Lazer
I was driving Ashley mad with curiosity. She’d pocketed the note card with my revelation about that ill-fated marriage proposal. She didn’t know I’d instructed Lottie to put it with Ashley’s phone on the table. I wanted to see how she’d react to it. Whether she’d confront me or not. What would she do?
She was mulling the possibilities over. Was this a joke? What kind of game was I playing? Why would I reveal something so personal and humiliating if it wasn’t? Whenever possible, intrigue a woman with your mysterious nature. A little mystery is good for a relationship. Either way I played this was a win for me. Women liked men with a good sense of humor. And they felt sympathy for a man jilted in love. So which was I? That’s what she was wondering.
The public didn’t know about my ill-fated marriage proposal when I was young and naïve, but it was no secret to my friends. They’d all been active participants in my humiliation. That proposal had seemed like such a good idea at the time. I shook my head, laughing silently at my folly.
If Ashley had let Lottie read the question, my guys would have won. Ashley would have learned one more key thing about me. Win-win. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t know that.
I imagined her parsing the situation. Was this the reason I was down on marriage? Had my young heart been irreparably broken? Had I been rejected by my one true love?
Let her ruminate on it. I’d “taken one for the team” by showing my vulnerability. Show no mercy. Play to win.
Lottie had misinterpreted my note card. She thought I’d revealed a deep, dark, upsetting secret. That was why she’d warned Ashley off. I was sure of it.
Ah, well. I’d tried. Ashley was going to try to get the details out of me. Would I tell her? I probably should, before she got the wrong idea. On the other hand, it would be amusing to see how she tried to pry it out of me.
* * *
Ashley
I arrived wide awake and ready to go in what was really more of a grand lobby/great room than a living room. Lazer’s home away from home was larger than many small office buildings. He was talking to a member of his staff, looking chipper, and animated, especially considering the early hour. I was still on New York time, which should have felt like sleeping in. But he was acclimated to Pacific time and still ready to go.
Early risers! I did a mental eye roll. Was being an early bird enough of a deal breaker to turn me off him?
No, apparently not. My heart raced at the sight of him.
He was dressed in hiking boots and shorts that showed off his legs. Was I a leg woman? Maybe. In my opinion, with those strong thighs and toned calves, he gave his handsome-legged friends a run for their money. I would have paid to see Lazer in chaps or even a kilt. I smiled at the thought.
He looked up and waved at me. A backpack sat at his feet. His gaze travelled the length of my body, appraising and appreciative at the same time. Flattering. How could any woman he looked at like that resist him? How could I? And yet that was exactly what they, and I, had to do if they wanted to catch him.
Was it possible to reform a player? That was the billion-dollar question. I was certainly willing to find out, one way or another. I was going to use everything in my arsenal. I smiled seductively back at him and returned his wave.
“You’re looking much more awake and alive this morning,” he said. “I was afraid you’d decide to sleep in and stand me up.”
“Stand you up?” I shook my head. “Never!” I laughed. I was wide awake. And just as curious as ever in the dawning light of day. “Besides, I couldn’t sleep. I had no choice but to get up. I’m still jetlagged. It feels like nine to me.”
I had dressed appropriately in shorts, T-shirt, sweatshirt—mountain mornings could be cold, too, I’d been told—and hiking boots. Lazer had warned me to bring all of them. I’d had to run out and buy a pair of boots. I didn’t have much need for them in Manhattan. I’d always been more of an urban girl, anyway, not really the outdoorsy type. So maybe this hiking was going to be my deal breaker for him. Kill the thrill I felt when being around him.
I doubted it, though. That was probably just wishful thinking. Ruck had been outdoorsy. In the beginning, I’d humored him and gone along. After a while, when he did his outdoor thing, I did my thing. It worked for us.
Lazer picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulders before handing me a water bottle. “Let’s go.”
I followed him out of the lodge and onto the front porch, which sounded quainter and homier than it was. It was mammoth in proportion. The morning air was crisp, cool, and loaded with dew. I wasn’t a morning person, but once I was up and about I enjoyed it. Being jetlagged was the way to enjoy the mornings, I decided. No tiredness, all the pleasure.
The sunny morning lighting was absolutely stunning. It made everything vibrant and the shadows long. Birds called and flitted through the trees as I followed Lazer in companionable silence across the driveway to the edge of the woods.
He pointed. “The trail is this way.”
“You have a trail?”
“Of course we have a trail!” He grinned at me. “My groundskeeper maintains it.” He pointed up the mountain. “It’s a steep climb. Taxing. Especially at altitude if you’re used to sea level. We’ll be climbing several hundred feet up. The view is worth it."
I looked around. “Where are the guys? Aren’t they coming?”
Lazer shook his head. “They’ve climbed the trail many times. Today they’ll want their beauty rest.” With that, he headed up the trail.
He wasn’t kidding about the trail being steep. It switchbacked up the mountainside. Lazer took off at a quick clip, hiking briskly and purposefully, outpacing me even handicapped by the backpack. He was right. I was a flatlander. At first the air was refreshing and cool against my skin and in my lungs. And tinged with the scent of dew, fir and cedar trees, dust, and foliage. It wasn’t long before I broke into a sweat and my lungs burned. This was unlike any of the workouts I did regularly at the gym. I’d thought I was in good shape.
I did my best to keep up. Pride pushed me along. I knew he was slowing his pace for me. Even at that, it wasn’t long before he was far ahead of me. He stopped and waited. Gave me a hand and pulled me over a tricky spot where water ran over the trail. But then he was off again and I was left with a tempting view of his backside. But too far away from it to make any move. Like to kick his butt.
He was showing off. Showing me how in shape he was. Damn him. I took a swig from my water bottle and trudged on, too out of breath for conversation. Which gave me plenty of time to think about how I’d approach the topic of his failed marriage proposal. Once I caught enough breath to form words again. At times like this it was seriously crazy to realize how much breath talking took.
I could see him through the trees up the mountain about three switchbacks above me as he removed the backpack and set it down.
“Come on, Ashley! You’re almost there. It’s a few feet ahead.” His grin was positively roguish. “You can do it!”
He was just ribbing me now. When he started clapping, I wanted to kill him. But I didn’t have the strength. He, however, had all the breath he needed. I was struggling so much I’d stopped paying attention to the view, to anything except the trail before me. Even to my fear that Bigfoot or a cougar or bear would step out of the woods.
I wasn’t sure I believed in Sasquatch, but the other beasts were all too real. Fortunately, we only scared a few squirrels, who ran up the trees and chattered noisily, scolding us. And startled a buck and a couple of does in the brush. Which nearly gave me a heart attack. This was why I wasn’t thrilled with the outdoors.
When I reached the last switchback, Lazer set his backpack down and jogged down the trail with an exaggerated lope. He grabbed my hand, pulling me up the mountainside. Even at that, I didn’t move fast enough for him. My legs felt like jelly.
He stopped uphill from me and took pity. He turned his back to me. “Climb up.”
“What?”
He nodd
ed. “Climb on my back. I’ll carry you up.”
Pride would have stopped me, but I was in the mood to punish him. And when was the last time I’d had a piggyback ride? Ruck. My heart broke a little. I swallowed my sense of guilt, put my arms around Lazer’s neck, and jumped, throwing my legs around his waist. He caught them beneath his arms.
If I expected my weight to slow him down, I was sadly mistaken. He jogged up the path, while I laughed, as delighted as a child as I jounced along.
There was something to be said for this show of chivalry, strength, and fun. It was so sexy.
At the top of the trail, he set me down in a clearing. My good mood restored, I was laughing. The sun was now fully up and gaining strength.
“Showoff!” I said as my feet touched the ground, reluctant to relinquish my contact with him.
He swung around to face me, his hair flopping over his eyes adorably. He’d barely broken a sweat and wasn’t breathing hard.
“You’re just punishing me for last night.” I laughed.
“I carry you on my back, and you accuse me of punishing you?” He lifted an eyebrow.
I leaned forward, bracing my hands against my thighs, and breathed deeply, looking up at him, and trying not to grin like a schoolgirl at summer camp. How was it that I was still winded when he’d carried me the last part of the hike, not the other way around?
“You’re going to get shin splints from running with me on your back,” I said.
“On the dirt trail?” He shook his head. “I don’t think so. I’m tougher than that.”
He made me too happy. Everything was sunshine when he was around.
“Good,” I said, standing up. “You can fight off Bigfoot if he comes around. I don’t have the energy.”
“We won’t see Bigfoot,” he said. “He’s far too wily. Anyway, we’ll smell him first and have plenty of time to run. That’s the myth.”
“That assumes my legs will work,” I said.
“What is it with you?” he said. “You’re always tired. Some breakfast will perk you up.” He grabbed his backpack by the strap and gestured toward a picnic table nearby.
I had been so lost in him and the hike that I’d been totally oblivious to it, and the breathtaking view. But now that he pointed the table out, my eyes went wide.
The picnic table was unlike anything I’d ever seen. It was smoothly planed and stained with a medium brown rub. A rough, homemade-looking bench was placed on either side—rough boards balancing on log stumps. Although wonderful, none of that was what made it magical.
The table was set and decorated as if woodland fairies were welcoming us to brunch. Thick-stemmed cut-crystal goblets augmented by tawny-cut water glasses, champagne flutes, cut-crystal plates, each with a deep pink flower artistically laid over them, sparkling silver. Sprays of ferns strewn with flowers. Moss. Candlesticks with white tapers. A bottle of champagne chilling in a silver ice bucket. A carafe of freshly squeezed orange juice, also on ice.
Around us was nothing but greenery, ferns, and underbrush. Above us a canopy of trees gently swaying and whispering in an early morning breeze.
I turned a stunned gaze on Lazer as he pulled a lighter from his pocket, lit the tapers, and began pulling a Northwest feast from his backpack—fresh blackberries and pastries, a warming bag full of hot breakfast sandwiches.
“It looks like Bigfoot has been expecting us,” I joked, not sure what else to say.
Lazer laughed. “More like I’m surprised he didn’t steal the silverware. I heard he likes shiny things.”
I ran my hand over the smooth surface of the table. “This is…it’s… There are no words.” I took a plate from Lazer as I helped him put the rest of food out. “Someone from your staff has been up here already?”
“Two someones.” He held up two fingers and pulled the bench out for me. “You’ve probably noticed. My staff is in excellent shape. Exercise and morning hikes are a perk of the job.”
“You must hire Sherpas. I suppose that’s a hint I should get in hiking shape?” I said. “Now that we’re partners.”
“Partners have different rules.” He paused, his gaze caressing me. “And I never said you aren’t in great shape.”
Cheesy, but I flushed. Damn, he was good.
As I sat, I got the full impact of the view through a clearing in the trees. The mountains were rows of blue and gray on the horizon. I hadn’t thought it was possible, but the view was even more spectacular than the view at the lodge.
“Do you always entertain like this?” I indicated the table.
He shrugged. “Not always. Sometimes my guests collapse on the trail on the hike up and have to be evacuated to the nearest medical facility. Fortunately, the most convenient hospital has a decent cafeteria with an affordable brunch.”
“Shut up!”
He popped the cork on the champagne and poured us each a glass. He slid onto the bench next to me and lifted his glass. “To us. And a beautiful partnership!”
I clinked his glass with mine, wishing for a partnership of a different kind…
“You can’t do this!” I blurted out as a thought occurred to me.
He looked puzzled. “Do what? Drink champagne? Eat?”
I laughed and gestured around at the table and the perfect setting. “You can’t spoil women like this. It isn’t fair.”
“To whom?” He shook his head. “Spoiling isn’t meant to be fair.”
“No,” I said. “That’s not what I mean. I mean, how will you ever find your perfect match if you turn every woman’s head with fantasies like this one? How can they get to know you?”
“This is me.” His eyes twinkled. “I’m a romantic.”
I stared him down.
He shook his head. “You’re telling me a woman can’t get to know me all alone in the woods with no interruptions? In a place where she has my complete attention?” He paused. “If she can’t get to know me here—”
“Where you’re playing Prince Charming to her Snow White? Where you’re spoiling her with expensive champagne and romantic tables? How is she supposed to see past this?”
“A woman could get to know me very well up here. If it weren’t for your damn dating rules.” He lifted an eyebrow.
I didn’t back down. We held each other’s gazes.
I let out a deep sigh. “Hikes, fine. Great. Backpacking in a picnic? Nice touch. Champagne and flowers waiting on crystal? Silver and tapered candles in the middle of the forest? Over the top and off limits. And possibly a fire danger, depending on the season.” I grinned and went in for the kill. “If you’re doing this just for a business partner, I can hardly imagine what you’d do for a woman you wanted to impress and seduce.”
He replied with a slow, sexy grin.
I looked away before that grin succeeded. “Were you always this romantic? Are you always this romantic?”
These were perfectly reasonable questions for his matchmaker to ask.
“No and no,” he said.
“Not even when you proposed?” I was too aware of him sitting next to me on the bench, nearly brushing arms. My expression too soft. My voice too low and curious. My eyes too wide.
His grin deepened. “I was wondering when you were going to get around to asking about that.”
“You knew I’d read the note card?”
“Knew? I asked Lottie to put it where you’d find it.”
My eyes went even wider. I hadn’t expected that. But it was so like him. He was constantly surprising me.
“So it was a joke!” I shook my head. “Tell me about this proposal. Were you in the fourth grade, too? Like Jeremy?”
“No. Much older. I was in college.” He paused and glanced down. “She really did break my heart.”
Chapter 7
Ashley
As if he hadn’t before, he definitely had my attention now. “Oh. I’m sorry.” I’d put my foot in it. I put my hand on his arm. “I wouldn’t have been so flip. I just can’t imagine. She must have been
a fool.”
“Thanks.” He didn’t seem particularly upset.
“Why did you bring it up at the game?” I frowned. “And why did you want me to know about it?”
“First, so that I could win. None of the other guys have ever proposed to anyone. We all know that. And they were all present when I did. It was a winning question.
“And second, I didn’t want you imagining the worst. Curiosity is a killer. I knew Lottie would tell you eventually, anyway.”
“I don’t think that’s it at all,” I said. “I think you wanted me to know. You wanted to shock me.” I leaned in close to him and whispered, “You may have even wanted my sympathy and understanding. And maybe you want my professional opinion about what went wrong so you never make that mistake again.”
His grin returned. “Don’t worry. I have no intention of making that mistake again.”
I laughed. It was so comical the way he said it. “Maybe this is even your way of letting me know why you hate the idea of marriage so much. The thought of proposing again and facing rejection, even though that’s laughable now. It’s a strong imprint—”
His laughter cut me off. “You think I’m still pining for a girl I was in love with when I was nineteen? And that that one incident scarred me for life?”
I squeezed his arm and looked him directly in the eye. “It happens all the time.”
He shook his head. “Not to me. I’m tougher than that. It was a mistake. Sanne did me a favor. She could have been kinder in her refusal. That’s true. Repugnance and fear isn’t generally good for the male ego.”
He glanced away quickly. By the time he looked back at me, he was grinning again. I was sure he was hiding his pain.
“Am I going to have to ask one of the guys about it?” I asked. “I’d rather hear it from you.”
He nodded. “I’m sure you would.” He paused, thought for a minute, and shrugged. “I was nineteen. And stupid. Hopelessly in love with a girl I’d known for most of a semester and had dated for a month.”
I winced.
He nodded.
“Knowing each other such a short time before marrying works out sometimes,” I said, though personally, I believed it was madness. The odds were against it. “Usually, though, the parties involved are more mature, have a lot of dating experience, and know exactly what they want. I would never recommend it.”
Harte Strings: The Billionaire Matchmaker, Part Two Page 8
