The Heartbreaker

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

She stifled a laugh. “No. I guess the heat got to him so he’s wearing a polo.”

  “I didn’t know they made polo shirts with shoulder pads.”

  “You’re terrible.” She met Mike’s glance and the laughter threatened to erupt. “And you’d better go.”

  “Yeah. Listen, want to ride with me up to see Dad tonight?”

  She sobered immediately. A trip to Tucson with Mike was probably more intimate than she could handle. “That’s okay. I’ll just drive up myself.”

  “My rental car has air-conditioning.”

  “You do know how to tempt a girl.”

  “I’ll behave myself. And for old times’ sake, I’ll buy you a DQ in Benson on the way.”

  “Oh, Mike.” She’d never forgotten those special outings to Tucson—her father and Ernie in the front seat, the three kids piled in the back. A stop in Benson at the local Dairy Queen had been one of the sacred rituals.

  “I’ll pick you up at five.” Grabbing the sandwich bag, he left before she could frame a reply, let alone an excuse.

  She made a quick call to schedule a UPS pickup and returned to the workroom.

  “Did you sell anything?” Colby asked.

  She noticed he’d helped himself to a second beer. “No. It was Mike, dropping off the first batch of cutters for me to ship out this afternoon.” She sat down and picked up a sandwich, not even caring which one she chose.

  “So you like corned beef, do you?”

  She forced herself to be polite. “It’s just fine. Thanks, Colby.”

  “Speaking of Tremayne, I ran into him last night.” That got her attention, but she kept her gaze on her sandwich. “Oh, really?”

  “I must have walked into Café Roca soon after you left. He was still there.”

  She cursed the warmth that climbed to her cheeks. “I—couldn’t stay. I had some work to do.”

  “He told me to keep away from you.”

  Beth almost choked on her sandwich. She swallowed and took a drink of her soda to buy some time before responding with a glance at Colby. She decided to try playing dumb. “Mike’s always had a big brother complex where I’m concerned. He must have some crazy idea you have a personal interest in me.”

  Colby leaned back in his chair. “Why is that so crazy?”

  “Because once this is all settled, one way or the other, you’ll go back to Chicago and I’ll stay here. There’s no future in a personal relationship between us, and you might as well know that I don’t believe in casual flings.”

  “Neither do L”

  She’d bet next month’s studio rent that he was lying. Colby was exactly the type to believe in one-night stands. A little voice in the back of her mind whispered that unfortunately, so was Mike.

  “We’re in a wonderful new age, Beth.” Colby paused to take another drink of his beer. “Handmade is headquartered in Chicago, but it has representatives all over the country who report in by phone, fax and e-mail. I’ve chosen to stay in the main office because I grew up in Chicago and I’ve never had a reason to leave. But with all the traveling I do with the company, I could live anywhere I wanted and still do my job just fine.”

  “Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself? We haven’t even had a date, yet.”

  “That isn’t because I haven’t tried.” He gestured toward the table. “We can count this as a date, for that matter.”

  “No, I don’t think we can.” She balled up the rest of her sandwich and shoved it into the bag. “Because the truth is, I’m not interested in a personal relationship with you.” She met his gaze. “If that means we can’t work together on the cutter, then I’m sorry. And if you’re staying in Bisbee in hopes that I’ll change my mind, I’m afraid you’re wasting your time.”

  He looked unperturbed by her announcement. “I hope you’re not saving yourself for Tremayne.”

  “No, I’m not.” She stood. “And I really need to get those cutters ready to ship, if you’ll excuse me.”

  “He told me last night that if I’d take good care of you, he’d be happy for you.”

  A pulse beat at her temple, signaling an oncoming headache. “I thought you said he told you to stay away from me?”

  “He did, but that was because he probably views me the same way you do, a one-night-stand type. I didn’t bother to explain the details of my job flexibility to him, because frankly, it’s none of his damn business. I’m only pointing out to you that if he thought I’d do right by you, he’d abandon the field to me, because he’s not the slightest bit interested in sticking around.”

  “I know that.” Which she did, but hearing it coming from Colby made the truth sound all that much worse. “And I have no intention of getting involved with either of you.”

  He stood and picked up the sandwich bag. “All I’m saying is that I’m a better bet than he is.”

  “I’m not in a betting mood these days.”

  “That’s okay.” He shoved his empty beer cans into the sack. “Because I am.”

  Normally she would have asked him to leave the empty cans because she recycled them, but the global environment didn’t matter as much as the environment in her studio at the moment, and she wanted all signs of him gone. “Goodbye, Colby. Thanks for the sandwiches.”

  “You’re welcome.” He left the workroom and continued through the gift shop to the front door. “See you tomorrow,” he called over his shoulder just before he left.

  She swore under her breath. She didn’t want to see him tomorrow, or the day after. In fact, she was tempted to tell him she’d never sign a lease agreement with Handmade and certainly would never fall in with his personal plans, so he might as well take off.

  As she turned on the computer in a corner of the workroom and started printing mailing labels for the cutter boxes, she thought about her predicament. Saying she wouldn’t sign the agreement because she disliked Colby Huxford would be cutting off her nose to spite her face, as her father used to say. And she desperately wanted this cutter to be a success so that an invention her father hadn’t lived long enough to put into production would become everything he and Ernie had dreamed it could be.

  No, she had to humor Colby along without giving him any encouragement whatsoever that she’d like a more personal involvement. And she’d be wise to take the same approach with Mike, although that would require more willpower. A lot more willpower. She’d spent her nights in an agony of sexual frustration.

  Once the labeling was finished, she returned to her cutting table. Instantly she felt the prickly sensation of Colby’s remembered presence in the workroom. Determined to shake it off, she picked up the piece of amber glass she’d chosen for a section of the dentist’s window, laid it over the pattern and positioned the cutting wheel. It was an expensive piece of glass, but it gave the effect she wanted. Applying pressure to the wheel, she started to follow the lines of the pattern. The glass cracked.

  She took a deep breath and consciously unclenched her jaw. Then she took a fresh piece of glass and tried again. Again it cracked.

  “Dammit!” She walked away from the table. One thing was for sure. Colby was not setting foot in her workshop again.

  7

  MIKE COULD TELL Beth hadn’t had a good afternoon from her expression as she got into the car. He congratulated himself on noticing her expression at all considering the fact that for the trip into Tucson she’d changed into a scoop-necked red T-shirt tucked into white shorts. He forced himself not to ogle at the creamy expanse of thigh only inches away from his hand as he fiddled with the radio dial trying to find some tunes to serenade them on the way out of town.

  “Forget it until we get closer to Tucson,” she said as they drove up Tombstone Canyon and headed toward the Time Tunnel.

  He switched off the radio. “Just thought some music might cheer you up.”

  She glanced at him, her eyes hidden behind wireframed sunglasses. “How do you know I’m not cheered up?”

  “Your mouth gets all tight when you’re ups
et.”

  “My mouth isn’t tight.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Is not.” She pulled on her lower lip and made a face at him.

  He laughed. “Now it’s not.”

  “It’s all that damned Colby’s fault. He insisted on eating lunch in my workroom, and after he left I couldn’t cut glass without breaking it.”

  Mike’s gut tightened. “He didn’t try anything, did he?”

  “Like what?”

  “You know what I swear if he ever touches you, I’m going to rearrange his face.”

  “Thanks, but I think I can take care of myself in that department.” She paused. “He mentioned meeting you at Café Roca last night.”

  He glanced over at her. She was staring straight ahead at the two-lane highway. “Yeah, he slithered over to my table wearing his ever-present sport coat.”

  “According to him, you said if he’d do right by me, you’d be happy.”

  Mike groaned. Apparently it was his lot in life to be misunderstood, especially when it came to Beth. “That’s not quite how it went.”

  “Then how did it go?”

  “He claimed I’d fail at this cutter production and leave you with your dreams shattered. He said he’d be on hand to help put your dream back together. I said if I truly believed an association with him would be good for you, I’d be happy for you. I just don’t happen to believe it.”

  “So let me get this straight. If the right guy came along, you’d turn me over to him with your blessing? You’d send us postcards from the depths of the jungle, and when you came home for visits you’d bring our kids exotic trinkets from the rain forest and ask them to call you Uncle Mike? Is that what you’re saying?”

  His stomach churned at the thought of somebody else marrying Beth and fathering her children. But what else could he expect if he remained committed to his explorations in Brazil? “I want you to be happy.”

  “That’s not exactly an answer to the question.”

  “Yeah, sure. I’d be thrilled to see you hooked up with a terrific guy,” he lied.

  “That’s not true, Mike. That little muscle is jumping in your jaw.”

  “So what?”

  “So that’s how I always knew when you didn’t really mean what you were saying. You know what I think you’d like?”

  “I have a feeling you’re about to tell me.”

  “I think you’d like me to be your secret lover with no strings attached on your part, and when you’re off in the jungle somewhere, you’d expect me to be true to you.”

  Exactly. He was ashamed of how accurately the description fit his fantasy. “What kind of guy would expect a one-sided deal like that?”

  “I’m not saying you’d have the nerve to ask it of me. I’m just saying that’s what you’d like, if you could get away with it.”

  He sighed and stretched his arms out against the steering wheel. His shoulders were knotted up from spending long hours at a workbench, and he longed for something that would involve big muscle movement. Making love to Beth would be perfect, but he didn’t anticipate that happening in the near future. “I guess any guy would want a deal like that, if he could get away with it,” he finally admitted.

  “Well, here’s a news flash for you, Mike. These are the nineties, and you can’t get away with it.”

  He sent her a tired grin. “Can’t blame a man for trying.” He rolled his shoulders a couple of times.

  “Pull over for a minute and let me work those kinks out before you get so tight you can’t even drive.”

  He didn’t have to be asked twice. He found a wide spot next to the road and parked the sedan, although he left the engine running so they could still have air-conditioning.

  Beth unhooked her seat belt. “Take off your seat belt and turn your back toward me.”

  He followed her instructions and soon her strong hands began exploring the source of his pain.

  “You’re tensed up something awful,” she said, rotating the heel of her hand under his shoulder blade. “You shouldn’t have tried to do so much the first day.”

  “I took a look at that list of back orders and decided I couldn’t just ease into it.” He groaned as she pushed her thumb against a particularly tender spot.

  “You’ll be no good to me if you’re crippled up.”

  “A little more of this and I’ll be fine. But if you’re offering to give me another massage tomorrow night, I accept. You’re wonderful at it.”

  “Strong hands come naturally when you cut glass all day.”

  He leaned into the massage and sighed with relief as his tortured muscles began to relax. “Mmm. That’s great.”

  He noticed she’d stopped talking.

  “Yeah, right there,” he murmured, thinking she might need the encouragement Still she made no response, although the massage became more vigorous. She really was good at this, he thought. He could get used to it

  “God, that’s good, Beth,” he said on a heartfelt sigh.

  Abruptly the massage ended.

  He turned to her in surprise. She had her head down and she was fumbling with her seat belt.

  “All done?”

  “Yep.” She didn’t look at him.

  He took note of her rosy cheeks and tilted her chin up. “Beth?”

  The look of pure desire in her eyes told him all he needed to know about her state of mind. With a moan he pulled her close and sought the honeyed depths of her mouth. Her response was instantaneous as she clutched the back of his head and urged him deeper. But he couldn’t seem to get enough of her. He kept seeking a different angle for greater penetration as he reveled in her explosion of passion.

  The console was a frustrating barrier to the full contact he craved, but the separation of their bodies gave him access to the lush curve of her breast straining against her T-shirt. He cupped the weight of her breast through the soft material, and she moaned, pressing the tight bud of her nipple against his thumb. It was all the encouragement he needed to tug the shirt from the waistband of her shorts and reach underneath to flip the catch on her bra. At last he caressed the silken warmth of her skin, skimming his palm up her rib cage until he cradled her breast. His heartbeat drumming in his ears and his groin aching, he kneaded the soft flesh and rejoiced in her shuddering breath.

  A car whizzed past and the wind from its passage rocked the car.

  She placed her hands on either side of his jaw and eased away from his mouth. “We...have...to stop,” she whispered raggedly.

  He teased her nipple with his thumb as he lifted his head and gazed into her eyes. “Or find a lonelier road.”

  She grew still, and the flame of desire in her eyes began to cool. “I guess that’s your style, isn’t it?” She shrugged out of his embrace and pulled her shirt down. “For all I know, we aren’t very far from the back road where you tried to seduce Alana the night before the wedding.”

  “Hey.” Frustration fueled his anger. He was very close to telling her that her precious older sister had lied about that. “Don’t get bitchy with me. I didn’t start this.”

  “Excuse me, but I don’t believe I was the one who grabbed you.” She reached behind her back with both hands to refasten her bra.

  Watching her arch her back to do it, which caused her chest to be thrust in his direction, made him almost crazy. “No, you were the one so turned on by giving me a massage you almost couldn’t stand it! I’d like to meet the man who wouldn’t make a move when you give him a look like the one you gave me a few minutes ago. If you’re really not going to let this go further, then stop looking at me like that.”

  She tucked her shirt back into her shorts and took a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have agreed to come on this trip with you.”

  “I’d willingly take you back, but that’s going to make me late to see my dad. He’s expecting me at a certain time and it’s important that I be there.”

  She stared down at her hands clenched in her lap. “I don’t want to mess that up, eith
er. Let’s go.”

  He buckled his seat belt and put the car in gear.

  After they’d traveled several more miles down the road, she spoke. “You’re absolutely right. I’m sending you mixed signals, because that’s what I am, mixed-up. I wish I could be more like you.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  She lifted her head, and her gaze was tortured. “Why do I have to want more than sexual satisfaction? With you it’s simple, just like the natives of the rain forest—make love when we have the opportunity and part with no regrets. Why can’t I look at it that way? And you’re right about something else, too. Alana would never have to know.”

  “No, she wouldn’t, but...”

  “But what?”

  Oh, great, now he was having an attack of conscience, just when she was trying to make his case for him. “But I don’t want you to do anything that would go against your beliefs. If making love to me would gnaw at you for the rest of your life, if you wouldn’t be able to look Alana in the eye again, then you shouldn’t do it, no matter how good it might feel at the time.” And it would feel damned good, he thought, glancing at her sitting there beside him. He must be out of his mind to be shoring up her defenses instead of tearing them down with both hands.

  A hint of a smile touched her lips. “Is that some kind of reverse psychology, Mike?”

  “God help me, it’s the way I feel. You know how much I want you, and you even have some idea of what it could be like between us. If I really thought you could enjoy making love to me with no regrets, we wouldn’t even bother driving back to Bisbee after seeing my dad. We’d check right into a hotel. But you’re not put together that way, and I’m finally realizing it.”

  “A hotel?”

  Hearing the breathless note in her voice nearly finished him. “Don’t push it, Beth.” He switched on the radio and found a station he could live with—soft rock and pop.

  “Alana’s calling again tomorrow morning to check on Ernie’s progress.”

  The statement hung between them for several long seconds. “Are you going to tell her I’m here this time?” he asked finally.

  “You said once before that I should tell her and let her decide what she wants to do about it.”