by Linda Conrad
She’d come up with this desperate plan to both get away from the ravages of the paparazzi and to step into life in a very real way. Leaving modeling was no hardship. She’d hated the life they’d expected her to maintain. And leaving the lifestyle of her parents had been a longtime dream.
This opportunity that her lawyer had uncovered, the chance to do something for the Lost Children Foundation, was going to be her break from that former vapid existence. It was her opportunity to do something real…be someone…with real thoughts and feelings.
This evening she’d met with Jewel’s garden club and agreed to help them give their modeling show and luncheon. Fortunately, Tally Washburn was more than willing to oversee the luncheon details. Now there was a real administrator—or maybe a commandant would be a better description.
And Ty’s aunt Jewel had browbeaten a couple of the women into rounding up suspects for the mother-daughter modeling positions. This whole fashion show idea was going to work out all right. They had six weeks to pull it off.
It was just her relationship to Ty that Merri was having trouble dealing with. When she’d first come to this town and rented the cottage, the only thing she’d wanted was to be alone.
Well, to do her job the best she could, and to be alone. Far away from the runways, nightspots and microphones. Far away from the phonies of the world.
So…as much as Merri hated lying to Ty and having to hide out, she was willing to do anything for her one chance at a new life. And that included ignoring the sensual sensations she’d felt whenever he looked in her direction.
Okay. Maybe she could do that. But how on earth was she going to teach him to become less brash and uncivilized as his attorney had suggested? That was one job that might be a lot tougher than even she could handle.
Relationships, any kind of real relationships, were out of her experience. But phony ones—now there was a place where she excelled.
She smiled to herself when she thought of her recently broken engagement. Poor Brad. The tabloids were no doubt having a field day at his expense…and hers.
At first, she’d been more than willing to let herself become his tabloid girlfriend in order to throw the paparazzi off the trail of his real relationship. Brad was a good guy and she’d never minded lying to reporters—until the paparazzi caught him with his boyfriend.
But lying was exactly her problem. Eventually, her whole life had become one big, pixiedust-filled lie. Nothing but fluff. When another model she’d thought of as a friend taunted that she wouldn’t recognize real human beings if she fell over them, Merri decided that it was time to get out of her old life and find a new one.
The phone rang and broke the silence that she’d been enjoying. She blinked and wondered if it was one of the women volunteers she’d met earlier. She’d deliberately left her cell phone behind in L.A. It was too easy to trace.
Maybe tomorrow she would go to the discount store and buy an answering machine so she could monitor her calls. Heaven forbid if a reporter found her phone number and dialed her up to check.
When she did answer, a familiar voice was on the other end. “Did you manage to eat dinner, or did the garden club keep you tied up all night?”
Tyson Steele. That low, masculine voice was impossible to forget. It ran shivers over her skin and set fire to a tiny bubble of warmth low in her groin that threatened to explode at any moment. But she hadn’t expected him to call.
“Don’t you say hello before you begin your conversations? You’re not my mother, just my boss.”
Oops, that sounded a little too smart-mouthed for something that Merri Davis would say. He was her boss and she needed to try to remember it. Maybe the low, sensual sound of his voice had pulled a plug in her mind and her brain had drained.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized, before he could say another word. “But you took me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting you to call after working hours.”
After a moment of silence, Ty cleared his throat and began again. “Hello, Miss Davis. Good evening. I understand from my aunt that you were late coming home from the garden club meeting. I was concerned that you might’ve had to miss your dinner.”
“No, Mr. Steele, I did not miss dinner. I fixed myself something when I got home.”
Another moment’s silence dragged along on the other end of the line. “Could we go back to Ty and Merri?” he finally asked. “I didn’t mean to sound so brusque, but my aunt was worried.”
“Your aunt?”
“All right. I was worried, too. I promised Jewel I’d see to your welfare, and I intend to keep that promise.”
She smiled, charmed by his concern, but glad he couldn’t see her to know it. “Don’t think you need to take me on as some kind of mission. I’m an adult.”
This time the quiet went on so long Merri was worried that the connection had been lost. “Did you have something else on your mind?”
“Uh. Yes. Tomorrow morning I have to be at a meeting concerning my oil businesses in Corpus Christi. I know you can handle the office without me, but I just figured I’d better tell you I won’t be in.”
“No problem. I thought I might work on the donor reception idea tomorrow, if that’s all right with you.”
“Good idea. But won’t that be too much for you to take on, since you’ve agreed to help the garden club with their fund-raiser?”
“Not at all. If there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s how to hold a party.”
“Really? Why’s that?”
Hell, she’d said too much again. “My…uh…family was in the hospitality business.” Well, that was a version of the truth, if not all of it. Her father’s family did own chains of hotels and restaurants. But the party-giving was something she’d picked up from her mother—without ever being taught.
“Okay. Why don’t you consider scheduling the reception for early April?” he proposed. “We could hold it on my ranch. The weather should be nice enough then to set it up outside under the trees.”
“That would be lovely. I’ll begin working on it right away.” She hesitated and wondered what else was left to be said.
Finally, Ty cleared his throat and told her what was on his mind. “I plan to be back in town by midafternoon tomorrow. I thought, if you weren’t scheduled for a meeting at the garden club, that you might like to go out to the original Nuevo Dias Children’s Ranch and see what kind of things our foundation supports.”
“Nuevo Dias? The New Day. I’d like that, yes. Thank you.”
“Good. And while you’re in the mood for saying yes, I’ll ask if you’ll let me take you to dinner afterward. I have to keep my word to Aunt Jewel, you know.”
She could hear the chuckle in his voice and tried to keep the smile out of hers. “That wouldn’t be like a date, would it? Because I don’t think it’s a good idea for a boss and employee to date.”
“No. It wouldn’t be like a date.” His laughter hummed over her skin and set her blood on fire. “It would be like a boss making sure his employee took care of herself.”
Yeah, right. But she remembered her promise to his attorney. Maybe outside of business hours were the best times to find a way to mention his appearance and manners.
On top of that, there was something terribly compelling about Tyson Steele. She decided to put her terrific opportunity for a new life in jeopardy in order to spend more time with him.
“I think you might be telling just a tiny fib with that one,” she said with a sigh. “But…”
“I never lie,” he interjected in a sober tone.
“Okay, then.” She took a deep breath. “I’ll go to dinner with you tomorrow night after we visit the children’s home. But don’t think that means I’m giving you permission to watch over me. I can take care of myself.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said in his deep, sexy voice. “Good night, Merri. I’ll look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”
After he’d hung up the phone, she sat for a long time, still holding the receiver in her hand
. What had she done?
She really couldn’t let Tyson Steele get that close. They shouldn’t be seen out together.
But, well…he was just so tempting. And he’d actually flirted with her, even though she hadn’t worn her usual tons of makeup and fancy clothes. Ty seemed to like the plain Merri Davis just fine.
All she could do now was pray that her wonderful new life would not be ruined by getting too close to someone who was so earthy…and so very real.
Ty’s gaze moved past the giggling little girls in the lounge and landed on the fascinating woman who sat cross-legged on the floor amongst them. The whole time he’d been outside, playing ball with the older boys of Nuevo Dias Ranch, he hadn’t been able to think of anything else but the green of her eyes behind those glasses. And the tiny beauty mark at the side of her mouth that he’d spotted while in the car on the way out here.
He leaned back against the doorjamb and folded his arms to watch her interact with the children. She had her back to him, but he had a clear view of what she was doing.
She’d removed the restrictive navy jacket that was part of the dress suit she’d worn today so she could play with the girls. The crisp white shirt she’d had on under it shouldn’t have looked sexy at all.
But it did.
Letting his eyes wander where they would, he started his perusal at the back of her long slim neck above the shirt’s collar. A few soft tendrils of hair had escaped the bun and they trickled across her flesh at the hairline. He wondered how she would react if he replaced those strands of hair with his lips and kissed the tender skin there.
Would she yelp and reprimand him? Or would she giggle and go all soft and warm? It was another sensual image of hearing her moan with pleasure that drove him, at last, to move his gaze past her collar and on down her back.
The new view wasn’t a whole lot better for his libido. As she reached out to brush a little girl’s hair, the white shirt stretched across her back and he got a good look at the outline of the underwear she had on beneath it.
And underwear was the best word he could come up with. She wasn’t wearing a bra, that much he could easily see. There was no obvious horizontal strap line like a bra.
This gizmo had shoulder straps, but it didn’t have a back strap. Instead, the flimsy material captured his attention and drove his gaze lower as it went down her back and disappeared under her waistband.
Mercy.
Ty straightened up and shook his head to clear it. This would never do. He needed to get her alone so they could talk—get to know each other better. There was something she was hiding and he just couldn’t get a handle on what it might be. He shouldn’t be having these thoughts about what was hiding under her blouse.
He walked closer to the group on the floor and was amazed to see Merri helping a couple of twelve-year-olds as they applied a light shade of lipstick to their pouty young lips. What the heck would she know about putting on makeup? She didn’t wear a drop of it herself.
“It’s best if you can use a lip liner first,” she told one cute little girl with long blond braids. “Maybe I’ll bring a few out the next time I come.”
“Are you coming back?” the blonde asked.
“Sure.” Merri’s eyes softened and she gently cupped the girl’s cheek. “I live in this town now. I’ll come out as often as I can. I promise.”
He cleared his throat to announce his presence. Six sets of various shades of brown and blue eyes turned to stare up at him. But it was the emerald green eyes, swimming in tears behind thick glasses, that made his knees go weak.
“I’ve been told to announce that dinner is ready,” he managed with a rasp. “Everyone should go wash up now.”
“So soon?” a brown-eyed girl complained with a whine.
Merri sniffed once and laughed, throwing her arm over the girl’s shoulder. “You need to eat so you can grow straight and tall.” She looked up at Ty and continued with a grin. “We all need to eat to keep up our strength.”
He reached out his hand to help her up. “You look beautiful when you laugh that way, Merri,” he said as she stood up beside him. “You should do it more often.”
“I do laugh,” she told him with a frown.
Rolling his eyes with exasperation, Ty shook his head. “But not around me. Is that right?”
She chuckled, and the sound wound around his nerves and settled deep in the pit of his gut. The sweat broke out on his forehead.
“Do you want to wash up before you eat?” he gulped.
“Where are we having dinner?”
“I know of a wonderful place. They serve lots of vegetables and salads. You’ll probably love it.”
“I haven’t heard of a place like that around town. Where would that be?”
“Here. In the main dining room.”
Her eyes lit up like he’d just given her a present. “Can we stay? Really?”
Oh, God. She was adorable. Aunt Jewel had been right in her original assessment.
Now he was noticing everything about her—and way too often. Dang it all.
Four
“Are you tired?” Ty asked as he turned out of the Nuevo Dias Ranch road and onto the main highway.
“A little,” Merri replied with a sigh. “But it’s a good tired.”
Though it wasn’t terribly late, the sky was black and the air smelled of rain. She leaned her head back against the passenger seat of his huge pickup truck and breathed in the scent of ozone mixed with mesquite.
“I’m glad you got a chance to see the ranch,” Ty said without taking his eyes off the road. “The kids sure enjoyed your visit.”
“I enjoyed meeting them, too. They’re all so…” She hesitated over the words, remembering what one of the women in charge of the kids had told her about Ty.
“Uh…” she began again. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure. Shoot.”
“Someone told me that the reason you’ve taken on a charity for abused and abandoned children is that you were abandoned as a child. Is that true?”
He raked a hand through his dark chestnut hair, but didn’t turn to look at her. “No. Not at all. Jewel was babysitting for me when my parents were killed in a car accident. She raised me. I was never abandoned.”
The words made sense, but Merri noticed that his tone of voice seemed to suggest something else. It appeared to be a real sore spot for him. So she let him change the subject.
“Back before dinner, when you were playing with the girls on the lounge floor…” he began. “Were those tears in your eyes?”
Ah. He’d managed to hit on one of her own sore spots. Well, she would tell him the truth of this one. No sense lying about something that she considered to be nonsense.
“Yes. Silly, huh?” She fidgeted under her seat belt but kept her eyes trained out the windshield. “Those little girls were so sweet to me…so needy. They actually wanted me to stay with them.”
She turned her head away from Ty in order to stare out of her side window and lowered her voice to a whisper. “No one’s ever really wanted me that much before.”
“No one?”
She shook her head, but didn’t imagine that he would be able to see her in the darkness.
“I want you, Merri,” he said in his own whispered voice.
Whipping her head around, she caught the hungry look in his eyes before he turned to face front again. “Oh, sure you do,” she said on a strangled gurgle. “You want me to do a good job of fund-raising.”
“Yes. That too. But…”
She could hear the desire—slow, silky and sensuous in his voice. It threw her, set her soul aflame. In self-defense she slipped into her mother’s spoiled-diva persona.
“Don’t tell me we’re going to have the talk about you taking me to bed? If that’s the kind of wanting you mean, rein it back in, please. It can’t happen.”
Through the darkness of the truck cab she saw him set his jaw and narrow his eyes. “Not at all,” he began in a low and d
angerous tone she’d not heard from him before. “I know you’ve felt the electricity between us…just like I have. But I have no intention of jumping your bones. I may be an ogre to work with, but I don’t force myself on employees—Miss Davis.”
She was more flustered than she could ever remember being. Her stomach was doing little backflips. She could imagine the two of them together, taking pleasure in each other’s bodies and finding that special high peak that had always eluded her in the past.
But the reality of the situation drove her mind back around to face the chilly night and the raindrops that had begun to fall on the windshield. She thought about running away from her feelings—and from him.
However, this place had been her last resort. She’d already run away once—from the press and her old life. This time she had to stay and fight for what she wanted. Even if it meant fighting her own desires.
Ty didn’t wait for her to deny or agree with his statement. “What I meant by needing you was…I need a friend,” he said in a quieter tone. “I’ve told you before that helping the kids means everything to me. It’s the one thing I can really do to give back.
“I have—had—a great-aunt who just passed away,” he continued sadly. “Lucille gave me a hand up when I was down on my luck. She paid for my college and gave me the money to buy my first fixer-upper properties…because she believed in me. But there was never anything I could give her—or any way to adequately thank her. And now there never will be.”
Merri could hear his voice crack under the strain of grief. Damn, but this guy could get under her skin—in so many different ways. She’d never met anyone like him.
Embarrassed at her own stupidity, Merri squirmed in her seat and bit her tongue. What an idiot she was.
He took a deep breath. “I thought raising money for a charity would be easy. But it isn’t. At least, not for me. And my foundation can’t do it all.
“Frank suggested to me that you might be willing…” he continued hesitantly. “Well, to give me a few pointers on how to do it better. Say the right things. Dress more like—I don’t know—a banker maybe. Learn to ask for what I need…and not simply demand.”
