by Judy Angelo
“Just like that? With no explanation?” What kind of cock and bull story was he feeding her? It made no sense.
“She called,” he said, his voice flat and his face emotionless. “She wants me back.” He folded his arms across his chest. “But rest assured, Vanessa and I are over. I have no intention of getting back together with her.”
“You’re…sure?” Her heart was clenching and unclenching like an angry fist in her chest. “A woman told me once…old fire sticks are easy to rekindle.”
“No.” He shook his head, almost vehemently, making her wonder if he was trying to convince her or himself. “Nothing like that," he said. "We’re over.”
But Tessa wasn’t too sure about that. And all of a sudden she was not at all hot for him anymore.
Wolf took a step forward and made as if to reach out for her. Was he crazy? After what she’d seen did he think they’d just pick up where they’d left off?
She stepped away from his outstretched hand. “I’ll meet you in the conference room,” she said. “You said you wanted to discuss the Peterborough trip so that’s what we’ll do.”
And she walked out, not even bothering to check if he was following her. From here on her discussion with him would be strictly business.
There was no way she’d be intimate with him now. Not until she was sure of where she stood with Wolf Spencer.
******
Tessa grunted as she dropped the bag of groceries on the kitchen table. She flopped down onto the chair and rested her chin on the bag, right on top of a head of lettuce. It wasn’t that she was tired. It was just that she had a lot on her mind.
A week had passed since she’d found the photo of Vanessa and she was still upset. Wolf had called at least five times within the past week, trying to explain, but somehow she could sense that Vanessa would no longer be relegated to the past. She looked like a woman who went after what she wanted, and what she wanted was Wolf.
He had asked her to have lunch with him, then dinner, but she’d given him every excuse in the book – she was late for class, she was busy, she had a headache. Of course, he’d known she was only avoiding him. But she’d had to. How else could she protect herself from hurt?
But, Tessa had begun to realize, it was not going to be so easy. She’d known Wolf almost three months and she’d become so attached she couldn’t stop thinking about him. The irony was, she’d started out not even liking him, not when she’d thought he was a grouch. Now she was missing him so much she couldn’t even think straight. It looked like the tables had turned and the joke was on her.
With a sigh she got up and began to pack the groceries into the cupboards. What better way to spend the weekend than to be doing mundane tasks, sorting the groceries, cleaning the house, doing the laundry? Yeah, right. Who was she trying to fool? None of those would keep Wolf from dominating her thoughts. She missed him too much.
Tessa was trying to shove a large tub of maple nut ice cream into the tiny freezer compartment when her cell phone began to vibrate in the back pocket of her jeans. She gave up the fight with the tub, dumped it on the kitchen table and slammed the fridge door shut.
She dug the phone out of her pocket. It was Wolf. Despite herself, her face broke into an involuntary smile. “Hello, Wolf,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant. Instead, she sounded breathless.
“You’re having dinner with me tonight. My house. Seven o’clock.” Just like that. No greeting, no preamble, just an order.
“Is that so?” Tessa couldn’t help asking.
“Yes, that’s so.” He responded immediately and there was no smile in his voice. “I’m tired of this game. We’re adults and we should start acting like it. We need to talk.”
He was right, of course. She couldn’t keep avoiding him forever. And besides, it had been a whole week and she really wanted to see him. “All right,” she said with a sigh. “Dinner at your house. What should I bring?”
“Just yourself,” he said. “See you later.’” He hung up, not even waiting for her goodbye.
Well, it was settled. She’d be seeing Wolf tonight and she was glad. Maybe she’d overreacted about this whole Vanessa thing. If Wolf had moved on then so would she.
That evening Tessa dressed casually but elegantly in a white spring dress that flowed all the way to her ankles. She put on a colorful sweater over it and she was ready. The days were a whole lot warmer now so she doubted that she’d need any more clothing than that. And anyway, if all went well, she would have Wolf to keep her warm.
She was almost at his house, maybe only five minutes away, when her cell phone rang.
“I’m sorry, Tessa, but I had to rush out to the office. There was a little emergency there. I thought I’d make it back to the house in time.”
Tessa’s heart sank. Was he calling off their date?
“I won’t be at the house when you get there,” he continued, “but just wait for me. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Okay.” She hung up the phone, wondering what sort of emergency would have him rushing to the office on a Saturday night. She hoped it wasn’t a burglary, or worse, a fire.
Wolf solved the mystery when he arrived at the house exactly nine minutes later. He was all smiles as he approached Tessa as she sat in her car.
She gave a small sigh of relief. The emergency could not have been that bad, not if he was smiling.
Wolf reached down and opened her car door then held it wide so she could slide out. “Thanks for waiting. The guys were working on an urgent project and I had the keys to the vault. Sorry I couldn’t be here when you arrived.”
“The keys to the vault?” She smiled up at him. In sandals, the top of her head just barely reached his shoulder. Standing this close, she had to tilt her head back to look into his eyes. “What do you have in there? Gold bars?”
He laughed as he took her elbow and led her toward the house. “No, only the masters of videos we’ve produced over the last six years. To me, they’re more precious than gold.”
When Wolf took her inside the house and led her to the living room she gasped in delight. He’d prepared a candlelight dinner for two and there was even romantic music playing softly in the background. Whoa. This man was going all out.
They sat down to a sumptuous meal but Tessa ate very little. Wolf Spencer commanded all of her attention. Was that what being apart for a week did to you? She could not keep her eyes off him. He was dressed even more casually than she, in jeans and a white T-shirt that hugged his upper body and showed off the cuts of his muscled torso. Oh, how she wanted to drag him away from the table, rip that shirt from his body and run her tongue over his broad chest then circle his nipple, then nip and nibble until he moaned in response.
He must have read her mind because as she stared across the table at him he got up and walked over to her then pulled her up and into his arms. “You’ve been a bad girl,” he growled, “shunning me all week.”
“I didn’t shun you,” she whispered, her heart pounding as he crushed her against him. “I…just needed time.”
“You got a whole week.” His grip tightened. “Now it’s time for you to pay for making me suffer.”
Instead of pulling back, Tessa lifted her lips to receive his kiss. She’d been waiting for this all week.
And she was not disappointed. When their lips met a jolt of electricity shot through her and good heavens, she even heard bells ringing. Ding-dong, ding-dong. It sounded so real.
Suddenly Wolf broke the kiss, pulling away, and as she tried to lean into him again he gripped her arms, stilling her. “The doorbell,” he said, with more than a hint of annoyance in his voice. “Someone’s at the door.”
Tessa blinked. The door? The bell. That was the bell she’d heard.
With a grunt, Wolf turned and left the dining room and Tessa sank down into the nearest chair, her legs suddenly feeling like jelly. She almost laughed at herself. Did she want Wolf so badly she couldn’t even stand straight?
She w
as still smiling when she heard what sounded like a woman’s voice. And it didn’t sound at all happy. The voice rose in pitch and as it went higher the tone grew angrier. She heard Wolf’s voice, too, and it was low and grim. What the heck was going on?
She wasn’t proud of eavesdropping but something was very wrong. She had to know what was going on.
Tessa got up and went to peek into the hallway. She could hear the voices more clearly now but she couldn’t see a thing. Stealthily, she glided down the hallway toward the front door, remaining in the shadows as she went.
What she saw made her gasp and pull back. She shouldn’t have been surprised. She should have expected this. But, regardless, the shock of seeing Vanessa, Wolf’s ex, almost made her turn tail and run.
The woman was standing in the foyer, just a few inches shorter than Wolf, and she looked ready for a fight. In skintight jeans, high heeled boots and an expensive-looking leather jacket, her arms folded across her chest, she faced Wolf boldly. Tessa could see that this woman was used to wielding power.
“I called the house, you didn’t answer. I called your cell phone, you didn’t answer. I even called your office. That’s how I found out you’d been there. They told me you ran in for a minute then headed back home.” Hazel eyes flashed as she glared at him. “That’s when I decided to come here. So don’t you ask me why I’m showing up at your house uninvited. I had no choice. You refused to speak to me on the phone.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Wolf said, his voice harsh. “We have nothing to say to each other. This was over a long time ago, Vanessa, so let’s not stir up dead coals.”
“No, it’s not over.” She shook her head vehemently. “It’s not over for me. Don’t you see? I’m here because I still love you. And you still love me, too.”
Wolf narrowed his gaze but he said nothing.
“You still love me, Wolf.” She said the words again and this time she released her arms and took a step forward. “You never moved on because… you were waiting for me to come back. I’m here now, Wolf. There’s no need to pretend. Let’s just start over.” She reached out to touch his arm but he flinched away.
“I have moved on-”
“No, you haven’t. You may not even realize it but you do want me.” Vanessa’s voice was earnest now. “That’s why you stayed single all this time.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Vanessa. I have a wonderful woman in my life.” To Tessa’s horror he turned and stared right at her. "Tessa," he said, holding out his hands to her, “can you come here, please?”
Oh, no. What the heck was Wolf doing? Why was he dragging her into his fight? But he’d seen her and now Vanessa was staring at her, too. She couldn’t very well stay there, lurking in the shadows.
Reluctantly, she took a step forward then another, pushing herself to walk into the light to take Wolf’s hand.
“Thanks, honey,” he said, and drew her into his arms.
Vanessa’s jaw dropped and she stared at Tessa. “Who the hell is this?” she demanded, her eyes snapping. If eyes could snap heads off, Tessa’s would be rolling by now.
“This,” Wolf answered as he held Tessa close and stroked her arm, “is the woman in my life. She’s the woman I love with all my heart.”
Tessa almost gagged. The woman he loved? With all his heart? This was the first time he'd ever declared love for her, and he wasn't even speaking to her. He was telling this to another woman.
“Her? You want her over me?” The way Vanessa said it, anyone would think she was talking about a worm. She looked Tessa up and down with disdain. “I don’t know her. She probably doesn’t even have good family connections.”
“Great point,” Wolf countered smoothly. “And since neither Tessa nor I have the social connections you do, we’re perfect for each other. Now I suggest you run along and get cracking on another round of your hunt for the perfect mate. You’re not going to find him here.”
If looks could kill…
Vanessa didn’t even bother to spare Tessa another glance. She glared at Wolf then turned and stormed out the front door, leaving them standing staring after her.
Tessa didn’t know which of the two shocks had jarred her more – the sudden appearance of Vanessa or Wolf’s declaration that he loved her. Did he really, or had he just said that to get rid of his ex-lover?
Even after Vanessa was gone they were still standing there with the front door wide open, in each other’s arms. Tessa leaned back and looked up into Wolf’s face. “You have some explaining to do.”
He gave her a smile that made her heart flip over in her chest. He bent his head and gave her a peck on the forehead.
Then he whispered, “With pleasure, my love.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Wolf could not believe it. His lips had just declared his love for Tessa even before his mind had wrapped itself around the thought.
He’d felt Tessa’s shock when she jerked in his arms as he said the words. The funny thing was, he’d been just as shocked when the words spilled out of his mouth.
And then he’d felt…relief. And satisfaction. He’d been shocked but he hadn’t been sorry. Because he knew he’d spoken the truth.
He reached out and closed the door then took Tessa’s hand. “Let’s talk,” he said, and led her into the living room.
“What was that you just said?” she blurted, even before her bottom touched the sofa as he pulled her down to sit beside him. “Was that just to get rid of Vanessa?”
“No,” he said, “I meant every word.” He took her small hand in both of his. “I guess you realize by now that I’m not the romantic type. I’m not very expressive about these things but I hope you believe me when I say I love you.” He gave her hand a little squeeze. “I would not lie to you about something like this.”
“But…but you never told me this before.” She was gazing at him, still looking dazed. “I could guess that you liked me but…love?”
“Yes,” he said and pulled her into his arms again, “love. I love you, Tessa Tyndale.”
For a moment she went still and then, slowly, she slipped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek on his chest. He noticed that she didn’t say she loved him, too, but she was probably still in shock after what had just happened. She needed time, and she needed reassurance.
And there was one way he knew was guaranteed to reassure a woman that she was loved. He leaned over, slipped one arm behind her shoulder and the other underneath her leg and lifted her in his arms. Then he stood and began to walk out of the living room.
“What are you doing?” she gasped, as she clung to his shoulders.
“Hush,” he said softly into her ear. “Nothing that you wouldn’t want me to do. You can tell me to stop at any time.”
She relaxed against him then, as light as a feather in his arms, and he walked with her up the stairs and to his bedroom at the end of the hallway and, just as he’d pictured it so many times before, he laid her down in the middle of his king-sized bed, right where she belonged.
Gently, he kissed her on the forehead, then on both cheeks, then on the chin. What he could not express in words he would express in action, and he wanted her to know that he loved and respected her in every way.
He kissed the top of her right ear then the lobe and she shifted, turning her face to give him the left side. He kissed her left ear and its lobe then planted soft kisses along the column of her neck. She moaned softly, and whispered to him, begging him not to stop. Obedient to her command, he did not.
He slid his lips down to the curve of her breasts and there he settled, teasing her with butterfly kisses that made her writhe and moan.
She slipped her hands between them and with trembling fingers she began to lift the end of his T-shirt, exposing his body to her heated gaze.
He pulled the T-shirt up and over his head then threw it on the floor. Let her look her fill. He planned to do the same and more.
Fingers moving quickly, he divested her of her pretty
little sweater, leaving her in the long spring gown that molded the curves of her body, making him lick his lips in hungry anticipation. He’d tasted her cheeks, her neck, the tops of her breasts. Now he wanted more.
He reached down and gathered the soft, white fabric in his hand then slowly slid it up her leg, revealing inch after inch of her smooth, creamy skin. Sliding down her body, he followed the path of the fabric, planting kisses on her ankle then her knee then up the soft curves of her thigh.
He chuckled when she wriggled her body in response. In an impatient move she reached down and pulled the dress up and over her head, leaving her body open to his gaze.
Slowly, he trailed his fingers up her body, past the black lace of her bikini and over the silky skin of her belly, making a shiver run through her. He could feel her every response under his hand. When those hands moved up and over a laced-covered breast she sighed and arched her back, pressing the mound against his palm.
He decided to tease her some more, circling her nipples through the lace of her bra, watching it pucker into a taut bud that made his mouth water.
Tessa gasped and reached up to thread her fingers through his hair. As she pulled his head down she used her other hand to release the catch at the front of the bra, letting her breasts fall free. So beautiful. He needed no urging from her. He took a pink rose bud between his lips and nibbled and teased until she was panting hard. He did the same to the other bud until Tessa writhed beneath him.
“Please, Wolf,” she breathed, her eyes closed tight as she reached for him, “make love to me. I want you so bad.”
“Hush, my sweet,” he whispered as he released her nipple. “I’ll give you release. Just relax.”
He gave each of her breasts one last kiss then he moved up to capture her lips and his hand slid down and over the lace covered spot between her legs. And as he plundered her mouth, his lips and tongue telling of his desire, he stroked her sweet spot, and teased until she gasped into his mouth.
