Whitney did you?” she gasped. The pieces of the puzzle were
slowly coming together.
“I believe I made a comment close to it that seemed to get
Whitney a little riled up.”
“Of all the idiotic…” Tess muttered under her breath,
glaring in Christian’s direction. She flopped down on a pastel-striped green
chair and drew a deep breath before addressing Christian in much the same
manner a parent would an errant child who had foolishly made an error in
judgment.
“I can’t believe that with all your supposed ‘experience’
with women you were dense enough to actually speak ill of Whitney’s boss in
front of her, let alone the fact that you’re riding on the shirttails of the
same woman’s success yourself.”
Definitely not the right thing to say. Christian’s livid
face was within inches of her own before Tess had a chance to finish the last word.
“I don’t need you, or Whitney, or anyone else for that
matter, to remind me that I am relying on that woman and others just like her
to get me out of the mess I’m in.” Tess could see his nostrils flare with each
carefully chosen word.
“Settle down there, tiger. This is me remember. Good ol’
Tess, your friend. And in case you’ve forgotten, your onlyfriend at the
moment.”
Christian was not amused. “I’m here to do a job, a dirty,
nasty little job and as soon as it’s over I’ll be out of here. Until then, I do
not want to be told how grateful I should be to have people admire me or
fantasize about me. Thanks but no thanks.” His voice was tight and scornful,
almost acidic and Tess drew back involuntarily.
“You’ll get what you want from me and I’ll get what I need. Money.
Lots of it. Then I’ll be able to turn my back on this regrettable part of my
life and get on with something that matters more than this ever could, do you
understand?”
“I understand you’re behaving like a world-class ass!” Anger
crept into Tess’ voice in response to his. “And if this is the way you talked
to Whitney I can understand why she would want to put as much distance between
the two of you as she could. At the moment I think it sounds like a good idea
myself.”
Christian stared at her retreating back as she swept from
the room, leaving him to wonder how he had managed to let his temper lead him
to the brink of disaster once again. He needed to talk to someone about all
that had gone on lately, not explode whenever some hapless person pressed the
wrong emotional button. He’d already screwed things up with Whitney. He didn’t
need to let the same thing happen with Tess.
He caught up to her on the patio where she stood looking
across her finely sculpted garden and its offering of early spring blooms.
“I’m sorry, Tess,” Christian apologized catching her arm and
turning her in his direction. His voice took on an entirely different tone as
he sought to correct his mistake. “I had no business yelling at you like that. In
fact, I deserve every word you said.”
Tess refused to look at him but grudgingly conceded, “Yes,
you do. Especially the part about being an ass.”
His laughter rang out and she found she couldn’t stay mad at
him. She had never been able to for long anyway.
Turning searching blue eyes to his, Tess asked again, with
more concern this time, “Can you tell me what happened that night that would
have made Whitney want to leave?”
“We argued about the type of books Lane McLaughlin writes
and when I ran out of things to say I kissed her.”
“That’s it. You just kissed her? You’re sure you didn’t give
your hands permission to map out the lay of the land?”
Christian had the good grace to look away giving Tess all
the answer she needed.
“You really are a big dumb ox, you know?” As his face
started to cloud over again she added, “Oh, just stop it. There’s no reason to
get all mad again. If I had spent the evening with you and first you denigrated
my employer, who, by the way Whitney is extremely
slowly coming together.
“I believe I made a comment close to it that seemed to get
Whitney a little riled up.”
“Of all the idiotic…” Tess muttered under her breath,
glaring in Christian’s direction. She flopped down on a pastel-striped green
chair and drew a deep breath before addressing Christian in much the same
manner a parent would an errant child who had foolishly made an error in
judgment.
“I can’t believe that with all your supposed ‘experience’
with women you were dense enough to actually speak ill of Whitney’s boss in
front of her, let alone the fact that you’re riding on the shirttails of the
same woman’s success yourself.”
Definitely not the right thing to say. Christian’s livid
face was within inches of her own before Tess had a chance to finish the last word.
“I don’t need you, or Whitney, or anyone else for that
matter, to remind me that I am relying on that woman and others just like her
to get me out of the mess I’m in.” Tess could see his nostrils flare with each
carefully chosen word.
“Settle down there, tiger. This is me remember. Good ol’
Tess, your friend. And in case you’ve forgotten, your onlyfriend at the
moment.”
Christian was not amused. “I’m here to do a job, a dirty,
nasty little job and as soon as it’s over I’ll be out of here. Until then, I do
not want to be told how grateful I should be to have people admire me or
fantasize about me. Thanks but no thanks.” His voice was tight and scornful,
almost acidic and Tess drew back involuntarily.
“You’ll get what you want from me and I’ll get what I need. Money.
Lots of it. Then I’ll be able to turn my back on this regrettable part of my
life and get on with something that matters more than this ever could, do you
understand?”
“I understand you’re behaving like a world-class ass!” Anger
crept into Tess’ voice in response to his. “And if this is the way you talked
to Whitney I can understand why she would want to put as much distance between
the two of you as she could. At the moment I think it sounds like a good idea
myself.”
Christian stared at her retreating back as she swept from
the room, leaving him to wonder how he had managed to let his temper lead him
to the brink of disaster once again. He needed to talk to someone about all
that had gone on lately, not explode whenever some hapless person pressed the
wrong emotional button. He’d already screwed things up with Whitney. He didn’t
need to let the same thing happen with Tess.
He caught up to her on the patio where she stood looking
across her finely sculpted garden and its offering of early spring blooms.
“I’m sorry, Tess,” Christian apologized catching her arm and
turning her in his direction. His voice took on an entirely different tone as
he sought to correct his mistake. “I had no business yelling at you like that. In
fact, I deserve every word you said.”
Tess refused to look at him but grudgingly conceded, “Yes,
you do. Especially the part about being an ass.”
His laughter rang out and she found she couldn’t stay mad at
him. She had never been able to for long anyway.
Turning searching blue eyes to his, Tess asked again, with
more concern this time, “Can you tell me what happened that night that would
have made Whitney want to leave?”
“We argued about the type of books Lane McLaughlin writes
and when I ran out of things to say I kissed her.”
“That’s it. You just kissed her? You’re sure you didn’t give
your hands permission to map out the lay of the land?”
Christian had the good grace to look away giving Tess all
the answer she needed.
“You really are a big dumb ox, you know?” As his face
started to cloud over again she added, “Oh, just stop it. There’s no reason to
get all mad again. If I had spent the evening with you and first you denigrated
my employer, who, by the way Whitney is extremely
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