As he reveled in the remembered pleasures of her mouth, his world clicked into focus for the first time in ages. He hadn’t realized how blurred his view had been, but holding her made one thing crystal clear. She was the only woman he’d ever loved.
He was still cruising in the land of infinite joy when she grasped the back of his head in both hands.
Holding on tight, she drew back, depriving him of that amazing connection. “Open your eyes.”
He obeyed. In his current state of mind, he would have jumped from the eighteenth floor if she’d commanded him to.
“Tell me the truth, Cole. Are you a crook?”
He had to clear his throat before he could talk. “No.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
With his arms around her and his mouth inches from hers, he couldn’t think straight. She was the only person he’d ever known who could short-circuit his brain. “I can’t tell you.”
She tightened her grip on his scalp. “Yes, you can. You just won’t. I’ve thought of every possibility. I know you’re not gay, not by the way you kiss me. And you said there’s no other woman in your life. Are you dying?”
“No. Well, technically we’re all dying, but—”
“Don’t give me some existential bull. Are you terminally ill?”
“No. Taryn, don’t quiz me, okay? It’s getting us nowhere.”
“It could get me somewhere, because if I guess the right thing, you won’t be able to lie about it. I know that about you.”
“You won’t guess it.”
“That’s what you think.” The light of battle gleamed in her eyes. “I’ve solved tougher puzzles than this, buster.”
“Then I’m asking you, for both our sakes, to stop trying. Please let it go.”
“But that means I have to let you go.”
“And vice versa.”
“And that’s what you want?”
“No.” His brain continued to fizz with sexual frustration. “Well, yes, for your sake.”
“Damn, you’re stubborn.”
“Says the pot to the kettle.”
She looked into his eyes for a moment longer. Then she sighed. “Okay, then, let’s head to Colorado and get this over with.” She loosened her grip on his head and backed out of his arms.
“Right.” He leaned down and picked up the handle of her suitcase. He couldn’t remember feeling more lost and alone.
They walked in silence to the elevator. As the doors opened and she stepped inside, she glanced at him. “Nice kiss, by the way.”
“Thanks.” He was afraid his longing was being reflected in his eyes, but he couldn’t summon a poker face right now. “You, too.”
She leaned against the brass railing as the elevator started its descent. “So let me get this straight. You want me, and I want you, but we can never be together for reasons you can’t tell me, and it’s all for my own good. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes.” He stayed on the opposite side of the elevator.
“But, because I hacked into your database, you need me to correct the weaknesses in your system, which means we’ll be in the same general area for a few days.”
“True. In fact, I’ll be the one driving you back and forth from the inn to the office.”
“Hmm.” Speculation shone in her hazel eyes.
He’d always enjoyed watching her think about technical issues, but now she was thinking about him, and he wasn’t entirely comfortable with that. “I’m the logical one to do it.”
“Makes sense. You hired me, and we already know each other. I also assume you want to know about what I find, so we’ll have to work together during the day.”
“Some.”
“Won’t that be...frustrating?”
He couldn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Probably.”
“Won’t you want to kiss me again?”
“Yes.”
“And take me to bed?”
He swallowed. “Yes, but—”
“Then why not enjoy each other before we go our separate ways?”
His heart hammered. Earlier today he’d been very clear in his mind about why that was a bad idea. But he wasn’t the one who’d suggested it, which made all the difference. “You’d be okay with that?”
She smiled. “I’ll take you any way I can get you.”
Taryn loved having the last word, and handing Cole’s earlier comment back to him had been a triumphant moment. The elevator opened immediately after she delivered that line, which worked out well, because they were no longer alone, and wouldn’t be for some time. He’d have hours to contemplate her suggestion with absolutely no way of acting on it.
At the end of that time, he should be a testosterone-driven, heat-seeking missile. That was the Cole Evergreen she wanted in her feather bed at the Nutcracker Inn tonight. And tonight would be only the beginning of her two-pronged attack.
Now that she knew he wanted her, she wasn’t about to let him get away, at least not easily. He might refuse to tell her what the barriers were between them, but she was heading into his territory, and the answer was there. She just knew it.
By day, she’d take every opportunity to snoop around. By night, she’d drive Cole insane in bed. If she hadn’t made him hers by the time she left Colorado, then maybe it was an impossible task. But she wasn’t giving up without a fight.
The Evergreen corporate jet proved to be a luxurious way to travel. Increasingly, she had trouble believing that Christmas ornaments, beautiful though they might be, were financing this kind of perk. If nothing illegal was going on, and she trusted Cole’s answer on that, then what explained the company’s success?
If she found the answer to that, she might discover the big secret that Cole wouldn’t reveal—the one that kept them from living happily ever after. She hoped it wasn’t a dangerous secret, the kind that a person had to be killed for once they knew it. That was highly unlikely. Cole would never put her in danger. She knew that as surely as she knew he loved her.
She’d figured that out two seconds into their kiss. As a college student she might have confused love with lust. She wouldn’t make that mistake now. He lusted after her, all right, but the passion of his kiss included a large measure of tenderness. Then she’d made him look at her, just to be absolutely sure.
He was in love and always had been. Ditto for her. If she’d ever doubted it, that doubt was gone. For some reason, he hadn’t been able to figure out a way around the issue that divided them, whatever it was. She brought a fresh perspective, and—if she allowed herself to be honest—a tiny bit more analytical ability than Cole had.
Once she understood what she was dealing with, she’d find a way to make everything work out. They deserved each other, and they’d already missed out on ten years of happiness because she hadn’t been proactive. She didn’t intend to let them miss