Authors: Kate Hoffmann
The Charmer (21 page)
Tenley slowly crossed the hall. Everyone was watching, even some of the guys in the band. Her knees felt weak and her head was spinning, but she held her emotions in check. She was not going to break down and cry. Nor was she going to throw herself into his arms.
She stopped in front of him, swallowing hard before speaking. “What are you doing here?”
“I heard you were planning on attending and I didn’t want to give any of these single guys a chance to charm you.”
“How did you know about the dance?”
“You mentioned it. You said Randy asked you every year.”
“You remember that?”
He nodded. “I remember everything you said to me.”
She glanced over her shoulder at her grandfather and found him grinning from ear to ear.
“I brought you something,” Alex said. He handed her the roses. “I’m sorry there’s so many of them, but I
asked for the nicest bouquet and this is what they gave me.” He took them from her arms. “Here, we’ll just put them down.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“And there’s candy and a card, but I thought I’d save that until later. They’re out in the car.”
“Gee, all you forgot was the jewelry,” she teased.
“Ah, no. I didn’t forget that.” Alex reached into his pants pocket, but when he didn’t find what he was looking for, he patted down his jacket pockets. “Where did I put that?”
“I don’t need any more gifts, Alex. The flowers are fine.”
“No, you’ll like this one,” he said. “At least, I hope you will. Here it is.” He held out his fist, then opened it.
Lying in his palm was a ring…a diamond ring…a very large diamond ring. Tenley gasped, her gaze fixed on it. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, a pale yellow heart-shaped diamond, surrounded by tiny white diamonds.
“What does that mean?” she asked. Was this a proposal? And if it was, did he really expect her to accept with all these people watching her? Or maybe that was why he’d done it here, so she couldn’t refuse. “Alex, I don’t think this is a good idea. You know how I—”
“Tenley, don’t talk, just listen. Yes, I know how you feel. And I understand your hesitation. Your experiences in life haven’t made it easy for you to open yourself up to loving someone. But what we shared that
week in your cabin was something special and I don’t want to let that go.”
“Is this a proposal?”
“It’s whatever you want it to be,” Alex said. “You decide. All I know is I don’t want to lose you. I want you to be mine, for now and for as long as you’ll have me. I want you to be my valentine, Tenley.”
“But I—”
“Don’t say no. You can’t say no. Because I’m going to keep coming back every weekend and every holiday until you say yes. I’ll buy a place up here and I’ll come over every morning and take you to breakfast. And I’ll sit on your sofa every night and rub your feet. We’ll go for walks in the woods in the winter and we’ll take our clothes off and lie in the summer sun.”
He took her hand and slipped the ring on her finger. “I’m giving this to you so that you understand I won’t change my mind. For as long as you wear that ring, I’m completely yours.”
“But how are we going to do this? You live in Chicago and I live here.”
“I’m not sure. At first, I’ll come up on the weekends. And maybe you can come down and visit. We’ll figure out all the details later, Tenley. We don’t have to decide everything right now. All we have to do is make a commitment to try.”
He was making it so easy for her to say yes. And she wanted to say the word, to throw herself into his arms and tell him it was quite possible that she did love him. Not just possible, very probable.
“I was thinking about spending some time in Chicago. There are some classes I want to take at the Art Institute this summer.”
He smiled. “Really? Because that’s just a quick train ride from where I live. You could stay with me. I could take you out and show you the city. You could even bring the dogs and cats. I’ve got plenty of room for all of you.” He dropped down on one knee and held her hand. “Say yes, Tenley. Tell me you’re willing to try.”
“Yes.” The word came out of her mouth without a second thought. “Yes. I am willing to try. And I will be your valentine.”
Alex stood up and pulled her into his arms, lifting her off her feet and twirling her around on the dance floor. The crowd around them erupted in wild applause and Tenley looked up to find everyone in the hall watching them. A warm blush flooded her cheeks and she buried her face in the curve of Alex’s neck.
“We’re causing a scene,” he said.
“I know. Don’t worry. It will give them something to gossip about tomorrow morning.”
“Are you all right with that?”
She nodded. “I think I can handle it.”
Alex set her back on her feet, then took her face in his hands and kissed her. That brought even more applause and a few moments later, the band broke into their rendition of “My Funny Valentine.” Alex swept her out onto the dance floor.
She’d never really danced before, but Alex seemed to know exactly what he was doing. She followed his lead
and before long, they looked like experts. Everything always seemed so much easier when he was around.
Life, love—and dancing.
A
NGELA TACKED
an index card on her bulletin board. “The Charmer,” she said. “I’ve discovered ten archetypes of the typical male seducer. Once women learn to identify each type, then they’ll be prepared to judge their relationships more objectively.”
“So, who are you planning to interview for this chapter?” Ceci asked.
“I wanted to interview Alex Stamos. He seemed to fit the type perfectly. But when I called him last week, his sister told me that he’s been involved with a woman for nearly two months. That doesn’t fit the pattern.”
“Do you think he could be in love?” Ceci asked.
“No,” Angela said. She paused. “Well, maybe. But that would be an aberration. The majority of these men never change.”
“Yeah, but we’d like to believe they could,” Ceci said.
“Well, I’ll just have to find another man to interview. The Charmer is the most common of the archetypes. It shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Angie sat down at her desk and picked up the description
she’d been working on. “The Charmer is all talk. He knows exactly what to say to get what he wants and he enjoys wielding this power over women. He will often delay a physical relationship, waiting until it’s your idea to hop into bed together. While you’re certain that sex will take the relationship to a more intimate level, he knows it signals the end. He quickly moves on after blaming you for getting too serious, too fast.”
“Sounds good,” Ceci said. “But it would be nice to believe that, given the right woman, any guy could change his bad behavior.” She sighed. “Kind of makes me wonder what happened to all those guys I dumped because I thought they were hopeless causes.”
In truth, Angela had been wondering the same thing. Was she wrong about these men? Could you teach an old dog new tricks? Or were some of these men just lost causes? “I suppose we have to be optimistic,” she murmured. “If not, we might as well just give up now, because the bad ones far outnumber the good ones.”
“I guess I’d really like to know how much time you should give a guy before you cut your losses and move on,” Ceci said. “I’ve been with Lance for three months and he still refuses to call me his girlfriend.”
Angela gave her friend a weak smile. “There are always exceptions to every rule. We’ve just got to figure out a way to find those exceptions.”
Angela stared at the index card. Alex’s change of heart certainly didn’t bode well for the theories she planned to present in her book. But for every one guy
who left the single life behind and fell in love, there were a hundred more serial daters out there breaking women’s hearts.
She was on a mission to make a point. And if Alex Stamos wasn’t the man she thought he was, then she’d find another Charmer to take his place. After all, she could spot a smooth operator a mile away.
ISBN: 9781472056368
THE CHARMER
© Peggy A. Hoffmann 2013
First Published in Great Britain in 2013
Harlequin (UK) Limited
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
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