by Tawny Weber
But he’d learned his lesson. And his brother probably would, too. That was the reason Jason had to seal this deal—so they both had a career when Peter came to his senses. Or got bored playing house, whichever came first.
“Can-Do is the perfect pairing for the Cartright Hotel. Your clientele is used to the best, and we’re it. They’re used to being catered to, and we excel in catering. And by aligning with us in this location, we’ll offer the same discounts and packages to the patrons in all of your venues. In addition, we’ll create a deeply discounted Cartright Exclusive weekend adventure package.”
He went on to explain how Can-Do would utilize the space, more like a small museum, which would be more appealing than the bland travel agency storefront many would expect. Showcasing artifacts, curios and specialty items from the many places they offered tours, the space would act as a Can-Do maintained attraction for the hotel guests.
Jason finished his pitch with the videos on his phone, then told them about the antique penis sheath he’d brought back from Papua New Guinea as an example of the quality of merchandise they’d show in the store.
“Jason, this is fabulous. You’ve given us a lot to think about.” Conner glanced at the two men, one of whom was making a show of looking at his watch. “If you don’t mind, we need to talk for a minute before Ben has to go. Would you be so good as to wait in the antechamber while we tie up some loose ends? Then we’ll let you see the space for yourself.”
“Sure thing,” Jason said. He thanked the other two men, exchanged a few quips, then noticing Ben looked like he was about to explode, he graciously gathered his koteka under one arm and sauntered into the antechamber.
Still riding high with the success of his presentation, he caught a glimpse of movement across the room. The scent hit him before he turned. Soft roses, with an underlying layer of sexy heat. It made him think of making wild love in a garden under the full moon.
Crazy, he told himself as he stepped fully into the room and let the door swing shut behind him.
Then his brain sputtered. His heart raced as if he’d just taken a long, deadly dive off a high cliff. His muscles tightened, his senses on full-alert. It took Jason’s body a few extra seconds to filter the rush of energy flying through his system. Lust mixed with shock. Memories cascaded like a waterfall, pouring over forgotten hopes and hurts.
Sonofabitch.
Thickly lashed brown eyes, tilted like a startled cat’s at the corners, stared back at him. He recognized the horror in her gaze, just as he recognized the flash of hot desire beneath it. Pale color rose, washing over her high cheekbones.
It’d been two years. And still, he could perfectly remember how those silky curls felt in his fingers. He knew exactly how that wide, mobile mouth would feel on his skin. He could see that lush little body stripped of its frilly black suit, naked and poised over the hard length of his.
He rocked back on his heels and grinned.
“Well, well,” he murmured. “If it isn’t the luscious Larissa. Who knew hell would freeze over this quickly?”
3
“JASON?”
Larissa stood, pressing her hand against the freshly painted wall trying to steady herself while the room spun wildly. She blinked. If she hadn’t been afraid taking her hand from the wall would result in falling on her ass, she’d have rubbed her eyes.
She was hallucinating, right? This was a dream? A mirage brought on by her insistence that sex didn’t matter. Payback for arguing against something she secretly lay awake at night fantasizing about?
Damn Chloe.
Slowly, reluctantly, Larissa slid her gaze over the illusion—or was that delusion—in the doorway. Six-foot-two of long, lean sexual magnetism. Unable to stop herself, she took in the sight. From the sun-kissed tips of his shaggy brown hair to the enigmatic look in his too-pretty-to-belong-to-a-guy blue eyes. Her fingers twitched with the need to comb them through those silken strands and push that one recalcitrant lock off his forehead.
She nearly sighed as she took in the view of his wide, muscled shoulders, wrapped in a soft cotton workshirt that perfectly matched those hypnotic eyes. His broad chest, with that light dusting of hair visible above the top button, was better than any pillow on earth. Her eyes dropped down to the well-worn denim lovingly covering his…
Oh, God. Larissa ripped her gaze from his crotch, where she was pretty sure she’d just visually licked him.
If she wasn’t careful, she’d actually be climbing over his body and nibbling on all of his man parts before she knew it. He had that effect on her. He was danger, pure and simple.
It was all Larissa could do not to run from the room and yell for Conner.
Conner was safe.
Conner was her friend.
Conner was the reason she and Jason had so painfully split up two years ago.
No, she corrected herself. Jason himself was the reason behind their breakup. Him and his lack of trust.
She frowned, the wheels of her brain starting to turn again. Why was Jason here? Conner knew their history. Why would he—or any other sane person—bring the two of them together in the same room?
Conner was obviously an idiot, she decided.
“What are you doing here?” she asked after clearing the shock from her throat. “Shouldn’t you be swinging from a vine in some jungle with a half-naked woman attached to your waist?”
He looked just as shocked as she was. And, from the heated glance in his eyes, he’d been sucked right into that same evil sexual vortex that had caused them both so many problems in the past.
“I left my loincloth with Jane,” he responded in an absent tone. His attention was clearly more focused on his inspection of her body than on taking insult with her question. “You’re looking good, though.”
Larissa trembled, her thighs quivering a little at the sexy heat in Jason’s eyes. God, that’s all it took from him, a single look and she melted. He was like a fairy tale hero out of one of her favorite romance novels.
“So, obviously you and Conner are still tight,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Larissa’s lusty reaction burst as if she’d been drenched in an ice bath. Her shoulders stiffened and she jutted out her chin. Romance hero, her ass.
“Obviously,” she replied in a chilly tone.
If that’s what he wanted to think, good. He was still a mistrusting idiot. He’d thrown away the best thing to ever happen to him and still wasn’t smart enough to realize it yet. He’d known Conner for years, first through his brother and then later through those stupid trips the guys had taken together. Hell, Conner had even been the one to introduce Larissa and Jason.
Her thoughts, and the accompanying tension pounding through her spine, were so painfully familiar, Larissa wanted to cry.
Holy crap, it was like being sent back in a time machine. Larissa pressed two fingers to her temple, trying to stem the throbbing vein. Crazy. Anything she had with Jason was in the past. She’d be damned if she’d let him know how much seeing him still hurt. Or give him any idea how devastated she’d been when he’d left her.
Cool, calm and collected. Yep, that was her.
“So why are you here again?” she asked, silently reciting her new mantra.
“I’m here to see the Cartright brothers about a business deal.” He raised a brow. “And you? Waiting for a date?”
“What?” She ignored the date dig. Jason was here about the storefront? That was impossible. “This is a joke, right? You can’t be interested in the available retail space. You’re too busy chasing your childhood, running all over the planet looking for new ways to risk your life.”
“Aww, you know me so well,” Jason replied as he made a show of slouching against the wall, while giving her a look so intense, she glanced down to make sure her jacket was buttoned and her boobs weren’t hanging out. “But despite that deep insight into my character, it’s actually true. I’m opening a store here at the Cartright.”
“You me
an you’d like to open a store. There’s only one space available and I’m pretty sure Conner and company will be giving it to me,” Larissa answered, trying to sound cocky. Then, seeing the fake affable look on his face slip a little, she shook her head quickly before he could make some snotty guy remark about how she’d convinced Conner to give her the space. “Why would you need a storefront, anyway? Don’t you have mountains to climb?”
“Not getting much climbing satisfaction these days, huh?”
Larissa tilted her head to the side and gave him a long once-over. “Oh, believe me, I’ve never climbed mountains as satisfying as the one I’m scaling now.”
Even more satisfying was watching that lie take the shine off his cocky smile.
“Is that a fact?”
Larissa gave a little shrug, then brushing an imaginary bit of lint off her black pencil skirt, used the brief pause to try and catch her breath. She never lied well, and given the dearth of mountains in her current love life, she wasn’t too sure she could pull it off now.
“Excuse me,” Conner said from the doorway. Larissa and Jason both turned. Larissa with a grateful look at the intervention, Jason with a glare. Conner’s friendly smile didn’t waver. “Perhaps you can delay the rest of this reunion? The committee is on its way out but wanted a chance to talk with the two of you first, if you don’t mind.”
Larissa swept up her briefcase and with a quick tug at the hem of her black silk ruffled jacket, hurried toward the door. She slowed her rush when she realized she’d have to brush past Jason to get to the freedom on the other side.
Jason and his magic dick. Larissa lifted her chin and pretended she didn’t feel its lure. Skirting carefully around him, she gave Conner a quick, grateful smile.
She also pretended she didn’t hear Jason’s low growl.
Knowing she should be focused on the committee, Larissa attempted to quickly sort through her tangled feelings. Why did Jason have to come back? What the hell did he need with a store? And why was he still so gorgeous? Shouldn’t there be a rule for heartbreakers? That they were punished with a double chin or ten pounds for every year of misery they caused?
“Ms. Zahn? Conner was just filling us in on a few details. I didn’t realize you and Mr. Cantrell knew each other,” Ben said, breaking into her reverie.
“Quite well, as a matter of fact,” Jason added, his voice still that same husky tone she heard so often in her dreams.
“Hardly at all, really,” she dismissed just as quickly. “We met through Conner, actually. All things considered, I’d say Jason was practically a stranger.”
A blatant lie. The room was lit up from the sparks flying between the two of them. She couldn’t be the only one feeling it.
Conner, who should have seen the direction this was heading, steepled his fingers together and watched her with an enigmatic look. Jason just grinned, that devilish dimple flashing.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say we were strangers, Larissa. Not after all we’ve been through together.”
Conner smirked. The men on either side of him sat up a little straighter. They obviously sensed the vibes.
But Larissa’s Romance Rule number three—learned the hard way—insisted that there be no airing of dirty laundry in public. It always, absolutely always, came back to bite you in the butt.
“So how long has it been since the two of you saw each other?” the pen-tapper asked.
“One year, eight months. Give or take a few days,” Jason said, his tone so off-hand that it took Larissa a few beats to realize what he’d said. After a mental finger count, she realized he was exactly right.
Larissa had a smile on her face before she realized her lips had moved. He responded with a smile of his own, his gaze sweeping her body with a look so warm, she knew he was remembering her naked. Color washed over her cheeks and she gave herself a mental head slap. Proof positive why Jason was so bad for her. His sweet little comments made her feel like she was the most important person in his world. Right up until she remembered that she barely made his top ten list.
Which, she reminded herself as her own smile fell away, was just one of the reasons why he was so bad for her.
“Did the two of you go to school together?” Ben asked, his chubby face alight with curiosity. Larissa didn’t know why he was so curious. It had nothing to do with either of their abilities to launch a store. But she answered anyway.
“No. I went to the local schools and Jason traveled.”
“My parents were archaeologists,” Jason interjected. “I was homeschooled on the road.”
“But you hung out together? You had the same friends?”
“I used to hang out with Conner,” Larissa said, her tone syrup-sweet. There went Jason’s smile. “Jason’s brother and Conner’s were college roommates. Jason and I met at some party the Cartrights threw.”
“Then what all is the all that you’ve been through together?” the irritating guy with the pen prodded, referring to Jason’s earlier taunt.
They both ignored him. Larissa out of respect for the dirty laundry rule. Jason, she was sure, because he never answered anything that didn’t suit him.
“I take it the two of you didn’t realize you were competing for the same space?” Ben asked.
“No. It’s been a couple years since Larissa and I had time to catch up, so this is a big surprise,” Jason replied.
He shot Conner a look. Larissa couldn’t believe everyone wasn’t seeing through Jason’s mellow demeanor. There was anger, impatience and a hint of worry in that blue-eyed glare. She understood the first two, but the latter? What did Jason have to worry about?
“And now that you know you both want the same thing?” Pen-tapper gave a sharklike grin, looking like the kind of guy who plunked down money to watch any form of violent sports. “Are you both still interested? Or is this one of those situations where you both say you want it, then after we spend hours assessing the situation and what’s best for the hotel, one of you gets all sappy and backs down so the other doesn’t get his or her panties in a twist?”
“Franklin!” Conner snapped.
“Hey, I think we have the right to know. We need to make a decision and I don’t see much point in wasting time debating if one of them is going to step aside for the other.”
His words ended in a buzz as the room did a little spin around Larissa’s head. Both still interested? So Jason actually did want the store space? Why? For what? Did that mean he was really back to stay? She wasn’t sure what panicked her more. The idea of battling against him for her dream space. Or knowing he was living in the same town again. It was hard enough to forget him when he was traipsing around the world. It’d be impossible to put him out of her mind if he was within touching distance.
But maybe, just maybe, she’d get the space…and he’d go away again. A girl could hope, right?
“Mr. Franklin, despite the tone of your questions, I do believe you have a good point. You’re concerned with both your own time and what’s best for the hotel,” Larissa acknowledged.
She was proud of herself for sounding so reasonable when she wanted to smack all four men over the head with her purse. Conner for getting her into this, Franklin for being a jerk. Jason for all the memories and regrets beating through her. And Ben? Well, he was a guy and at this particular moment, they were obviously all on the same side.
“But you don’t have anything to worry about,” Jason interjected, obviously knowing exactly what she’d been about to say. “Despite our history, Larissa is right. She and I are practically strangers now. I want this space too much to let it go for old time’s sake. And I’m sure she feels the same.”
“Then you might be willing to negotiate?”
Larissa’s stomach took a dive. Negotiate what? Rent? She could barely afford the amount Conner had told her. The promotional deal? The marketing tie-in with the hotel was the only reason she could justify the rent she could barely afford. What else could be negotiated?
“No,” Jaso
n said firmly. He didn’t even look at her, instead keeping his gaze on Franklin. He still looked as kick-back friendly as always. He was leaning against the window ledge, one foot crossed over the other and his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. He even had a friendly half smile on his face. But his eyes were hard, his jaw set. He wasn’t taking any crap.
He flicked a quick glance her way. In that second, she realized he wasn’t letting these guys give her any crap, either. She swallowed, warmth filling her heart.
“The terms were already presented and we agreed to them,” Jason continued. “The decision is yours to make, of course. But neither of us will undercut or undermine the other so you can take advantage of the situation.”
“No,” Conner said before either of the other men could respond. “First of all, that’s not how we do business at Cartright. And second, while the decision on which business will occupy the space is up to my associates, all terms and conditions are mine to make.”
He stood, his associates reluctantly getting to their feet as well. Obviously, Ben had totally forgotten about his impending flight. “We’ll discuss the situation, and I’ll get you both the decision by tomorrow. But for now, I have a dinner appointment to get to. So we’re going to take a look at the display while you both finish things up here.”
Larissa gave a small shrug. Finish? She and Jason had finished a long time ago. Two years ago, in fact, when he’d taken his engagement ring and walked away.
THE SHOCK OF SEEING Larissa was starting to fade. The in-your-face lust seeing her always inspired was still flaming hot and strong, but years of adventures had taught Jason the wisdom in avoiding the kind of danger that led to certain doom.
And Larissa and him? Yep, definitely doomed.
“Wait, I’d like to see the storefront, too,” he called out. He had no idea why. He didn’t give a rat’s ass what the store looked like. He didn’t plan to spend any time in it. That was Peter’s chore. But Larissa had seen it. Hell, she’d set up a display in it, apparently. So he’d better at least pretend he cared if he wanted to make a good impression.
