sort. Ever since I started at Sharper Image, he’s made a few comments that leave me feeling uncomfortable. A few months after I was hired, I told him I had a steady boyfriend, thinking he’d lose interest. He backed off for a while, but it hasn’t lasted.”
Austin’s gaze flickered to her left hand, which rested on the armrest nearest him. “So, you don’t really have a boyfriend then?” he asked, looking back up at her.
She recalled the odd comment he’d made last night, about having to explain the Stetson to her boyfriend, and realized the ring on her finger had given him the wrong impression. “No, no boyfriend. The ring is merely a diversion, but it’s losing its credibility. When Louden pressured me about bringing my elusive boyfriend to the Christmas party and demanded a name, yours was the first one I came up with.”
He smiled. “I’m flattered.”
Hope bloomed within her. “Flattered enough to stand in as my date Saturday night?”
Indecision touched his expression, and before he could succumb to his reservations, she reached out and grasped his hand, stopping just short of dropping to a begging position in front of him. She was desperate, yes, but she didn’t want everyone in the Frisco Bay to witness her despair. “One night, Austin, please? I’ll pay you enough to make it worth your while.”
A young woman at a nearby table turned and looked at them, shock and curiosity brightening her eyes. Belatedly, Teddy realized how incriminating her words had sounded.
Teddy glared until the woman turned back to her own companion. So much for being discreet! Before the night was over, word would probably spread through the Frisco Bay that Teddy Spencer had propositioned her cowboy. She hadn’t said what that one night entailed, but knew the other woman was thinking along the lines of sex. When Teddy returned her gaze to Austin, silent laughter glistened in his eyes.
“Please,” she begged in a low whisper.
“Let me get this straight,” he said, leaning forward so he could brace his forearms on his knees. In the process, he switched the position of their hands, so hers was enveloped in the warmth of his. “If I decided to do this, you’d expect me to act like your steady boyfriend?”
She nodded eagerly and dampened her bottom lip with her tongue. “Yes.”
His fingers drew lazy, sensual patterns on her palm, sending scintillating tremors up her arm. That frisson of awareness settled in the tips of her breasts, tightening her nipples into hard, sensitive peaks. “And give everyone the impression that we’re intimately involved?”
The sensations he was evoking were as intimate as anything she’d ever experienced. He stroked softly between thumb and index finger, a skillful caress that made her pulse race. “Ahhh, yes,” she managed to say, though she sounded as if she was out of breath. “The, um, more people that think we’re intimately involved, the better.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up in a seductively wicked smile that matched his deep, rich voice. “You want Louden Avery to have no doubt in his mind that we’re a couple well and truly committed.”
“Exactly.” Unable to stand his provocative caresses any longer she gently withdrew her hand from his. “One night should do it, as long as you think you can be convincing.”
“Oh, I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” On him, confidence was an incredibly sexy thing. “I specialize in fantasies. I have a feeling this performance will come naturally.”
Judging by the thrum of desire that had just shimmered between them, she suspected he was right. She flashed him a cheeky grin. “Well, I don’t expect you’ll have to take off your clothes for this performance.”
He smiled. “You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that.”
“So you’ll do it?” she asked anxiously, needing to hear him say yes.
Instead of the positive response she anticipated, he grew serious, studying her intently. “Why is this so important to you?”
Teddy resisted the urge to throttle him. The man certainly wasn’t an easy sell, though she had to admit it was nice to know he wasn’t in it just for the money. It was as though he cared, and it had been a long time since someone had cared enough to listen to her.
“I want that promotion, and I want it awarded to me on my own merit. I’ve worked hard and I deserve that position without having to compromise my morals. Since Louden is making the process so difficult, proving to him that I’m in an intimate relationship will put an end to his pursuing me.”
He tilted his head, his gaze kind, but concerned. “And you think if Louden believes you’re unavailable, that will make him judge the candidates for the position fairly?”
The doubt in his voice was unmistakable, but she refused to dwell on it. “That’s what I’m hoping. I’m the most qualified for the position, but I refuse to submit to Louden’s tactics to get it.”
She saw him wavering despite his concern, and panicked. She couldn’t lose him now! Giving in to that damned vulnerable emotion named desperation, she dug into her purse, withdrew her leather checkbook case and wrote a check for his services in the amount of one thousand dollars before he could refuse her.
Tearing off the signed voucher, she pushed it across the small cocktail table toward him and lifted her chin in sheer determination. “If that isn’t enough for your time, I’m willing to pay more.”
Austin glanced at the check, noted the staggering amount she’d offered, and realized how deeply her tenacity ran. She wasn’t making him a reckless, frivolous offer-she was proving she’d take whatever risks necessary to secure her future.
He wasn’t comfortable accepting that much money, even though it appeared Teddy Spencer could easily afford it. She didn’t even bat an eye at the amount she’d written on the check. Although she came across as very down to earth in attitude, her well-bred sophistication couldn’t be hidden beneath a pair of black jeans and a Christmas red sweater that outlined perfect breasts. The cut of her hair was a shoulder-length classic, the kind of style that fell softly around her face and made the best of her naturally elegant features. Flawless half-carat diamonds winked in each earlobe, an exquisite, but understated touch. And she had the moves of wealth, too, walking and gesturing with a grace that was refined and private-school polished.
On a distant level, those particular signs made him uneasy, but he didn’t know enough about Teddy to make any assumptions. He only had tonight’s encounter to judge her by, which had given him a mixture of fascinating contradictions to sort through.
Confidence radiated from her, yet he’d detected touches of vulnerability, too, as if she had to struggle to maintain that hard-won self-assurance. That quality he understood and identified with-he’d grappled with similar emotional challenges after his parents died. He’d only been sixteen, and it had taken him years, along with Jordan’s guidance, for him to finally understand the security he’d lost. His landscaping company gave him the financial stability he sought, but he was still searching for that emotional connection that offered the deep solidity he craved.
“Is it enough?” she asked, her voice quiet, but firm with purpose.
Picking up the check, he studied it, deciding the name Teddy suited her much more than her stuffy given name, Theodora.
He shifted his gaze back to her and smiled. “Actually, this amount is a bit high, considering I don’t have to take my clothes off.”
The fingers she’d knotted in her lap relaxed and the tense set of her shoulders eased. “Then consider it an easy night. And I’ll pick up any other expenses you might incur.” She stuffed her checkbook back into her purse and began issuing instructions, as if fearing any lapse in conversation might give him a chance to come to his senses and refuse her proposition. “The Christmas party is a black-tie affair, so you’ll be expected to wear a tuxedo. I can set up an appointment for you to see my tailor, who also rents tuxedos-”
“Actually, I already have a tuxedo,” he said, interrupting her. She blinked at him in surprise, and he grinned. “It’s quite a common fantasy.”
“Oh, of course.” Her face now becoming a shade of pink, she ducked her head and rummaged through her purse to retrieve a pen and notepad. “Cocktails are at six-thirty, so you can pick me up at six. Here’s my address, home phone number and my number at the office if you should need it.”
He listened to her ramble on, waving a hand in the air while giving him verbal directions to her condominium complex. He watched her mouth as she talked, enjoyed the way she used her tongue to sweep across her lush bottom lip and wondered what it would be like to kiss her. The urge to find out what she tasted like was strong, and his body tightened in response.
She placed a hand on his arm, her light touch severing his erotic daydreams. “I can’t thank you enough for
