Chapter 3
Tallia stood out on the stone portico, reading through the latest e-mail on her cell phone as she waited for the taxi to arrive. The sounds of the party behind her floated through the open windows, but she blocked them out. She had to get out of here, unable to wait for Jane to be ready to leave. Becca had already headed back to the hotel, so it was really just a matter of waiting for the cab to arrive. She desperately needed fresh air and some time alone to process the evening’s events and conversations. For the past hour, she’d been tense and jumpy, worried that Stephen Markum would pop up behind her again. Several times, she’d seen him across the room and every time, he’d been looking directly at her. She hated the way her cheeks had warmed with color whenever he caught her glance and had tried to look away, but the connection was too strong. Until another guest stepped between them, breaking the connection, she’d been transfixed.
So now she was heading back to the hotel early, exhausted from the seemingly unending tension and ready to curl up in the middle of the huge, white bed in her suite and bury herself in yummy, decadent chocolate and a good romance novel. Both were her secret indulgence. As a political journalist, Tallia had to keep up with current affairs for her job, know all the issues and their arguments, but she still loved to bury her nose in a sexually fraught, intensely mindless romantic story. It made all of the stress of her day and her job disappear.
“You’re leaving early?”
All that stress she’d been trying to obliterate ramped up several notches as the deep voice sounded behind her. Him again! Goodness, she might have spoken to him only during that one conversation…or argument…earlier in the evening and during the photography session, but she definitely recognized his voice. No one else had a voice that deep and smooth, that sexy.
She turned around, determined to be polite this time. She didn’t want to argue with this man anymore. It didn’t matter that she’d felt exhilarated at the time. Tallia somehow felt as if she’d come out the loser during their earlier battle and…well, she was exhausted. Any conversation with Stephen Markum required her full concentration. Anything less and…well, she wasn’t sure what might happen.
So she plastered a smile on her features and turned to face the man, ignoring the spike of awareness that hit her tired body when she watched him pull his tuxedo tie off and stuff it into his pocket. “I’m tired. Ready to pass out on a soft…” she stopped, refusing to say “bed”. Especially when his eyes lit up with interest and amusement. She didn’t like either, one was disturbing and the other was irritating. “I’ve just had a long day.”
He tilted his head towards the parking attendant who immediately rushed over to grab his valet ticket, and disappeared into the darkness of the night, eager to retrieve the man’s car. “Has the valet gotten your car yet?” he asked her, looming too close to her.
Oh no! This couldn’t be good. “I’m waiting on a cab,” she had to admit, especially since she heard the start of a motor break through the stillness of the humid, night air. The other valet was leaning against the podium, waiting for other guests to come out.
“It doesn’t make any sense for you to catch a cab. We’re staying at the same hotel and both of us are obviously ready to leave. I’ll drive you back.”
She quickly shook her head, not wanting to be in the close confines of his vehicle. “I’m fine,” she replied, trying to be polite about it.
“Stephen!” a blonde woman called out, sidling up next to him. “Where are you off to so early tonight?” she asked softly. Her long, red-tipped fingers caressed the white of his shirt and the woman laughed suggestively.
Tallia turned away and put several feet of space between them, not wanting to be a witness to this interaction. Especially since jealousy seared through her body at the tall, leggy, blond with the sequined dressed that was basically painted onto her skinny figure.
“Donna, how are you?” he asked, stepping away and holding the woman at arm’s length.
Tallia didn’t do a fist pump in the air at his subtle rejection, but she wanted to. She still had to turn her back on the couple, not wanting him to see the smile of victory at the subtle rejection. Lowering her head, she pretended to be reading something on her cell phone.
The woman’s husky, low laughter reached her and Tallia had to refrain from rolling her eyes in disgust. “I thought we could finish our conversation in a more private location,” she said, her voice dropping to a suggestive level. There was no doubt about what their conversation might include, lots of “Yes!” and “More!” would probably be some of the blonde’s more articulate moments.
Okay, that was catty, Tallia thought, staring down at her phone and willing the cab driver to text her that he was close by.
Nothing.
“You want to talk about the current administration’s use of tariffs to manage and promote their political agenda?” he asked.
Tallia heard the blonde woman laugh again. “I have no clue what you’re talking about, Stephen. And I can guarantee that I can make you forget about tariffs and whatnots as well.” There was a slight pause before the woman purred, “I have a much more interesting agenda on my mind.”
Tallia made a disgusted face, but thankfully, only the darkness saw her petty expression.
“I guess that’s the problem, isn’t it, Donna?” he asked.
There was a moment of silence while “Donna” tried to figure out what he meant.
“So you…?”
“Not even a little,” he interrupted.
A huff of anger came across the stone patio and, by the time Tallia had turned around, the lovely Donna was gone. The valet drove up at that same moment, obviously thrilled to be driving the powerful sports car. The teenage boy hurried around the back of the car and handed Stephen the keys, receiving the obviously generous tip and rushing away.
“Ready?” Stephen asked Tallia and held open the passenger door of his car.
She hesitated for a long moment staring at him as she mentally debated the wisdom of accepting a ride from Stephen, but he was right. It was ridiculous to take a cab back to the hotel when they were both going to the exact same place.
“Fine!” she grumbled. “But I’m not discussing the political agenda or tariffs’ impact on the price of various products either,” she told him as she ducked into the passenger seat.
He chuckled but, thankfully, the sound was somewhat blocked when he closed the door.
Tallia wanted to find issue with the man. He was overly confident, but she supposed he had a right to be. The man had been through some pretty horrible stuff over the duration of his career. As a political correspondent, she sat in the newsroom or her office and rattled off her opinions about one issue or another. She’d never put herself in the line of fire, never had to dodge bullets or hide from terrorists. Besides her college days, she’d never had to ration food or endure extremes of temperatures. Stephen had actually been in tough situations, endured all of the things she’d avoided in her cushy life, and experienced more than she could even imagine. And although she respected what he’d gone through in order to get the story and reveal some horrible truths, she had no desire to experience those problems herself.
When he folded his tall body into the driver’s seat, Tallia was painfully aware of him. His thigh was way too close to her hand and she shifted away from him, trying not to be obvious about it, but his deep, husky chuckle told her that she wasn’t fooling anyone.
“Where do you work when you’re not out on assignment in some desert or mountain?”
He pulled away from the house and the dim lighting that had been giving her a bit of hope that she could resist this man diminished as the intimacy of the night enfolded her.
“My house is in Austin, Texas, although I also have a ranch further out where I have several horses that I ride on the weekends. What about you?”
She looked out the window, desperate to find some way to ease the sexual awareness that seemed to be pulling her closer to the man. He was just so big and so…male! So in-your-face-male that she wanted to…well, either lose herself in that incredibly sexy voice or…punch him. One action might be more satisfying than the other. And she wasn’t completely sure which she’d prefer.
“I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico,” she told him, shifting away from the long fingers that rested on the gearshift.
His hands confidently maneuvered the powerful car through the quiet streets of the New Orleans residential area. “What’s it like there? I’ve heard that it’s pretty nice.”
She smiled, thinking of her adopted town. “It’s more than nice,” she began to relax now that there was a subject she was passionate about. Actually, she shouldn’t really use that term at all when around this man, she thought as she peered outside, hoping for streetlights. This was an exclusive neighborhood and, apparently, streetlights just weren’t the thing to have on one’s street. Silently, she wondered why not.
“Tell me about it,” he urged as he confidently turned a corner, heading to the freeway.
She glanced at him, then away as her body reacted yet again to the hard profile and his broad shoulders that seemed to take up more space than she thought was normal. “It’s just a nice city. Cooler than one would expect for New Mexico.”
“Higher elevation, right?”
“Yep. Santa Fe is up in the mountains, so it isn’t as horribly hot. The air is dryer, like a desert but not miserable. It’s a really beautiful city in which to live.”
They talked about the different cities they’d visited, and the pros and cons of each while he drove through the now-quiet streets of New Orleans. It wasn’t until they reached the downtown areas that the traffic increased right along with the noise. Tallia thought that New Orleans could definitely give New York City a bit of competition for having the most intense nightlife.
When he pulled into the underground parking garage for the hotel guests, she smiled and thanked him, her fingers resting on the door handle. “Thank you for the ride back,” she told him, ready to bolt out of the car.
“I’ll walk you inside,” he told her.
Oh no! She hadn’t anticipated that! “Not necessary.”
He chuckled. “Tallia, we’re still going to the same place. I think we’re even on the same floor.”
With a sigh, she realized that he was probably right. Frustrating, though! She still stepped out of the vehicle, but waited for him to come to her side of the car. When he was next to her, she hesitated.
“What’s wrong?”
She held her breath for a long moment, not sure what to say or do in this situation. In the end, she decided that honesty was probably better.
“Here’s the deal, Stephen. You know that you’re an attractive guy. And you’re intelligent, which is even more of a turn-on. But I really don’t like you. I read your columns and I’ve read your books and I disagree with just about every aspect of what you write. So, I just don’t like you.”
He moved closer, towering over her. “You don’t like my opinions. But you like me,” he countered.
She shook her head and stepped back, putting a hand out when he eliminated that distance. “No, opinions and personality are too closely tied in my mind.” He continued to move closer, forcing her fingers to press against his chest. “What are you doing?” she demanded.
“I’m proving to you that you like me. Just a little,” he explained as he pressed his body against hers.
Tallia gasped, shocked by his touch and how much she wanted to press back against him. Never before had she experienced sexual need like this. She wasn’t sure how to handle it.
When his hands wrapped around her waist, his long fingers curling around to her back, she held her breath, staring up at him and shaking her head. “You’ve proven your point.”
“Which is?” he asked.
Her eyes glanced at his lips, then back up into his grey eyes. “That you’re stronger than me. That you can intimidate me.”
He pulled back slightly. “You think I’m trying to intimidate you?” he asked, shock in his eyes.
“Yes. What else could it be?”
He threw back his head and laughed, holding her hand when she tried to step around him. Tallia tapped her foot, shaking her hand every few moments while he laughed, thinking that he wasn’t paying much attention to her and he would drop her hand. Wrong! He wouldn’t release her hand and, by the time his laughter had dwindled down to soft chuckles, she was really irritated.
“Are you done?”
He shook his head. “Not by a long shot, darlin’,” he replied, that Texas drawl coming out. Tallia refused to be further enticed by that drawl. It wasn’t sexy, she told herself. Other women might find it sexy, but she was made of sterner stuff. “Come on, beautiful. It seems that I’ve lost my touch.”
With that, he led her over to the elevator.
“You can let go of my hand now.”
Instead, he laced his fingers with hers, pulling her close again. “I don’t think I’m finished intimidating you, honey.”
“I’m not your ‘darlin’ or your ‘honey’, so just stop with the southern boy charm. It isn’t working on me.”
The amusement was back in his golden eyes and she braced herself for whatever charming thing he might say next. She had to resist, she told herself firmly. He was only playing a game and she refused to be his next play toy.
“You’re beautiful when you get all riled up, Tallia.”
Rolling her eyes, she breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator doors opened. When he stepped in, she realized her mistake at assuming that relief was coming. The term, “out of the frying pan and into the fire” popped into her mind when he followed her into the elevator and the doors closed. A small, confined space and Stephen’s broad shoulders weren’t a good combination. She should have remembered that from the small confines of his sports car but, as she’d noted earlier in the evening, her mind wasn’t working very well tonight.
Stephen realized the advantages as well. Moving closer, he trapped her against the back corner. “Why would I want to intimidate you, Tallia?”
“I don’t know why. Perhaps you could explain it to me.”
He chuckled. “I don’t want to intimidate you. I want to take you to my hotel room and make love to you.”
The words, spoken so softly, hung in the air between them. The power of them was overwhelming.
She cleared her throat and opened her mouth to reply, but he swooped down and kissed her, stopping whatever argument she might have uttered. It probably wouldn’t have been a very good argument, but it didn’t matter when his lips moved over hers, kissing, tasting, teasing hers until she sighed with some undetermined feeling and kissed him back. Her fingers curled around his biceps as if she could hold him in place with her hands somehow. If she’d been thinking, she would have realized that this man wasn’t controllable, not by her measly efforts. Not in any way.
But she wasn’t thinking. She was feeling. Her mind was fuzzy as he nibbled her lower lip gently, causing her to gasp and, a fraction of a moment later, his tongue invaded her mouth, obliterating everything, including common sense. Her hands moved from his arms to wrap around his neck, needing the kiss to continue as if it might help her breathe.
As she melted against him, he pulled her roughly against his chest and she whimpered with the additional torment, her arms tightening around his neck as she lifted her head, needing more. Needing this man’s kiss like she needed oxygen.
The pinging of the elevator jerked Tallia out of her kiss-induced craziness. She looked up at Stephen, then at the doors as they slowly slid open. Pulling out of his arms, she smoothed trembling hands down over her dress, praying that whoever was entering wouldn’t notice that she’d just been kissing in the elevator. How cliché!
The older couple that stepped into the small space smiled at both of them, then turned to face the doors as the gentleman pressed the button for their floor. Tallia refused to look up at Stephen and even stepped away from him when he started to slip his arm around her waist. But Stephen wasn’t going to be ignored and his strong arm slipped around her waist, pulling her back up against his chest. The couple glanced at them and Tallia saw their smile a moment before she looked away, trying to figure out how to get out of his arms.
“Relax, Tallia. I’m not going to bite you,” he said softly against her ear. Then he chuckled as that trembling increased. The sound sent awareness throughout her whole body and she breathed in slowly, trying to put more oxygen into her lungs, hoping that it might reach her brain, because her brain obviously wasn’t working properly after that kiss.
The elevators pinged again and Tallia realized that this was her floor. She jerked out of Stephen’s arms, forced her lips into a semblance of a smile towards the other couple and hurried down the hallway. She fumbled in her purse for her key card, almost dropping it several times since her fingers were shaking so badly.
When she stood in front of her doorway, she struggled to get the key card into the slot. Finally, a tanned hand reached around her and plucked the card out of her quivering fingers, smoothly sliding it into the slot and opening the door for her.
She watched his hands as if the world was moving in slow motion. Holding her breath, she felt the heat of his chest against her back, the soft sleeve of his jacket against her arm. The door was open but she didn’t move. She couldn’t. Walking into the suite would be bad because she wouldn’t be next to him any longer. And for some strange reason, she didn’t want to break that connection just yet. But nor could she turn around. If she did, she knew with every tingling cell in her body that Stephen would kiss her again.
So, she stood there. Trembling. Aware of him as a man.
“Turn around Tallia,” he commanded.
His voice, so strange in the quiet of the hallway, broke through to her common sense.
“That wouldn’t be a good idea,” she told him. Stepping into her suite, she grabbed hold of the door, using it as both a prop and a reminder that nothing good could come of letting him in.
Stephen braced a hand on either side of the open doorway, leaning in slightly. “I think it would be a great idea.”
She thought about it as her eyes moved over his lips and his shoulders. But she still shook her head. “No. It would be better if we didn’t sleep together tonight.” She looked up at him and cringed. “Why are you smiling?”
He stepped back, sliding his hands into the pockets of his dark slacks. “Because you said it wouldn’t be a good idea tonight.” With that, he stepped away and walked across the hallway.
Just a few doors down! Ho boy, she thought, thinking that temptation was way too close! She swallowed past the lump in her throat as she watched him unlock the door to another room. “Why is that good?”
He stepped into the room but glanced back at her. “Because there’s always tomorrow. And the next night.” He smiled as her eyes widened. “We’re here for a whole week, Tallia, and we have nothing better to do than get to know each other better.”
With those words dangling in the air, he stepped into his suite and closed the door. Tallia stood there for a long moment, trying to absorb what he’d just said. The words were…tempting and horrible and…damn it, he was right! She had a whole week in which she’d have to avoid the man! Was she strong enough? Her mind might be telling her that having sex with him was bad, but her body disagreed. Just like the political forces that continued to argue, Tallia’s mind and body were doing the same. And she wasn’t sure which would win out!
With a groan, she stepped into her own suite and closed the door, leaning against it as she stared up at the ceiling. A week! A damn week of trying to avoid a man that she didn’t like, didn’t agree with, and…found to be the most fascinating man she’d ever encountered.