“Zach.”
Liza widened her eyes. “Zach Brennan?”
Maddie took a sip of her coffee and wouldn’t meet her eyes.
Finally she walked back to the table and sat again. “What’s going on, honey?”
“Think you’d better talk to your old boyfriend about that.”
The very mention of Tyler Blackwell caused a trembling to set up deep in her belly. Now it was her turn to stiffen. “What does Ty have to do with Zach being here?”
Ty was currently practicing law here in Melbourne and of course, Liza knew him very well. They’d been lovers and he’d broken her heart. Memories hit her hard but she forced herself to concentrate on the here and now. “What happened, Mad?”
Maddie jerked at another sound from outside and slid her eyes to the table. “Ty sent him out here to handle things until the will is probated. Zach wants the place. He wants to buy it.” Finally her sister looked up and her eyes were so full of anger and anguish that Liza wanted to hug her. “We can’t let that happen, Liza. We just can’t.”
* * * * *
Late that night Liza was curled under the covers in the bedroom she’d used as a child. It was so quiet out here, she thought, listening to a dog bark in the distance. Too much quiet could be dangerous, make a woman think. What she hadn’t told Maddie, what she’d avoided saying, was that she’d been offered a full partnership with her very prestigious law firm but she’d lost her lover because of it. She and Garrett had been together for over a year, things were looking more serious by the day but then, she’d been offered the promotion he’d also wanted.
Liza punched her pillow into submission and then folded her hands beneath her chin as she stared out her bedroom window. He hadn’t cared for her at all, in the end but when he’d packed his bags and moved out of her north Dallas home, why had she felt nothing but relief? Yeah, a part of her felt betrayed that he’d placed his career before their relationship. She was a little hurt. But it was about more than his leaving, it was about her inability to form lasting relationships with men and she’d come to the conclusion that she’d die with the words, Here lies Liza. A good lawyer. A shark and a ball-buster, carved on her tombstone. That was it. It was sad.
There had been a time when she’d been softer.
Liza turned on her side and studied the framed picture sitting on the bedside table. The photo was of her and Ty during happier days so long ago. Mom had always held out hope that somehow they’d get back together and there wasn’t a doubt in Liza’s mind that Mom had kept the photo there because of it. Nope, best to put it away along with all those other dumb dreams. A future for them was long gone. Too much anger, pain and hurt.
In the old photo, Ty’s hair was longer, his face more innocent. The last time she’d seen him had been at the funeral. He’d stood in the crowd, flanked by his oldest friends, Mitch and Zach and though it was painful to look at him she realized that sometime along the road, he’d grown into a devastatingly gorgeous man. He wore his thick wavy black hair, shorter now and cropped close at the sides. The jacket of his charcoal gray suit hugged shoulders that were broad and strong. He had an athletic body, long and rangy and she knew that beneath that suit he would be ripped with muscle. Tyler might be a lawyer now but he’d always been active. His melted-chocolate-colored eyes were sad that day, so serious.
Yeah, she was burying her parents, grieving with her sisters but seeing him again had just made the loss seem harder to bear. She was sick of losing. Sick of it.
Reaching out, she picked up the photo with the intent of putting it away in a drawer but she couldn’t. Tears burned in her eyes as memories whipped through her mind. Gasping out a broken breath, she reached out and traced his handsome, young face and remembered.
* * * * *
“We’re supposed to be studying.” Her breath broke as Ty ran his tongue over the tip of her breast and lazily pulled a nipple into his mouth. She felt his sudden grin and glanced down. His darker-than-sin eyes were crinkled at the corners as he met her gaze.
“Plenty of time for that. Later. Mmm, you taste good, Liza Lou.”
His hands swept slowly, tantalizingly over her torso as if mapping her every curve. Languidly, as if he had all the time in the world, he sent his questing fingers through the curls covering her mound. Liza gasped when one lazily circled her clit. The pressure was light and teasing, not enough. Damn. Her back arched as a low moan broke the plane of her lips and she spread her legs against the crisp bed sheets. Autumn air rushed through the balcony door Ty had left open to the night. It was fall in the Texas Hill Country and the city of Austin, a loud and rowdy jewel, was full of celebration and laughter. From his apartment just off Sixth Street, she could hear horns blaring, University of Texas students were shouting. Raucous laughter lifted in the air and reached them as they lay, making love in his bed. “Sorry you missed the game?” she whispered wondering vaguely how she had the ability to speak at all. Lordy, the man was good with his hands. He was good with his mouth too. Ah, she was a goner whenever he touched her.
He released her nipple long enough to rake his teeth gently across her pebbled flesh. “Hell, no. Loving you up takes precedence over a football game any day.”
“I must…really rate,” she choked. Sensation, expectation caught her in a vise.
“Hell yeah.”
His mouth blazed a trail of slow, wet kisses over her ribs, down her belly. Mmm. He was heading for dangerous territory and Liza’s core grew hot, drenched. A steady pulse throbbed as he took her clit between his fingers. One tiny squeeze had her panting for relief. “Glad to hear it, Counselor.”
“Not Counselor yet. Pretty soon. In the meantime—”
Ty lowered his face between her thighs and filled his hands with her ass. His tongue lapped her sopping flesh then stiffened to probe deep into her channel. Muscles clenched as she cried out. “Mmm! Oh, yes.”
He hummed low and dipped his tongue into her passage over and over, sliding deep then shallow. Liza felt her muscles clench but she needed more. Oh yes, she did. As if he’d read her thoughts, he teased her clit with his fingers for a moment before transferring the heady rasp of his tongue to that ultra sensitive spot. Her legs stiffened in response, her back arched sharply when he sucked her gently.
Ty knew her body so well. It seemed they’d been together forever, both growing up in the same small town and now they were currently attending law school at the University of Texas. He released her flesh and grinned at her sound of protest. “Patience.”
“Ty! Please.”
He gripped the backs of her knees and lifted, opening her fully, leaving her body exposed to his dark gaze. “You’re beautiful.”
Lowering his head again, he drank her in, sipped at her weeping pussy until she trembled and shook as if buffeted by a storm. She cried out at the feel of his warm mouth, his lapping tongue. She shook, knowing full well there would never be another man for her. She loved him with every breath she took and as her body wound tight then released on a wave of pleasure, she called his name.
* * * * *
Sighing deeply, Liza replaced the old photograph and flopped back on the mattress. Nostalgia mixed with pain caused her heart to pound. Her eyes stung like crazy. She reached up and rubbed them hard. She’d cried too much lately and the last thing she needed was another trip down memory lane. The loss of Tyler Blackwell was like an aching wound that had never healed. This was the very reason she kept her return visits home so limited and quiet. Now, due to necessity, she was back in Melbourne knowing full well that a short drive into town could put her right at Ty’s front door. She’d have to see him tomorrow and, God, she dreaded it but he was currently dealing with the probate of Mom and Dad’s will. Seeing him again would be unavoidable. The very thought of it had her aching. They’d ended badly and seeing him was the last thing she needed in addition to the confused morass that was her life. It was more than important that she be the cool-headed Liza since her sisters depended on her to handle t
he tricky details of her parents’ estate.
Suddenly her bout of self-pity was interrupted by the glare of headlights that whipped across the walls of her room. She got out of bed and looked through the window to see a late-model station wagon come to a stop in front of the house. A flicker of moonlight caught the shine of pale blonde hair and her heart squeezed tight with love and relief. She knew who it was, who it had to be. Apparently her plans had changed. Thank God. Leave it to Jenna to make a splashy appearance in the dead of night. A freer spirit had never been born and the woman lived by her own whim. A surprise a minute.
Liza padded down the hallway and rapped on Maddie’s door then poked her head inside. “Hey, hon. Wake up. Jenna’s here.”
They scrambled downstairs and flung the front door open just in time to watch tiny, effervescent Jenna pop from behind the wheel of a bulky, mid-sized station wagon that had seen better days. Wearing khaki pants and a bulky photojournalist vest over a white tee, she huffed as she yanked an oversized backpack-camera bag from the back seat.
She and Maddie exchanged grins and Liza couldn’t help thinking it seemed right. All of them together for Christmas. The moon’s glow caught Jenna’s chin-length, straight platinum hair and reflected on the tiny diamond stud she wore in her left nostril.
“The prodigal returns,” Maddie hollered as she made her way down the front steps to give her tiny sister a hug. Liza was right behind her. “Didn’t think you’d be here for Christmas.”
Finally, it was Liza’s turn to grab hold, give her a squeeze. “Hey, sis. God, it’s good to see you but your timing sucks.”
Jenna flashed a quick, vibrant grin. “I’ve always had a knack for shaking things up.”
“What’s with the station wagon?” Maddie gave the clunker a baleful look.
Jenna’s frown was quick and fierce. “Bad timing. The car rental place at the airport had zero in the cool wheels department. Had to take what I could get. Butt-ugly thing, isn’t it?”
“Well, come on. It’s cold out here.” Maddie grinned and turned back toward the house. “Let me whip up something to eat.”
A few minutes later, Jenna was sipping a cup of hot chocolate and sampling the cinnamon rolls and cookies Maddie had provided. Jenna looked tired, Liza thought with a tinge of worry. “Thought you’d be in Beirut for awhile.”
Her baby sister shrugged and stared into her mug. “Plans changed.”
Something was up but she knew Jenna. The woman wouldn’t spill it until she was darned good and ready. Reaching over she took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Never liked the idea of you being so far away. Beirut is a dangerous place, honey. Things blow up there. People shoot at each other.”
Jenna laughed. “Just called me Jenna ‘Danger’ Woodward.”
“Ha. Ha. You’re a laugh a minute,” Maddie finally quit fussing and took a chair at the table. “I’m with Liza. Couldn’t you find a safer place to work? We worry.”
“What can I say? It’s my life. It’s what I do.” Jenna’s electric blue gaze flashed like a laser, a warning that further criticism wouldn’t be tolerated.
She bent over the plate of goodies and dug in as the older sisters exchanged a look. Maddie subtly shook her head. Liza knew she was right. There was plenty of time tomorrow to find out why Jenna’s plans had changed and why she’d come rushing home after all.
Jenna bit into a cookie then eyed them both. “Now that I’ve gotten you both up in the dead of night, maybe you can fill me in. What’s going on around here?”
Maddie’s lips tightened in mulish lines and one of Jenna’s blonde brows winged up over one eye. “What?”
Liza reached out and stroked Maddie’s hand. “Maddie quit her job.”
“She what? What did you do that for? You love teaching.”
“I want the ranch, Jenna.”
Jenna shot Liza a look. “I thought we’d sell.”
Liza blew out a breath. “Listen, guys. We don’t have to settle anything right now. I need to get a look at the will first and see what’s up but I assume the place has been left to all three of us and we’ll just need to figure it all out.”
“All I know for sure right now is that this place doesn’t belong to Zach Brennan, no matter what he seems to think,” Maddie snapped. “At least not while I have breath in my body.”
Jenna nodded slowly. “Okaaaay. Guess that’s pretty damn clear. What does Zach have to do with this?”
“Ty sent him out here to take care of the ranch after the funeral and Maddie said Zach wants to buy it,” Liza answered, privately fuming. What right did Ty have to make a decision like that without consulting her? That’s something she planned to find out tomorrow. Finally, she settled her gaze on her sisters and felt her heart grow full to bursting. Together. Again. It was Christmas and though their folks were no longer here, the three of them were together and that was what mattered the most. She pulled in a deep breath. “Look. It’s late and we can get this all talked out in the morning. For my part, I’m going into town tomorrow and having a face-to-face with Tyler Blackwell.”
* * * * *
Liza was home.
Ty stood at the back door of the kitchen and looked out into the shadowy dark of his backyard. His fingers tightened around the whiskey glass he held in one hand. Zach had called to give him a heads-up and he didn’t know whether he was relieved about hearing the news or not. Maybe the old saying about ignorance being bliss was on the mark since he hadn’t been able to sleep for thinking about her. Memories of his past with her whipped around in his head and he’d been tossing in his bed for hours. Finally, giving up, he’d come into the kitchen for a glass of milk but decided a shot of well-aged bourbon suited his mood better.
They hadn’t ended well all those years ago but the years before that?
Liza Woodward was smart, sexy, funny. Yeah, they’d been great years and she’d been the single woman in his life he’d been unable to forget. He’d never stopped loving her. No, she wouldn’t believe him if he ever got up the guts to tell her but it was the truth. He’d had his share of women since then but when he realized that not a single one of them measured up to Liza, he’d figured staying single was preferable to settling for less than what he truly wanted.
No doubt she’d come by tomorrow. He lived in a restored Victorian just a block off Main Street and he wondered what she’d think of his combination home and workplace. Melbourne was a small, slow-paced little town. Serious crime was rare and although he did his share of wills, family disputes and civil matters, she’d think it was pretty damn small potatoes compared with her high-powered firm in Dallas.
She’d done well and he was proud of her. He knew a number of attorneys in the Metroplex and he kept up with her career through them. The last he’d heard she’d been offered a big-time partnership at Wesley, Howard and Stowe.
Ty snorted. She’d probably laugh her ass off at his piddly little practice but then he shook his head and sipped again, feeling the liquor burn a path to his belly. Liza wasn’t a snob. He knew that much about her. The last time he’d seen her had been at Patsy’s and Hank’s funerals.
She’d been reserved, quiet but he knew her well enough to see the fine trembling in her hands when she’d reached out to drop flowers into the open graves of her parents. Her eyes were dry but red-rimmed and he knew she’d done her crying privately. Showing emotion in public would be too much for her. Liza was all about control, staying strong, being tough and now she’d feel the added responsibility of making sure every T was crossed in dealing with the business that always followed death.
Ty walked barefoot through the kitchen and into the front bedroom that had been converted into an office. Sitting behind his desk, he picked up the sealed envelope, the will of Liza’s parents and ran the heavy vellum through his fingers. There was no doubt he’d see her tomorrow to discuss it.
Anticipation made his heartbeat pick up. His cock pulsed, growing semi-erect, inside the loose sweats he’d shrugged on when he’d got
ten out of bed. The scenario played out in his mind as he pictured her stalking through his front door bringing a militant attitude and a mind like a steel trap with her.
Yeah, she was a challenge all right but it was about time Ms. Liza Lou learned how to unwind a little bit. He was just the man to strip that hard-won control away bit by delicious bit. Smiling he set the envelope aside and lifted his glass to finish off the whiskey.
Sparkle leaned against Glimmer and sniffed. “He really wants her, doesn’t he?”
Glimmer sent Will a look across the room. Will frowned down at his own snow globe from where he’d been keeping an eye on Maddie and her troubles. Finally, he sighed and joined them as Glimmer put his arm around Sparkle’s shoulder. “Yes. I think he really does. Humans are odd, aren’t they?”
“Communication. That’s the problem for them. I think we elves call things as we see them.” Will said holding out one of his stash of Snickers bars to Sparkle and patting her back. “Here. Make you feel better. I promise.”
Glim watched her unwrap it and take a bite. They were immediately surrounded by the scent of chocolate and her natural peppermint smell. Delicious. He shook his head and resumed watching Tyler Blackwell. The poor guy had it bad. His job was to help Liza but it was looking more and more like he’d be helping the poor man too.
“We need to do something drastic, I think.” He and Sparkle both looked at Will who reached up to run the tip of his finger over his gently pointed ear. “We have to find a way to strand these women with the loves of their lives. But how?”
Sparkle reached out and plucked Glim’s snow globe from the table and gave it a swirl. Suddenly her eyes widened. “I’ve got it!”
“Uh-oh,” Glimmer said. He knew that look in her lively green eyes. It usually spelled trouble.
“What are you thinking, Spark?” Will watched her steadily.
“Snow! We’ll make it snow.”
Glim turned to face her more fully. “You realize we’re in Texas, right? They don’t get the kind of snow we get on the Pole.”
Breath of Magic Page 2
