Tom’s lips twitched.
“It wasn’t funny,” Jeanette said.
“No, I’m sure she didn’t think so,” he agreed.
“I wasn’t exactly roaring with laughter myself. She could have ruined my career, Tom. Baseless accusations or not, Bella could have fired me and word would have spread about what happened and not one single reputable spa would have risked hiring me. Women talk. They spread the word about stuff like that, and pretty soon, there wouldn’t have been a spa in the state that would have wanted me anywhere near their clients.”
“But none of that happened,” he reminded her.
“Not the point,” she said, her tone unyielding.
He studied her hard expression. “Bottom line—is this going to be a problem for us?”
She frowned at that. “There is no us. There never will be.”
“Really?” he said, trying not to smile.
“Absolutely not.”
“I could prove you wrong.” he said, and watched indignation stir in her eyes.
“Really?” she mimicked.
He backed her up until she was trapped between him and Erik’s professional-grade Sub-Zero refrigerator. “Really,” he said, his gaze locked with hers. “Want me to tell you how, or should I just show you?”
She swallowed hard and alarm flared in her dark eyes. “Don’t do this,” she whispered.
“What? This?” he asked, lowering his mouth to hover over hers. He waited as she sucked in a nervous breath, then covered her mouth, plunging his tongue inside, tasting her, taunting her. With one hand braced on either side of her and nothing touching except their lips, he kissed her until she melted against him, her fingers digging into his shoulders, her hips swaying into his.
Then, when he least expected it, she shoved him away. “No,” she said, all but quivering with outrage. “No more. This can’t happen.”
He held up his hands and backed off. “Jeanette, you were as into that kiss as I was.”
“A gentleman wouldn’t remind me of that.”
“Darlin’, I never claimed to be a gentleman.”
She studied him with a perplexed expression. “Why are you doing this? You hardly know me.”
“I’ve been trying to change that,” he reminded her.
“Why?” she asked, looking mystified.
He thought about it. “You intrigue me,” he said eventually. “You’re strong and stubborn, smart and beautiful. I have to be on my toes around you.”
“In other words, I’m a challenge—especially since I keep rejecting you.”
“It’s not just that,” he insisted. “I want to know everything about you. I can’t explain it any better than that.”
“Well, you’re going about it all wrong. Getting me into your bed is about sex. People getting to know each other start by dating.”
Tom struggled to hide his amusement. “You vetoed that idea, remember? So I had no alternative but to go at this from another direction.”
“By trying to seduce me?”
“It was a kiss, not a seduction.”
“Well, it felt like more than a kiss,” she retorted.
“If you want, I could go for a full-fledged seduction so you can do a comparison,” he offered.
“Absolutely not!”
He grinned. “Oh, well, it was worth a shot. I’m trying to be cooperative.”
“Cooperative?” She chuckled despite herself. “I suppose that’s one word for it.” She shook her head. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I have a list,” he told her. “And a head full of some pretty provocative ideas.”
“I’m sure you do, but I doubt I’d approve of most of the things you’re thinking.”
He saw an opening he doubted she’d been aware of. “Most? Does that mean there might be one or two things I could get away with trying?”
“Tom!” Again, she regarded him with bewilderment. “Why are you pushing this? And no flip answers this time. I really want to know.”
His expression sobered at once. He wasn’t entirely sure he could explain it himself, but he could see that he needed to try.
“Because from the very first time I saw you, I was drawn to you,” he began. “And every encounter since then has raised more questions than have been answered.” He touched a finger to her cheek, brushed back a curl of dark brown hair. “I’ll be honest with you. Finding a woman was not in my plans when I came to Serenity. I wanted to spend a few years here being the best town manager possible, and then I wanted to move on.”
She froze at that. “I see,” she said stiffly. “So I’m supposed to provide a convenient diversion for however long you choose to stick around and then wave goodbye when you take off? I don’t think so.”
“That is not what I meant,” he protested.
She brushed past him. “Oh, I think you made yourself perfectly clear.”
“I’m not finished.”
“Oh, believe me, you’re finished,” she said.
He stood where he was, staring after her retreating back and trying to figure out how it had all gone so terribly wrong. By the time he went outside to join the others, Jeanette was nowhere in sight. Worse, six pairs of accusing eyes were homing in on him as if he’d suddenly morphed into pond scum.
“What happened in there?” Helen demanded. “You upset her.”
“Not intentionally,” Tom said, feeling compelled to defend himself. “I was in the middle of explaining how attracted I am to her, how I wasn’t expecting to meet anyone like her when I came here, when suddenly she took off.”
“And that’s all you said?” Helen demanded. “I don’t believe you. Jeanette doesn’t overreact.”
“Well, she did this time.” Tom sighed. He wasn’t going to win over this crowd, not tonight, anyway. “I should go.”
At least he would see Jeanette in the morning at the Christmas festival meeting. Maybe between now and then he could figure out exactly what he’d done to upset her and how to make things right.
* * *
Jeanette was counting jars of skin moisturizer when Maddie walked into her office on Monday morning.
“Isn’t there a festival meeting this morning?” Maddie inquired.
“Not going,” Jeanette said succinctly, avoiding Maddie’s gaze.
“You can’t hide from him,” Maddie told her. “I have no idea
