Run for Covers

“No argument there.” He’d never met a more determined woman and he still had the memory of her in that see-through robe burned in his brain to prove it. Withdrawing his master keycard, he inserted it into the mechanism, unlocked the door and stepped inside to hold the door for his curious reporter.

Tori smiled up at him as she walked past and said, “Was that a compliment or a criticism, Adam?”

“A compliment, of course.” He injected some sincerity into his voice as the door shut with an absurd note of finality.

“Wouldn’t do to criticize the reporter responsible for your reviews, hm?”

He didn’t get a chance to reply before she came to an abrupt stop in the foyer and laughed. “Oh, my. Look at this place. This is as incredible as the Wedding Knight Suite. Not as elaborate, but, still, very impressive.”

Stepping inside this suite always made Adam feel as if he were walking onto the set of a John Wayne western. A bar served as the dining area and a long mirror mounted with steer horns graced the wall above. Walls paneled in rustic wood bore vintage posters of lustful couples for a welcoming bunkhouse look.

All the furniture had been scaled in size for two, and the leather sex swing hanging from the ceiling was the focal point of the room. Adam knew the bedroom was set up with a wax warmer and specialty sheet set, so guests could engage in sexy branding.

Tori’s observation skills were clearly on because there were indeed differences between this romance-themed suite, which had been fashioned to accommodate the original hotel structure, and those designed for the new Wedding Wing. Building from the ground up had given Laura and Dale the chance to create suites on a grand scale.

Creating fantasies, he’d heard Laura call it.

Which made Adam wonder—not for the first time—why he’d been so completely unprepared for the way sex affected the management around here. He’d researched Falling Inn Bed thoroughly before interviewing for the position. He’d seen all the press and had even toured the property. Yet he’d still not fully understood that the inn’s sexy theme would change the requirements and attitudes for upper management.

In his mind, all properties had qualities targeting specific clienteles, but just because a hotel catered to an island vacation crowd didn’t mean management worked in beachwear.

Maybe he’d just been too eager for a chance to become a stockholder in the Falling Inn Corporation. Or maybe he’d been so intent on leaving Seattle after his broken engagement that he hadn’t paid close enough attention to what was really taking place at this inn.

And as he watched the sex-crazed reporter inspect the romance-themed suite, Adam couldn’t help but think that his oversight in assessing the management—whatever the reason—was directly responsible for Tori Ford becoming the top item on his agenda.

“Did Laura design these suites, too?” she asked.

“Not to my knowledge. If memory serves, she came on the scene after Ms. J and her staff had acquired the property. Laura did tell me these suites inspired the ones in the Wedding Wing.”

“Even bigger and better fantasies. Mm-mm.” She took off into the bedroom, where he knew she’d find a bed with the Rope ’Em and Ride ’Em specialty sheets—complete with custom pockets filled with sex toys—and the bathroom that boasted a garden spa for couples.

Leaning against the bar, Adam passed on this part of the tour. No doubt Tori would use their close proximity to a bed to get a reaction from him, and he’d rather not give her another opportunity to play her game.

She didn’t need his help. She was getting enough of a reaction by doing nothing more than crossing the room to peer out the windows that overlooked the forested park leading to the Falls. The noon sun threw her into sharp relief, and Adam imagined he could see the faint outline of her body through her sundress. The memory of all those luscious curves from yesterday’s performance still burned too hot in his brain.

And then she scooted into the swing. The supple leather seat molded her shapely bottom as she started up another show…this time, one that prompted thoughts of what she’d feel like with her legs wrapped around him, weightless…

She pushed off, and her long bare legs stretched out as she rode backward in a smooth glide. Her body arced with the motion, her hair spilling out behind her, treating Adam to an image of what she might look like spread out horizontally for that calorie-burning exercise she’d mentioned earlier.

One of her sandals slipped off, clattering onto the wooden floor and drawing his gaze to the neatly manicured toes in some shade of ultrafeminine pink. She laughed, a carefree sound that contrasted sharply with the tension coiling tight inside him as his blood rushed hard in a direction in which it shouldn’t be rushing.

“This is a wonderful suite. Sex swings and those sheets.” She gave a low whistle. “I thought the set in my suite was wild. Have you ever played with restraints and warm wax, Adam?”

“No, Ms. Ford. I haven’t.”

She leaned back for another glide, this time arching her breasts high as the swing carried her backward. “Neither have I. Sounds like it might be fun.” The innuendo was in there and being the bold woman she was, Tori glanced at him with a smile just to make sure he was watching.

Adam was watching, all right. And reacting.

He’d have to be dead not to react to this woman, and he was very alive, as was his libido, which he’d obviously ignored for way too long.

She must have recognized his struggle because she slipped out of the swing, collected her sandal and headed his way, all sultry smiles and sexy purpose.

Adam stood his ground, refusing any show of weakness, not even a simple step backward when she sauntered right up to him and took over his personal space.

Sliding her fingers around his tie, she loosened the knot with a few easy motions and said, “Don’t you ever want to take a deep breath, Adam?”

“I can breathe just fine, Ms. Ford.”

Lifting that midnight gaze, she searched his expression, a slight frown creasing her brow at what she found there. “Let me tell you a secret. My family comes with a lot of baggage. Not only our history with Laura’s family, but a lot of visibility because my father and grandfather are politicians. It was all too easy to be sucked into trying to behave the way everyone expected me to behave.”

“What are you saying, Ms. Ford?”

“That I was like you once, Adam.” A soft smile touched her lips. “Surprise, surprise. I was all wrapped up in things that were keeping me from enjoying what was important in life.”

This was insight he hadn’t expected about her, and Adam wondered what had happened to make her turn that corner in her life. To transform from a woman of perfect decorum like her sister to this carefree spirit who only seemed focused on fun.

“You don’t know me, Ms. Ford. It’s presumptuous for you to think you know what I should find important in life.”

“That’s true. I don’t know you. But I know what I see. You’ve got a celebration happening in a hotel filled with sexy suites and a woman you share some serious chemistry with. Yet you shut yourself off to the possibilities the instant you realized you were attracted to me.”

To Adam’s profound annoyance, he couldn’t deny her claim, which left him to accept the hard reality. This woman had gotten under his skin no matter how much he had willed it otherwise.

3

AFTER THEIR BREAKFAST interview earlier, Laura Granger was about the last person Tori expected to see again when she appeared in the doorway of Falling Inn Bed’s records room, dressed casually in jeans and sandals, with her long blond hair bound stylishly in a braid.

“Got a minute?” she asked, sounding tentative. “Adam told me he left you in here.”

No doubt. After their tour of the main hotel, he’d brought her to this archive room and abandoned her here without a backward glance. She couldn’t blame the guy, really. She’d obviously hit close to the bone, and there was a little part of her that felt downright guilty for pushing him so hard. Adam was right—she didn’t know him. And she had no real idea why he was so determined to ignore their killer chemistry and all the unique possibilities of the Naughty Nuptials celebration.

Pushing herself up from the floor where she’d been searching through a filing cabinet that contained decades’ worth of press releases from all the inn’s various incarnations, she said, “Sure. I’m due a good stretch. What’s up?”

Laura didn’t answer, and Tori clasped her hands behind her back, stretching to ease muscles tight from crouching over that cabinet for too long.

She waited, wondering why Laura seemed nervous.

“Finding everything you need in here?” Laura asked.

Tori didn’t think that was why she came, but nodded. “Since they sprang this assignment on me only a few days ago, I haven’t had time to do my usual preliminary research on the inn’s history.”

“The history’s important?”

“Helps me add color to my articles. Just another way to interest my readers.” Cocking her hip against the table, she folded her arms across her chest. “So, are you here to interrogate me on my journalistic technique?”

Laura shook her head. “I’ve been thinking about our talk this morning and I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Shoot.”