word he spoke. “You’re so much more than you used to be, Cathy Jane.”
Pivoting on his heel he walked out the door. CJ put her hand over her racing heart and knew she’d just met more than her match. She would have to avoid spending any time alone with him.
Saturday dawned bright and chilly. Tad left his condo and ran along the shore of Lake Michigan. CJ had been ducking his calls all week and frankly he was tired of it. He’d let her have her space but that was all about to end. He was a man of action and winning games was something he’d become accustomed to.
The rhythm of his exercise cleared his mind and soon he was analyzing Cathy Jane. He hadn’t realized she’d heard his comments to Bart all those years ago. He’d never meant for her to be hurt and he’d actually gone on to defend her. But guys like Bart never really understood women.
Tad realized he didn’t understand them either. Kylie had wanted a rich husband and Tad had worked his butt off to make his dreams of a sporting goods store come true. But Kylie hadn’t been satisfied with that. As he worked to build his business, she’d complained that she didn’t want a man who worked all the time.
What kind of a mate would CJ be? She was successful in her own right and wouldn’t need a man’s money to support her. But would she want a man to share her life?
He’d talked to his mom again this morning, casually mentioning that he’d run into Cathy Jane. His mom had asked about CJ and her sister Marnie.
“Nice girls, nice family,” his mom had said, and he knew what she’d meant. The kind of girl she wished he’d marry. He’d hung up without saying anymore to his mom about CJ. But she’d planted a seed in his head.
Would CJ be willing to marry him? They were both nearing thirty and their careers were on track.
He’d got her to agree to dinner but little else. She’d hedged and had her secretary send regrets twice. But Tad was used to hard work.
He ran his usual five miles, but altered his route so that he jogged by CJ’s building on his way home. He’d always had a photographic memory and the image of her address on her driver’s license was etched in his mind. Could he drop by unannounced? He slowed as he approached her building.
Two women were struggling with a Christmas tree. He slowed his pace. He thought it was CJ and an older woman. He still wasn’t used to seeing her with auburn hair. In his mind she had thick ebony hair. She looked cute with her knit cap and matching muffler around her neck. Her companion looked like her secretary.
He slowed to a walk to let his breathing slow and even out and then approached her. All he could make out was her long black wool jacket, legs encased in faded denim and a pair of boots that would have done any one in Auburndale proud.
“Rae-Anne, can you lift your end a little higher?” CJ asked. The two women juggled the tree without much success. The six-foot blue spruce was a nice tree—not unlike the one that he’d ordered for his condo. For someone who’d changed so much, they still had a lot in common.
“Madon’. I’m trying. I’m not as strong as I used to be,” Rae-Anne said.
“Let’s set it down for a second,” CJ said, bending at the waist to set the trunk on the snow-dusted ground. Her coat slid up and Tad was treated to the full curves of her backside. His fingers tingled with the need to reach out and caress her.
Instincts older than time had his hand lifting before he could stop himself. Her buttocks looked firm and full, but he’d learned the hard way that women didn’t appreciate a man reaching out and grabbing something he liked. She straightened, still holding the tree up.
“Can I help?” Tad asked, reaching around CJ to take the trunk of the tree from her.
CJ glanced over her shoulder at him. Her breath brushed across his cheek and he inhaled sharply. The scent that was uniquely CJ assailed him. He was surprised at its familiarity. It reminded him of home and of memories best forgotten.
“What are you doing here?”
“I live up the street,” he said, gesturing to his building. “Let me carry the tree up for you.”
“Thanks, but we’ve got it,” CJ said, brushing his arm aside. He refused to let her budge his arm.
She glared up at him but he knew she wouldn’t make an issue of it in front of her secretary. “We don’t need your help.”
“Merda, I do,” Rae-Anne said. She put her hand over her heart and sighed loudly. “Some of us aren’t as young as we used to be. And I just stopped by to drop off the Monday files. I finally figured out your last secretary’s system.”
CJ bit her lower lip, unsure. He knew her well enough to know that she didn’t like to give ground. He sometimes wondered, if he hadn’t let her beat him in arm wrestling when they’d been twelve, if they’d have even been friends.
Tad took control, grabbing the tree and hefting it with one hand. “I got the tree.”
“Very impressive. Do the girls usually swoon when you do this?”
“You’re my first, CJ,” he said.
“I’m impressed. Are you sure you won’t drop it?”
Always the smart-ass, when they’d been teenagers she’d teased him about his choice of girlfriends. He’d forgotten that there’d always seemed to be two different Cathy Janes. The one at school who kept her head down and her nose in a book and the one at home who sassed him. He wondered what she’d do if he kissed her. Her lips were full and he was tempted more than he should be. His plan for a wife was simple and straightforward—filling a void in his life. “I can handle one tree, CJ.”
“Of course, you can,” Rae-Anne said. “You’re not a middle-aged woman.”
“Kind of you to notice,” Tad said, smiling at the other woman.
“Think nothing of it,” Rae-Anne said. “I believe in giving credit where it’s due.”
“So do I. Machismo isn’t something that requires praise, Rae-Anne,” CJ said.
“Machismo?” he asked. A man had to have a strong ego around CJ. Unlike Kylie who’d always flattered him…until she’d walked out the door with one of his competitors.
CJ tilted her head to the side and studied him. He couldn’t help it. He flexed his abs and stood a little taller. Her gaze moved over him and his blood flowed heavier. He shifted his legs trying to keep her from noticing his stirring erection through the fabric of his sweatpants. “Overabundance of testosterone sound better?”
Oh, yeah, he was going to kiss that smart mouth. To hell with her Christmas tree. “Gallant rescue sounds good to me.”
“You always did have a big head.”
“You always were a bit of a pain.”
“Then why are you here?” she asked.
Because she was the one woman he’d never been able to forget. No matter how many beautiful, intelligent women he’d dated, CJ had always lingered in the back of his mind. “I’m a glutton for punishment.”
“Follow me. I’m on the twelfth floor. We have to use the service elevator,” CJ said.
“I’m yours to command.”
“As if,” she said and climbed the stairs to the building.
Rae-Anne and CJ held the doors open for Tad, and in a short time they were standing in CJ’s apartment.
“Where’s your tree stand?” he asked.
“I can do that. I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Really that’s okay.”
“You can’t do it on your