tom. “How many people can I hire?”
“That depends. How soon can you get me a project plan?”
“Tom…”
“Sorry, Steel. The governor is personally interested in this project. No cutting corners.”
“So how soon can we get the required software?”
“My assistant obtained two heavy-duty laptops, had all software and encryption security installed, and I’ll be delivering them around noon today…if that suits you.”
“You just want to see those mounds,” he grumbled.
“I do. I need to protect my forest manager.”
“Tess isn�
��t—oh, you mean me.”
“Yes, and don’t make that slip with anyone else. I imagine you plan to let Tess care for the forests while you embark on an archeological dig.”
God, would he ever get a boss who didn’t want to stick his bloody nose into everything? “That’s exactly what I plan,” he replied.
“Well, before anyone else gets wind of that, you need to determine if those mounds will make or break your career.”
Steel reined in his anger. Tom was only looking out for him, just like Tess had been when she declared their relationship would have to remain platonic. “Sorry for getting snippy. You’re right. Until I determine the age of those mounds, I should be working this alone. But to date the mounds, I’ll require access to a lab competent in carbon dating.”
“I’ve got a friend who could probably slot you in at the University of Minnesota.”
Steel sighed in relief. He really didn’t want to ask his former colleges to get involved. He’d burned too many bridges there. “That would be great.”
“I’ll see you at noon. Any chance you’ll be at the cabin?”
“None whatsoever. But I’ll ask my assistant forest manager to bring you to my find.”
“She’s nicer, anyway. Steel, I know we’ve discussed this, but becoming romantically involved with Tess would be a catastrophe.”
“I agree. Tess and I plan to keep matters platonic.”
“And you seriously can do that?”
“Yeah, given more than my career could die if I don’t.”
The release of a long stream of air crossed over the line. “Great. Sorry I keep bringing this up. I was pretty sure there wouldn’t be a problem…just not a hundred percent.”
Did Tom think he wouldn’t find her desirable? He had never been more attracted to a woman than he was to Tess Campbell. “Why didn’t you think there’d be a problem?”
“Because all your situations have been with predatory women. Tess is nothing like that.”
Steel chuckled. “That’s very true. She’s more like a guy. I expect we’ll be good friends, but nothing more.”
Once he hung up, he mourned the relationship they would never have and then moved on. He entered the main room, smiling at Tess cooking breakfast.
Unexpected Love (White Oak-Mafia #2) Page 8