The Complete Tempest World Box Set

by Mankin, Michelle

  Since I finally had her undivided attention, I decided now was as good time a time as any to get it all out in the open. “I really like his mother, too.” She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and started to drop her chin, but I moved quickly to stop her by skimming my fingers along her delicate jawline and framing her face in my hands.

  Eyes fluttering open, she blinked up at me, surprise and maybe something else I didn’t know her well enough to recognize flickering in her gaze.

  “You’re working too hard. You’re exhausted,” I said softly, brushing my thumbs across the silky smooth slightly rounded sun kissed surface of her cheeks.

  “Can’t be helped.” She slid along the wall, moving out of my reach while her posture remained defensive. “Things have to get done, and I’m the only one to do them.” She was so feminine and yet at the same time trying so very hard to project a tough image. But it didn’t work on me. I wasn’t buying it, or maybe I was just getting better at figuring her out because in that moment I had never seen her look more vulnerable.

  That unfamiliar feeling in my chest grew some more, along with a strong desire to come to her rescue and protect her.

  “You need to stop being so stubborn and let people help you.”

  “Who am I going to ask? Lace is stretched to the limit with school and work at Black Cat, and she and Bryan just got together.”

  “Still…”

  “Still, nothing.” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, just like I’d seen Carter do. Only her lips were in much better shape and were sexy as hell, plump and shiny from the moisture of her tongue. I had to resist that voice inside my head that told me to kiss her. I settled for running my thumb along her jaw line instead of taking the taste of her that I wanted. “I can help if you’ll let me.”

  She was quiet and motionless for so long I wasn’t prepared for the reappearance of her seething tone. “What do you want from me?” she asked, features hardening. “Honestly?” Her eyes took on an accusatory gleam that I didn’t like and that I didn’t feel like I deserved.

  “The usual things a man wants from a woman who intrigues him,” I said softly, moving closer. “A chance to get to know you better, a chance to see where things might go between us.”

  She shook her head. “You just want to sleep with me.”

  Ok, now she’d gotten me mad. “For someone who doesn’t know me very well,” my voice went even quieter as I tapped down the anger swirling around inside of me, “you’re awfully quick to pass judgment.”

  Her body jerked as if I’d just shaken some sense into her. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, her eyes skittering away as if she was unable to maintain her hold on my gaze. “I shouldn’t have said that. It’s been a crappy, stressful week. It’s an excuse, but it’s the truth. And you’re right.” Her shining eyes lifted. “I am really tired. Too tired to play these games with you, and not nearly naïve enough. Guys like you don’t go for girls like me.”

  “Guys like me?” I wanted clarification. Who the hell knew what she meant by a statement like that.

  “One’s with everything going for them. Talent. Looks.” She shrugged.

  Ok that was flattering and not at all what I’d expected her to say. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Because of my past. Because of Carter.” Her eyes flickered, that shield of hers dropped and I got my first clear glimpse of how deeply she’d been hurt. “Guys don’t want a relationship with a woman who’s damaged goods, a used toy with too many complications and constraints.”

  “That’s bullshit.” It made me angry to see how badly Bridget’s sense of self-worth had been affected by Carter’s father. Mad enough that if the guy had been around, I’d have found it difficult not to wrap my bare hands around his neck.

  She stared at me, eyes brimming with doubts.

  I was completely out of my element with her. I knew how to get women quickly in and out of my bed, but I didn’t have the foggiest clue how to get one to want to stay there. And that’s what I wanted with her. What I’d been thinking about since I’d looked deeply into her eyes when she’d stood in the hall in Black Cat proudly defending her love for her son and making me want, more than a little bit, to be on the receiving end of that kind of love and passion.

  I was going to have to prove to her that I was serious though. Show her that the huntsman could change and be the prince she deserved. Earn her trust. And for obvious reasons, I was going to have to take things one step at a time with her. Tread slowly, carefully, and cautiously, territory that was completely unfamiliar to me. “How about we try being just friends for a while? See how that goes.”

  “I don’t know.” Her expression remained skeptical.

  “Give me a week, Bridget, as friends, and I promise you I’ll prove that I can be trusted. Then you can decide if we take things any further.” I held my breath watching her while she thought about it. Hoping my expression didn’t reveal how very badly I wanted her to say yes.

  She stared at me, eyes searching mine. I don’t know what she saw, but whatever it was must’ve convinced her to agree. She stuck her hand out as if we were sealing a business deal surprising the high holy hell out of me. “Friends it is.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Bridget

  I was an idiot.

  A sleep deprived one.

  I’d been tossing around the bed all night when I should’ve been taking advantage of my weekend off to catch up on some much needed rest.

  Friends.

  I should’ve told him no. But when I’d looked into his eyes, I’d seen his need and wanted to be the one to fill it. I also wanted so badly to believe the things he had told me were true. Then again that’s where I always got into trouble.

  Truth, I should know by now, didn’t come from taking short cuts. The butler didn’t bring it gift wrapped on a silver platter. It came from hard work and commitment. Not from using an illegal white powder to try to finish a degree plan in three years that took most people four, and most certainly not from a handsome man promising you forever when he just wanted to get off in the here and now.

  Truth in the end would always be proven by its results.

  So when was I finally going to wise up? So Justin was handsome and sweet with Carter. So his gorgeous emerald eyes and his words seemed sincere. So Lace seemed to trust him. So what? I needed to remember what had happened in the past. Guys just said and did things in order to get what they were after.

  I punched the pillow taking out my frustration on the memory foam, and then rolled over onto my other side, hoping to have better luck in a different position. I needed to try to catch at least a couple of restorative minutes of sleep before the morning. I had a ton of stuff to do.

  • • •

  “Mommy! Mommy!” Carter’s excited voice brought me from sound sleep to instant awareness. I opened my eyes when he started bouncing on our mattress.

  “What?” My bleary gaze slid from my jumping son to the alarm clock beside the bed.

  Damn.

  It was ten thirty. I’d almost slept the entire morning away. “What’s going on?” I mumbled, surprised to find him already dressed in his favorite Iron Man shirt and jeans, his hair combed neatly on his head.

  “Justin took me to the guitar store.” He yanked on my arm. “Get up. I want you to come see my new guitar. Well, it’s not new. It used to be new, but it’s still super cool.”

  I blinked the sleep from my eyes and tried to focus on what he was saying as he rambled on hyperactive high speed mode just like I did when I was excited. I belted on my robe and followed Carter out to the living room. Justin pushed up from the couch as soon as we entered. He was even better looking than last night, auburn locks swept neatly back from his brow and wearing a crisp white cotton shirt and dark jeans. I shifted self-consciously on my bare feet and tried to finger comb the bed snarls out of my own hair.

  “Good morning.” He gave me a smile. One I hadn’t seen yet, an amused version. A cute dimpled
half one. It figured he would have something like that to add to his already devastating arsenal. “Looks like you slept well.” His green eyes sparkled merrily.

  “Yeah, apparently.” I threw my eyes to the ceiling, muttering, “When I was finally able to fall asleep.”

  “You had trouble sleeping?” He gave me a look that made me think he could read my mind. “Me, too. I wonder if it was for the same reason.”

  Doubtful.

  With great difficulty, I ignored Justin and concentrated on Carter as he showed off his new guitar. It was a scaled down version that fit him perfectly. He was so happy I didn’t have the heart to fuss at Justin for purchasing it. Surely since it was used it hadn’t been too expensive. “Where’s Lace?” I asked noticing that the door to her room was propped open and empty.

  “She and Bryan went shopping after they ate breakfast with Carter and me.”

  “What kind of shopping?”

  “Vintage clothing.” He let out a groan that seemed to come from experience. “Lace’s got a thing for sixties fashion. She has an inexhaustible amount of energy when it comes to searching through the bins in musty old second hand stores looking for treasure.”

  Yeah, I could see that being the case. I’d seen her design sketches. They were definitely inspired by that decade. “Ok, well.” I moved toward the front door, hoping he’d take the hint to follow me and leave. I needed to get started on my errands. I’d lost too much time sleeping late. It also felt a bit awkward being alone with him in the apartment.

  Justin didn’t get the hint, or he didn’t want to take it. He settled back down onto the couch and stretched his arms along the back cushions, that familiar leather bracelet dangling from his wrist. Lounging Justin was a sexy distraction I couldn’t afford, and it was distressing me to no end that he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave.

  “What are your plans for the day?” he asked me while Carter plucked away on the strings of his new-used guitar.

  “Well since I overslept,” I huffed at him as if that were his fault, which in my mind it kind of was, since it’d been thoughts of him that had kept me awake. “I probably don’t have time to get everything done. But,” I ticked off on my fingers, “I need to open a checking account, deposit my paycheck, and buy a couple more t-shirts to get embroidered for work. I need to get a cell phone and I really need to try to find a second job and a permanent place for Carter and me to live.”

  “You don’t have a cell phone?” Eyes glittering with sudden focus, Justin dropped his arms and leaned forward. I didn’t understand why he looked so irritated.

  “That’s not smart, Bridget.” He frowned. “Or safe. What if you got into trouble? How would you call for help?”

  “I know all that,” I replied, finding myself getting defensive. “That’s why, now that I have some money, I’m going to purchase one today. So if you’ll excuse me?” I gestured toward the door, abandoning the subtle method since that obviously wasn’t working.

  He still didn’t move. “We need to make that a priority on your list. Right after the bank.”

  “Ok. I will.” I crossed my arms over my chest, sighed, and tapped my foot impatiently.

  “Good.” He cocked a brow. “Why are you flopping all around like that?”

  “Because,” I drew the word out. “I need you to go so I can get dressed and get on with my day.”

  “Why would I do that since I’m going with you?”

  “What?” This was definitely news to me.

  “I’m going with you,” he repeated slowly as if he’d said it too fast for me to understand the first time.

  “Really?” My hands went to my hips. “I don’t recall inviting you. And for that matter, I don’t remember giving you permission to take my son out to breakfast either.” I was getting myself worked up now. I could even feel a muscle starting to twitch near my right eye.

  He grinned. “You’re cute when you’re mad.”

  “What?” I practically screeched at him. He was out of his mind, and obviously enjoying himself at my expense.

  “I said…”

  “I heard you,” I cut in with another eye roll, this one a little more difficult to execute because of the twitch.

  “Go ahead and get dressed, Gigi.” Hearing Lace’s nickname for me from his lips gave me a little inside shiver. “I’m not giving in. We’re spending the day together.” He stood and advanced toward me, moving into my space. “Friends. You do remember agreeing to that part?” His voice was low and rumbled near my ear. “Maybe if you’re nice to me, I’ll take Carter to run some of the other errands on your list while you’re tied up at the bank. I might even be persuaded to take you both out for Kobe meatballs and spaghetti at Glowball for dinner.”

  My protesting mouth snapped shut. I loved spaghetti more than pizza and I loved Kobe beef even more. It’d been years since I’d had any. Besides, I was just wasting precious time arguing with him, right?

  I hurried down the hall and into the bathroom. As I showered, shampooing and conditioning my hair, I continued reasoning with myself. I mean what would be the harm? What was the worst that could happen if I spent the day with Justin? Well yeah, sure, there was that. But surely it wouldn’t be that hard to keep my clothes on around him.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Justin

  I knew after seeing her in that cute tank and pajama bottom combo back at Lace’s apartment that it was going to be a gargantuan challenge keeping things strictly on a friendship basis with Bridget. She was a beautiful sexy woman and the stunning clincher was that she didn’t seem to even realize it.

  I was so far gone now that I’d even found it sexy the way she’d tried so hard to get rid of me this morning.

  I was never going to make it a whole week as friends.

  I was totally screwed.

  Because the more time I spent with her the more I wanted her, and the more I wanted her the more of her time I wanted to monopolize.

  At the moment, she was bent over at the waist trying to scrub melted chocolate ice cream off of Carter’s sticky fingers. My eyes were glued to her cute little rear end as I played out a guilty X-rated fantasy in my mind.

  We’d been all over town today. I should be worn out, but I wasn’t. Not even close. I’d thoroughly enjoyed just being with her and Carter doing routine boring everyday stuff. I’d never realized just how hollow and empty my life had been until I spent the day with the two of them. Bridget was smart and funny, cute and bubbly when her guard was down and Carter was an extremely well behaved, precocious child. It was impossible not to love him.

  “Ok.” Bridget straightened. “You’ve got thirty minutes to play. I’m getting hungry and Justin promised us spaghetti. Go. Knock yourself out.”

  We were on the second floor at Granville Island’s Kid’s Market. After we’d completed every errand on Bridget’s exhausting list, I’d suggested bringing Carter to the adventure zone to let him run off some energy inside the netted four level climbing structure. The kid had been way patient throughout the day, but he was a boy and he was five.

  “Ok, Mom.” Carter grinned and took off like a rocket proving he still had excess fuel to burn.

  “Why don’t we see if there are still some seats down on the first floor near the ball pit?”

  Bridget nodded and I placed my hand on her lower back just above the curve of that tempting ass of hers. As I led her down the stairs, I chastised myself, knowing doing things like this only made it harder for me to keep my promise to her. But just the fact that she didn’t protest when I put my hands on her made me want to break out the champagne and celebrate.

  We found a bistro sized table with two empty chairs. We’d be able to see and talk to Carter when he came down. I pulled out a chair, and she thanked me as she took her seat. I scooted my own chair close enough that our thighs touched and rested my hand on the table beside hers. She kept it there a while but then moved it, tucking a long strand of hair behind her ear. I pretended to look for Carter, but
out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her worrying that bottom lip between her teeth. My blood warmed imagining doing something similar to it with my own mouth. I held back a groan. At this rate, I was probably going to spontaneously combust before the week was up.

  “Bridget?”

  “Hmm.” She glanced over at me, seeming a bit distracted.

  “Would you mind telling me what happened with Carter’s father?”

  She went from distracted to tense as hell in a heartbeat.

  “Don’t shut down.” I shifted closer and touched her hand. “And don’t shut me out. He obviously hurt you. I just want to understand.”

  She looked down at my hand. After a moment, she nodded. “Richard Gilmore was someone I trusted.” Her posture remained rigid as she began, and her eyes slid to the side taking on a faraway glaze. I don’t think she even noticed the people passing through the double glass doors in front of her. “He was a college intern and worked for my stepmother in the marketing department. He was twenty-two when we met, but he treated me like we were peers. He was kind and thoughtful and seemed genuinely interested in me…in the beginning. But I soon found out it was all just an act.” Her gaze came back to me, the surface of her aquamarine eyes glittering with a lifetime’s worth of sadness. “As it turned out I wasn’t a very good judge of character.”

  I could tell it was hard for her to share, and I didn’t like to see her upset. On the other hand, I was glad she was finally opening up to me. I curled my fingers around her delicate hand, encouraging her to continue.

  “We dated in secret because of our age difference and because of who he worked for. He wove an irresistible web of lies around me, and talked up elaborate plans for our future together. I believed him. I believed all of it. I wanted so desperately to be loved. I told you how my dad married my stepmother when I was six. Well, what I didn’t tell you was that he pretty much forgot I existed after that. The only time I had his full attention was when he talked to me about work. His work was his true love you see, and I think he hoped one day to pass on the business to me. But he never got that far. He had a heart attack and died when I was twelve. After that, I tried everything to win the approval of my stepmother. Ballet, piano, track, cheerleading. No matter what I did, she didn’t care about me at all. In fact, I was never good enough for her. I can’t remember her ever saying a kind word to me. But Richard did. Loads of them. He knew just the right things to say. He told me I was beautiful.” Her already emotionally roughened voice cracked, and I watched her pause to swallow.