Still, he couldn’t help but feel a grudging admiration for Colette as he watched her working with the customers who came in…and there was a steady stream of customers.
She was courteous, respectful and infinitely patient with every shopper. He also couldn’t help but admire the natural grace with which she moved as she guided customers from display to display.
He could tell she was surprised that he was hanging around. As she attended to her customers, her gaze continually sought him.
Maybe by hanging around long enough he’d irritate her and she would decide that Gina was more trouble than she was worth. Then she’d join him in the war to get Gina to return home.
“I never knew there could be so many expectant parents in one city,” he said when there was a lull in the customers.
She smiled and straightened the blankets in one of the cribs on display. “Not everyone who comes in is expecting a baby. Friends and relatives of expectant or new parents come in to find a gift for the birth or for a shower.”
She gave the blanket a final pat, then straightened. “But this has all got to be terribly boring for you.”
“Not at all. Is Gina as good a salesman as you are?”
Colette smiled and Tanner felt a renewed tug of attraction. “She’s a great salesclerk.”
“Is Gina your only employee?” It would require ridiculously long hours for only two people to run the store.
“I have two other women who work for me on a part-time basis,” she replied. “But Gina is my only full-time worker.” She smiled and excused herself as another customer came through the door.
Tanner resumed his position against the back wall, surprised when a few minutes later Gina came through the shop door. He was shocked to realize he’d been standing around and watching Colette work for the past several hours.
“How long have you been here?” Gina asked suspiciously.
“Why?” he countered.
She set her purse behind the counter and looked over to where Colette was showing a couple of expectant parents the variety of cribs she carried.
“I was wondering how long you’ve had to try to get Colette on your side.”
He grinned. “I got here before she opened the store and we shared bagels and coffee. And I’ll have you know we didn’t even discuss you.”
Gina looked surprised. “Then what did you talk about?”
“This and that,” he replied.
Gina’s eyes narrowed. “I know you, Tanner Rothman. You never do anything without a reason. Colette is my friend and my roommate, and you just leave her out of this.”
“Gina.” Tanner took one of his sister’s hands in his. “Come home. You were less than a year away from your teaching degree. Come home and finish up college, stay at the ranch until you get married and have a family of your own. You don’t want to be a store clerk for the rest of your life.”
“I don’t want to go back to Foxrun. I like it here,” she protested. “And I’m not going to be a store clerk for the rest of my life. Colette is starting to train me as a manager and a buyer.” She pulled her hand out of his and went to greet a customer who had just come through the front door.
Tanner sighed in frustration and looked back over to Colette. As he gazed at her, Gina’s words replayed in his mind. “She’s my friend and my roommate, and you just leave her out of this.”
He couldn’t very well leave Colette out of it. She was smack-dab in the middle, making promises to Gina that undermined what Tanner wanted.
As lovely as she was, as desirable as he found her, he couldn’t forget that she was the enemy. And what he intended to do was seduce the enemy and bring her to his side of the war.
Chapter Three
To say that Tanner Rothman was a distraction was a vast understatement. His overwhelming presence filled the store, and no matter where she stood, she thought she could smell his evocative scent.
He was too tall, his shoulders far too broad, and his utter masculinity and sexiness made it difficult for Colette to focus on work.
Between customers he visited with both Gina and her, charming Colette with his funny stories of ranch life and tidbits from Gina’s childhood.
Even Gina seemed to loosen up as her brother regaled them with charming stories of small-town life. The love between brother and sister was palpable in the air, and Colette found herself wishing she’d had somebody like Tanner Rothman in her life. And the more appealing she found Tanner Rothman, the more uncomfortable she felt.
By the time six o’clock came and Linda Craig, one of the part-time workers, came to relieve Colette, she was more than ready to get away from Tanner.
She wasn’t sure why he affected her on such a physical level. She didn’t understand why his nearness made her breath catch in her chest and turned her palms slightly sweaty.
She’d been intensely aware of his midnight-blue gaze lingering on her often throughout the day. Each time she’d been aware of his gaze, her insides had quivered.
She’d been intimate with one man in her life. She’d dated Mike Covington for three months before she’d finally slept with him. The experience hadn’t been particularly overwhelming, and that’s why she didn’t understand her almost primal response to Tanner.
Sex had never been important to her, but Tanner made her think of sex…of tangled sheets and hot slick bodies, and of slightly callused hands running down the length of her body. He made her think thoughts she rarely entertained.
Stepping out of the store, she drew a deep breath. It had been a good sales day, and she had evening plans of sitting down with a catalog and picking out the baby items she wanted for the baby she might be carrying at this very moment.
She figured Gina would only be with her for a couple of months and would then find her own place, leaving Gina’s bedroom as a nursery. Colette intended to make it a showcase of a room, a place where dreams could be nurtured.
She’d only taken two or three steps away from the shop when the door flew open and Tanner joined her on the sidewalk. “Thought I’d walk you home,” he said as he fell into step at her side. “It doesn’t seem right to let a pretty lady walk home on the mean streets of the city all alone.” He gestured toward the stack of catalogs in her arms. “What me to carry your books home from school?”
She laughed, her pulse quickening. “No, but thanks anyway. And I’ve been walking the mean city streets alone for the past ten years, ever since I was eighteen years old.”
“Well, while I’m in town, you aren’t going to be doing it anymore,” he replied.
“Aren’t you the gallant one,” she said teasingly.
“Gina would call it overly protective,” he said with a half scowl.
Colette laughed, surprised to discover she was glad he’d decided to walk her home. “Gina is young. All she believes is that you’re here to rain on her parade.”
“But I’m not,” he replied, his blue eyes sparkling earnestly. “Three weeks ago Gina and I had a fight. It was a silly argument and I didn’t think too much about it at the time. She packed a bag, told me she was leaving Foxrun and drove off. I figured she’d be home by nightfall.”
“But she wasn’t,” Colette said. She tried not to notice how the bright sunshine made his dark hair gleam with richness.
“No, she wasn’t. I waited until the next afternoon, then began to ask questions of friends and neighbors.