***
Lou waited silently for Sam’s response to her
offer. The moment she’d walked into his office, for reasons she
couldn’t explain, it had become increasingly important to her that
he be the one to facilitate her getaway.
The fact that he was utterly gorgeous played
little part in the illogical reasoning. Lou was sure. She couldn’t
be that shallow. Could she? Yes, she admitted as her gaze once
again strayed to the sensual curve of his semi-smiling lips, most
definitely she was.
Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Lou
found herself incredibly drawn to the man. He was big and rugged
and all those adjectives which referred to an ultra-masculine man.
The kind of man a woman sighed over. Lou gulped. And wanted. Not
the kind of man who she generally kept company with, for sure.
But what female in her right mind wouldn’t
find him attractive? Sam Rawlins was classically handsome and
powerfully built.
Silvery eyes, the pales shade of gray Lou had
ever had the pleasure to gaze into, were set above a nose that
looked as though it had been broken at least once. His hair, a deep
brown and a tad longer than what was presently considered
fashionable. Oh, yeah, Lou thought, swallowing another sigh.
Definitely gorgeous.
He simply had to help her.
“
Ten to fourteen days?” he
asked her at last.
Lou’s heart skipped a beat. “Yes, I’m afraid
I can’t be flexible with that issue.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “And you have to
begin at once?”
“
At once,” Lou confirmed.
Wincing, she added, “And I’m afraid that I can’t be flexible on
that point either. I need to leave as soon as possible. Sooner,
really.”
His brow lifted a fraction of an inch and a
corner of his lip twitched into the impression of a smile. “Just
what exactly can you be flexible on?”
“
Everything else,” Lou
assured him with a contrite grin. She felt like a recalcitrant
child who’d been called into the principal’s office.
He sighed deeply and gave her another long,
considering look. Lou fought the urge to fidget under that liquid
silver gaze. “All right,” he relented at last to her relief. “I’ll
consider guiding your adventure. However—” He smiled. “—even I
can’t make a snorkeling adventure last your required number of
days.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s a little after eleven now.
Why don’t we meet for a late lunch? Say…two? I can get a start on
the initial arrangements and you can plan the rest of your
adventure.”
Lou stiffened her shoulders to keep them from
sagging with relief. Another hurdle taken care of, she thought,
nodding in agreement. She smiled happily. “Sounds like a great idea
to me,” she told him. “See how flexible I can be?”
His lips quirked again, as though he didn’t
quite know what to make of her. Lou liked that. Liked being
mysterious…adventurous. A thought struck her so suddenly, she
almost laughed out loud.
This would be fun!
In a few short minutes, she’d be planning her very
own adventure…
An adventure she would be taking with a
sinfully good-looking man. With a covert look in Sam’s direction,
Lou instantly warmed to her topic. Warmed, period.
His sole purpose was to ensure that she had a
good time. She felt positively wicked. What a perfect setup! Why
hadn’t she done this before?
“
So, where would you like to
meet for lunch?” the object of her lusty thoughts asked.
Lou blinked. Meet for lunch? Uh-oh. Another
hurdle. “Would you mind if we met in my suite?” she asked him. She
didn’t have a suite yet, but she’d get one. Somewhere.
“
Sure,” he said slowly,
giving her a perplexed look. “Where?”
Where, indeed? Lou thought. She gave him the
name of a local hotel the company used for various functions and
prayed they’d have a suite available.
At his nod, Lou stood and prepared to leave.
“Well, if everything’s in order,” she trilled, hastily moving to
the door before he could reconsider, “I’ll leave you to your work
and see you at lunch. Thanks so mu—” Lou turned to bed him good-bye
and slammed into the hard wall of his muscled chest. She blinked
and stepped back. “—much,” she finished lamely, staring at the
bottom button of his polo shirt. Eyes wide, she looked up.
“
Sorry,” he murmured, lips
tilted slightly upward into that almost-grin, which seemed to be
his trademark.
This close to him, Lou didn’t seem to be able
to get her breath. “No p-problem,” she squeaked. “See you at
two.”
With that, Lou ducked her head and quickly
made her escape. Once outside, she leaned against the brick wall
and took a deep breath. Partly because she hadn’t since slamming
into Sam Rawlins and partly out of relief. Head back, she giggled a
little. The absurdity and stress of the past few weeks hit her all
at once, resulting in a stream of laughter that had several people
glancing oddly at her as they walked past.
Are you ready for the time
of your life?
Lou read again.
Not yet...but she was getting there.
What in the hell had he just done? Sam
wondered for the umpteenth time since Lou Honeycutt had fled his
office. Well, he supposed it didn’t matter now. He’d taken her on
as a client and, in more than seven years of service, had never
reneged on an agreement. He’d promised her and adventure and, as
soon as she could give him something to on—besides the snorkeling
trip—he’d get to work on it.
Rather than think about all the possible
consequences of taking her on as a client, Sam chose to focus on
the positive—his magazine.
Lou Honeycutt’s “additional
compensation” would more than adequately cover the start-up costs
of
The Edge
. Within
a couple of months, the glossy adventure magazine that had been his
dream for the past three years could be on the stands.
The idea had originated from the popularity
of Double Dare’s monthly brochure. Mona’s brainchild, the brochure
detailed some of the more adventurous exploits of his clients and
had served to generate a great deal of referral and second-trip
business.
With a sporadic schedule, occasionally the
circular—which he’d enjoyed putting together as much as the
adventures themselves—got shoved to the end of Sam’s to-do list.
His clients complained. They enjoyed reading about the feats of
fellow adventurers. Many clients didn’t wait until the pamphlet
could be mailed out, but stopped by the office to pick one up
instead.
Their avid interest in a
company brochure that had been primarily designed to improve
business had given Sam a brainchild of his own—
The Edge
.
In addition to cutting back on the necessity
for him to lead adventure tours, he hoped to eventually phase out
of his participation as a guide. A successful magazine would enable
him to start his own permanent adventure—a family.
When he’d first started his business some
seven years ago, Sam had given little thought as to how he could
successfully manage this particular business and a family. Quite
frankly, he’d never imagined himself as a married man when he’d
been traveling all over the world performing death-defying
stunts.
But the dreams of the young risk-taker he’d
been then differed greatly form the man he’d become. The glamour
had long since worn off and now left Sam feeling restless and at
odds. He wanted the whole “Honey, I’m home” dream. A grin tugged at
his lips. A modest brick rancher and a barbecue grill. Someone to
share his life with, who would greet him with a smile and a kiss,
and a toddler to tackle him around the knees. Not much by today’s
standards, but everything by his own.
That’s why, against all reason, Sam couldn’t
send Lou Honeycutt to a travel agent. She’d unwittingly dangled the
means to his dream beneath his nose and he’d taken the opportunity.
In return, he’d see to it that she got the time of her life.
Which meant he’d better get started.
“
Mona,” he called, absently
making notes to himself.
“
What?” she bawled
back.
Sam squashed his irritation as best he could.
Simply announcing her name should have brought her to the office
door. “Come to my office, please,” he told her through gritted
teeth.
“
Am I gonna be in there for
a while? Jerry Springer’s on.”
Ruing the day the day he ever told her she
could bring her small color television to the office, Sam struggled
to keep his voice calm. “That depends on how long it takes you to
come in here, receive your instructions and complete them.”
“
Oh, all right,” she huffed
testily. Sam heard the TV go off, then heard Mona’s chair slam
against her desk. He winced. A moment later, she skulked into his
office and glowered at him. “What?”
How she packed so much venom in that one
word, Sam would never know. He ignored it. Mona’s nasty disposition
had gotten her fired from more jobs than she could list on a
typical resume. She was a perpetually unhappy, foul-mouthed,
quick-tempered pain in the ass…with one redeeming quality.
She was one hell of a saleswoman, who could
talk almost anyone into anything. Her phone skills were
incomparable. Had any of those previous employers kept Mona long
enough to discover that, Sam wouldn’t have one of the very best
secretaries in the greater Atlanta area. In his business, an
employee with her particular skills was a must. Besides which, the
moody Mona had grown on him. Despite her surly attitude, he sensed
a kinder nature in her. She was nice to her cat. An animal lover
couldn’t be all that bad, could they?
Sam smiled to butter her up, then outlined
what accommodations he’d need to begin with. “Book us on the first
available flight after four. Tampa’s not Fiji, but it’ll have to do
on short notice. I’ll call you with the other details as soon as I
know where else we’ll be going.”
Mona gave him a disbelieving
look. “You want me to do this
now
?”
He nodded patiently. “Now would be good.”
“
But it’s lunch.”
“
Mona,” Sam warned, patience
vanishing. He didn’t have time for this. “Come on now. Work your
magic and show me why I hired you.”
Giving him a death-ray glare, his secretary
pivoted and began her slow trek back to the reception area. “Humph.
We both know you didn’t hire me because I possessed any skills.”
She stopped and threw him an evil smile. “You hired me because I
had a great ass.”
Stunned into silence, Sam chuckled and shook
his head.
Lou raked a brush through her hair, then
twisted the tangled curls up and secured it with a clip. Her
honeymoon luggage had certainly come in handy, she thought with a
wry grin. On any other given day, she would have jumped at the
chance to renew her wardrobe. However, today she wouldn’t have had
the time. Just remedying her cash problem and getting this suite,
then planning her adventure, had taken up most of the three hours
Sam Rawlins had given her.
The thought of the handsome adventure guide
made Lou’s pulse leap. And considering she’d thought about him
almost every other minute since leaving his office, he blood had
been particularly active.
A knock at the door announced his arrival.
Lou’s plasma did a little somersault. More than a little nervous,
she made the quick trip to the door and pulled it open.
Sam Rawlins’s big frame filled the threshold.
Impossibly, he looked better than she remembered. Lou took a deep
breath. “Come in,” she told him, ushering him into the suite. Lou
started across the plush maroon carpet, then looked back over her
shoulder. “I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of
ordering for us. Club sandwiches okay with you?”
“
Sure.” Grinning, he
sauntered behind her. “I’m flexible.”
Lou’s lips twitched and she felt a blush
creep up her throat to her face. “Uh, well…good,” she remarked for
the lack of anything more clever to say. “Lunch should be here in a
few minutes.”
“
Great, because we don’t
have very much time.”
Lou paused and turned to face him. For some
unknown reason, apprehension momentarily gripped her. “We
don’t?”
“
That’s not a problem, is
it?” Seemingly perplexed he paused and gave her a look. Concerned
shadowed his steely gaze. “You said you need to get started
immediately.”
“
Oh, no. It’s fine,” she
assured. “The sooner the better.”
Feeling foolish, Lou shrugged off her
uncertainty. This was what she wanted. Needed. Undoubtedly, she was
plagued by last-minute jitters because she hadn’t contacted her
father.
Manipulative though he was, her father wasn’t
a bad person. Just a misguided one. She knew he’d worry, and didn’t
want the guilt of his unwarranted anxiety heaped upon her
shoulders. Lou worried her bottom lip. She’d send him a note, a
telegram—were there still telegrams? Maybe the old fashioned yellow
missive would only worry him more. Since her mother’s accidental
death eleven years ago, James Honeycutt had becoming obsessively
overprotective. Lou appreciated and even understood his concerns,
but she still needed some breathing room. And a measure of
freedom.
She fully intended to have it. Starting
now.
She took a deep breath and blew it out with a
whoosh. “So, when do we leave?”
His gaze shot to hers. “At a quarter ‘til
five. We need to be at the airport an hour before departure.” He
paused and scratched his temple. “I’ve brought along some paperwork
you need to sign.”