The Charmer (7 page)

Grabbing a cup filled with black markers, she sat down at the table. Taking a deep breath, she sketched a scene with her heroine, Cyd. She imagined it as a proper cover for the novel, something that would set the mood for the story inside.

There was a generous portion of Tenley in her character. She was an outsider, a girl who had known tragedy in her life, one who was graced with an incredible power. But with that power came deep moral dilemmas. Tenley often wondered what it would be like to change the past, to alter the course of history.

What would her life be like if she hadn’t teased her brother into sailing to the island? Or if the weather hadn’t turned on them? What if they’d stayed home or left earlier? Where would she be today?

Tenley closed her eyes and tried to picture it. Would she be married, happily in love with a man, surrounded by their children? Or would she be living in some big city, working as an artist or a writer? She’d always thought about becoming an actress.

Perhaps her parents wouldn’t have divorced and maybe her grandmother wouldn’t have suffered the stroke that killed her. Maybe the townspeople of Sawyer Bay would admire her, rather than pity her. Snatching
up the drawing, Tenley crumpled it into a ball and tossed it to the floor.

She couldn’t change the past. And she didn’t want to change the future. There was a certain security in knowing what her life was, in the sameness of each passing day. “I’m happy,” Tenley said. “So leave well enough alone.”

She grabbed her jacket and pulled it on, then headed back down to feed the horses. The dogs joined her in the barn, shaking the snow from their thick coats. As she scooped feed into a bucket, the horses peeked over the tops of their stall doors.

“Sorry, ladies. No riding today. But after breakfast, you can go outside for a bit.” The two mares nuzzled her as they searched for a treat—a carrot or an apple. But Tenley had left so quickly she’d forgotten to bring them something. “I’ll be out later,” she promised.

On her way back to the house, Tenley decided to walk up to the road and see if it had been plowed. The woods kept the snow from drifting too high, but it was clear they’d had at least sixteen or eighteen inches since it began yesterday morning.

By the time she reached the end of the driveway, Tenley could see they’d be stuck in the cabin for another day. A huge pile of snow had been dumped across the driveway and beyond it, the road was a wide expanse of bare pavement and three-foot drifts.

In truth, she was happy to have another day with Alex. If they spent it in the same way they’d spent the night before, then she wouldn’t have reason to grow impatient with the weather. Tenley smiled as the dogs fell
into step beside her. “We’ll keep him another day,” she said.

The cabin was quiet when she let herself back in. She stripped off her jacket and boots, then shimmied out of her snow-covered jeans. The dogs were anxious to eat and they tore through the great room in a noisy tangle of legs and tails.

“Ow! What the hell!” Tenley looked up to find Pup lying across Alex’s chest, his nose nudging Alex’s chin.

“No!” she shouted. “Come here!”

Pup glanced back and forth between the two of them, then decided to follow orders. Alex sat up and wiped his face with the damp quilt. “Funny, I expected someone of an entirely different species to wake me up.”

“Sorry. If you want to get some more sleep, you should probably go to your room. Once the dogs are up, they’re up.”

“What time is it?” He glanced at his wrist. “I lost my watch.”

She opened the refrigerator and pulled it out. “It wouldn’t stop beeping.”

Alex got to his feet and walked naked to the kitchen, then took the watch from her grasp. He strapped it onto his wrist, silencing the alarm. Then, he looked at the clock on the stove and noticed it was almost noon. “Is that right?” he asked, rechecking his watch.

She shook her head, trying to avoid staring at his body. “No. I don’t like clocks. There isn’t any need for them here.”

Alex frowned, raking his hand through his hair. “What about when you have to be somewhere on time?”

“I never have to be anywhere on time. I get there when I get there.”

Alex chuckled. “I wish I could live like that,” he murmured.

She glanced over her shoulder at him. He was so beautiful, all muscle and hard flesh. Her fingers twitched as she held out her hand. “You could. Here, give me your watch.”

“No. This is an expensive watch.”

“I was just going to put it back in the refrigerator.”

He thought about the notion for a second, then smiled and slipped it off his wrist. “When in Rome.”

She opened the fridge and put it inside the butter compartment. “You’ve been liberated. Doesn’t that feel good?”

“How do you know when to get up in the morning?”

“I usually get up when the sun rises,” she explained. “Or when the dogs wake me.”

“Don’t you have to be to work at a certain time?”

She shrugged. “I keep my own hours.” She opened a cabinet and pulled out two cans of dog food. “Here, make yourself useful. The can opener is in that drawer.”

“I thought I had made myself pretty useful last night,” he murmured.

Tenley felt a warm blush creep up her cheeks. “You want to talk about it?” she asked.

“You…surprised me. I wasn’t expecting…”

“Neither was I,” she said. “I was curious.”

“About me?”

She nodded. “Sure. You seemed like you were interested.”

“I was,” he said. “Am. Present tense. But I’m even more curious about something else.”

“What’s that?”

“Whether it might happen again?”

A tiny smile curved the corners of her mouth. “Depends upon how long this storm lasts.” So it wouldn’t be just a one-night stand. Tenley wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She wanted to spend more time with him, even though she knew she shouldn’t. But she liked Alex. And he lived in Chicago, so sooner or later, he’d head back home.

A brief, but passionate affair, one that wouldn’t be dangerous or complicated. As long as she kept it all in perspective. It wouldn’t last long enough to become a relationship. And if it didn’t become a relationship, then she couldn’t possibly get hurt. Still, she had to wonder what he was thinking about it all. Why not just ask? “What if it does happen again,” she asked. “And again. What would that mean?”

He gave her an odd look. “It would probably mean we’d have to go out for condoms?” he teased. Alex paused, then shrugged, realizing that she didn’t find much humor in his joke. “It would mean that we enjoy each other’s company. And that we want to get to know each other better?”

“Then it wouldn’t be a relationship?” she asked.

“It could be,” he said slowly.

“But if we didn’t want it to be?”

Alex drew a deep breath. “It will be whatever you want it to be,” he replied. He glanced over his shoulder, clearly uneasy with the turn in the conversation. “Maybe we should check out a weather report so we can plan our day,” Alex suggested. “Where’s your television?”

That was it, Tenley thought. She knew exactly where he stood and she was satisfied. Neither one of them were ready to plan a future together. Still, if she did ever want a man in her life, someone who stayed more than a few nights, Alex would be the kind of guy she’d look for. “I don’t have a television,” she said.

He stared at her in astonishment. “You don’t own a television? How is that possible? What about sports and the news?”

“There’s never a need. I have a radio. They do the weather every hour on the station from Fish Creek. It’s over there in the cabinet with the stereo. But you really don’t have to check the weather. The storm is going to last for a while.”

“How do you know that?”

“The barometer. Over there, by the door. It hasn’t started going up yet. When it does, the storm will start to clear.”

“Does that mean you can come back to bed?”

“Maybe we should try a real bed?” she suggested. Tenley tugged her sweater over her head and let it drop on the floor. Then she turned and walked toward her
bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes behind her. The storm wouldn’t last forever, so they’d best put their time to good use.

A
LEX WASN’T A
meteorologist, but from what he could see outside, the storm showed no signs of weakening. Though he had business to attend to, he was content to spend the day with Tenley, sitting in front of a warm fire with a comfortable bed close at hand.

Without his watch, he could only guess at the time, probably early afternoon. But Tenley was right. It didn’t matter. He didn’t have anywhere important to be. T. J. Marshall could wait.

He rolled onto his side and watched Tenley as she slept. He’d known her for less than a day, yet it seemed as though they’d been together for much longer. In truth, he’d spent more time with her than he had with any single woman over the past ten years. And considering he’d never spent a complete night in a woman’s bed, this was another first.

He thought about their earlier discussion. She’d made it very clear she wasn’t interested in anything more than a physical relationship. And he’d agreed to her terms. But Alex was already trying to figure out whether there was more between them than just great sex.

He reached out and smoothed a lock of hair from her eyes. She didn’t possess the studied perfection of most of the girls he’d dated. Everything about her was much more natural, more subtle. She was…soft and sweet.

Yet she also had an edge to her, an honesty that caught him off guard at times. There wasn’t a filter between her thoughts and her mouth, just a direct line. But he was beginning to enjoy that. Though she didn’t answer every question he asked, when she did, he could trust that he was getting the truth.

Alex stretched his arms over his head. He needed to call the office or see if he could get an Internet connection. He smiled to himself. She didn’t have a television. She probably wouldn’t find a home computer particularly useful either.

He slipped out of bed and walked to the bathroom, deciding to grab a shower. He flipped on the water in the shower stall and waited for it to warm up, then looked at his reflection in the mirror. He needed a shave first.

Alex shut off the water, then retrieved his shaving kit from the guest room. After plucking a razor and a can of shaving cream out of the leather case, he rinsed his face off and continued to stare into the mirror. He was exhausted, but it was a pleasant exhaustion, a sated feeling that he hadn’t felt in…a long time? Ever. He’d never felt this way after making love with a woman. In truth, intimacy always left him restless.

Alex heard the bathroom door creak behind him and a few seconds later, he felt her hands smooth over his
back. She rested her cheek on his shoulder and watched him in the mirror.

“I thought you were asleep,” he said. “I was just going to catch a quick shower and shave.” He slowly turned and she smiled. “What do you want?”

“Nothing,” she said. “What do you want?”

“I need a shave,” Alex replied.

She reached around him for the can of shaving cream he’d set on the edge of the sink. “I can help with that.” Tenley sprayed some cream on her palm, then patted it onto his face.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“No,” she said. “But I do shave my legs. It can’t be much different. Hand me the razor.”

Alex grabbed it and held it over his head. “Be careful. We’re a long way from emergency medical care. And this pretty face is all I have.”

She took the razor from his hand, then stepped closer. “You are full of yourself, aren’t you?” Her hips pressed against his and he slipped his arms around her waist to steady them both. Slowly, she dragged the blade over his skin, her brow furrowed in concentration.

Alex held his breath, waiting for disaster, but Tenley took her time. And as she worked at the task, he found himself growing more and more aroused. There was something about her taking on this mundane part of his life, even if it was as simple as shaving, and making it erotically charged.

With a low moan, he moved his hands down to her hips, his shaft growing harder with every second that
passed. Was it possible to want her any more than he already did? Every time he thought his need might be sated, he found himself caught up in yet another sexual encounter, more powerful than the last.

“Quit squirming,” she warned. “I’m almost finished.”

“Finished?” He chuckled, running his hands up to her breasts. “Look what you started.”

“It really doesn’t take much, does it?” Tenley teased.

“From you, no.” Why was that? Alex wondered. Why did every innocent touch seem to send all the blood to his crotch? What kind of magical power did she hold over him?

“You know,” she murmured, “we’re lucky we’re snowed in.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because if we have to take care of your little problem every time it pops up, we’d never get out of the house.”

“We could always take a shower together and see how that goes. Maybe it will just disappear.”

“I know exactly how to get it to disappear,” she said. “Come on.” Tenley grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the bathroom, bits of shaving cream still on his face. “You’ll love this.”

They walked through the house, both of them stark naked. Then she opened the coat closet and rummaged around inside until she pulled out a pair of boots. “Here, put these on.”

“Oh, wait a minute. Is this going to get kinky? You want me to be the lumberjack and you’re going to be the. I don’t know, what are you going to be?”

“Just put them on.”

“Why?”

“Do it,” Tenley said. She grabbed her own boots from the mat beside the back door and tugged them on, then flipped a switch beside the door. A red light blinked. “Ready?” she asked, her hand on the door.

“For what?”

“Just follow me.” Tenley yanked the door open, then stepped outside onto the back porch.

Alex gasped. “What the hell are you doing? You’re naked. You’ll freeze to death.”

“Not if I run fast enough,” she cried. With that, she scurried across the porch to the steps, then carefully waded through the drifted snow.