No matter how hard they had to work, Dominic refused to let JP fail. Not when it meant that Melissa failed, too.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Melissa tried everything—the phone, email, even a visit to his condo—but Dominic had disappeared. It wasn't until another Outlaw walked past her cubicle and overheard her leaving Dominic yet another voice mail that she found out he'd gone to Lake Tahoe.

"That's right. I'd forgotten," she lied. She hated the fact that she was utterly in the dark about both of her clients.

Furious, she took a cab to the nearest car-rental agency. She certainly hadn't planned on a four-hour drive into the mountains tonight, and she nursed her anger throughout the long trip, cursing both their arrogance and her stupid dream of working with self-obsessed football players.

The sun had set by the time she pulled into a long dirt driveway. Pine trees stood tall on both sides of her car. Even in the dark, the setting was inescapably beautiful.

Climbing out of the car, she shivered in her thin cotton top. Evenings at Lake Tahoe were chilly. Her eyes grew huge as she stood in front of Dominic's house. Not at all ostentatious, even in the moonlight it was the most beautiful cottage she'd ever set eyes on.

She could picture herself running out onto the beach, chasing after children with towels, while Dominic stood on the deck behind the grill, flipping hamburgers and hot dogs.

Her eyes blurred with sudden tears, and she forcibly shook the images away. When would she accept that happily-ever-after was never going to happen?

Ignoring the doorbell, she pounded on the door and braced herself for Dominic's beautiful face. Instead, JP greeted her.

"I was wondering when you'd get here," he

drawled.

She wanted to kick him. "What are you doing here?"

JP moved into the kitchen, bypassing a wine rack to grab a Perrier. "Want one?" She shook her head.

"Suit yourself," he said, twisting the cap off his water and bringing it to his mouth.

JP was drinking water? Not wine, or bourbon, or something else that would impede his performance on the field?

He put the bottle down and wiped his hand across his mouth. "Damn, that really hit the spot." He stretched his hands above his head and yawned. "I'm beat."

Frustration bubbled up inside her. "What, from all that sunbathing you've been doing by the lake? I was going to break the news to you in a nicer way, but I can't be bothered anymore. So here's the deal. I watched your game tapes and I wasn't impressed."

JP simply nodded. "I hear you, boss."

Caught off guard, she said, "You do?"

"Dominic has been showing me things."

She blinked.

"My timing is off," JP admitted. "I've been slacking off during workouts. I need to get off the line quicker."

She stared at JP in shock. He'd just listed several issues she'd planned on taking up with him. Once again, Dominic had beaten her to the punch. He was her knight in shining armor, taking care of everything.

If only it didn't smack of an apology—just like the way he'd offered to be her client after their first night together.

A sliding glass door opened and Dominic walked in, carrying a load of firewood. Melissa's eyes wid ened and her mouth watered. He'd obviously been chopping wood—without his shirt on.

She tried to resummon her resentment, but it was difficult to be angry with a man who looked as good as Dominic. Maybe if he'd been wearing a shirt she would have been able to string two thoughts together, but right now, all she could see was his sweat-slick chest, his muscular shoulders, and his—

"Melissa, I'm glad you're here," he said.

She had to reach deep within herself to keep her knees from turning to mush. "Planning on mentioning this situation with JP to me anytime soon?"

He put down the wood and approached her, all effortless confidence. "Let me explain."

Didn't he realize she couldn't possibly have this conversation with him unless he was covered from head to toe—and wearing a bag over his head, too? Then again, maybe he knew exactly what he was doing. It probably wasn't the first time he'd used his looks to get something he wanted.

"Get dressed and then I'll talk to you." Turning her back on him, she faced JP, who'd been watching their dialogue with interest. "But you and I are going to talk right now."

She walked into the family room of the lakefront house, forcing down another vision of family and kids and laughter. From now on, she was 100 percent business.

JP lowered himself down onto a couch and put his bare feet up on the coffee table. "You guys need me to get out of here?"

Melissa frowned. "I'll speak with Dominic in private. After I'm done with you."

JP rubbed his chin. "I can't believe I'm about to do this."

"Then don't," she said, feeling the beginnings of a headache.

He laid his hand over his heart. "I just can't keep it in."

She rolled her eyes.

"Here's the thing, boss," he said. "I'm all about feeling the love. And I'm feeling it right now."

"Please don't." JP wasn't about to confess that he had feelings for her, was he? That would just be ugly.

"Don't worry," he said, chuckling. "I'm not in love with you." He looked her up and down. "Even if—and I mean this in the most respectful way—you are a supremely hot piece of ass."

"I think we're done with this conversation now,

JP."

"I'm talking about you and Dom." Her heart thudded. "We just work together." JP smiled. "I still find it hard to believe you'd pick an old man like him over me."

She shook her head in denial. "I haven't picked him."

"Don't worry, he didn't tell me anything. Just a good guess. And seeing you guys together just now really made things clear."

What did JP see that she didn't? She wanted to grab him by the throat and shake the answers out of him.

Dominic walked into the room and JP shot up off the couch. "Gotta go meet some pretty Tahoe girls. See ya."

"Don't touch a drop of alcohol," Dominic warned.

"I've been listening, teach. I'm going to stay dry. Scout's honor."

Melissa desperately wished he would stay; she needed him as a buffer. Then the front door closed and she stared at Dominic, the silence stretching out between them.