by Unknown
That was her cute face, a half-smiling, half-smirking look. He always wanted to kiss her pursed lips when she glanced up at him and gave some smartass comment. Just a peck, nothing more.
Not like when she looked at him in the hall with her short hair swinging around her honey-colored face like wisps of brown sugar, and her large hazel eyes shining in the dim light. That exotic look shook his insides, made him want more than a peck on the lips.
“Shit.” Shane slammed the trunk down, garnering the attention of the security guard. “It’s okay.” He raised his hands, signaling all was well.
Nothing was wrong except what he dealt with on a daily basis, wanting the woman who helped him to clear out his mother’s things, and cooked for him and his dad on their first Thanksgiving alone.
For a while, he’d attributed his growing attachment to Alexis on her undeniable acts of kindness.
Then it happened.
After spending a day of watching movies with her at his dad’s house because a winter storm left both of their Dallas apartments without electricity, they stood on the back porch to watch the snow fall. She’d pecked his cheek, laughing about how pretty the snow was in the moonlight.
She’d given him one of those chaste kisses hundreds of times, and the pucker of her lips against his skin never burned through him. In the ensuing moments, he’d led a mental battle against his body’s urges, wanting to drag her up to his former bedroom, rip every stitch of clothing from her body and bury himself inside her.
If he pictured Alexis as girlfriend material, he would have done it. Unfortunately, he and girlfriends didn’t stay connected very long. In his thirty-four years, he found his limit for lasting love capped out at six months.
Shane walked back into the studio. After turning down the side hall which held Alexis’s office, he pushed open her door without knocking. “Ready?”
Alexis held out the tangled cord for her laptop. Before embarking on a scouting expedition, he knew he’d have to pack her laptop bag and stop several times for an overpriced coffee. He’d listen to whatever music she wanted until the station faded, and then they’d talk.
“I can’t ever figure it out.”
“You have a few more weeks to learn.” He swallowed hard, looking at her in the pair of jeans fitting low around her slim hips and the glossy shine of her pouted lips.
“I guess I should at least watch you do this.”
Alexis stood close to him. Even though he failed at keeping the thought of getting her out of her jeans from popping into his mind, he managed to wrap the cord.
Only a buddy.
****
During the three hour drive into Northern Louisiana, the sunny Texas skies morphed into a wide expanse of ominous cloud coverage in what seemed like minutes. But time always passed quickly with Shane.
Though her girlfriends, including Nikki, considered him cute but nerdy because of his ability to sprinkle historical facts or baseball into every conversation, she found the quality adorable. Especially when he smiled as he talked.
For the second time day, she shook herself back into professional mode. “Do you think we’ll be able to get the opening shots?”
“Don’t worry. If we can’t get them today, you’ll get it on the real shoot with your new co-host.”
“Who do you like so far?” She groaned, thinking ahead to her additional assignment for the weekend. Her main criteria for selecting a new partner revolved around who was most likely to drive across the country while she slept in passenger seat. “They all seem pretty equal to me.”
“Shelly Moore came across as friendly. She tried something different in her video just like you did.”
Shelly probably wanted to share driving, though. “Rick Halston might be a good fit.” A man might prefer to perform the act she hated most. “And maybe we’ll keep the Shanites happy because he’s handsome.”
“That guy looks like a poster boy for toothpaste.” Shane chuckled.
“Well, some women like that.”
“Do you?” Shane glanced in her direction, his grin disappearing in an instant.
“Huh?” Alexis gulped the coffee purchased only moments before, burning the roof of her mouth in the process. Still, it was cooler than the flash of heat caused by the question.
“Is he someone you’d go out with?” Shane turned his attention back to the road.
“Sure. He’s attractive.” She gulped again, watching Shane’s hands twist around the steering wheel.
“Oh.”
The word dropped like a stone into a pool, rippling discomfort over her skin. She waited for the sensation to pass or for him to say something else.
Neither occurred.
Alexis slurped the hot coffee and listened to the intermittent plink of rain on the windshield. Gone were the easy conversation and the sexy smiles from her friend. He’d been replaced by a heavy breathing grump.
She replayed the conversation in her head, trying to figure out what caused the mood shift. Nothing stood out as important. One minute they were talking about co-hosts, and then silence covered him like a shroud.
He couldn’t care she found Rick Halston attractive, could he?
After fifteen minutes of quiet, Alexis shifted in her seat. “How much longer?”
“It should just be around the next turn.”
“Great.” She picked up the empty cups, turning her focus to something besides Shane. Within minutes, the Ballard Inn came into view. As promised in the brochure, it truly was a glimpse into the past. An all-white plantation style home, with curvy front porch, sat framed in the distance by a veil of verdant moss swinging from a bow of towering oaks.
“These trees are hundreds of years old.” Shane began his historical recitation as he maneuvered the truck along a dusty gravel driveway to park in a paved lot. He continued talking while he gathered their bags from the trunk. Whatever turned him into a silent lump for the last bit of their trip disappeared under the oaks.
“The original mansion burned down in the early1800s.”
Alexis followed him across the lot, more interested in watching him walk than the history lesson. The lean muscles of his tight butt moved against the crisp line of his slacks as he mounted the front porch steps. Most likely, she’d use both hands to give it a good squeeze. “Ohhh,” she blurted out, surprised she’d allowed the thought go so far.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Alexis hurried past him through the doors of the Ballard Inn.
****
Like any of the other bed and breakfasts she’d visited in the past, the lobby featured a prominent check-in desk beyond the front doors. In a great room to the left of the desk stood polished brass racks of promotional materials from the surrounding casinos of Shreveport. Small tables lined the perimeter for reading or playing board games, and comfortable-looking sofas and chairs faced a fireplace rounding out the center of the room.
The inn’s unique feature lay beyond the typical wood-paneled room. Visible through the floor to ceiling windows, an enclosed veranda overlooked a grove of trees. Lacy moss covered their limbs, circled up their trunks, and swayed in the wind like laundry on an old-fashioned clothesline. “Wow.”
“It’s pretty, ain’t it?”
She tore her eyes away from the vista to concentrate on the tall, gray-haired man beaming in front of her. “Hi, we’re from Overnight Stays. I’m Alexis Joplin.”
“Well, you say that just like you say on it TV, honey. I’m George Ballard.”
George pumped Alexis’s hands in an up and down shake, rattling her teeth in the process. Thank God he released her before she lost a molar to run around to the front of the large desk.
“And you’re?” George beamed up at Shane.
“Shane Fowler.”
“Just like on TV.” George gave Shane the same treatment along with a couple of pounding slaps to the forearm. “My wife will be out any minute, now. Margie.”
“Woo.” An ear-piercing wail echoed around the st
ill lobby. In a flash, the doors behind the desk swung open, and a woman as tall as George flew from the back room with a mass of short, tightly permed blonde hair springing around her face. “I’m so excited.”
She clutched Alexis in a sweeping side to side bear hug.
Once again Alexis’s teeth rattled.
“Joplin and Fowler at the Ballard Inn I’m so excited.” Margie spun Alexis loose, tackling Shane next. “I host one of your fan pages, you know? George, you got that camera?”
George held the camera all right. Alexis’s vision blurred in its endless flash.
“I can’t wait to post these.” Mrs. Ballard bounced up and down, talking the entire time.
Alexis tried for a smile. She’d have to check the fan page to see if she achieved one or not.
“That’s enough for now. We got the whole weekend. Let’s get you folks upstairs. The show booked separate rooms.” Mrs. Ballard whispered the last sentence.
“That’s right.” Alexis nodded, still reeling from the bombardment of gushed sentences.
“Oh, okay. Let’s get you upstairs then.” Mrs. Ballard bounded up the staircase to the second floor, stopping in front of Room 200 and Room 202. “You’re right next door to each other. No connection, though.” She giggled, dropping keycards into each of their hands. “See y’all for dinner.” The spritely woman clipped back down the steps.
“I think Michael needs some of what she’s on.”
“If he cuts my coffee budget, I may need some, too.”
Whatever troubled his thoughts suddenly returned because Shane didn’t laugh at her attempt for a joke. He only shifted his gaze to the floor.
“Dinner at seven. Don’t be late.” He swung open the door to his suite and disappeared inside.
“I won’t,” she whispered to the empty hallway. Was he feeling the end as much as she was?
Chapter Three
Shane whooshed out a long breath, rapping his knuckles across Alexis’s door. For the past hour, he’d paced around his room’s four-poster bed first in one direction, and then the other, reviewing safe topics for tonight’s dinner. Menu choices, the schedule for tomorrow, and baseball. Anything else led into dangerous territory.
Alexis’s comment about how she thought Rick Halston was attractive bothered him. If she and her next co-host starting dating, then where would that leave Shane? In Chicago while a guy who looked like he acted in teeth whitening commercials banged his friend.
Alexis’s door opened.
“How’s your room?” He tried for light and casual and normal even though the sparkling, greenish flecks in her eyes dazed him for a second.
“It’s fantastic. Did you try the bathtub? I love it.” Alexis looped her arm through his, and led them down the stairs while he tried to keep his gaze from dipping to the crisscrossed neckline of her halter dress.
“Yeah.”
“I can’t wait to sit on the veranda. It’s going to be so pretty with the rain. We should have brought the cameras instead of concentrating on a write-up about the meal.”
The meal? The camera? Only the glide of her hands down his arms held his attention.
Alexis pulled him through the sitting area out onto the enclosed veranda which served as the inn’s dining room. A few couples, the last of the summer vacationers, sat at the many two-seater tables scattered throughout the space. Still Alexis rushed to a table butted up against the glass pane as if a crowd waited for it.
“This is beautiful, Shane.” Her eyes took on a dreamy quality as she watched the rivulets of rain rushing down the glass in miniature curving rivers. “I think this is one of the best inns we’ve seen. Too bad you won’t be able to do the final shoot with me.”
“You’re going to do fine.” He dropped down in the seat opposite hers. “You’re the star, remember?” She was a star, burning hot and unreachable.
Alexis crinkled her nose, but didn’t say anything, staring out of the window instead. With her attention elsewhere, he watched the gentle slope of her breasts push against the lightweight fabric of the dress every time she took a breath. Burning hot and unreachable.
“Did y’all have a chance to look at the menu?”
“No, not yet.” He snapped his head up to a grinning Mrs. Ballard.
The mischievous glint in her eyes said she’d seen him leering at Alexis.
“Can we have two glasses of the Pinot Noir?”
“And eventually, he’s going to order the filet, medium rare with a baked potato.” Alexis squeezed his arm. “And I’m going to have the seafood pasta.”
“She’s right.” He handed their unneeded menus to the giggling woman.
“I’ll get that, right out.” Mrs. Ballard patted his shoulder before she bounded away.
“You haven’t been acting like yourself since we left Dallas.” Alexis slid her fingers over his hands, moving her thumbs in light circles. “What’s wrong?”
Girlfriends came and went in his life as he followed his path to success, but Alexis remained someone altogether different.
“I’m going to miss you. You’ve been a good friend to me, especially this past year.”
“I’m going to miss you, too. You’ve helped with my on-air presentations, contract negotiations, standing up to Michael. Not to mention hanging out with me until I could make friends in town, and driving me everywhere.”
“I didn’t mind.” Though he hadn’t meant for the comment to come out in a hoarse whisper, he enjoyed the resulting blush on Alexis’s cheeks.
“Shane.” She peered up at him under the sweep of her thick lashes.
The familiar ache in his groin roared to life at the soft utterance of his name. Maybe she wasn’t unreachable. Captivated by the deepening of her almost-green eyes to a smoldering brown, he leaned forward. “Alex—”
“Oh, I wasn’t trying to interrupt y’all.” Mrs. Ballard plunked down two glasses and hurried from the table, leaving droplets of wine in her wake.
“Oh Lord, how much do you want to bet she posts that to her fan page?” Alexis jerked her hands away from his. “Joplin is holding Fowler’s hand at the Ballard Inn.”
“I’m sure she will.” Shane leaned against the hard back of his chair and stared at spinning blades of a ceiling fan. Damn, he’d almost kissed her.
“She’ll probably leave out the part that we’re sleeping in separate rooms.”
They sure were.
He dug his fingers into his thighs and focused. “Um, let’s make sure we have a plan for tomorrow. We’re going to have about two extra hours of work because of the storm today.”
“Right. I have that interview at the library at noon.”
“I’ll finish the exterior shots, and we’ll film the spot at Ballard Lake later in the afternoon.”
“Sounds good.” Alexis glanced around the room, her deep inhale causing her chest to strain against the dress she wore.
Just a buddy. He ignored the ache in his groin.
“I’m bringing out the food,” Mrs. Ballard said from behind them.
Alexis snickered. “If only she knew your real type.”
Someone exactly like you. This time he stared out into the night.
****
“Come outside with me.” Alexis sipped from the same glass of wine with which she started dinner an hour ago.
“It’s storming.” As if proving his point, thunder shook the pane of glass next to their table. While he wasn’t ready for their evening to end, he also didn’t feel like standing in the middle of what looked and sounded like a typhoon. “Maybe we can have another drink or watch a movie?”
“I want to see it, and the porch is covered.” She stood, waiting with an amused look on her face as if she expected him to go with her. The soft lighting cast shadows on her one bronzed leg jutting seductively out from the slit of her multi-colored dress in an exaggerated foot tap. So sexy.
“All right then.” Shane followed her out of the dining room onto the porch, watching the sway of her hips in the dres
s.
“Let’s swing.” She sat down on the wooden bench seat without waiting for him to answer. “It looks safe, don’t you think?”
“Sort of.” In the dim lawn lights reflecting up on the porch, he saw peeling paint and splintered wood. The swing was most likely a prop for pictures, not for actual use. Not like the sturdy rocking chairs facing out onto the grove of oaks. “You don’t want one of the rocking chairs?”
“Just sit.” Alexis patted the spot next to her.
Shane fingered the chain holding the swing to the porch’s ceiling. Though the fine grains of rust scratching his fingertips gave him pause, he sat down anyway.
The chains made a screeching sound, but seemed to hold his added weight.
“Isn’t this nice?” Alexis leaned back against the swing.
“Yeah.” Shane shifted closer, and Alexis put her head on his shoulder. “This isn’t as bad as I thought.” As the creaking apparatus swung closer to the porch’s railing, the cool splatter of rain on his back alleviated some of the mugginess of the warm night air. “We’ve been concentrating on me so much lately, what about you?”
“The same ole boring me. Work. Sleep. Work. I haven’t had a date in ages.”
Alexis dating someone. That wasn’t one of his safe topics.
“Me either.” He stretched his fingers down her delicately muscled arm, releasing the tension he’d instantly felt.
“And that’s a shame. We’re two attractive people. Why can’t we get dates? Did I tell you my ex from back home is engaged? Bastard. I spent two years watching him shovel salad into his mouth for him to marry someone else.”
“He’s an idiot.”
“An idiot who isn’t sleeping alone.”
“Alexis, you are a beautiful woman.”
“Thank you,” she mouthed.
The gentle breath she blew across his cheek tingled. The subsequent pucker of her lips against his skin burned. Desire to have her flamed in his groin, and not even the furious splatter of rain down his back doused it.
“You’re smart and funny and caring. A woman any man would want to wake up next to,” he whispered. Shane stopped fighting the urge.
