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“Yes, he does. Very well.” Natalie placed her hands on her hips. “We had an intimate work relationship until a few days ago,” she said with a smirk.
Cyrus looked as if he could snatch the woman’s heart out with his hand. Spittle flew from his mouth when he said, “Shut the hell up, Natalie,” through teeth gritted so tightly they should have all been ground to dust.
Whispers and words revealing shock among the small crowd now circling them, swirled around her. Tuning it all out, she zeroed in on Cyrus. “You should probably start talking right now. What’s going on?”
“Yes, Cyrus. We’d both like to know what the hell is going on,” Natalie added.
This time ignoring their party crasher, Cyrus turned to her. “Tressa. I made a mistake. We can—”
When he reached for her, she backed away. This was the mistake he referenced earlier. “How long?”
When he didn’t answer, Natalie did. “Four months.”
“Four—” The air seized in her lungs.
“Baby—”
Tears stung her eyes, but they were more angry than sentimental ones. “You lying, cheating, no-good, trifling bastard.” She wrenched the ring from her finger and tossed it at him. Eyeing Natalie, she said, “He’s all yours. The wedding is off.”
Cyrus grabbed her arm. “No, you don’t mean that.”
A second later Tony—her three-hundred-pound ex-lineman cousin—clapped a large hand on Cyrus’s shoulder. The look in his eyes suggested Cyrus release her now.
Obviously, Cyrus got the silent message, because his grip on her arm loosened, then fell away.
Several family members—including her visibly livid mother—swarmed around Cyrus like bees on the attack. They stung him with their not-so-gentle words of disapproval. As the room erupted in utter chaos, Tressa made her escape. She’d asked for a sign and, boy, had she got it.
Chapter 2 (#uacdae8c6-7e96-5a30-b5c0-5e7f44fbae14)
Amid all of the chaos, Roth eyed Tressa weaving her way through the room and toward the exit. She brushed past the outstretched hands of individuals undoubtedly offering their comfort and support. He tore down the stairs after her, but by the time he made it outside, she was nowhere in sight. Where in the hell had she vanished to so damn suddenly?
He squinted against the dark for any sign of movement. Nothing.
When the door banged open behind him and Cyrus’s snake ass slithered out, dragging his hideous mistress behind him, Roth’s jaw tightened in disgust.
Cyrus slid a razor-sharp glance in Roth’s direction. Roth readied himself for a confrontation, but Cyrus only flashed a scornful expression, then escaped in the opposite direction.
After hanging around another half hour or so—just to see if Tressa resurfaced—he decided to head out, leaving instructions for Alonso to call him the minute he heard anything. Yanking open the door of his SUV, Roth slid behind the wheel and slumped in the seat. A part of him wanted to start the engine and follow through with his plans to leave, while another part of him—a much greater portion—wanted to hang back to make sure Tressa was okay.
He abandoned the idea of staying. Tressa definitely didn’t need him to further complicate her life. Given what she’d just gone through, he was certain he was the last person she wanted to see. Not because he’d been in any way responsible for the debacle that had taken place, but because he was a man. And at this point she more than likely hated the entire male species.
And who could blame her? He’d certainly held a discord for the female population when he’d got his heart broken several years ago. Then he’d met Tressa a few months back and feelings he’d long abandoned rushed him like water released from a dam.
Four months.
Roth shook his head. That slimy bastard had cheated on Tressa almost their entire relationship. Via Alonso, he’d learned Tressa and that clown Cyrus had only dated a short time before they’d become engaged. Why even propose if he knew he had no intentions of being faithful?
Why would any man in his right mind sacrifice a woman like Tressa?
Roth recalled the expression on Tressa’s face as she darted from the room. A mix of confusion and pain danced in her usually sparkling eyes. At that moment he really wanted to hurt Cyrus, if for nothing more than dimming her glow.
“Are we leaving?”
Roth jolted, then whipped around to see Tressa stretched across his back seat. What the... How in the hell had he missed seeing her when he’d got in? Preoccupied, he told himself. Damn. She’d nearly given him a heart attack.
Activating the interior lights, he scanned her body as if looking for any damage. When he saw her red, puffy eyes, he fought the urge to climb over the center console and pull her into his comforting arms. And though she had every right to cry, he wanted to advise her not to waste her tears on a lowlife like Cyrus.
Roth’s words were gentle when he spoke. “Everyone is looking for you.”
She hugged her arms around her body. “I don’t want to be found. I can’t handle the looks and whispers right now.”
Being the voice of reason, he said, “People are worried about you, Tressa. They just want to know that you’re all right. You really should—”
“Roth, please. Spare me the lecture. I don’t have my car here. I need to go. Can you just get me away from here? Just drive. Please.” Her voice was low, but screamed of exhaustion.
Tressa’s sad, pleading eyes tugged at his heart. Who could blame her for wanting to avoid being poked and prodded like a lab rat by people’s stares of pity? Facing forward, he cranked the engine, popped the gearshift into Drive and pulled away.
Silence filled the car for the first few minutes. Roth avoided plying her with the usual pacifiers: it’s going to be okay, the pain will go away, look on the bright side. Instead, he stayed quiet because no words could ease the sting of betrayal. Only time could do that.
Roth adjusted the rearview mirror so that it settled on Tressa’s face. He hated seeing her this way, a sad replica of her customarily jovial self. “Maybe we should call Vivian to let her know you’re okay. She was really worried about you.”
Tressa’s eyes landed on his. Even through the reflection, their connection rang intense. Everything and nothing had changed. Though she’d ended her engagement, she was still off-limits. Maybe even more so now.
“I will,” was all she said before sliding her gaze away.
“Should I take you home?”
“No. He’ll probably be at my place. I don’t want to see him. Ever.”
Roth washed a hand over his mouth as if he was ironing his goatee. All he wanted to do was make her smile—laugh even. But he doubted anything he could have said or done would have accomplished that.
“Were you going to the mountains alone?”
An hour ago the answer would have been yes. But once he’d walked away from her on the balcony, he’d discovered a need for something—or in this case, someone—to take his mind off her. Still, he responded, “Yes, I’m going alone.”
“You don’t have a very good poker face.”
Damn. She’d read him. Now he felt like a complete ass. All she needed was another man lying to her. “Why?”
“I guess because you don’t lie enough to pull it off.”
He chuckled. She was right. Since lying was what people had done to him most of his life, he valued the truth more than most. But that wasn’t the why he meant. “Not that. Why did you ask if I was going alone?”
Her gaze fixed on his again. She didn’t need to answer for him to know she wanted an invite to his cabin. If her goal was to hide from the world, it would be the perfect escape for her. No one would find her in Silver Point. An hour ago the idea of him and Tressa running off together would have been damn appealing, but now it reeked of trouble. “Maybe you’d prefer a hotel? You wouldn’t—”
“You don’t want to be saddled with a jilted ex-bride-to-be. I get it.”
Damn. Why did she have to make it sound so morbid? “That’s not it, Tr—”
“Just drop me off at the nearest hotel. I’ve dealt with scarier things. I’ll be fine.”
Scarier things? What scarier things had she dealt with?
Ten minutes later they pulled up in front of the De Lore Hotel in downtown Raleigh. The sprawling building was the epitome of luxury. He’d heard nothing but great things about it. It even looked fancy. Concierge, bellmen, greeters. Tressa would be comfortable here. Much more comfortable than at his cramped cabin.
Why in the hell did he sound like he was trying to convince himself? And why did the idea of leaving her here alone bother him so damn much? It wasn’t like he was abandoning her. She would be okay, right?
Once she was checked in, he’d call Vivian to come and comfort her. Her best friend was who she needed, not the man who constantly fantasized about making love to her. Roth brushed a hand over his close-cut hair.
A young man who’d been standing at what looked like a podium and dressed in a black overcoat and gloves approached his SUV. When Roth lowered the window a gust of cold air rushed in. He welcomed the brisk breeze because it felt as if his system was overheating.
“Good evening, sir. Welcome to the De Lore Hotel. Will you be staying with us this evening?”
“Ah...” Shit. Spit it out, Lex. Say yes, she will. Say it. His gaze slid to Tressa. When she rested her hand on the door handle to open it, his heart raced. Don’t do it, man. Don’t do it. “Actually, no. Maybe another time. Thank you.” The window rose and he pulled off, leaving the man standing there.
Roth swiped his thumb back and forth against the steering wheel. What in the hell are you doing? This woman of all women should not be in your back seat. And taking her to the cabin? The cabin’s your sanctuary.
A significant thought occurred to him. What about the nightmares? His past had a way of haunting him in his dreams. All he needed was to wake up screaming at the top of his lungs. It would scare the hell out of Tressa and embarrass the hell out of him. An occurrence like that would break two of his cardinal rules: never show vulnerability and always maintain control. He’d learned a long time ago that being vulnerable got you hurt and losing control made you rash.
Her being at the cabin with him period would break the third: always wake up alone.
Two days. He could handle two days cooped up with the woman he’d dreamed about, fantasized about since the first day they met. Two days. No problem. Hell, it wasn’t like he could actually make a move now anyway. That would be a shit thing to do. She was vulnerable, grieving and probably out for a little sexual revenge.
The last point gave him pause. Sexual revenge. A woman scorned was capable of anything, right? Well, he’d never played the role of the rebound guy, and he wouldn’t start now. Not even for Tressa. That alone should keep his libido in check.
“Thank you, Roth. I promise I won’t get in your way.”
He met Tressa’s tender gaze through the rearview mirror and his heartbeat kicked up just a notch. Oh, you’re already getting in my way. Influencing him to make bad decisions, testing his resolve, reminding him how it felt to crave something unattainable. “You’ll like Silver Point,” was all he said.
Roth swiped his thumb back and forth across the steering wheel, lost in his thoughts. This was the stupidest thing he’d done in a long while. Reckless, even. He couldn’t be alone with Tressa. Yes, he had self-control, plenty of self-control. But this would require a whole lot of self-discipline.
His eyes slid to Tressa, who’d been watching him through the mirror. For a split second, he didn’t regret pulling away from the hotel. Her eyes slid away, and after a short time, his did, too.
Four hours later they arrived at the cabin on the hill, as the townsfolk often called it. He popped the SUV into Park, then glanced back at Tressa. She’d fallen asleep two hours into the drive—or had pretended to be to avoid having to talk.
His insides did a shimmy watching her. She really was asleep now, because in the stillness, he could hear her soft snores. As far as bad decisions went, bringing Tressa here was the Grandfather Mountain of poor judgment calls. He just hoped it wouldn’t backfire in his face.
* * *
Tressa assumed Roth’s gentle touch was only in her dreams until his voice penetrated her slumber, and she realized he was trying to wake her. She cracked her eyes and squinted to focus. His handsome face slowly materialized. “How long have I been asleep?” she asked in a groggy voice.
“A couple of hours. Come on, Sleeping Beauty.”
She took Roth’s outstretched hand, the spark giving her the jolt of energy she needed. Gravel crunched under her feet as she stepped out of the vehicle. One of the first things she noticed—excluding the bone-chilling cold—was the quiet. No horns. No traffic. No bustling.
Yeah, this was the perfect place to rejuvenate her soul. Being here would be good for her. It would give her the time she needed to think and clear her cluttered thoughts. Inhaling a deep breath, she blew it out slowly. Already she felt...free.
The only light radiated from the full moon. She tilted her head and scrutinized a sky so clear it could have been a flawless oil painting. And the stars... Had she ever seen them twinkle more brightly?
And then there were the oversize trees. She performed a slow turn. Trees, trees and more trees surrounded them. Roth hadn’t exaggerated about the privacy of this location. Not a single soul would be able to hear them scream if they were attacked.
The quaint cabin caught her eye. What it lacked in size, it made up for in charm. Built completely of logs, seven steps led to a nicely sized wraparound porch. A cobblestone chimney protruded from the roof. Several hours ago she would have tingled at the idea of her and Roth cuddled intimately in front of a wood-burning fireplace. Not now.
Roth startled her when he draped his coat over her shoulders. He’d obviously changed out of his suit at The Underground because now he wore a thick black sweater, jeans and a pair of black mountain boots. Despite her current state of mind, she could still appreciate how devastatingly attractive he was. “Thank you. I’m freezing.” She shivered for effect.
“We can go into town in the morning and grab you some clothes. I’m sure you don’t want to wear this the entire weekend.” He fingered the thin fabric of her jumpsuit. “Regardless of how beautiful you look in it.”
Disappointment flashed on Roth’s face that suggested he regretted saying the words. Regardless, the compliment brought a lazy smile to her face. “It’s gorgeous. Your cabin. Thank you again for bringing me here with you. I won’t get in the way.”
What she really wanted to say—ask actually—was why had he seemed so reluctant to bring her here at first, and what had changed his mind? But she decided against it. She was just happy she wouldn’t have to be alone.
“Thanks. Like I said, it’s not much, but I love it.”
Tressa opened and closed her mouth several times.
“Ears popping?” Roth said.
“Yes.”
“It’s the altitude. You’ll get used to it.”
Moving to the back of the vehicle, Roth removed a bag and a large black case she assumed was his saxophone—Juliette—before they made their way inside, out of the cold. Or so she’d thought. It was as cold inside the cabin as it had been outside. Possibly a degree or two colder. She pulled the wool coat tighter around her shoulders.
“I believe it’s warmer outside.”
“I’ll build a fire,” Roth said. “It shouldn’t take it long to warm up in here.”
The interior wasn’t at all what Tressa had expected. A mocha-colored leather sofa and a matching chair sat in the living area. Several pictures of airplanes hung throughout the room. A flat-screen television was mounted on the wall above the fireplace. A bookcase packed with books sat in one corner. Was it for decoration, or did Roth enjoy reading?
Her eyes trailed to the kitchen outfitted with all stainless steel appliances. A small dining area seamlessly melted the space together. A set of stairs led to what she assumed were the bedrooms. This was nice. Really nice.
The sound of the fire crackling curled Tressa’s lips. It took her back to when she was a child and winters spent at her grandparents’ house. Good times. Roth’s voice faded Tressa’s memories.
“Unfortunately, there’s only one bed, but it’s yours. I’ll camp out on the sofa.” He patted the plush-looking piece. “We’re highly acquainted. I’ve fallen asleep in her warm arms many nights.”
“No, Roth. I can’t let you do that. I’ll take the sofa. No argument,” she said when protest danced in Roth’s mesmerizing eyes. “Truly, it’s fine.” No way would she inconvenience him after he’d been so kind as to bring her here.
After a few seconds of scrutiny Roth shrugged. “Okay, but you’re going to hate me in the morning.”
As if that was possible. The perplexed look he gave her rattled her a bit. What was he attempting to decipher? How she was holding up? Why she’d wanted to come here with him? Would she be okay? She didn’t know the answer to any of it.
To end his exhausting scrutiny, she said, “Please tell me you have food in this place. I’m starving.”
“Yes, we do. I have someone who looks in on the place for me. When I let her know I’m coming, she always stocks the fridge.”
She?
Jealousy was the last emotion Tressa expected, but a hint of it crept in. Could this have been the mystery woman he’d intended to spend the weekend with before she’d come along and derailed his plans? Was it selfish that she didn’t regret spoiling his rendezvous? Yes.
